Thomas Paine Liberal Quotes for Trump.

In the Major Arcana, the 10th card is The Wheel of Fortune, which symbolizes the ups and downs, wins and losses, and successes and failures of life.  The card signifies a reversal in fortune and teaches that there is nothing permanent except change.

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On January 10th, in 2000, the largest corporate merger in history took place and neither company is still with us today. It was reported in the business press as a dazzling royal wedding: AOL (American Online), the largest internet provider united with Time Warner the old media company to form a seemingly perfect consolidation of old and new.

In "Bad Days in History," the writer likens this hook-up,  to that of a hungover couple waking up to face one another in the harshest light of morning: big mistake.   And it was; within a few years both units were giving their top managers golden million-dollar walking papers while laying off workers and wiggling out of pensions for the rest. 

"I'd like to forget it," Ted Turner told the Times.  Besides the pee-on workers who probably lost their jobs, Turner lost the most from the relationship he had once likened to his first time making love-- 80 percent of his net worth, or about eight billion dollars.  "The Time Warner-Aol merger should pass into history like the Vietnam War and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars," he said.  "It is one of the biggest disasters that have occurred to our country."

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Thomas Paine

American colonist Thomas Paine publishes his influential pamphlet Common Sense on this day in 1776.  In his pamphlet he argued against the concept of monarchy, and separation from Great Britain.


It still amazes me how anyone can say the US was founded strictly on Christian and Conservative principals.  Paine, like the other Framers of the Constitution, was a deist who didn't believe in a church God.  Paine, I might add, believed that the wealthy should pay taxes to help the poor, educate the children, and provide pensions for the aged.  "What!  You mean to tell me he was a liberal?"

"Yes, Virginia, I do.

"In his book, The Age of Reason, he even attacks the Bible on moral grounds.

"Payne, like Jefferson and Franklin and other Masons of the day, believed in the enlightenment of the ages, and that the US would be that shining light on the hill...."


Thomas Payne Quotes for your Sunday Afternoon Coffee read  (lifted from Goodreads.com):

 “To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.”
― Thomas Paine, The American Crisis
 

“The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.”
― Thomas Paine, A Letter Addressed to the Abbe Raynal on the Affairs of North America 

 “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.”
― Thomas Paine

 “It is from the Bible that man has learned cruelty, rapine, and murder; for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel man.”
― Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason 

 “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense 

 “One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests.”
― Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason 

 “I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”
― Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason

  “A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.”
― Thomas Paine

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Iroquois Hoop Dance

Finally, since we are talking about U.S. History, the Iroquois Indians celebrate the new year on this date with a centuries-old ritual known as the Feast of Dreams.

You heard it hear first sports-fans, Namaste.

The Purple Testament

During World War II, American victories on the Philippine island of Leyte and a lopsided naval victory in Leyte Gulf in October 1944 opened the way for the invasion of the Philippine Island on this day in 1944.


Americans warships encountered attacks by Japanese suicide boats packed with explosives.  These boats, piloted by kamikaze troops, rammed the light cruiser Columbia and the battleship Mississippi, causing little damage but killing 49 American sailors.  Once inland, American troops fought their way through a stiff defensive network of caves and tunnels.

One solider, left in the jungle for days, listening to American voices yell, "Help me, Joe, I'm dying..." knew it was one of the tricks Japaneses used to pull them out of hiding and shoot them.  He had seen it all-too-many times.  So he stayed hidden listening to the voices all night, and once even noticed that there was a split second of time when it is neither night or day, where light and dark meet, just as the sun is about to rise.   He termed that moment, "The Twilight Zone."  That young paratrooper of the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment was Rod Serling, the creator of The Twilight Zone television series. 

"Infantry platoon, U.S. Army, Philippine Islands, 1945. These are the faces of the young men who fight, as if some omniscient painter had mixed a tube of oils that were at one time earth brown, dust gray, blood red, beard black, and fear - yellow white, and these men were the models. For this is the province of combat, and these are the faces of war."

The 9th card of the Major Arcana is The Hermit, who is usually depicted walking with a lantern and a stick; he represents meditation, islation and quietude.  The card also signifies crystallized wisdom and ultimate discipline.  The Hermit is a taskmaster who motivates by conscience and guides others on their path. 

The Worst President Ever? No, not Bush or Trump, it is...

The 7th card of the Major Arcana is The Chariot, which shows a triumphant figure moving through the world, manifesting his physical presence in a dynamic way.  The card may be interpreted to mean that no matter how narrow or precarious the correct path, one must continue on.  The good side of this card posits success, talent and efficiency; the bad side suggests a dictatorial attitude and a poor sense of direction.

