I don’t mean that euphemistically, because these are varieties of the cocoa bean that have been discovered in the Amazonian jungles of Peru. One of the varieties was recently developed by a Swiss chocolatier who sold them for $60/pound. And the reason it’s on the Geeky News? Scientists are sequencing the plant DNA and plotting the mineral contents of the soil where the varieties grow to figure out what makes them taste different.
Speaking of tiny malicious organisms, scientists have sequenced the genome of the strain of the Black Death (y-pestis) that killed 50 million people back in the 1300’s. Hopefully to better understand it, and not to ransom the world for 1 billion dollars.
So there’s this hotel in Finland that will rent you this cute little cabin specially designed for star-gazing and seeing the Aurora Borealis. Why are they perfect for it? Because they’re geodesic domed “cabins” made of thermal glass (remember, this is Finland, it’s a wee chill).
The DeLorean Car Company is releasing an electric car in 2013. Yes, a gull-winged, all-electric vehicle. No, it’s not powered by fusion. Not yet, anyway.
It’s an off-the-grid, semi-buried, earth-friendly house in Wales. Not exactly a hobbit house, but strongly similar. Looks pretty cool, too.
It’s a Game AND Science!
Protein folding is part of bimolecular science trying to figure out the ideal structures of proteins, and it has possible applications to all sorts of things — HIV/AIDs research, cancer cures, Alzheimer’s. So instead of throwing a fancy screensaver at the problem (ala SETI@home), some clever bunch have come up with a game, and are letting smart-ass gamers find the best folding strategies. That’s right, it’s a video game where winning means curing cancer! Details and science here:
Prosaic title; amazing results. Science fiction means never believing what you see ever again. These guys have come up with a method for inserting computer-generated objects into a real photographic scene, either statically, or as part of an animation, so that they look real. Seriously real. Watch the video if you don’t believe me.
Who doesn’t love airships? All the fun of flying without the jet-fuel headaches. Plus a HECK of a lot more room in the vehicle. Well, now there’s a company working on airships (actual heavier-than-air models) that are powered entirely by photovoltaic panels on the hull. They call them SolarShips. Watch the video to see what the giant-sized cargo hauler looks like.
Only Two Hands!
So this guy is juggling three Rubik’s Cubes. Not that interesting, right? Just juggling. But he’s also solving one of them at the same time as juggling the other two. See for yourself:
There have been a few scifi novels that used bioluminescence for lighting, but no one has really brought the concept to … er … light. Until now! Phillips, yes, the other light-bulb folks, have a working prototype. They power it methane and compost drawn from their concept-home microbial loop system (food waste from the kitchen, basically).
About John: John’s a geek from way back. He’s been floating between various computer-related jobs for years, until he settled into doing tech support in higher ed. Now he rules the Macs on campus with an iron hand (really, it’s on his desk).
Geek Credentials: RPG: Blue box D&D, lead minis, been to GenCon in Milwaukee. Computer: TRS-80 Color Computer, Amiga 1000, UNIX system w/reel-to-reel backup tape Card games: bought Magic cards at GenCon in 1993 Science: Met Phil Plait, got time on a mainframe for astronomy project in 1983 His Blog:http://glenandtyler.blogspot.com
Autumn in New England; what could be more beautiful? The trees turn deep crimson and burnt orange as the squirrels and chipmunks gather food for the harsh winter a head. We pile leaves into huge mounds and put away the garden tools for the season. Somewhere in the distance a fire burns in a wood burning stove and the scent dances on the cool breeze.
Somewhere in all of the summer craziness we may have forgotten that we are whizzing right by the Celebration of Lammas (which literally translates to Loaf Mass) in August. When Mabon, the Autumn Equinox comes we are usually so busy with back to school that we don’t take time to acknowledge this is Pagan Thanksgiving and the second of the three harvest Sabbats on the Wheel of the Year. But there is no mistaking Samhain. Thank Gods the last harvest of the season is rung in with Halloween and all the revelry the holiday has become accustomed to or we might let it pass us by too!
These three Harvest holidays are a Kitchen Witch’s dream!!! The Earth is giving so much during these first cool months here in New England. Everywhere you go pumpkins sit outside store fronts, from your local big name chain grocery store to your local farm stand. Apple picking is a big autumn tradition for Pagans and Non Pagans alike. I can remember it being such a big deal in my family that every October my family would travel 4 hours into the Catskill Mountains in NY to spend the day picking and nibbling on the freshest Cortland’s, Gala, Granny Smiths, and Macintoshes. Gourds, pumpkins and hay bales were strapped to our station wagon and set out in the yard when we got home to make sure the house had on its proper fall attire.
As I grew up and found the path of Kitchen Witchery these simple Fall traditions took on an all new meaning for me. Now I am not just decorating the home for the season, but I invite the autumn spirits in. The thrill of apple picking is not just a day out in nature collecting apples and creating memories, but it is a gathering of Magickal tools and ingredients. Now I ponder the recipes that will come from these wonderful things Mother Earth is providing. I imagine the smell of the apple pie as it bakes in my oven, the taste of the pumpkin spice bread as the butter melts into a slice right from the toaster, the warmth of the cider when it trickles over my taste buds after mulling all day with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Samhain, although the last of the blessed harvest celebrations, also marks the beginning of the dark time. Most witches and neo pagans consider it the end of the year, and the beginning of the next. Similarly to Beltane the veils between the worlds are thinnest at Samhain. In the spring we are more deeply connected with the spirits of life and the fey world whereas at Samhain we connect more with the underworld, and those spirits who have passed from this world to the next. It is the time to celebrate, reconnect and remember our loved ones.
Almost all of us have a recipe that has been in the family for years and years that has been passed from one cook to the next within the family. These recipes tell the stories of our families. Where did we come from and how we have changed? The ingredients keep us connected to the past and sharing them with our families and friends help us push those traditions into the future. This is the idea I like to call Heirloom Food Magick. In a sense it is all about those recipes and flavors our childhood memories would not be complete without. My grandmother, for example, had this bread she would make whenever the family gathered. It was commonly called “Grandma Bread” in our house. Although it was such a simple dish, stuffed Stromboli bread with spinach, cheese and a ton of garlic, every person in the family looked forward to a slice with anticipation from the children to the grownups. This recipe holds the spirit of Grandma. Although no matter how hard I try I can’t seem to get it exactly the same as her bread mine is pretty tasty if I do say so myself and I continue on the tradition of my family by sharing this with people I love.
