One can not reflect in streaming water. Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.
lao tzu

What I believe, according to my own experience, is that a calm, peaceful mind is a very important element for sustaining the body in a balanced way.
14th Dalai Lama

Shall I not inform you of a better act than fasting, alms, and prayers? Making peace between one another: enmity and malice tear up heavenly rewards by the roots.
Muhammad

Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world.
Mother Teresa

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be the sons of God.
Jesus Christ

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
Gautama Buddha

The Pleiades Buy From Art.com

One of the homes of our celestial ancestors, the Pleiades is probably the most prominent cluster of stars in the night sky. They can be seen during most of the year, but the best time to view them is in the winter season, when they are at their brightest and highest in the sky. Being the most beautiful and well-known star cluster, they have been recognized as something special by all cultures throughout the ages.

The Pleiades lie next to the zodiacal constellation of Taurus, the bull, in the position of the bull’s shoulder blade. On a clear night the unaided eye can usually spot at least six of the brightest stars in the cluster, but it actually consists of hundreds of stars.

In the northern hemisphere, Taurus may be found along the path of the ecliptic in the south of the night sky, to the right of Orion’s belt. The chief star in the constellation is the red giant, Alderbaran, which is the thirteenth brightest star in the sky. It represents the red eye of the bull, and is surrounded by the v-shaped Haydes cluster, which makes up the bull’s face. All positions should be reversed for those people living in the southern hemisphere.

A little higher and to the west of the Haydes, you will find the Pleiades, in all their glory. The blue stars of the Pleiades are much younger than the red stars in the Haydes, being only around a hundred-million years old. The most prominent star in the cluster is Alcyone, one of the seven sisters in Greek mythology, which is the third brightest star in Taurus.

The remaining stars of the seven sisters are Electra, Celaeno, Taygeta, Maia, Merope, and Asterope, some of which form a big dipper pattern with other bright stars in the cluster, making it easy to recognize. Binoculars will bring many more stars into view. A telescope will show a faint nebulosity surrounding the whole cluster, which is wonderfully illuminated by the blue light of the stars.

The Pleiades start to rise in the night sky in June, just before sunrise, and they begin to rise a little earlier each morning afterwards. They are best viewed in December, when they rise as the sun is setting, and then set at sunrise, allowing them to be seen throughout the entire night. As the winter progresses, they begin to rise a bit later after sunset. By the month of March you can only see them for a short time setting in the West, just after sunset. Since the Pleiades are located in the sign of Taurus, they are too close to the sun to be visible during May, when the sun is also in the same sign.

Since it is considered to be the spiritual centre of the universe, when you look at and think about the Pleiades you are tuning into very beneficial vibrations. Together with the lovely sight, your spirit will be lifted as they elevate your consciousness with their harmony and love.

Archangel Michael Buy From Art.com

One of the four archangels that were associated with the royal Persian stars by the Hebrews, is archangel Michael, who rules over the Sun. He was the watcher of the East, where his star was Aldebaran, which is the left eye of the bull in the zodiacal constellation of Taurus.

The angelic warrior, he is the leader of the celestial armies, and the highest of the hosts of heaven. His name is Hebrew for ‘who is like God’, for he is considered to be God’s closest angelic companion, being the first angel to be created.

He has all the power and determination of the bull, being the angel of protection, strength, and truth. He fights Satan, and protects and saves us from attack. Archangel Michael is also a fiery angel, ruling over the sun and gold, the solar metal, and associated with the sign of Leo.

You can call upon him to cut away your fears with his fiery sword, and release you from evil, giving you the strength to overcome your problems and to face the truth. As this archangel is also one of protection, you can quickly summon him for help when you feel that you are in danger.

Together with his companions Oriel, Gabriel, and Raphael, he was assigned to watch over the heavens, and to protect God’s creation from all evil and darkness.