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Millard Fillmore

Born on this day in 1800 was Millard Fillmore.   Do you know who he was?  Probably not, he had the misfortune of being the 13th president of the United States.   Now, for some of us, 13 is a very lucky number (in the rare instances that there are 13 stalls in a bathroom I always use the 13th and can tell you I never had a bad shit in one once, I'm just saying), but for those who don't appreciate the numerologist aspects of life, it might be bad; and, evidently, Millard Fillmore was of that belief.   


First of all, he was the last of the Whig Party.   After him, the party was in such shambles that the other party -- The Republican/Democratic party split in two and became the united conservative party of the day with two faces.  Unfortunately, we've yet to have a liberal party and that is why I am urging everyone to take the oath not to vote for another Democrat or Republican in the next election to wake up their money backers that we "really" want our country back.

Getting back to Millard Fillmore, he was originally a member of the Nativist Do Nothing Party (get this, they wanted to restrict immigration to the U.S., sound familiar?  It should, they also earned the "Do Nothing Party," label in the day.   Yes, they were trying to make America Great Again, for the first time(?)."Anyway, Millard Fillmore was the Vice President to Zachary Taylor (Zachary was a military guy convinced to run as a Whig, the Ike Eisenhower of the day; who probably was poisoned by the way, but I'll leave that for another time) and only became president when Zachary died/poisoned in office.

So, quite suddenly, Fillmore is president and immediately replaces Zachary's cabinet with his own liked minded ilk. The most notably issue of the day was expanding slavery to the developing western states, which Zachary had disapproved of; fortunately for the slave-owners, however, Fillmore immediately approved the slave trade out west! Yes, how fortunate for the slave owners of the day that Millard Fillmore, our 13th president, was installed.

After serving out Zachery's term, Fillmore lost the nomination of his own party to run again, and so, not only goes down as our only 13th President, but also, our first un-elected-ever president (Gerald Ford would have the  most resent honors after Richard Nixon escaped arrest), and at least before George W. Bush was voted the worst,  Millard Fillmore was considered the worst president ever.



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The 7th day of January really does mark the end of Christmas in old times.   In England it was called Saint Distaff's Day, when work began again after Christmas.  Not a real saint's day, it was instead a tongue-in-cheek commemoration of women's return to their household chores.

Lady Campbell

To Emily Eden

 January 7th, 1821

I cannot bear Scotland in spite of every natural beauty, the people are so odious... Their hospitality takes one in, but that is kept up because it is their pride.  Their piety seems to me mere love of argument and prejudice; it is the custom to make a saturnalia of New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day they drown themselves in whisky.  Last New Year's Eve being Sunday, they would not break the Sabbath, but sat down after the preaching till twelve o'clock; the moment that witching hour arrived, they thought their duty fulfilled, seized the whisky, and burst out of their houses, and ran about drinking the entire night, and the whole of Monday and Monday night too.  This is no exaggeration, you have no idea the state they are in -- men lying about the streets, women as drunk as they -- in short, I never was more disgusted. 

      Pamela, Lady Campbell  (Author and the eldest daughter of the Irish revolutionary Lord Edward Fitzgerald).

Predictions for 2018! China the new Superpower? Wall Detroys the U.S. Film at Eleven.

Predictions for 2018.   Well, there are a few.  And where else better to start than that crazy old water gazer himself, Nostradamus.  According to the London Express, Nostradamus only predicted the end of the world this year, sometime in May.   Ouch.   Why would they say that?


The passage they are most likely referring to is this one: “Kings steal forests, the sky will open, the fields will be burned by heat.”

That obviously sounds like the capitalist pigs at work chopping down the rain-forest trees for cheap hamburger profits (if you are not a vegetarian yet why are you even reading my blog, the production of meat is the greatest sin ever committed by humankind).   Oddly enough, Nostradamus goes on in another quadrant to say:   “...the rich shall die many times over....” “...pigs will become a brother to man.”   Combined this with his other quadrants such as:

“The trembling so hard in the month of May....

“Saturn, Capricorn, Jupiter, Mercury in Taurus:

“Venus also, Cancer, mars, in Virgo,

“Hail will fall larger than an egg.”