In my opinion, the Harvest festivals are the time when Kitchen Witches come alive. I feel truly magickal at this time of year. Those of us who are in tune with the seasons can feel the change deep in the core of our beings. And Samhain is the time to do many magickal works in the Kitchen. Of course, gathering in a large Ritual circle with friends and family or local community is important. But for me a smaller more intimate ritual holds even more power. Samhain is a time for us to connect with our ancestors and what better way to do so then to prepare a meal in their honor and invite them to join us!
Invite the ancestors in with pictures set about the kitchen. Place the photographs of your passed relatives where you can see them as you cook. If you happen to have something of your ancestors bring that into the kitchen as well. Ideally cook with kitchen tools that have been handed down but if you don’t have that maybe you have a piece of jewelry or plate that has been passed down for generations, bring these items in to the kitchen. Enjoy the energy and guidance they bring into your cooking space. Make a meal that was a favorite of the person you are celebrating, a recipe that has been handed down for years, or even a meal that is indigenous to your national heritage. For me this is an easy one, because my family comes from Italy, but maybe your great uncle came from Poland and you make some nice porgies to celebrate him! I like to set a place at the table with photographs of the ancestors (all friends and family that I miss and want to celebrate at Samhain) and set a place for them. Pour a drink leave and pile the plate high with your feast. At the end of the meal you can offer the food to the nature spirits though the night!
This is a recipe that is perfect for your Samhain celebration. It is a variation on a traditional pumpkin pie and simply wonderful! It makes a fancy dessert with very little time and people will be so very impressed. It is a vegetarian dessert and if you have a gluten allergy like me, be sure to use a pre-made gluten free crust.
Pumpkin pie is a tradition for many family celebrations, Pagan or otherwise. But pumpkin actually has magical attributes of healing. Its round shape is also symbolic of the Mother Goddess. When you assemble this sweet and decedent pie, notice how the cream cheese layer looks like the full moon. Lightly trace the shape of the pentacle in it with your finger to bless this treat and all who eat it. Then you will layer the pumpkin on top sealing in all the protective energy of the blessing with the nurturing power of Mother Goddess energy from the Pumpkin. Also, using the cut outs for the crust can have magical energy too. As with all food magic intention is the key. Be mindful of your ingredients and put only your positive thoughts and intentions into this new twist on a traditional dessert. Invite the spirits of your ancestors to partake in the baking of this pie with you and start a new tradition for Samhain.
Pumpkin Cheese Cake Pie
1 package (2 crusts) refrigerated ready to roll pie crust
Cheese cake layer
1 8oz package reduced fat cream cheese softened
1/3 cup organic evaporated cane juice or sugar in the raw
1 tsp almond extract
1 egg
Pumpkin Layer
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Fit one piecrust into a 9” pie plate and set aside. Roll out second crust onto lightly floured surface. Using a small cookie cutter, no bigger than 1” cut out shapes of stars, holly leaves, or oak leaves. Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Make 40 to 50 cut outs and place in refrigerator until ready to use. Make the cheese cake layer. In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, almond extract, and egg until smooth. Spread evenly into pie crust. Set aside. Make the pumpkin layer. In a large bowl, beat pumpkin puree, milk, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until smooth. Gently ladle or pour mixture over cream cheese layer. Brush edge of crust with beaten egg. Place cut out crust shapes overlapping around the edge. Brush lightly with egg wash. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cover edge. Reduce heat to 350 and continue baking 45 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if you like.
About Dawn: Dawn Hunt is the owner/president of Cucina Aurora Kitchen Witchery. Her products include everything from Herb and Energy infused olive oils to cooking tools. Her self-published cookbook has sold more than 250 copies in 6 months. She is currently working on a compilation Cookbook with Christopher Penczak and the Temple of Witchcraft called “Tastes of the Temple” due out in 2011. She teaches classes on Kitchen Witchery, Food Magic, and Seasonal Cooking on the East Coast. To find out more information, to purchase products, or for booking visit www.CucinaAurora.com.
An Excerpt from Creative Thinkering: Putting Your Imagination to Work by Michael Michalko
We often describe things, good or bad, in terms of what they are not. For example, this morning I ran into an old friend and asked him how he was feeling. He answered, “No complaints.” Now, what does that mean? Does it mean he has a list of complaints taped on his bedroom wall that he reads every morning to see if he has anything to complain about?
Pay attention to how your friends and colleagues talk. You will find that many speak a language of exclusion, a language about “what is not,” instead of “what is” or “what can be.” You give an idea to your supervisor at work and you hear, “Not bad.” Does that mean every other idea you offered was bad? You suggest that you implement a new plan or idea and you hear, “It won’t hurt.” Does that mean that everything else you implemented did hurt?
How many times have you heard a friend say to you something like, “Why don’t we get together for lunch?” What’s interesting is that when someone asks another person “Why don’t we,” the receiver frequently replies with some type of “no.” When someone says, “Why don’t we…?” our first unconscious impulse may be to begin to think of reasons why not to get together. The phrasing creates ambivalence. However, if you were to change the question to “How about getting together on Monday?” or “Let’s get together on Monday,” the ambivalence would disappear.
THINK “YES”
Because most adults focus on deficiencies, they phrase some of their thoughts and ideas with negatives such as no, never, don’t, and not. As you read this, you might be thinking, “I never would have thought of that” or “Not a bad insight.” Rephrase your thought to “This is the first time I ever thought about that.” Or “That’s an exciting insight that could explain a lot.” Notice how the switch from “what is not” to “what is” affects your perception of the information. You now feel interest, curiosity, surprise, and even fascination. You can feel your consciousness expand.
Children, before they become educated, speak a different language, a language of inclusion, a language of “what is” and “what can be.” If you ask children how they feel, they’ll tell you. They’ll say, “Great,” or “Awesome,” or “Sleepy,” or “I’m sick.” Offer an idea to a child, and the child will reply, “Great” or “Interesting.”
Suppose you go to Disneyland with your family, and you have a wonderful time. I come up to you and ask, “How did you like Disneyland?” If your response is “Not bad,” that description of what is not may come across in a cool monotone barren of enthusiasm.
