"I pledge allegiance to the flag"-- "They dragged him naked "Through the muddy streets, "A feeble-minded black boy! "And the charge? Supposed assault "Upon an aged woman! ""Of the United States of America"-- "One mile they dragged him "Like a sack of meal, "A rope around his neck, "A bloody ear "Left dangling by the patriotic hand "Of Nordic youth! (A boy of seventeen!) ""And to the Republic for which it stands"-- "And then they hanged his body to a tree, "Below the window of the county judge "Whose pleadings for that battered human flesh "Were stifled by the brutish, raucous howls "Of men, and boys, and women with their babes, "Brought out to see the bloody spectacle "Of murder in the style of '33! " (Three thousand strong, they were!) "One Nation, Indivisible"-- To make the tale complete They built a fire-- What matters that the stuff they burned Was flesh--and bone--and hair-- And reeking gasoline! "With Liberty--and Justice"-- They cut the rope in bits And passed them out, For souvenirs, among the men and boys! The teeth no doubt, on golden chains Will hang About the favored necks of sweethearts, wives, And daughters, mothers, sisters, babies, too! "For ALL!" -Esther Popel
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I enjoy fishing and one day I was thinking about how it feels when I have had a hook stuck in my hand. Then I thought about what drives a fish to go the opposite direction when it swallows the fisherman's hook. I related it to wanting to be free from what is unnatural to the fish.
This thought caused me to initiated a conversation with some friends and I was really surprised by one response in particular. One individual came to the conclusion that fish and or animals do not feel pain as people do. Although he could not explain how he arrived at this thought but he felt strongly that is the reason, animals like fish seem to continue to fight. What do you think? Could this thought be a reason why some can without cause or reason take the life of an animal or even torture an animal? The image to the top left is a symbol for Pisces and the image to the top right is a symbol named Ichtys. It appears to me, if the pisces symbol were rotated onto its side, the connecting bar were removed and the two arcs were reversed and merged it woudl resemble the Ichtys.
Both of these symbols represent fish. Pisces the 12th sign of the zodiac and the Ichthys symbol also known as the sign of the fish or Jesus fish can sometimes be seen on vehicles operating on the road way. This fish symbol reminded me of the Egyptian Hieroglyph for what would become the letter X. The letter X is also known as Chi in the Greek alphabet, and has been used as another symbol associated with Christianity. The symbol identified as a Christogram includes the letter X , or Greek Chi is named Chi-Rho. How is it that a hieroglyph of what would become the Chi or letter X would also come to become a symbol of Christianity? Why is the character now called Jesus called the fisher of men? In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Heaven, from the Old English word, heofon, means “home of God.” Older meanings of the word heaven were sky or firmament. Heave, from the Old English word, hebban, and the root word of heaven means to lift up, raise or exalt. Heaven also happens to be the realm of the heavenly bodies. The word Astronomy derived from the Greek word astronomia and means star arrangement. The word derived from the words astron meaning star and nomos ,meaning arrangement. The science of Astronomy deals with the study of celestial objects. Celestial derives from the Latin word caelestis meaning heavenly or pertaining to the sky. The word Astrology derived from the Greek word astrologia and means telling of the stars. Astrology derives from the words astro meaning star and logy meaning study of. In ancient times, the heavenly bodies were recognized as gods and much reverence was given to the gods. The gods and their arrangement in the heavens were said to influence those on Earth. In Astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, astrological aspects and sensitive angles at the moment of a person’s birth. In some languages the days of the week and even some months were named in honor of the gods.