 Okay, I'm convinced it will happen, but why May 2018 I don't know, so relax everyone.  Well, at least until we read the next prediction from the NY Post, which is a little more frightening as well as obvious for those of us with eyes to see:

Bulgarian Baba Vanga

Bulgarian Baba Vanga — who died in 1996 at the age of 85 — is well known among conspiracy theorists who believe she foretold natural disasters and global events long before they occurred.
Before she died, Baba — dubbed the “Nostradamus from the Balkans” — left predictions up to the 51st century, when she believed the world would end.

The two major events Baba predicted for 2018 are:

 China will become the world’s next “superpower,” taking over from the US, and “a new form of energy” will be discovered on Venus.

 Wow, can anyone deny that China is soon to knock the US out of first place in the Superpower rankings of the world?   Just look at the crap Donald Trump and the Republicans are doing to ensure this:  a 1.6 billion dollar wall on the south border to fulfill a right-wing nuts idea that it will somehow make the US safer(?)   Does anyone in their right mind really believe this?   That is money which could be used to improve our lives but funding infrastructural projects in the US, or my god, helping the millions of US citizens (including Puerto Rico) with medical care.   My point being, obviously our current leaders have no clue on how to run a global economy and so they are creating this great vacuum for China to fill.   And they will.   So, no doubt this prediction is true.   Now what was her other for 2018?  Oh, yeah, the Venus thing.  Well, yes, NASA and Russia are dong joint projects with Venus in their sites, and the full sunlight that Venus has definitely points to a new kind of solar energy, but, what if the energy she was talking about is spiritual?   Could this not be a prediction for The Venus Project?

What is The Venus Project?

The Venus Project is an organization that proposes a feasible plan of action for social change, one that works towards a peaceful and sustainable global civilization. It outlines an alternative to strive toward where human rights are no longer paper proclamations but a way of life.

We propose a fresh, holistic approach – one that is dedicated to human and environmental concerns. It is an attainable vision of a bright and better future, one that is appropriate to the times in which we live, and both practical and feasible for a positive future for all the world’s people.

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The 6th card of the Major Arcana is The Lovers.  It symbolizes the love that unites all of humanity through integration of masculine and feminine polarities.  On the good side this card indicates affections and desires on a high moral, aesthetic and physical plane; on the bad side, it suggests a propensity for unfulfilled desires, sentimentality and indecisiveness.  January 6 people must be careful of sacrificing themselves for love. 

5th day of the year; the Hierophant card.

John T. Scopes

In 1925 a trial took place on this day in Tennessee, which became known as the Scopes Trial.  It involved a teacher called John T. Scopes, who had the state of Tennessee take him to court for violating a new law -- the Butler Act -- that forbade him from teaching human evolution, in favor of the belief in the diving creation of humanity, as entertained by the Christian Bible.

Get this, John T. Scopes lost the lawsuit and the state of Tennessee continued to teach the myth until 1967 when some of those damned Yankee liberals moved in and had it changed.  Funny, in 1981, the state of Arkansas voted for the same law called the 'Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act.'   Personally, the only problem I have with these "myth" laws, is that they never use the Ancient Alien myth that I believe in, but I digress.

On a lighter note, it was that 1981 backwoods, e i e i o vote, that made it possible for Bill Clinton to become governor in the next election, when the people of Arkansas (mostly parents with kids in school who couldn't believe their children were being lied at by their teachers) to vote for change:  a Republican Light Governor who would go on to fool the masses he wasn't a Republican.  
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Alfred Dreyfus

 I guess history really does repeat itself.  With all this 'fake news' that will eventually lead to Donald Trump's impeachment, a similar thing happened on this day in 1895: Alfred Dreyfus, an artillery captain of Jewish descent attached to the French General Staff, was convicted of treason by the French government and was forced to undergo an excruciating ritual of degradation before being shipped off to serve a life sentence on the fearsome penal colony Devil's Island.


At 9 a.m., Dreyfus was marched into the center of the Ecole Militaire courtyard, where, before representatives of all France's armed forces and stands full of distinguished guests, his self-described "horrible torture" began.  "I suffered agonizingly, but held myself erect with all my strength,"  he recalled.  'To sustain me I called up the memory of my wife and children."

The sentence of degradation was read aloud, after which Dreyfus suddenly cried out to his comrades, "Soldiers!..I am innocent, I swear that I am innocent.  I remain worthy of serving in the army.  Long live France!  Long live the army!"

Despite his protest, guards stripped Dreyfus of his buttons, braids, and epaulets until his uniform was bare of decoration.  The ceremony ended with a parade -- a walk of shame. "I was compelled to make the whole round of the square," Dreyfus recounted.  "I heard the howls of the deluded mob (chanting, 'Lock Him Up" no doubt), I felt the thrill which I knew must be running through those people, since they believed that before them was a convicted traitor to France; and I struggled to transmit to their hearts another thrill -- belief in my innocence."