But what if you say, “Great”? Notice that there is a difference in volume, in affect, in intonation — in the whole feeling associated with the word great. Your volume goes up. Your mouth gets more relaxed. Your thoughts and feelings are different when you talk about what’s there, as opposed to what’s missing.
By changing your language and speaking patterns in a positive way, so that they are about “what’s there,” you guarantee a feeling of optimism and real output in performance. What you say affects how you feel. How you feel affects how you think, and vice versa. All language, feelings, and thoughts interact with each other, and the entire accumulation of those influences creates your output and behavior.
Thought is not different from emotion. Suppose a friend keeps you waiting for two hours. You can get angry, thinking, “What does he mean, treating me like this? He has no concern, no consideration for me. He’s always treating me badly,” and so on. By thinking in this way, you get very angry. Then, when he arrives and explains that he was late because of an accident that held up traffic, the anger dissipates. This shows that the emotion was influenced by thought. If you change your thought, the anger fades.
CHANGE THE WAY YOU SPEAK, AND YOU CHANGE THE WAY YOU FEEL
If you change one element — your language — your thoughts and feelings will be changed as well. The cumulative impact will be new patterns of output and behavior. This is where you can make a conscious decision to become a positive-thinking person by creating positive speaking patterns.
Once I stayed at the storied Ritz-Carlton in Montreal. Usually I don’t like staying in expensive hotels. Yet in the Ritz I felt great. I discussed my feelings with the manager, and he told me his secret. He told me that the most significant factor for their success was training their employees to frame everything they say in a positive manner. For example, employees who perform services for you will say, “It’s a pleasure,” instead of something like “No problem,” when you thank them. Or “Our restaurant would be pleased to serve you tonight,” instead of “Why don’t you visit our restaurant?” Guests feel welcome and appreciated, and find themselves feeling happy and positive. By the end of my stay, I was framing everything I had to say in a positive way. The Ritz-Carlton experience demonstrates how language allows us to influence ourselves and others in a particular way — we can transfer our own mental state to another’s mind.
Starting any behavior pattern is easier than stopping one. It’s easier to concentrate on starting to breathe clean air, starting to eat more healthy foods, starting to learn to relax, starting to hit the golf ball down the fairway, and starting to be more upbeat by changing your speaking patterns. Stripping negatives from your speech pattern and speaking about “what is,” instead of “what is not,” will, over time, cultivate a positive attitude and change your perspective on your work and, indeed, on life itself.
Michael Michalko is the author of Creative Thinkering, Thinkertoys, Cracking Creativity, and ThinkPak. While an army officer, he organized a team of NATO intelligence specialists and international academics to find the best inventive thinking method. He has expanded and taught these techniques to numerous Fortune 500 companies and organizations. He lives in Rochester, New York. Visit him online at http://www.CreativeThinking.net.
3D-Printed Self-Assembling Virus Model
So this professor of Molecular Graphics (now there’s a specialty!) designed and then 3D printed a plastic model that, once you put in the magnets, will go from a jumble of pieces to a full globular model of the virus it’s based on. And there’s video!
You Have 150 Half-siblings, and Counting
This sounds like something from a scifi novel about clones, but no. It’s modern day. Apparently some fertility clinics have let those couples seeking to have children via in vitro fertilization use “popular” sperm donors a little too frequently. Some donor-fathers have upwards of 150 biological children conceived this way, and thus those kids have 149+ half-siblings.
Self-lacing Nikes? Check!
Nike patented the self-lacing sneakers (ala Back to the Future) and are now set to bring them to market. Really. How many more items do we need to come true for Back to the Future to be Right Damn Now?
Abandoned Technology Across the World
Including a sub base! How cool is that? If it wasn’t in Albania, that might be a fun little fixer-upper opportunity.
It Eats Fridges
Because that’s what it’s designed to do. GE has this giant machine that breaks down any old fridge into it’s component parts, for recycling.
Victorian Kitchen Unearthed
So this couple is doing a renovation of their stately mansion and when clearing out the clutter discover a Victorian-era kitchen blocked off and untouched for 60 years. It’s both geeky and gothic.
How the Romans Invented Atomic Theory
Not kidding, not a conspiracy theory. There’s a guy named Lucretius who came up with the idea that everything was made of really tiny particles about 200 years before the birth of Christ. Ironically enough, considering my dating scheme, he also said that the universe was created without the need of gods, spirits, angels or cosmic intelligence. The NPR story is about not only the mind-blowing nature of that theory but how his book survived 2000+ years.
One Car, Printed to Order
Not scifi anymore, this company is actually poised to produce these things en masse. Even if it looks like something a production designer for a scifi film cooked up overnight for his “future car”.
See Your Dreams on YouTube
Because that’s not a scary thought — not at all. Scientists at UC Berkley have had some success in “decoding and reconstructing people’s dynamic visual experiences”. They’re using fMRi technology and some serious computers. Wild stuff.
Electric Light Cycle
Yeah, you heard that right — those crazy motorcycle guys who created a gasoline-powered light-cycle (yours, for a mere $50k) now have an electric version, which just seems cooler overall.
Microbial Messengers
How awesome is a code made up if microbes that fluoresce different colors? Pretty damned awesome.
Trying to Find a Great Book?
Look no further than NPR’s Giant Flowchart of Scifi (and Fantasy). It’s amusing and snarky!
Flying Car? No. Flying Carpet? Yes!
So this PhD student read a paper which changed his research direction from printed circuits using nano-ink to undulating waveforms based on biomimicing manta rays. It’s a weird world, isn’t it? He’s had some success in small-scale trials in making a “flying carpet” — by using magnetics to stimulate air currents and creating the same kind of ground-effect cushion of air that a hover craft has. Neato, huh?
My City Has an Operating System
Let the jokes commence. This company is developing an OS just for running cities (traffic lights, waste systems, energy supply, etc) called UrbanOS.
The Tinyest RPG Ever
So small, it fits on the back of a business card. See it and believe it.
About John: John’s a geek from way back. He’s been floating between various computer-related jobs for years, until he settled into doing tech support in higher ed. Now he rules the Macs on campus with an iron hand (really, it’s on his desk).