You can easily conserve energy in your garden with a solar-powered fountain, which harnesses the free energy provided by the sun. The fountain will automatically run on its own, going off at night and on again during the daytime. They are safe, with no outdoor electrical cables to hide, allowing them to easily blend in well with their natural surroundings. Due to the ease of installation, large range of types available, and their green benefits, the solar-powered garden fountain continues to grow in popularity.

With a solar fountain, you can have all the benefits of a traditional fountain, but without the running costs. Solar fountains can run all day long without the usual electrical costs associated with traditional fountains. Energy from the sun is free, so you can run your solar fountain without worrying about how much electricity it’s using.

The types available include cascading, bird bath, rock, lily pad, and a wall fountain. Most solar fountains have their solar panels built-in, which makes them easy to install, but they only work when the sun is shining on them. An alternative kind of solar fountain is fully submersible and has a remote panel that can be placed up to 15 feet away from the fountain to capture as much sunlight as possible. Some fountains also come with a battery that recharges itself during the day, enabling the fountain to run at night, and which can also power a light for illumination.

Since solar fountains have their own built-in power source, they are easier to install than a traditional fountain. You can place them anywhere, without having to worrying about how they will be powered. There are no expensive underground cables to install, or unsafe and unsightly overground cables. In most cases you just have to place the fountain in your pond or as a separate feature, and it begins to work immediately.

A solar fountain can save you money and provide an attractive water feature for your garden, while at the same time being friendly to the environment, because they use clean solar energy. By introducing flowing water into your garden, the Feng Shui is also improved, which creates a more harmonious atmosphere, thus aiding your immediate environment, too. The solar fountain is the ideal solution for an energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly, and greener garden.

Search for ’solar fountains’ at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

The meat industry is the world’s leading producer of greenhouse gases. One of the most effective ways to fight global warming is to go vegetarian. A vegetarian diet is also more environmentally-friendly, saving land, water, and oil resources, and helping to reduce pollution and your ecological footprint.

Eating meat and dairy products is depleting the Earth’s resources and destroying the environment. Anyone who really cares about the environment should consider becoming a vegetarian. Here are 10 ways that a vegetarian lifestyle can help prevent damage to the environment, save resources, and make the world a better, more peaceful place for us to live in.

1. More food available to reduce malnutrition. A vegetarian feeds lower on the food chain and eats less vegetable food directly, than livestock raised for meat, which consume half the world’s grain. If the grain was eaten directly, then enough would be saved to feed the world’s starving. It requires about 10-16 pounds of grain to produce a pound of beef.
2. Deforestation. A vegetarian saves trees. The Amazonian rainforests are continually being destroyed to grow food to feed cows for the fast food chains, and for grazing. Since 1967, the rate of deforestation has been one acre every five seconds. Vast areas of forests throughout the world are cleared for meat production. More than 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to grow grain to feed farmed animals.
3. More efficient use of farmland. Vegetarians require less land per person. An acre of land can produce 20,000 pounds of potatoes, but only 165 pounds of beef. A vegan requires only 1/6 acre per year, a vegetarian three times as much, but a meat-eater needs 3-1/4 acres of land every year.
4. Water consumption. The vegetarian diet conserves water. Around 2,500 gallons of water is used to produce a pound of beef, yet a pound of wheat only needs around one percent of this amount of water. Half of the water used in the U.S.A. is for animal agriculture.
5. Pollution. Due to the growing demand for meat, contamination of the air and water from animal waste is increasing, especially by factory farming methods. This pollutes and damages the ecosystems of rivers and creates greenhouse gases that pollute the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. In a recent report by the United Nations, it was found that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all of the world’s automobiles.
6. Environmental awareness. Vegetarians usually have a greater awareness for the environment, therefore they are more likely to help the environment in other ways as well, and to be environmentally active. Everybody can recycle, reduce power consumption, support the use of recycled and energy-efficient products, and actively help the environment.
7. Conservation of fossil fuels. More than one-third of fossil fuels worldwide are used to raise animals for food. Transport, housing, irrigation, and refrigeration, as well as petrochemical fertilizer production all require vast amounts of energy. Approximately one gallon of gasoline goes into every pound of grain-fed beef. A vegetarian is likely to use less energy when cooking, because most vegetarian meals are quicker to prepare than meat-based meals.
8. Topsoil erosion. Overgrazing of animals renders the soil infertile and barren. The indigenous plants and animals are lost, and more land is taken to replace what has been lost by damage to the soil. Every year in the US an area the size of Connecticut is lost to topsoil erosion.
9. Overfishing. Commercial fishing is damaging the ecosystems of the world’s oceans, and threatening the extinction of some marine species through overfishing and fishing practices. Non-target and endangered species, such as sea urchins, dolphins, seals, sea birds, and turtles, can be killed when they are caught in the nets. Ninety-percent of the biggest fish in the oceans have disappeared in the last fifty years. Thousands of seals are regularly killed in Russia and Canada to protect the increasingly scarce fish stocks.
10. Compassion for animals. Vegetarianism prevents the unnecessary suffering caused to animals by raising them for food. The negative vibrations produced by meat-eating go out into the environment and create more suffering and violence. We can become vegetarian and adopt the the Indian spiritual tenet of Ahimsa, which is non-violence and kindness to animals, thereby improving the spiritual quality of the environment..