On the first day god created light, Genesis chapter 1, verse 3 reads “And God said, Let there be light and there was light.” Sunday, is recognized as the first day of the week and comes from an Old English word, Sunnandaeg meaning “Day of the Sun.” Domingo is the Spanish word for Sunday and is from the Latin word dominicus meaning “pertaining to a lord.” The Old English word for Lord is hlaford meaning, master of a household, ruler, superior, and also God translating to the Latin word Dominus. According to ancient history, the sun was a diety. Diety means divine nature and derived from the Latin word deus meaning god. Sol Invictus meaning invincible sun was the official sun god of the Roman Empire. The word Solar as in solar system derived from the Latin word Solaris meaning of the sun from the Latin word Sol meaning sun. On the second day God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered unto one place. The second day of the week, Monday, comes from the Old English word mondaeg, meaning “day of the moon.” The moon is recognized as the heavenly body that affects the tidal waters on Earth. Moon means month and derives from the Latin word mensis which means month. The “monthly” or the tides in the female body called the menstruation is said to occur every 28 days which is the same as the lunar phase of the moon. The Spanish word for Monday is lunes, from the Latin word lunaris meaning of the moon. Luna was the moon goddess in Roman religion and myth. Genesis chapter 1 verse 16 and 17, “And God made two great lights; the greater to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.” The Spanish word for Wednesday is Miercoles derived from the Latin word Mercurius meaning Mercury. Mercury was a Roman God of tradesmen and thieves. Mercury is also identified as a metallic element known as quick silver. The Greek god, Hermes, was a messenger and god of commerce, and the son of Zeus and Maia. Wednesday also happens to be a day of operation and trade for merchants at farmers markets. A market is a meeting at a fixed time for buying and selling livestock and provisions and derived from the Latin word Mercatus meaning trading, buying, selling, trade, market. The Spanish word for market is Mercado. Jueves is the Spanish word for Thursday. Jueves derives from the Latin word Jovis, meaning the day of Jupiter. Thursday was influenced by Thor a god in Norse mythology. The German word for Thursday is Donnerstag which translates to Jovis dies. Jueves is a loan translation of Greek, dios hemera meaning the day of Zeus. In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus is the Father of Gods and men and the god of the sky. Zeus was known as Jupiter to the Romans and the Greek name for Jupiter is Zeus. Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea. Rhea and Cronus or Kronos were children of Gaia and Uranus. Gaia or gaea derived from a Greek word meaning land or earth. Gaia is the goddess of the Earth in the Greek religion. Gaia was the great mother of all. The heavenly gods, the Titans and Giants were born from her union with Uranus. The Romans identified her with their goddess Terra. Terra is a Latin word meaning earth. Uranus derived from the Greek word Ouranos meaning heaven. Genesis chapter 1 verses 9 and 10, “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.” In Roman Mythology, Venus was the goddess of beauty and love. The Spanish word for Friday is Viernes deriving from the Latin word Venus. The Romans identified Venus with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. The Old English word for Friday is Frigedaeg meaning Frigga’s Day. Frigga or Frigg is a German goddess of married love and wife of Odin. Freya is the goddess of beauty and love in Norse mythology. After the moon, Venus is the brightest natural object in the sky. It is a thought the planet Venus was actually two different bodies and the Greeks had two names for the planet Venus. In the morning the star was called Phosphoros or Phosphorus meaning light-bringing and also the morning star. In the evening the star was called Eosphoros or Eosphorus meaning Bringer of Light or Bringer of Dawn. In Greek mythology Hesperus is the Evening Star, the planet Venus in the evening. Hesperus is the brother of Eosphorus also called Phosphorus and Lucifer. The Latin word Lucifer means morning star or light-bringing from the words lux meaning light and ferre meaning carry. Isaiah chapter 14 verse 12, reads, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” Saturday the seventh day of the week derives from the Old English word Saeterdaeg meaning day of the planet Saturn. This Old English word partially borrowed from the Latin Saturni dies meaning Saturn’s day. In Roman mythology, the god Saturnus was the god of agriculture. Saturday is also a day of operation at some farmers markets. The Greek equivalent is Cronus or Kronos. The Spanish word for Saturday is Sabado and the Italian word for Saturday is Sabbato. Sabat is the Old English word for Sabbath and Saturday is observed by the Jews as the Sabbath, a day of rest. Genesis chapter 2 verse 2 reads, “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” The month of March is from the Latin word martius meaning the month of Mars. The Romans identified Mars as the god of war and the Greeks identified Mars with Ares. Mars is often called the red planet and it has been said that people often see red when losing their temper. The astrological sign of Aries begins in the month of March. Aries derives from the Latin word Aires meaning to ram or butt. In nature male rams battle competing males during mating season by violently ramming or butting heads. Military soldiers march off to battle during times of war. The month of April drives from the Latin Mensis Aprilis, meaning month of Venus. The Month of May is named in honor of the goddess Maia, mother of Hermes. Maia is a star in the constellation of Taurus. The astrological sign of Taurus begins in the month of May. Last evening, I "stumbled" onto the History Channel Series, "The Men Who Built America." The below listed excerpt from the History Channels website)