Geek Credentials: RPG: Blue box D&D, lead minis, been to GenCon in Milwaukee. Computer: TRS-80 Color Computer, Amiga 1000, UNIX system w/reel-to-reel backup tape Card games: bought Magic cards at GenCon in 1993 Science: Met Phil Plait, got time on a mainframe for astronomy project in 1983 His Blog:http://glenandtyler.blogspot.com
An Excerpt from One-Minute Mindfulness by Donald Altman
The act of driving requires our full attention. I know of a woman who drove through her garage door one morning because she was on automatic pilot and didn’t notice that it was still closed! The lapse of a split second can have devastating results. How do you approach your morning drive?
Do you use the morning drive to prepare for the day to come? Is driving a placeholder, a time for fitting in extraneous activities? Do you let the frustrations of the road soak into your body and spirit, filling you with anger or draining you of energy? A one-minute mindfulness approach to driving can improve your emotional tone, stress level, and ability to be open and adaptable.
When I discuss the brain and multitasking in workshops, I often ask participants to share stories about multitasking while driving. Here are a few that stand out: eating soup, with a spoon; putting on makeup and getting dressed; reading the newspaper or a book, even on a busy freeway; simultaneously smoking a cigarette, drinking a cup of coffee, putting on mascara, and backing up the car.
Ample evidence shows that the brain does not multitask very well. A recent study showed that simply talking while driving can negatively impact our driving skills. Researchers also found the reverse to be true: driving reduces a driver’s ability to recall a conversation by as much as 20 percent.10 According to psycholinguist Gary Dell, one of the study’s researchers, “You might think that talking is an easy thing to do and that comprehending language is easy. But it’s not. Speech production and speech comprehension are attention-demanding activities, and so they…compete with other tasks that require your attention — like driving.”11 In other words, something will suffer if we decide to split our attention when we’re behind the wheel.
Basically, there are two ways to drive. The first is to drive in order to get where we’re going. Driving then is a means to an end, an act that has little intrinsic value. In this case, we may be preoccupied with other things when we get in the car. Our minds may wander off to the future. Maybe we’re engaged in a conversation with someone, literally or mentally, as we pull into the street. Our attention might be focused on listening to a radio station or thoughts about an upcoming task. I’m not suggesting that we avoid all sources of sensory input while driving but that we practice sixty-second intervals of awareness to notice when we are driving mindlessly, with our bodies going through the motions.
Fortunately, there’s a second way to go about this: drive with the sole purpose of driving. It’s that simple and direct. It’s about full participation in what we are doing with the next sixty seconds, before we even climb into the car and turn on the ignition. For example, what details do you notice about your vehicle’s door handle as you open the door? Its temperature, shape, the feel of it? How does your body bend and move as you climb into the driver’s seat? Feel your hands as they grip the steering wheel. Notice the sound of the pavement as the tires move along the road’s surface.
When we bring awareness to the next minute, we gain traction instead of dis-traction with our surroundings, from road signs and road conditions to bicyclists and pedestrians. We can also find gratitude each time we drive somewhere. Fully participating in the journey of moving from one place to another leaves no time for anxiety about the future. Driving in order to drive requires our presence in each moment — and that sets our consciousness to sixty-second time.
PRACTICE In the next day or week, take one driving trip where you are focused only on your driving, with no distractions. Do this when you are alone, and try to be as present as you can every sixty seconds. You don’t have to be perfect when doing this. When your mind wanders, to the past or the future, gently bring it back. You can even mentally affirm your present moment intention with the words “driving, driving.”
Donald Altman, M.A., LPC, is the author of One-Minute Mindfulness, The Mindfulness Code, and Meal-by-Meal. Known as America’s Mindfulness Coach, he is a practicing psychotherapist who conducts mindful living and mindful eating workshops and retreats through colleges, community centers, and health care organizations. Visit him online at http://www.OneMinuteMindfulnessBook.com.
Have you ever wondered if you have a soul? And why, if it exists, and it is yours, you can’t seem to find it? Even if you haven’t asked yourself these questions wouldn’t you like to know?
Not only is it possible for to connect with your soul, doing so leads to deep peace and true happiness. Everything in the universe is in a state of motion, evolving into some state other than where it is at the present time. You arrived at where you are now through a process that will continue unfolding, expanding, and revealing continuous levels of experience well out into the future.
The soul already has all the qualities that anyone could desire, and by feeling connected with the soul it is possible to bring these qualities into everyday experience, while at the same time initiating a correlative process that dissolves everything that wouldn’t be wanted.
What interferes with experiencing our soul on a continuous basis are the many filters through which we experience life. What we normally think we are is an accumulation of all our perceptions, conclusions, beliefs, reactions, memories, and ideas as well as all the roles we have played utilizing our talents and skills. These comprise our personality, which is like an overlay that masks the true reality of our soul which lies beneath it all. And yet these overlays or identities are so compelling that we convince ourselves they are who we are and we lose touch with our deeper reality.
In a true sense, people are already connected with their soul, and they can often know and feel the connection when they are attracted to whatever is beautiful, profound, creative, loving, peaceful, and fulfilling, whether through people, activities or nature. You also see the soul reflected in the relentless pursuit of perfection often found in scientists, musicians, artists, athletes, authors, actors, and all others who seek to attain to a higher potential. So the soul is present in human experience even if it is not always recognized.
A Soul Meditation
Let’s begin the journey to your soul through a meditation. You will want to arrange yourself to be as comfortable as possible. I would suggest you do this when you won’t be disturbed or have anything else to do.
When you are prepared, settle in and start with a comfortable deep breath in through your nose and imagine you are also breathing in golden light through the top of your head. As you exhale feel yourself relaxing and absorbing the peace and light into every muscle, organ, and nerve…from the top of your head down to the tips of your toes. Breathe in light into every cell. Do this for one minute.
Read the following slowly to yourself and allow yourself to deepen the process into your entire body.
Say to your heart, I send you all the love of my soul.
Say to your body, I embrace you with all the love of my heart and soul.
Invite the soul’s love to merge into every muscle and nerve, and fill every cell and allow this love to become part of every atom and molecule of your being. Sense the relaxation and healing glow in your whole body and feel it spreading a radiant love all around you.
If there are any disturbances, distractions, or issues on your mind, say to yourself, “I ask the light of my soul to fill all my thoughts and feelings about these situations. I send all my thoughts, memories, and feelings the pure light and blessings of my soul.”
Feel a relaxed quality emerging through you as you welcome the peaceful soul presence.
Say to yourself:
“I allow the source of love to embrace my heart. I place my heart in the presence of my enlightened soul so that all may be healed.”