In 1898, however, Major Hubert Henry admitted that he had forged much of the evidence. In 1906 the Dreyfus conviction was overturned.

Oppppsss, this isn't actually the same as what is happening with Donald Trump, is it?  Sorry for the confusion.

Oh, and, in 1985 a statue of Dreyfus holding his broken sword was crafted and placed in the Ecole Militaire courtyard; in 2002 the words "Dirty Jew" were painted on it.  it now stands on an obscure Parisian traffic island.

Dreyfus Statue Today

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In England, Twelve Night and Wassail Eve herald the end of Christmas.  In some parts of Italy, the crone goddess Befana is said to distribute sweets to good children and lumps of coal to bad ones.  Her festival is celebrated with songs, music, horns, and noisemakers.  The loud sounds drive away evil and mark the passage of winter.


Today's Esoteic Report is brought to you by:

The 5th card of the Major Arcana is The Hierophant, an interpreter of sacred mysteries who is symbolic of human understanding and faith.  His knowledge is esoteric and he has authority over things unseen.  Favorable traits conferred by this card are self-absurdness and insight; unfavorable traits include moralizing, bombast and dogmatism.  Thus, January 5 people must be careful of being too pompous in their attitudes.

How Manly P Hall Saved My Career

Trump Tweets, Ruby, Lewis and Clark! Oh my.

Blessed are the peacekeepers, or was it beekeepers?   I get confused.  One thing that isn't confusing is Donald Trump's tweet last night:

"North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.' Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!"

"Much bigger & more powerful." "My Button works."

Ahhhhh, run for your life!!!   The guy is f$%^ng crazy!!!

But you knew that when you voted for him.  

In contrast to the Twitter and Chief,  on this day in in 1985, President Ronald Reagan condemned the recent abortion clinic murders as, well, twitting crazy (I paraphrase).   Of course, Reagan had already been elected for a second term and so didn't need to appease his utra-right-wing vote any longer; hence, we now have a Tweeter-in-chief.

None-the-less, on this day in ancient Greece was held the pagan festival called the Lenaia in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility.   Funny, but as part of the celebration, a group of revelers would ride on a wagon mocking and insulting people along the way.

So maybe Trump is a pagan?

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Speaking of mocking people, Ronald Wayne gets mocked a bit on this day for today is the day back in 1977 when Apple Computers incorporated.  Wayne had had a 10 percent share of Apple but decided it was too risky and so left before the incorporation.  Jobs, always knowing the future, paid Wayne $800 to terminate the relationship.  So, Wayne became the fifth-Beatle in a sense and went on to live in a trailer in Nevada, trading stamps and coins, and collecting Social Security.  In 2013, Wayne told the U.K's Daily Mail, "If I had stayed with Apple and accepted the limitations on my philosophy of life I could have well ended up the richest man in the cemetery."

He also had a way with words.

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Jack Ruby et al

Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of U.S. president John F. Kennedy, died of cancer in a Dallas hospital on this day after haven spending four years in a jail cell overlooking Dealey Plaza adjacent to the infamous Book Depository where the alleged gun-shots came from.   Every day of his remaining life, Ruby could look out that window with the reminder to keep his mouth shut.   Which he did.  I only wonder what happened to his dogs?   I use to work at a music store in Dallas Texas and met an old piano turner who use to tune Jack Ruby's pianos and so would be in the empty restaurant on quiet afternoons when Ruby would come in and start slapping the cocktail waitresses around -- he was a real son-of-a-bitch that way.   My piano-turning friend told me: "He had these two dogs with him all the time.  I think he tweeted (had sex with) those dogs."

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Both kinds of explorers: Lewis and Clark.

Finally, I leave you on this blessed day with a journal entry from the beloved explorer who first wrote about these here United States back on their famous Explorer Expedition (warning, it will be disturbing to dog lovers):


January 3rd, 1806

One party, from necessity having been obliged to subsist some length of time on dogs, have now become extremely fond of their flesh.  It is worthy of remark that while we lived principally on the flesh of this animal, we were much more healthy, strong, and more fleshy than we had been since we left the buffalo country.  for my own part, I have become so perfectly reconciled to the dog that I think it an agreeable food and would prefer it vastly to lean venison or elk. 