"John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and J.P. Morgan rose from obscurity and in the process built modern America. Their names hang on street signs, are etched into buildings and are a part of the fabric of history. These men created the American Dream and were the engine of capitalism as they transformed everything they touched in building the oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobile and finance industries. Their paths crossed repeatedly as they elected presidents, set economic policies and influenced major events of the 50 most formative years this country has ever known. From the Civil War to the Great Depression and World War I, they led the way. Interesting, what power did they have to accomplish such? Just as corporations today seek to monopolize plant genes in the "developing world", the Dutch East India Company set about seizing total control of spice production and introduced a policy known as extirpation. Until modern times, cloves grew only on a few islands historically called the spice islands and was traded like oil. To ensure control of this product, all clove trees not in control of the Dutch East India Company were uprooted and burned. To keep prices high, supply was limited, excessive harvests were either burned or dumped into the sea. Anyone caught growing, stealing or possessing clove plants without authorization faced the death penalty. Today Zanzibar is the largest producer of cloves. Occupy Wallstreet, purchased government/congress, Corporate USA.....it’s nothing new. (Excerpts from The Discovery of Freedom by Rose Wilder Lane) "In the 17th and 18th centuries, Englishmen (with the King's permission) went out to make profits. It was not British Government that established the colonies; it was the Virginia Company of Gentlemen Adventurers, the Massachusetts Bay Company, the Hudson's Bay Company-trading companies. The East India Company went into India; Cecil Rhodes went into South Africa. The continental Kings planned Empires; the sent nobles and soldiers to seize land, and peasants to colonize it; their Ministers planned and "controlled" its settlement and cultivation." The Kings and Queens of England chartered traders and let them trade. British Government planned no Empire, and took no care of settlers. It intervened only when the trading companies had to use force to protect their trade." "The English Kings were never so efficient. They gave the land to traders. A few gentlemen, who had political pull enough to get a grant, organized a trading company; their agents collected a ship-load or two of settlers and made an agreement with them which was usually broken on both sides. Landed in America, the colonists were never sure of getting the promised supplies; if the company's directors did not send them, the colonist died. But the directors could not depend on the settlers; they didn't work, they didn't get the expected furs, and the bound servents, especially, were always skipping out to live with Indians." "The colonists were the rag-tag and hobtail of Europe. No statue of Liberty stood in New York harbor, saying to Europe, "Send me the wretched refuse of your teeming shore," but that was precisely what Europe sent. Starving wretches lucky to escape debtors' prisons, vagrant from highways and slums who sold themselves to slavery for years to pay for their steerage passage across the Atlantic, peasants shipped like cattle, shiploads of hungry women and girls without dowries, auctioned in the ports to settlers who needed wives." "Living men and women create the human world. Everyone is responsible for the stupidity, the cruelty, the injustice, the wrongs of which he complains. Because no man can control another, and twenty-two hundred million human beings are living on this planet, a great many-one by one-must stop believing in pagan gods, and know the real nature of human life energy, before that energy can operate effectively to make a world fit for human beings to live in." Bouvier's Law Dictionary "Declaration of Independence”. This is a state paper issued by the congress of the United States of America, in the name and by the authority of the people, on the fourth day of July 1776 wherin are set forth: 2.-1. Certain natural and unalienable right of man, the uses and purposes of governments the rights of the people to institute or to abolish them; the sufferings of the colonies, and their right to withdraw from the tyranny of the king of Great Britain. 3.-2. The various acts of tyranny of the British Icing. 4.-3. The petitions for redress of these injuries, and the refusal. to redress them; the recital of an appeal to the people of "Great Britian, and of their being deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. 6.-5. A declaration that the United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connexion between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be dissolved. This fight with the people and the corporations is not new at all, and the Constitution protects the people from the government, but offers no protection from the corporations and companies that founded the USA. BELIEVING!! Oh my god has he lost his mind??!! I know many close to me were and are still thinking this but I haven't. I know that I have not lost my mind, I have just found a way to use it and try to understand it. Believe it or not, it is not a sin or the work of some devil to THINK. I have always had questions regarding religion and I now find it empowering to think things through instead of believing that I am not in control of whats going, which works best for ME. My way may not be the right way for you, but it is what works for me. There is no doubt that all still have questions but some have decided to search for answers.