These statements are like prayers and intentions. They are requests of the deepest core of your soul where all goodness dwells. Allow yourself to deepen into the feelings of receiving the love, light, and healing that lives in your heart.
Drink in the soul’s qualities and say, “Yes” with thanksgiving. Say, “Yes” to receiving peace, love, and healing, and ask them to deepen within you.
“I ask the presence of my soul to deepen in my awareness. I acknowledge the radiance of the soul all around and through me.”
As always, express gratitude for your meditation. When you have finished with this process for this time, be sure to acknowledge yourself fully present and grounded in here and now.
The soul has a wonderful lightness, purity, and softness. Notice how any issues that may have seemed strong and dominant are now held much more softly and the feelings of lightness and spaciousness replace any struggle.
The more time you spend with establishing and deepening your soul connection the more you will feel its qualities and gifts. In the beginning the experience may be quite subtle, but with practice it becomes much more pronounced.
About Jonathan Parker: Jonathan Parker is the author of The Soul Solution. He is a spiritual counselor with more than 30 years of experience teaching energy healing and enlightenment. The founder of Quantum Quests International, Inc., he is the creator of one of the largest libraries of personal growth audio recordings with over 10 million copies sold worldwide He lives in Oak View, CA. Visit him online at http://www.JonathanParker.org.
More than 700 odd tunnel networks have been discovered in Bavaria, most dating back to Medieval times. Almost nothing has been found in them, “almost as if they were swept clean”. Weird, huh?
For 37 years — since 1974. It’s the city of Nicosia in Cyprus, abandoned when the island was divided between Greek and Turkish parts. Wild photographs worth the stop-over.
So some clever hackers have pieced together an interface to various cracking tools via the Microsoft Kinect — so that you can see the computer like a first-person shooter, and move around by simply waving your arms.
For when you break a bone, and want the hi-tech treatment. The cast monitors the situation with your muscles, the bone’s healing progress and let’s doctors monitor everything in real-time (or later over a martini, if they want).
It could be good. They’ve got Ridley Scott directing it. What’s up in the air is whether it’ll be a prequel (blah), a sequel or just set in the same universe.
It really isn’t — it’s a real live news report. Here’s the headline: “Orange Goo at Alaskan Village Found to be Fungal Spores, Not Eggs”. I just can’t make up stuff that good.
So this 13-year-old kid uses the Fibonacci sequence and the pattern of leaves on trees to create a solar-panel array that is 20-50% more efficient than conventionally arranged arrays. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of this kid in the future — hopefully not as he ambles down main street in his death-ray equipped juggernaut armor.
Ok, so not as exciting as it sounds, Copper Man is the name of the all-copper mannequin that US Army researchers used to gauge how well the standard flight gear insulated the crews of airplanes during WWII. Wacky, huh?
Or 1984, or 1384, or whatever floats your boat. Historical weather reports. Handy for those of you writing novels set in the past, rather than the future.
I know, it sounds like I’m describing some kind of Lovecraft-inspired horror movie which is just a remake of a better Japanese horror movie, but no. We’re talking about Portal, the video game, and some fan’s amazing conversion of the portal gun idea into a tiny cinematic romp.
You may, or may not, be familiar with the Beloit College Mindset list, which is a big list of things the incoming freshman class has either always had, always known or never known in their lifetimes. Depending on your age, it’s a frightening and hilarious list. In answer to that, here’s a list of what the class of 1915 (the freshman class from 100 years ago) thought or knew:
About John: John’s a geek from way back. He’s been floating between various computer-related jobs for years, until he settled into doing tech support in higher ed. Now he rules the Macs on campus with an iron hand (really, it’s on his desk).
Geek Credentials: RPG: Blue box D&D, lead minis, been to GenCon in Milwaukee. Computer: TRS-80 Color Computer, Amiga 1000, UNIX system w/reel-to-reel backup tape Card games: bought Magic cards at GenCon in 1993 Science: Met Phil Plait, got time on a mainframe for astronomy project in 1983 His Blog:http://glenandtyler.blogspot.com
Guess what folks? It has been one year of the “Geek Month in Review”! I’m so pleased that at least once a month there is a place for comics, science, games, technology, and other geeky things to live here on The Magical Buffet. And if the comments and website views are to be believed, many of you have been amused by this now one year old tradition here on the site too. Sure, I poke fun at the volume of 3D printer or Doctor Who stories John opts to include most months, but at the end of the day….I knew a whole heck of a lot about 3D printers before they showed up on The Colbert Report…..and doesn’t everyone love Doctor Who?
So happy birthday to the “Geek Month in Review”!
By JB Sanders
Writing the Geek Review article has been a lot like sharing links with my friends — with less “seen it” than real life. I read a lot, and frequently come across the oddest little news items. Putting them together into one article has been really a lot of fun — it’s much different than blasting one link across FaceBook. When you see them all pushed up into one place like that, grouped together, it’s a far more surreal and yet somehow pleasant experience.
I think I’m going to call it my Museum of the Geeky Weird. I’ve found some really interesting Curiosities (to me, anyway) and glommed them together into my own Cabinet*. So, please, wander the exhibits, press your nose against the glass, and whatever you do, don’t feed the monkeys.
Below are the best of the best, or what I thought were the most endurably interesting of this past year.
Behind the Scenes Photos
From little movies like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Other shots:
• How they did the Empire Strikes Back text crawl (you’ll be surprised).
• A shot of Alfred Hitchcock, Tippi Hedren and some birds.
• A shot inside the giant alien spacecraft in Alien.
• A picture of Max Schreck lounging creepily. (Bonus geek points if you know the Other Movie this ties into, all too eerily.)
• Really, why are you still reading this blurb? Click on the link already!
This is How Science-Fiction Becomes Reality
Austrian scientists have developed a new way to do what rotors on helicopters and airplanes have done before now. Heck, their flying machines don’t even need wings. They produce thrust by using rotating turbine-like blades, and because those blades can be adjusted, the D-Dalus can produce thrust in any direction, 360 degrees. It’s also fine with rough weather and nearly silent.
The Amazing Transforming Apartment
Anyone else reminded of Bruce Willis’ guy from Fifth Element? Watch what this guy packs into 24 square meters:
Concrete Tent
Brilliant, simple idea. Ship a canvas tent that’s been impregnated with concrete, put it up with an air blower, dose it with water and in 24 hours, you have a permanent concrete structure. Awesome!