                                                                                        -- Meriwether Lewis

An Esoteric Look at January 2

The 4th card of the Major Arcana is The Emperor, who rules over worldly things through wisdom, the primary source of his power.  The Emperor is stable and wise; the force of his authority cannot be questioned.  The positive associations of this card are strong willpower and steadfast energy; negative indications include stubbornness, tyranny, even brutality.

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Timothy Pickering

Timothy Pickering was an early American pest; a persistent, self-righteous mosquito who, among other offenses, urged the secession of New England -- if Tom Brady wins another Superbowl this year they might as well -- and assiduously undermined the first four U.S presidents.  He called George Washington "a much overrated, semi-literate mediocrity."  John Adams was forced to fire him as secretary of state because of his disloyalty to the administration -- and after that he stubbornly refused to resign.

John Aams

Pickering was also the first U.S senators to be censured for pointing out the truth.  On October 27, 1810, President James Madison issued a proclamation declaring the annexation of West Florida, a Spanish possession, claiming the region had been part of the Louisiana Purchase  Pickering objected by producing before the Senate an old document from France's foreign minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, stating emphatically that West Florida was not part of the Louisiana Purchase.  Only problem was, the document had yet to be declassified -- despite the fact that it dated back to the Jefferson Administration.  Revealing the classified document was a petty violation, and Pickering's enemies pounced on it.

Henry Clay, the aggressively expansionist senator from Kentucky, introduced a resolution of censure.  Pickering called it a "put-up affair," which indeed it was.  Had the motion been made against someone less unpleasant to his peers, it probably wouldn't have passed.  but Pickering was Pickering, and on January 2, 1811, he became the first entry in the Senate's official annals of infamy.
(Parts of this posting lifted from Bad Days in History, pg 17.)

Henry Clay (would you run from this guy in a darkroom?)

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On this day in 1997, California's smoking ban was extended to bars and drinking establishments.  At the times this was very bizarre indeed, and we smokers -- not today, but at the time -- thought it would be the death of us.  Little did we know that by putting smoking sections in bars -- usually outside the front door -- millions of singles would pick-up the habit to meet other singles outside for a smoke, and pick-up line:


"Yeah, I only smoke when I drink, I'm a runner."
"I'm into yoga, your place or mine?"
"Do you smoke in your house?"
"No!"
"Okay, let's go!"

Poanski and Tate

Charles Manson (would you run from this guy in a lighted-room?)

In 1968 on this day, French-Polish film director, screenwriter, and actor Roman Polanski marries American actress Sharon Tate, who is later murdered while pregnant with their baby by the white supremacy Charles Manson.  You know, the guy with the swastika on his forehead who died regretting he couldn't vote to make America great again because he was imprisoned.


In 1974 U.S. president Ricard M. Nixon signs the federal law forcing states to set maximum speed limits of 55 miles per hours, which -- in Texas at least -- would have been the end of the Republican Party if it hadn't been rumored that Jimmy Carter was the one who lowered God's Gracious speed limit to 55 mphs and took away another American Freedom: the south hasn't voted for another Democrat since.

Deer Dancer

Historically, on this day, the Native Americans had a real hoot-and-hallow in honor of fertility with their  the Deer Dances -- the Pueblo Natives that is, the intellectual Iroquoians didn't go for that crazy shit.

An Iroquois Teacher

Blue Moon Month; Happy New Year 2018

The 1st card of the Major Arcana is The Magician, who symbolizes intellect, communication, information, as well as magic.   Over his head is an infinity symbol, which in some Tarot decks takes the form of a hat, in others a halo.  Many interpretations may be drawn, one of which is that The Magician recognizes the cyclical and unending nature of life and is empowered by this understanding.  The positive traits suggested by this first card include diplomatic skill and shrewdness but, negatively, lack of scruples and opportunism.  Perhaps the Magician symbolizes the dilemma facing many January 1 people-- a desire for success and greater utilization of their talents can demand a corresponding "flexibility" in their moral code.

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January 1st is the celebration of Kalends.  New Year's Day and the festival of the two-faced Roman Janus, god of gates, doorways, journeys, and new beginnings.  This day is sacred to the Greek gods Zeus and Hera and to the Roman Jupiter and Juno; it is a day of offerings to the Roman Fortuna, goddess of fortune and fertility, and is sacred to the red-haired Irish goddess of war, The Morrigan.


The first New Year's day was celebrated in 45 B.C. with the adoption of the Julian calendar.  Tired of having to sync the lunar calendar each year with different days to coincide with the astronomical seasons marked by equinoxes and solstices, an Alexandrian astronomer named Sosigenes created a more regulated civil calendar, a solar calendar based entirely on Earth's revolutions around the Sun, also called a tropical year. It takes our planet on average, approximately 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds (365.242189 days) to complete one full orbit around the Sun.   And you thought it had something to do with the death of Jesus, some would have you believe that.