Even when believing that "Jesus" died for my sins and that he's the way to a place called heaven, I still didn’t know. I can not remember a time growing up, going to my parents and saying to them, something seems to be missing in my life, I need to know more, help me to find my way. My parents decided for me, and introduced me to THEIR faiths, hopes and beliefs. Nothing wrong with that, they just did what they knew. I'm pretty sure that’s what happened with them as well, by their loved ones. That’s how systems and programs work. Religion was introduced to me as a child in cute little children's stories. I was told all about a savior named Jesus, who would take me to heaven if I just did one simple thing, believed in him. The image of Jesus looked nothing like me and the odd thing is, I would later find out that the he resembled people that did some awful things to people who looked like me. Still no one questioned it. I was also told about a very bad person named the devil. The devil was red, had a tail and carried a pitch fork. Should be pretty easy to find if I saw him right? I was told the devil wants to take all the people that Jesus loves and wants to save to a bad place that is very hot. As I grew older, the stories changed from cute to scary. I was told the bad place was hot because it was a lake of fire and was called hell. I was also told that whoever went to hell would burn forever and ever in this lake of fire. FEAR set in and what child who understands how hot fires can be wants to be in a lake of fire to burn forever and ever?! Most don't even want to speak to their children about death, sex or the adult things that happen in life, but have no issue telling their children about being tortured forever and ever if they didn't believe in Jesus. You can guess which road I decided to take and if you guessed I decided to believe in and accept Jesus, you are correct. I would get to be with Jesus AND my family forever and live in heaven, seemed simple enough and alot better than option number two. So as I continued to grow up, I would do bad things or things would go wrong and I'd find that I would run back to Jesus and ask him to fix it. I also wanted him to know that I still wanted to come to heaven to be with him and that I was very sorry for what I had done. That’s usually how things went and it seemed to work. Still l had questions and then one day I noticed something in church that didn’t sit right with me. I would see the same people in church always going up in the prayer line. I also knew of other people who were believers who seemed to always be in the same condition no matter what. I started thinking these people surely seem like they are doing the right christian things why do they keep having to ask god for help over and over again and why is he not hearing their prayers? I knew I was not the model saint but I did not feel the need to keep asking the pastor to pray for me or ask god to hear my prayers each week. Most things I needed or wanted, I usually obtained mostly through hard work. Sometimes things just seemed to work out for me but I still didn't feel as if Jesus was looking out for me in particular. So this caused me to do a little thinking and searching for answers without having anyone else cloud my mind. That time clearin my head led me to a new understanding. I now understand why it’s called believing. As the bible reads now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. When I examined this statement, I realized creation shows evidence every single day so how can I possibly agree that evidence to be unseen. Things hoped for; I have hoped for plenty of things in my lifetime and it usually included things that I seemed to not have an answer to. Now as I am older I can clearly understand the difference between faith, hope, belief and knowing. Fear of the unknown can be and has been used as a powerful instrument. No one may know, but if we just believe it seems to ease the fear, still deep inside we hope that we have made the right choice. I could say I believed but reality always dictated over what I believed. No matter how hot the preacher said that lake of fire was it never stopped me from doing bad things and sinful acts against god, and besides that, I could always run back to Jesus and beg his forgiveness, tell him how much I loved and needed him and make sure I would still get to go to heaven. Thinking back on my childhood Jesus is just like Santa. He sees and knows everything I do, and if I am bad he won't get me what I want. Funny thing is most times no matter how bad I may of been, Santa seemed to always get me what I wanted and sometimes even more! I learned that even being bad, would not prevent me from