Lost Pyramids Found
It’s not really news that infrared satellite imaging will reveal hidden structures. It’s certainly not news that Egypt has pyramids. What is news is that these researchers found 17 pyramids, over 1,000 tombs and over 3,000 ancient settlements, all previously unknown. Oh, and the city of Tanis. You remember that one, right? From the first Indiana Jones movie? Buried in the sands thousands of years ago, Ark of the Covenant? Yeah, that Tanis.
Squishy Circuits
Ever wanted to teach your 4-year-old about electrical engineering and circuitry? No? Why not!? How about you show them about battery packs, LED lights and play-dough. Yeah, did you know that regular commercial play-dough can conduct electricity? Or that with a little work, you can make your own play-dough? With a slight variation of the recipe, you can even make a resistive play-dough to help create play-dough circuits. Very cool stuff.
How Much is Smaug Worth, Anyway?
And of course, look no further than Forbes magazine for that answer. The article is a behind-the-scenes (“showing a little ankle” as the author amusingly puts it) look at how Forbes goes about evaluating the “Fictional 15”, or the 15 richest fictional characters. It’s humorous and a little surreal seeing a mainstream discussion of what I would have thought was just a fan-boy discussion of relative fictional fortunes. Possibly the geekiest article I’ve ever linked to.
Who Stole My Volcano?
A blog article about an interview with the man who was the production designer for such movies as “Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang”, “Dr Strangelove” and numerous Bond movies. The subtitle of the blog post is “Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dematerialisation of Supervillain Architecture.” Totally worth a read.
All of Doctor Who in 6 Minutes
A light, and lightning-fast, overview of all of Doctor Who’s 47 years on television in 6 minutes. Fun!
Spacewar, 50 Years On
The venerable first video game, originally coded on a PDP-1, has been ported up to the web. It’s using the original Spacewar code, running on a PDP-1 emulator. Originally the emulator was running in Java; in the latest version it’s been ported to HTML5 tools. Enjoy!
You’re Playing With Them Wrong
Because nothing you did as a kid was as awesome as these Star Wars Lego(tm) action shots. Seriously.
How Much Radiation?
Ever wonder how much radiation you can suck up and not have a problem? Want to see that comparison visually, with solid science behind it? Well, look no further than xkcd, not only a great comic, but purveyors of fine graphs and maps.
Teenager Builds Solar Death Ray
And oddly, doesn’t burn down school. See the sun’s concentrated rays burn through concrete! Steel! Other stuff!
It’s Old, But Still Indecipherable
Remember the Voynich manuscript? That seemingly-old document written in a language no one can understand, and filled with unintelligble diagrams? Yeah, well, they know how old it is now, anyway: about the 15th century. Or 100 years older than everyone thought it was.
Underground Master Plan
And no, I don’t mean mole people invaders. The folks of Helsinki Finland are planning on expanding their city below-ground, forming a master plan that encompasses subterranean sea-water-cooled data centers, municipal swimming pools, coal storage, 60km of tunnels, the city-wide heating system, factories and whatever else “doesn’t need to be seen”.
Once Forgotten Caves Laser-mapped
A series of caves, now thought to be a sand-mine, were recently laser-mapped, providing smoke-like maps of their winding, twisty corridors. It’s thought the “caves” were a working sand mind in the 1700’s and were re-discovered in 1892. Some basements in Nottingham actually open onto the caves. Be sure to watch the movies — there’s a virtual fly-through.
Make It Better
Fun little typographic animation perfectly showcasing the geek’s need to fidget with things until they’re “perfect”. Plus it’s cool.
Voxels Make It More Fun
THere’s a new shoot-em-up video game coming to the Mac/PC world, and it looks like a game that escaped from 1984 and then was hit with the 3D wand. But cooler than I just made that sound.
Avoiding data charges in 1906
Text messages are hardly new to communications — just ask anyone who remembers 1906. Back then, it was called the telegram, and this farming equipment company came up with a great way for their customers to avoid additional charges for ordering: codes.
Fly-over of New York City
You’re expecting this to be some footage from 1982 or something, right? I mean, come on! Who can do a fly-over of NYC in this day and age? These guys, that’s who. In an RC airplane at 7am in the morning (when regular air traffic is light). And sure, the TSA and NYC police talked to them — but no arrests or nasty exchanges. Amazing!
Oh, and for the RC enthusiasts out there, a link to the setup they used:
Burning Liquid Sulfur: Blue Flames!
Ever wonder what a sulphur mine inside a volcano might look like? Wonder no more — awesome photos ahead!
Lego Antikythera Mechanism*
That’s right, you read that correctly. Combine the worlds best make-it-yourself toy (Legos!) with an ancient device discovered in clay jars in a shipwreck. What’s the result? Pure concentrated awesome! (thanks to Alex for the heads-up)
Here There Be RPG’ers
I just love me some maps. This is a beauty sent in by a faithful reader (Hi, Matt!). It shows all the RPG-related forums online, in good-old-fashioned hex-map format, where 1 hex equals 1000 members, and then organized into vaguely related islands. My favorite RPG country? The Sunken Ruins of Usenet (an ancient empire).
Read by the Light of the … Trees?
Scientists have found a way to use gold nano-particles to make tree leaves bioluminescent. Interesting, but what if you turned that into a large-scale civic project to replace street lights with trees that GLOW?
Fishing in a Manhattan Basement
It’s a surrealist picture of an actual life event: in a stream bubbling through the basement of a building in Manhattan, this guy caught a fish. It’s a bit like a scene from an unlikely urban fantasy novel.
Map of Online Communities
What if there was a map, like you get at the front of your better fantasy books, that showed the online communities sized to their relative daily bandwidth? That would be one of xkcd’s wonderful virtual maps. I should have one of these things in every monthly article.
It’s All Tommy Westphall’s Fault
This isn’t new, and it isn’t terribly October-y, but BOY is it geeky. If you’re just about to watch St Elsewhere on DVD for the first time or something, look away now, because I’m going to ruin it all for you. Follow along with the crazy, will you? At the end of the TV series St Elsewhere, the last scene has an autistic boy (Tommy Westphall) shaking a snow globe with a miniature version of the hospital in it. The scene right before that had snow falling on the hospital. And the two other characters in the room with Tommy idly wonder what the boy sees in that snow globe. So the obvious interpretation from this is that the WHOLE series has just been inside Tommy’s head, kind of like a giant “and then she woke up” moment.