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William Allingham

William Allingham, Diary, 1873


To Carlyle's at three.  He gives me a book.  We walk out.  "This morning," he said, "after midnight, as Mary and i were sitting together, we heard a chorus of male voices outside the window singing Auld Lang Syne this morning.  We peeped out, and saw five or six figures on the other side of the street.  I was really touched.  I put up the window and said 'Good-night!'  One of them eagerly replied 'Good-night!" and then they all vanished silently away.'  Then with a laugh he added, 'Truly the songs of Judah in a Babylonish land!'... He spoke of 'Hogmanay' in the streets of Edinburgh, hot punch and kissing.  There used to be gangs of footpads in Edinburgh.   Carlyle was once struck on the head by them and had his hat broken.  He saw three men of this kind hanged."

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Finally, don't forget to look up at the sky for the first of two January 2018 full moons falls on the evening of January 1, 2018, for most of the Western Hemisphere (January 2 for the Eastern Hemisphere). This full moon comes only 4.5 hours after the moon reaches lunar perigee – the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit. Thus this full moon presents the closest – and thereby the largest and brightest – supermoon of 2018.  And if you miss this one, the next is January 31, 2018 making it a Blue Moon month.   We'll look at the signicance of this on the 31st, should definity be an emotional month for those of us with feelings.

sing Auld Lang Syne: Happy New Year!

Auld Lang Syne is a song which thrilled the soul of Robert Burns in the 1780s, and today has become an anthem sung the world over at New Year.
nitiated into St. David Tarbolton Lodge in Scotland on July 4, 1781.   I won't go into the secret teachings of the Freemason, but I will share their secret handshake with you:

It's a regular handshake, except that you press your forefinger hard into the other's palm.  The thumb presses against the base joints of the second and third fingers.  It looks pretty much like any other handshake; only the persons shaking hands can feel the difference. 

Now, back to Auld Lang Syne:

In 1788, Robert Burns sent the poem 'Auld Lang Syne' to the Scots Musical Museum, indicating that it was an ancient song but that he'd been the first to record on paper.  The phrase 'auld lang syne' roughly translates as 'for old times' sake,' and the song is all about preserving old friendships and looking back over the events of the year.

It has long been a much-loved Scottish tradition to sing the song just before midnight.  Everyone stands in a circle holding hands, then at the beginning of the final verse ('And there's a hand my trusty friend') they cross their arms across their bodies so that their left hand is holding the hand of the person on their right, and their right hand holds that of the person on their left. When the song ends, everyone rushes to the middle, still holding hands, and probably giggling.

Most Scots know the first verse and the chorus but if you don't, here's the full version.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.

Chorus:

For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne,

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

Chorus

We twa hae run about the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin auld lang syne.

Chorus

We twa hae paidl'd i' the burn,
Frae mornin' sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.

Chorus

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right guid willy waught,
For auld lang syne.

Chorus

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And long, long ago.

Chorus

And for long, long ago, my dear
For long, long ago,
We'll take a cup of kindness yet,
For long, long ago

And surely youll buy your pint-jug!
And surely I'll buy mine!
And we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
For long, long ago.

Chorus

We two have run about the hills
And pulled the daisies fine;
But we've wandered manys the weary foot
Since long, long ago.

Chorus

We two have paddled in the stream,
From morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
Since long, long ago.

Chorus

And there's a hand, my trusty friend!
And give us a hand of yours!
And we'll take a deep draught of good-will
For long, long ago.

First, and to get it out of the way, Robert Burns was a Freemason, but then, what man-of-means back in the 1780's wasn't?   He was i
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New Year's Eve, so it be. 


The modern custom of ringing bells and blowing horns to usher in the new year at midnight is actually derived from the old Pagan custom of noise-making to scare away the evils of the old year. In certain parts of Japan, young men put on grotesque demon masks and costumes made of straw and go door to door collecting donations of money, rice cakes, and sake. This traditional New Year's Eve custom serves to drive out the demons of misfortune and ensure an abundant harvest for the new year. Another part of this New Year's Eve celebration was called Hogmanay, or "First Footing," and is still celebrated in many parts of England and Scotland, where revelers hold parties, set off fireworks, ring bells, and make New Year's resolutions.  At the stroke of midnight, the front doors of all the homes are opened to permit the entry of good luck in the new year.