getting anything for Christmas. Being threatened with Santa knowing I was not a good little boy did not stop me from behaving badly. So even when I am a sinful child of god, surely he knows that I could not be good, which caused him to send Jesus to die for my sins and as long as I believe in him, I still get into heaven! If I am driving and I see a speed limit sign or the sign reading speeding enforced, it usually doesn't cause me to slow down until I see the evidence of someone actually enforcing the speed regulation. I can believe all I want but in reality clearly the five senses have always superseded any of my beliefs. The same way the hotness of hell didn’t really scare me enough from sinning it doesn't really scare anyone else either, especially without the evidence. Look at the horrible things that happen on this planet to both believers and non believers. Nature, reality and life chooses no sides. No one really knows and until the evidence is revealed people will continue to do bad things to one another. Even with evidence or what can happen, it still rarely deters people from making a choice. I think ultimately people want the same things, answers and a better life experience. We sometimes get emotionally tied to our personal way and forget that just because it seems to work for us on a personal level does not mean it is the best and only way for someone else. We should grow to understand that some are seeking answers of the unknown and not relying on belief alone. I now feel religion is just another way to divide people into little groups and we must learn to work together in spite of our many differences. This is my story about why I no longer just believe I know there are many others with similar stories and feelings, let go of the fear..... I read a Facebook post this morning, that read something like, when your beliefs are challenged, you can turn away or stand up, we must stand up and persevere and be as shepherds to protect the flock. I wanted to jump all over this one but decided to use it as a learning moment for myself. I was surprised at the information I discovered. I started with learning the meanings of the words shepherd, sheep, flock which lead me to some images of the character Jesus carrying a sheep. This particular image led me to an article entitled Soul Food, Keeping My Eyes On Jesus. It contained pretty much what I expected, but it wasn't until I neared the end of the article that I located some information that I was unaware of. The article pointed out the back story of shepherds carrying a lamb or sheep. If a shepherd had a rebellious lamb or sheep that would not follow a shepherd, the shepherd would break the animal's legs and carry it around their neck until the animals legs would heal. By the time the animal's legs would heal the animal would have become used to being next to and close to the shepherd and would never wander off again. People think of the shepherd protecting the flock, but the only reason the flock is protected by the shepherd is because the shepherd is either going to use the flock as a method to survive or produce an income through trade, fleecing, selling, eating or breeding. The shepherd is identified as the protector but in actuality the shepherd only protects the flock to protect personal interest. The image of the sheep being carried creates thoughts of love and care, however the shepherd is the one who breaks the legs of the animal in an effort to force the animal to abandon it's natural state to become obedient and dependent. There is a saying to beware of the wolves who appear as sheep, but I've never heard anyone advising sheep to protect themselves from the care of the shepherd. It wasn't until Dr. B pointed out to that when an individual self identifies as a sheep in the flock that they created a problem for themselves. The Columbia Encyclopedia reads, "Ghettos originally were sections of a city where the Jews were compelled by the Christians to reside, but now more loosely used to indicate any quarter of a town inhabited chiefly by Jews. The first historically authentic ghetto was established in Rome by Pope Paul IV, in 1555. The medieval ghettos, which usually consisted of a few narrow, dirty, and overcrowded streets with space limitations. Within the ghettos the Jews developed a certain degree of autonomy, a social life of their own, and high standards of piety and morality. In 1870, the last remaining ghetto, the Roman one, was abolished by Victor Emmanuel." When did ghettos become synonymous with so called black people?
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ADISAUSAGE: WESTERN AFRICAN, YORUBA. Archives
September 2017
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