Chinese New Year starts on 31st January 2014; this year is celebrated as the Year of the Horse. People with birthdays in the below date ranges are said to have been born in the ‘Year of the Horse’: (more…)
The Secret
You may not immediately recognise our cover star this month, but I am sure if you have been in any book shop you will immediately recognise The Secret icon, proudly displayed on all of her books.
Rhonda Byrne is the creator of the film – The Secret and Author of books – The Secret, The Power, The Magic and now Hero. She was born in Australia and had a career as a radio and television producer, her background in this area was instrumental in the creation of The Secret film.
Psychic Reader, Mary – PIN 5055
I was three days old when I started the first stage of my journey to become a professional psychic. The first step of that stage was taken by someone else who was unwittingly acting upon my behalf. This was the person who had left me at a railway station. That first step resulted in me living an institutional life for 18 years. By the time I reached that age I was unaware of what growing up in a happy and caring environment where I was wanted and loved, was like. (more…)
Happy New Year
Traditions around the Globe
If you think about it we have some funny traditions to celebrate the coming of the New Year – watching a countdown from 10-1 on the TV, drink in hand, kissing the person next to you, whilst singing a version of Auld Lang Syne and maybe even disturbing your neighbours by opening the doors and banging on a saucepan or two!
But we are not alone; places all over the globe have unique ways of ringing in the New Year: (more…)
The Wonder of Reindeer
When we think about Christmas many of us will conger up the image of reindeers flying through the sky whilst pulling a sleigh full of presents with Santa Clause onboard and the below extract from a famous poem by Clement Clarke Moore, sometimes called A Visit from Saint Nicholas or The Night Before Christmas supports that image.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be Saint Nick. (more…)
Seasonal Foods in December
Chestnuts
Chestnuts (not to be confused with horse chestnuts or conkers) are a versatile nut that now are conveniently packaged so that you can buy them dried, vacuum packed, puréed or ground ready to cook with and add to recipes. At Christmas time probably the nicest way to have them is roasted, 20 minutes in a hot oven is all it takes. If you purchase the whole nuts look for smooth shiny plump ones. Chestnuts have lower levels of protein and fats than most nuts, 100g contains just 3 grams of fat and 170 calories against 64g of fat in hazelnuts and 600 calories in most nuts, but they are higher in carbohydrates. (more…)
Saving Mr Banks
Saving Mr Banks is a film about Walt Disney’s pursuit of the film rights to the novel ‘Mary Poppins’ written by P.L Travers. Tom Hanks plays the role of legend Walt Disney; incidentally this is the first time that Disney has been depicted in a dramatic film. Emma Thompson plays the role of the novelist P.L Travers, the film documents their testy partnership during the projects pre-production in 1961.
Disney promised his daughters that he would make Mary Poppins in to a movie, not realising it would take 20 years to realise the dream. Travers proved to be very prickly and demanded contractual script and character control, this proved to be very difficult for both Disney’s idea of the film adaptation but also those in the creative team – Screenwriter Don DaGradi and the composers – brothers Richard and Robert Sherman. During the visit she was played songs by the Sherman brothers, which ended up in the 1964 film, such as A Spoonful of Sugar and Let’s Go Fly a Kite. Their original score and song (Chim-Chim-Cher-ee) won Oscars® at the 1965 ceremony (the film won five awards of its thirteen nominations). Saving Mr Banks has been directed by John Lee Hancock and the film is already being tipped for Oscar success. It is released in UK cinemas from 29th November 2013. (more…)
The Book of Life
The Book of Life is sometimes called the Akashic Records, Akashic taking on the Sanskrit meaning of the fundamental etheric substance of the universe. Theosophy describes the Book of Life as containing extrasensory information that exists in another dimension, more simply put – a cosmic library!
Imagine a space that contains row upon rows of books, of every type you can imagine – some beautiful scrolls, coloured pages, some charred around the edges as if rescued from fires, some embossed with gold leaf pages and others so delicate due to their age…All containing the secrets of world events, all deeds that have taken place for each and every inhabitant and everything that will take place in the future. Essentially DNA of the universe gathered together as human experience that can only be accessed by adepts. (more…)
The Day of the Doctor – BBC’s 50th Anniversary Episode
BBC’s Special 50th Anniversary Dr Who Episode – 23rd November 2013
There is much buzz surrounding the 50th anniversary episode of Dr Who titled The Day of the Doctor, certain details have been released, but they are desperately trying to keep the story under wraps. So much so that the special will be broadcast around the world at the same time; it will be the biggest simulcast in history! British viewers will be able to watch the episode in many cinemas in the UK in 3D.
Much to the disgust of die-hard fans, American fans have seen a special sneak peak trailer that was shown at the San Diego Comic-Con. Steven Moffatt (writer and producer) has claimed that he has ‘lied until his pants burned’, in order to keep the true story a secret, so it’s possible it could all be different to what we believe so far… (more…)
Interpreting Flames
Pyromancy
Pyromancy was an ancient type of divination used by those in Ancient Greece and Rome. Vestal Virgins in Rome were keepers of the eternal flame; they divined the future whilst observing the forever burning flames. In these times fire was looked upon as being intrinsically pure – a primary element that would purify anything offered up be it plants, animals or people, making them acceptable to Vesta the Goddess of the Hearth.
Everything about the flames would have been analysed – the way they flickered, their height, their colour, their rise and fall, the amount of smoke, any sounds they made…
During a sacrifice it was considered good if the flames were quickly consumed, it was considered bad if the flames were disturbed by wind, took a long time to start or took a long time to burn. A favourable interpretation was taken from no sounds and a bright orange colour, but things were adverse if the fire crackled, there was a lot of smoke or it was deep red in colour.
The ancients would also divine by fire torches, a flame divided in two meant a bad omen, but a single flame or one with three or more aspects was a good sign. A bent flame could mean sickness or even death, the most feared sign was if the flame went out suddenly – signifying great disaster. (more…)