Happy New Year's Everyone, let's hope it's a good one!

So begins our Esoteric look at John Dee and his diary

22th of Dec: Anno: 1581


John Dee begins his conversation with the spirits.


Yes, John Dee was tired with the routine of his lives studies in mathematics, alchemy, the kabbalah, astrology, and magic (to name a few), and so decided to go straight to the source by scrying through a crystal ball on this day in 1581.


In his article in the Journal of International Philosophy, No.5 2016,  TAKEUCHI Dai, tells us that, "While the first record of the scrying sessions undertaken by Dee was taken on December 22, 1581, he had already employed a scryer in 1579…Dee employed at least four different scryers. Among them, Edward Kelly (1555-1597).... Kelly would kneel down in front of his desk upon which a shew-stone was set and fell to prayer and entreaty while gazing at the stone. During this time, Dee would withdraw to his Oratory and entreat the appearance of angels with prayer. About fifteen minutes later, Kelly would “have sight of one in the stone. He would then proceed to provide a point-for-point oral report on everything he saw and heard. Sitting at a different table, Dee recorded what was reported and posed all sorts of questions to the summoned angel or spirit.


The angels that communicated through Kelley included the four traditional archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel, plus Annael, who Trithemius listed as the archangel ruling the period in which Dee lived, and Levanael (angel of the Moon). Other spirits or angels included Madimi (and her Mother), Murfridi, Ath, Solgars, Jubanladaece, Galva’h, Ilemese, Mapsama, Ave, Nalvage, Panlacarp, and Aphlafben, and disruptive spirits like Barma, Morvorgran and Ganislay. Frequently the communicant was just identified as ‘a voice’ (or vox).


These angels/spirits often delivered prophecies on Central European politics, as well as providing alchemical advice, and a number of tedious sermons and rants about the wickedness of Dee, Kelley or their several potential patrons.  Dee was particularly interested in the possibility of an immanent Second coming and the setting up of a new Kingdom of God.
 

UFO disclosure news and Yule Time Joy.

After having been worked-up again last year by David Wilcock who said UFO Disclosure was going to happen in a few weeks -- I should have learned when the world didn't end December 21, 2012 as he predicted -- I was eventually let down because no governments came out admitting they had been in contact with aliens... until now!   Kind of.   It's still just a tease to get us used to the idea, but yesterday on CNN, A former Pentagon official who oversaw its highly secretive Unidentified Flying Object - yes, UFO - program said on CNN to host Erin Burnett that Americans may have been having visitors from afar for quite some time. And that the government has kept it quite on the hush-and-hush.

What I do find interesting about this is that only two-days ago on December 18th, a retired Navy pilot by the name of Fravor told ABC News: “I’m not crazy, haven’t been drinking. It was — after 18 years of flying, I’ve seen pretty much about everything that I can see in that realm, and this was nothing close.”

Fravor’s recounted a stunning encounter off the California coast in which he says something flying that appeared to be some 40 feet long and wingless, and flying at incredibly high rates of speed.
He was flying his F/A-18 fighter on a training mission off the Southern California coast when he recalls things started to get a little strange. He recalled Navy controllers on one of the ships below him on the water reporting that there were objects dropping from the sky from 80,000 feet and then going “straight back up,” Fravor told ABC News.

So there you have it, oh, plus at a White House Press briefing this week Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she hadn’t heard either way (if Donald Trump believes in UFO's), but she will check in on that and be happy to circle back. 

David Wilcock

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On December 21, 1620 the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock and so this date was celebrated in 1769 in honor of the pilgrims with a holiday called Forefathers' Day which turned out to be an ill-fated holiday that eventually fell into obscurity in favor of Thanksgiving.   Which, by-the-way, happens to fall on the old pagan Harvest celebration which was celebrated as Creator Day.   Yes, another pagan holiday gets stolen from our true history.   In case anyone is keeping counting.


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Image Artwork by Susan Seddon Boulet

 Finally, the Winter Solstice happens tonight, enjoy.   I'll be at a  Pagan Yule Log Burning Solstice Ceremony in honor of it.  I'm sure there is one close to you, be there or be square.

The Wheel has turned once more, and
the earth has gone to sleep.
The leaves are gone, the crops have returned to the ground.
On this darkest of nights, we celebrate the light.
Tomorrow, the sun will return,
its journey continuing as it always does.
Welcome back, warmth.
Welcome back, light.
Welcome back, life.

Ghost Flight, planet Clarion, and Winter Solstice!