“Following the Romanian tradition, garlic is used in excess to keep the vampires away.”
– Calvin Trillian

Man Selling Garlic, Bazaa… Buy From Art.com

The common garlic bulb has long been associated with powers of protection from evil and disease. Thought to have originated in ancient Siberia, and indigenous to the South of Europe, especially the South of France and Italy, the medicinal and magical properties of garlic have been known since ancient times. It has been used in the ancient Indian Ayurvedic healing system and as part of Chinese medicine for thousands of years.

Ruled by the fiery planet Mars and the fire element, and of the Vedic tamastic quality, garlic is considered to have a masculine quality. in Taoist belief it enhances the circulation of chi, the vital force that animates all life. Every part of the plant — the bulb, stem, and flowers can be used in spells and as an amulet. for protection.

Eating and wearing garlic is said to improve agility, courage, and physical endurance. Many ancient civilizations, including the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians, believed in the magical powers of garlic. Roman soldiers ate it to give them courage in battle. Garlic was also given to slaves in the past to protect them from disease and enhance their strength.

In ancient Rome it was also thought to be an aphrodisiac and was often a major ingredient in love potions, because of its power to induce lust. Men wore garlic to protect themselves from evil influences that could take away their sexual prowess.

Garlic is placed under the pillow, worn inside an amulet around the neck, or made into a wreathe placed on the bed, to protect from evil spirits while sleeping. The ancient Egyptians used it in this way to protect their children from ghosts while they slept. In Slavic folklore, the magical powers of garlic are used to guard against vampires, witches, sorcerers, and evil spirits at night. There are also similar beliefs in China and the West Indies. In the well-known story of Dracula, garlic is most effective at keeping away the bloodthirsty vampire.

Protection against bad luck is another magical property of garlic. Used in the home and hung in doorways and around windows, garlic can keep out thieves, evil influences, and unwelcome visitors. Carrying garlic when traveling over water prevents drowning. Sailors have been known to take it on board ship to protect against being shipwrecked.

The use and faith in garlic down through the ages shows it to be a most versatile, powerful, and trusted magical herb, and it would be wise to always keep some for your own self-protection from evil, bad luck, and ill-health.

We live in a multidimensional universe, where nothing is definite; there is always another perspective, and so, there are many paths to eternity. The truly spiritual person is a free and creative spirit and follows his/her own road to enlightenment. They have moved beyond the entrapments of religion and glimpse the true spiritual reality.