Weird, but that’s not the Crazy part. See, several characters from St Elsewhere made cross-over and/or cameo appearances on other TV shows (e.g. Homicide). So that means, by some Law of Contagion, that those series are ALSO all in Tommy’s head, or meta-fictional (fiction within fiction). Cross-eyed yet? Wait, there’s more. If you assume that:
A) St Elsewhere was all in Tommy’s head, and
B) any TV series where a St Elsewhere character also appeared is ALSO in Tommy’s head
Then it logically follows that
C) any characters on a B tv show who themselves appear on another tv show is … yes, you guessed it, in Tommy Westphall’s head.
Which makes like 90% of TV shows in the same damned virtual imagined autistic universe.
Evolution of the Geek
How could I pass this up? It’s a biological evolution flowchart showing how the “geek” has evolved over time, from head-biting to Elite Geekdom.
(For those of you opposed to evolution, just assume that the first geek sprang forth from the forehead of the chicken-biting guy and leave it at that.)
How Good is Your Geek Movie-Fu?
No, not another mindless multiple choice quiz-of-the-week. Not a quiz at all. Just a seriously great bunch of t-shirts with extraordinarily obscure references to some great movies. Man, wish I was getting a cut from these guys. Note: mouse-over the t-shirt to see where the reference comes from, then smack yourself in the head for not remembering it.
Making Stop Motion Animation With Light
Take an iPad, add some custom software to generate animation frames for you, and then a custom app on the iPad to show the frames as you move around. Result? This:
When Computer Keyboards Were Made Like 1950’s Cars
You know, with steel. There are people who swear by their ancient, clunky keyboards and will get violent if someone tries to take them away. And when your keyboard is, in fact, made of steel (NOT plastic), that’s a problem.
But there are different brands of “my favorite keyboard”.
The SciFi Airshow
So, it’s like an air show, only all the “planes” are scifi space vehicles. (It’s not real, though.)
Gore Factor Five!
I know, Dragon Age: Origins has been out, like, forever. The review I’m linking to is even months old. But it’s so damn funny, who cares?!
Best. Map. Ever.
Or even, all maps ever made of the earth, the stars and the universe in general, smushed together. Found out about this amazing map by seeing it on TED, and if you don’t know about the TED talks, I’m sorry. You’re about to have a lot of your free time sucked away by amazing speakers and mind-blowing technology.
About John: John’s a geek from way back. He’s been floating between various computer-related jobs for years, until he settled into doing tech support in higher ed. Now he rules the Macs on campus with an iron hand (really, it’s on his desk).
Geek Credentials: RPG: Blue box D&D, lead minis, been to GenCon in Milwaukee. Computer: TRS-80 Color Computer, Amiga 1000, UNIX system w/reel-to-reel backup tape Card games: bought Magic cards at GenCon in 1993 Science: Met Phil Plait, got time on a mainframe for astronomy project in 1983 His Blog:http://glenandtyler.blogspot.com
Need a Post-Apocolypse Movie Location?
Then just fly on down to the Big Easy and check out the former Six Flags New Orleans. All this destruction was a result of 1 month of brackish water (averaging 7 feet deep) and then leaving the front gate of the park open for a few years. Seriously, it’s only been six years, not 100 like these pictures make it seem. Yikes.
Bionic Glasses
For real, people. These glasses sample what the person is seeing (or should be able to see) and figures out what’s there by interfacing with a computer in their pocket. Not an “in 5 years” product, a real thing right now.
The Cartilage Car Fuels Itself
It’s 3D-printing and weirdo concept cars of the future all in one. The car was created using the 3D-printing technique, and the composite artificial material most closely resembles cartilage, which makes the car nearly impervious to impacts. It also creates it’s own biofuel. How? Algae reservoirs (with LED’s for night-time production) in the places in the artificial cartilage body that would otherwise be bone marrow in a creature. Freaked out with the scifi yet?
Star Trek Geeky
I would like to posit that this app is one of the most geeky things in all Geekdom. We’re talking an iPad app that not only looks and acts like it’s out of Star Trek (NG, but still), it also is an an interactive encyclopedia of Star Trek lore.
Food Photos by a Science Geek
See cake sprinkles, chocolate cake, sugar, pineapple, and blueberries (among many other things) through the lens of an electron microscope. Yes, that means everything is very small.
New Evil Dead Movie!
Bruce Campbell has confirmed that there is a new movie in the works.
A Ship So Big…
It needs it’s own zip code? This beast will be 6 times larger than the largest US aircraft carrier. Let that sink in a moment. Six times bigger than those nuclear-powered floating islands. Check out the illustration showing one of those liquid natural gas carriers (with five giant domes on deck) docked next to it.
Looking for that Ideal Island HQ?
For a mere $750,000, this island fortress (circa 1850) could be yours. Comes complete with island. May require some upgrades. Cable-car permit included.
Super Yacht
When super villains build their super-yachts, this is what they wish they looked like. It’s got it’s own escape sub, a missile defense system, an anti-papparrazi laser and a pool that turns into a disco.
Spatially Impossible Hotel, Cheap
So someone was building a level for Duke Nuke’em based on the Overlook Hotel from the movie the Shining. Cool, right? Well, they noticed that there were parts of the hotel, as portrayed in the movie, that were just impossible. They mentioned this to a film professor, and the result is a walk-through of the unworkable.
Wait, Monopoly Can Be Fun?
Ever wonder why a game invented in 1930 is still around, even though everyone agrees it’s boring and takes too long? Here’s why: the house rule in practically everyone’s house has been to ignore one of the fundamental rules of the game, making it … you guessed it, slow and boring. Seriously.
About John: John’s a geek from way back. He’s been floating between various computer-related jobs for years, until he settled into doing tech support in higher ed. Now he rules the Macs on campus with an iron hand (really, it’s on his desk).