In 1941 on this day, the Flying Tigers, American pilots of fighting again Japanese in china during World War II, take to the air for the first time in their P-40 fighters, infliction heavy losses on Japanese bombers attacking Kunming.

On the flip side of that same year, a few days earlier (December 7th, 1941), the Japanese had invaded Pearl Harbor and of course you know the story there, of how the U.S. lost a lot of boats and people.   It's kind of bizarre then to realize that on December 8th of 1942, radar picked up an unidentified plane heading straight for Pearl Harbor from the direction of Japan.  Two fighters were instructed to investigate and quickly intercepted the mysterious plane. It would be the first sighting of the P-40 Ghost Plane which continues to appear in the area to unsuspecting flights.

Those who see the P-40 Ghost Flight all same the same thing: A pilot covered in blood and slumped over his instrument panel, briefly pops up and waves before his bullet-ridden fighter plane nosedives directly to the ground and crashes.

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Lake City will be destroyed by a flood from the great lake just before dawn, Dec, 21, according to a suburban housewife.  Mrs. Dorothy Martin who says the prophesy is not her own.  It is the purport of many messages she has received by automatic writing, she says….  The messages, according to Mrs. Martin, are sent to her by superior beings from a planet called “Clarion.” These beings have been visiting the earth, she says, in what we call flying saucers.  During their visits, she says, they have observed fault lines in the earth’s crust that foretoken the deluge.    Mrs. Martin reports she was told the flood will spread to form an  inland sea stretching from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico.  At the same time, she says, a cataclysm will submerge the West Coast from Seattle, Wash. to Chile in South America…

(Above excerpt from the book book, When Prophecy Fails)


 ON December 20th, in 1954, Dorothy Martin had her house filled with friends who had joined her to meet the Aliens from planet Clarion who had promised to come save them at midnight, because the world would be destroyed by a flood that night.   The group decided not to buy Christmas gifts or make New Year party plans that year.   They just waiting.  

When the clock hit 12:01am, December 21, and there weren't no aliens, Keech got another message: since they had joined together with so much love, the aliens had called off the flood.   The world was saved!

The next week, Dorothy Martin was placed under psychiatric care to prevent the Oak Park police of charging her with “inciting to riot,” after a “boisterous crowd… blocked traffic on Christmas Eve outside the Martin home at 707 S. Cuyler Av., Oak Park.

“I felt a kind of tingling or numbness in my arm, and my whole arm felt warm right up to the shoulder,” Dorothy Martin had said, describing the way she would receive the messages. “Without knowing why, I picked up a pencil and a pad that were lying on the table near my bed. My hand began to write in another handwriting. I looked at the handwriting and it was strangely familiar, but I knew it was not my own. I realized that somebody else was using my hand.”  

After-the-fallout:

Dorothy Martin fled to Peru.  She lived there for several years, and spent time with the group “The Brotherhood of the Seven Rays”, founded by another channel and contactee, George Hunt Williamson.   

She returned to the United States in 1961, and settled in Arizona. She had undergone a great amount of learning and transformation while in South America.  Her mentor Sananda was now no longer considered merely a member of an extra-terrestrial race from the planet Clarion.  Now known as Esu Sananda Kumara, or more specifically, Jesus Christ.

 

Dorothy Martin now called herself Sister Thedra, and in 1965 she founded “Association of Sananda and Sanat Kumara.”  She relocated to Mount Shasta in California, and continued to spread the messages that she was receiving from what she now called “the masters.” 

In 1988, she moved the group once again to Sedona, Arizona.  They existed as a group of devotees awaiting messages from “masters” via the channel of Sister Thedra.  In 1992, Dorothy Martin passed away.  While no one has stepped up to replace her as channel,  the Association of Sananda and Sanat Kumara yet exists.  They can be contacted at the following address to receive their newsletter, Call to Arms.

2675 W. Highway 89-A
#454,
Sedona, AZ 86336

Truman Bethurum

... But wait, there's more!

Dorothy Martin wasn't the only person in the 50's being contacted by the planet Clarion, so was a man by the name of Truman Bethurum.  He was visited eleven times by the visitors and   repeatedly conversed with its female captain, Aura Rhanes.  He recounted this experience in his book
Messages from the People of the Planet Clarion: The True Experiences of Truman Bethurum.


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Today is the Druid festival of Alban Arthuan, or Arthur's Light.  It's the traditional birthday of King Arthur, and money and gifts are bestowed on the poor.  The Winter Solstice, or first day of winter (also known as Yule, Winter Rite, and Midwinter), is the time of new beginnings when pagans reflect on the past and formulate future plans.