Religion provides a solid, definite portrait of spirituality, brings it down to earth, so that it can be communicated amongst all of humanity. But the independent seeker paints in abstract and communicates in a subtle manner, for no words can really convey the language of the spirit. Religion is for the masses, and spiritually is a personal belief belonging to the individual.

If one has to follow a belief system, then let it be a philosophy of life. Such philosophies as Chinese Taoism and Confucianism, often seen as religions, were really spiritual and social philosophies, and weren’t religions at all. A philosophy becomes a religion when controls and dogma are introduced. We should follow a spiritual path in our own way, through our intuition and spiritual perception.

Spirituality has a broad meaning. At its simplest, it is just an interest in things of the spirit., that there exists something apart from the physical. Religion is considered spiritual because it deals with the spiritual side of life, and it’s often difficult to see the distinction between religion and spirituality. The common consensus is that a spiritual person must also be religious, but this is a materialistic view.

The greatest type of spirituality is awareness of the spiritual self. When we begin to awaken to our real self, which is hidden behind the human facade, and follow a much more direct path to the spirit, then genuine spiritual evolution occurs. We begin to depend on our own inner spiritual guidance and knowing, rather than outer philosophies and religions.

All religions share common themes that even non-believers agree with — mainly the need for love, a heaven, belief in a higher power or god, and moral principles, the fundamental philosophies of life. The genuine spiritual path shares these same themes, but is also one of wonder, never-ending, and totally unique to the individual.

Overall, we are what we believe, like attracts like, and the Christian will go to a Christian heaven to be with Jesus Christ, the Muslim to a paradise to live in eternal bliss, the Hindu shall find liberation from birth and rebirth, the Buddhist will attain nirvana, and the independent spiritual seekers will find heaven in their own way.

Welcome to another session of UFO sighting reports. This week we have one report supplied by MUFON Assistant State Director, Mary Margaret Zimmer of Florida.

We also have a report from…

Source:UFO Sighting Reports

As someone who has lost dozens of pets over the years, it still infuriates me the way pet loss is regarded, even though I can only really speak from a British perspective.

The loss of an animal is not really regarded as a major trauma, though attitudes may be gradually changing. For me, personally, it’s reached the stage where I’m more inclined to keep the distress of losing a pet to myself, apart from telling a handful of people, such is the often indifferent or apathetic response. But saying nothing, because you’re scared of saying anything, isn’t being a great friend. Ignorance isn’t bliss, but at least you can find out who your friends are.

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‘Green’ solar energy can combat global warming and reduce your carbon footprint. A typical solar energy system installed in the home can prevent around 33,000kg of carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) from entering the atmosphere over a ten year period.

Due to the majority of energy production depending mainly on coal, oil, and gas, if we use alternative energies, such as solar energy, we can help conserve these fossil fuels that are producing greenhouse gas and also pollute the atmosphere. Green solar energy is a clean source of energy, there is no pollution, and no contribution to global warming.

Unlike the fossil fuels, green solar energy is a renewable energy that doesn’t have any waste products. The sun, which is the source of all life and the fuel of solar energy, provides a limitless supply of free heat and light that can be utilized by the use of solar panels.

There are two types of solar energy technologies used to capture the heat and light emanating from the sun. They are thermal and photovoltaic. Thermal panels use the heating effect of the sun to heat water for a hot water supply and central heating. Light-sensitive photoelectric cells produce electricity from sunlight, which is used to power electrical appliances in the home.

Although the initial investment is high, a solar energy system pays for itself in a few years. Costs can be lowered by making your own panels, and selling unused electricity to the power company. Green solar energy can eventually save you money, lowering the cost of your electricity supply as a supplementary system, or even being totally free, supplying all of your energy requirements.

However, the greatest use of green solar energy is environmental. Global warming and climate change are altering the weather patterns worldwide. If you want to help contribute to a cleaner environment, and also have cheaper electricity, then making use of solar energy is for you.