Geek Credentials: RPG: Blue box D&D, lead minis, been to GenCon in Milwaukee. Computer: TRS-80 Color Computer, Amiga 1000, UNIX system w/reel-to-reel backup tape Card games: bought Magic cards at GenCon in 1993 Science: Met Phil Plait, got time on a mainframe for astronomy project in 1983 His Blog:http://glenandtyler.blogspot.com
Not too long ago I received a review copy of “The Vengeful Djinn: Unveiling the Hidden Agendas of Genies” by Rosemary Ellen Guiley and Philip J. Imbrogno. I really enjoyed the book and set about trying to verbalize what the book was about and why it was a worthy read. The problem was, my mind kept wandering back to the introduction written by Philip J. Imbrogno. It was just so good at explaining the book, and it did so in such a way that I couldn’t wait to get into reading the book itself. On a whim I contacted Llewellyn, the publisher of “The Vengeful Djinn” about being able to publish Imbrogno’s introduction on The Magical Buffet for my readers, and much to my delight they said yes.
So without further ado, Philip J. Imbrogno’s introduction from “The Vengeful Djinn”!
INTRODUCTION
There has been a growing interest in the paranormal in the past several decades. Ghosts, poltergeists, spook lights, demons, angels, fairies, shadow people, strange creatures, and UFOs have become staples of movies and prime-time television shows. Our attraction to the supernatural is more than a passing fascination—claims of encounters with paranormal entities such as those mentioned above are not restricted to believers or wide-eyed dreamers. Accounts of sometimes frightening experiences are made by people from all walks of life—credible people—who report seemingly incredible things.
I have been investigating paranormal phenomena with an emphasis on UFOs for more than thirty years. I have found myself amazed and sometimes even confused by the variety of reports I’ve received. I’d often ask myself, “Where do these phenomena come from and where do they go when they aren’t seen?” The answer to this question can now be answered by new ideas in theoretical physics. One of these new ideas states that our universe is composed of not one, but multiple dimensions, some very close to our own and many far away in space and time. Periodically, several of these closer dimensions may interact with our world, resulting in the merging of several realities.
My investigations over the years have led me to believe that what we call “the paranormal” takes on a variety of guises, making us humans think we are witnessing multi-faceted phenomena. Actually, this may not be the case at all. In one of these other realities or dimensions close to our own is an intelligent, ancient race that has existed before humans walked the earth—beings with great power who throughout recorded history have been identified by every culture. The Native American shamans call them the “great tricksters,” and to the Hindu of India they are known as “deceivers.” In the West, they are called “devils” and “demons.” New Age spiritualists know them as “the con men of the universe.” This ancient race may be responsible for the majority of paranormal events witnessed over the centuries. We have known very little about them, for only one part of the world has historically documented them and their effect on the human race. Ancient Middle Eastern lore tell tales of a race of mysterious and highly intelligent creatures called the djinn. In the Qur’an, a surah entitled Al-djinn frequently mentions the djinn and refers to them as “God’s other people.” The word djinn is thought to be derived from the Arabic root janna, which means “hidden” and should not be confused with the Arabic word jannah, which means “paradise.”
In the West, the djinn are known as the genies of fairy tales, wish-giving entities trapped in bottles, lamps, and rings. The word genie usually conjures up exotic but harmless images, such as the 1960s television series I Dream of Jeannie, in which Barbara Eden played an obliging, well-meaning, and often ditzy genie freed from a bottle by an astronaut, played by Larry Hagman. “Genie” also has comical associations, such as in the Disney movie Aladdin, based on the tale from Arabian lore. In these depictions, genies may have a bit of prankster in them, but they seem benign, even helpful, and we in the West laugh at them. We have little knowledge and lack fear of the real race, the djinn.
Middle Eastern cultures have a considerably different view of the djinn, however. In many Islamic households, just speaking the name of the djinn will cause the bravest to flee in terror. They consider the djinn to be quite real and a great threat to humanity, causing misfortune, illness, possession, and even death. The djinn hide in the shadows, biding their time and watching us, looking for opportunities to strike, interacting with humans only when it suits their purpose. They are powerful shapeshifters and can live for thousands of years. To cross the djinn is to invite destruction.
My introduction to the world of the djinn began in the mid-1990s while I was traveling through the Middle East researching the Knights Templar and their connection to the Holy Grail. After two weeks of what seemed to be nothing more than a wild goose chase, I began to hear stories about the djinn. At first I had no idea what they were. An old friend, who later became my guide through some very perilous country there, explained the djinn as the origin of the Western “genie.” Like many westerners, I laughed, thinking of those jolly wish-granting spirits. Well, my host took the existence of the djinn very seriously—to him, they were very real. The djinn’s true nature and reality became evident to me as I collected a great deal of information on them and visited some of the places where they are reputed to enter our world. I realized they represent an aspect of the paranormal that had been largely untouched by western researchers. I also realized the djinn could be the hidden source of the diversity of paranormal events everywhere.
I briefly introduced the djinn in two of my previous books, Interdimensional Universe: The New Science of UFOs, Paranormal Phenomena, and Otherdimensional Beings and Files from the Edge: A Paranormal Investigator’s Explorations into High Strangeness. Although I didn’t go into much detail, I found the djinn attracted a lot of curiosity and attention among readers.
Several years ago, noted paranormal investigator Rosemary Ellen Guiley and I began investigating paranormal hot spots in New York that generate a great number of reports relating to UFOs and other types of phenomena. We have been exploring the possibility that in many of these high strangeness locations, portals that connect our world to an unseen world exist. When I mentioned my research on the djinn to Rosemary, she told me she was very interested in them due to her research into angels, demons, fairies, and shadow people. After many long discussions, things began falling into place; we could see the connections among parallel dimensions, the emergence of paranormal phenomena, and the race of ancient beings that exist in a reality very close to our own. During our research, we gathered evidence of the djinn in the Western Hemisphere and applied it to paranormal and UFO phenomena. The result is an interesting and compelling picture that raises many questions about what people are really experiencing. Are the djinn behind our paranormal encounters and experiences? Are they behind some of the terrifying experiences people report? If so, what is their purpose? According to ancient lore, the djinn once occupied this world, and they seek to reclaim it. Are they using paranormal avenues to invade our reality? Is their reality merging with ours? We should consider all of these possibilities. There may be a dark agenda below the surface of our experiences, and we fail to see it because we’re preoccupied with the superficial characteristics of the experiences themselves. No one has the complete solution to this cosmic puzzle yet, but I believe we are offering a number of important pieces to solve the mystery.
This book will take you on an adventure into a world of the unseen, hidden from us in the shadows for countless centuries. We present to you the truth about the race of beings you thought only existed in your imagination—or your nightmares. If you choose to fear anything in your life, fear the djinn. Enter their world…if you dare!
About John:
