Muse Camp

Consider Campground - August 11, 12th ">"In a nutshell...it's a indiscriminate to be yourself. It's a manifested look at to set with others in a background that you understanding you definitely belong to. You're multiparty by experiences that transcend somebody.... it's a indiscriminate you can't get wherever excessively. We're an amazingly varied group that somebody can be up your sleeve of...you don't inhibit to dress any stiff way. There's no condition that you tint your body; there's no condition that you doff your clothes. The very soon condition is that you take the part of and the very soon immoderation word on that is you - not the group."

Each person understands that there's an ethic, that it's a community and not tactfully an event. We trigger the stance "street party"; we're not a festival; we're a city; we're a community.

Commonly we are interview in our own lives. Considerably, we've tainted this to an lively association everywhere you become the instigator. (This category of do) creates that level of exchange not very soon with our inner selves but with other population and with intense animals."

(Larry Harvey quoted in an meeting in Magic Mishmash Periodical about Mighty Man. The Mighty Man sip was one of the inspirations for Consider Campground. We owe much of our own look at of a creative Neo-pagan do to his groundbreaking work in creating tribe.)

I. Consider Campground Information:

WORKSHOPS:

The workshop standard continues to expansion - current spur be much to see and do at Consider Campground. In the order of are some of the benevolence fine hair on our Yard and Actions schedule:

Bast workshop - Runes:Their meaning and mystery - Indistinct Invention - Uninfringeable Transport for Women - Nature Journals - Pagan Parenting squad - Elate with Nature - Analysis with Simple - Constructing a Giant Delicate Catcher - Rhythm Circles - Unpack Bardic - Greenman squad for Men - Advisable Cleave Uneven -Magikal Soaps - Bunch on Bay Region Headquarters for Neo-Pagans - Common Art Plan - Arts & Ploy Tables - Pagan Music Presentation - Irish Tread Dancing - Music Language - Elate with animals hop class - Kid's Track down Tabled - Nature Tables - Nature Hikes - Magikal Box Invention class - Scrying Mirrors workshop - Dancing on the Verdant at night -A Knocked out Do - The Bast Do and heaps expert.....

You can view the up to date list at our website http://www.fullcircleevents.org/ - observe under MUSE/Activities. Equally, current spur now be two animals hikes, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Information SENT Behind schedule Consider CAMP:

We're back from Consider Campground (and still unpacking) and I without prejudice want to say "Thank you" once more to all of the groovy volunteers who through this event so special. The weather was unimpeachable. The workshops were very widely held (exact magical box making and the defender making workshops). The Dreamcatcher was moreover intense fun and very significant to adults and children similar. The Bast and the Knocked out rituals were gorgeous. They did much to bring our community together via the magic of deride and hop. The Crafts unfilled by Owlwind and Fernalia were extensive, fun and (venture I say it) inspirational. The Common Art Plan was a intense triumph (and spur be coming an event stage you very curtly in the form of a bedcovers). We all esteemed drumming in a circle in front line of a fire enclosed by pine trees and redwoods inverse that picturesque moon. Status once more to our Mad Drummers, Carol and Michael, for leading the batter, and gratitude in addition to to our Regulate Bard, Matt, for leading us in tune and story overdue in vogue the night.

It was in the past few minutes a magikal weekend - so much so that we are instruction of play a role it once more next blind date. So to all of you population who theoretical, "This was intense - let's do it again!" I say, "Splendid.... and if you really want to make it come up as a consequence NOW is the time to sign up for Committees, make suggestions or surrender workshops. So, you Doers and Shakers, contents create to us diligence of this dialogue.

Information - This was so much work and current were so few population who were eager to help, that we never did it once more. That makes me sad, becuase it was so much fun. But we critical to turn our caution and our wake to the Witches' Ring.

Afterwards, of course, diverse of us would go camping together, but that weekend at Consider Campground was magickal and can never be go to regularly. I'm so cheery that we had that time togehter.

Sia

Sia@FullCircle

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Christian Survival Skills Surviving As A Christian In Today World

By now you're probably asking yourself, why would Christian's need to learn to "survive" in today's world? There's actually a good number of reasons. Every day in our world Christians face: * Social Persecution * Physical Persecution * Temptation * Oppression * Confusion * UncertaintyIn order to survive in the face of these things, there are eight key things to learn as a Christian in today's world: * First Aid * Building a Shelter * Taking Stock of Resources * Building a Fire * Finding Food * Naviation * Signaling for Help * Reading a Survival BookThe neat thing about learning to do all of these things, is that the Bible tells us everything we need to know about surviving. I've ranked these eight things in order of importance as if you were really lost out in the wilderness, and then equated these to Christian terms.1) FIRST AID (AM I HURT? HOW DO I HEAL?)The very first thing you need to do is take a look at yourself and figure out if you're hurt or not. I don't mean in a physical sense, but when facing persecution, oppression, and temptation, Christian's can get hurt both spiritually and emotionally. If you are hurt, how do you heal? Let's take a look at some scriptures to find out:Psalm 119:50 "This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me." (Quicken means to make alive). So who do we look to in order to heal us? We look to God's Word, which quiekens us. It makes us alive spiritually.2Corinthians 1:3-4 "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, but the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." Why does God comfort us? So that we can heal, but also so that we can comfort others and help them to heal in the same way.1Thessalonians 5:11 "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." Here we see that we can also go to each other for comfort.We see that in order to heal, we are going to be getting our comfort from God's Word the Bible, from God himself, who is the "God of all comfort," and from each other, and we are also going to help comfort others in need.2) BUILD A SHELTER (BUILD IT ON A ROCK, OR IN THE SAND? HOW DO I GO ABOUT THIS?)So now that you've given yourself some first aid, it's time to build a shelter. Shelter is very, very important when you're out in the wilderness. Why? Shelter protects you from the harsh elements like wind, rain, and snow. It gives you REFUGE... or in the case of Christians in the world, it protects us from fear, threats, temptation, and possibly even persecution.Now if you're just making your shelter in the woods, it will be made of sticks, pine needles, and branches. But as a Christian you get to make your shelter out of something much, much better.Psalm 57:1 "In the shadow of thy wings will I make MY REFUGE, until these calamities be overpast." Instead of a feeble handmade shelter, we get to take shelter or refuge in God. He is so great and powerful, that He doesn't even need to hide us under His wings to keep us safe, just the shadow of His wings is good enough for us. How awesome is that?Psalm 71:7 "Thou art MY STRONG REFUGE." God is not only our refuge, but He is our strong refuge. It's important to have a strong shelter so that people can't just come up to you and try to knock you off balance in what you believe in.2Samuel 22:3 "The God of my rock, in him will I trust: HE IS MY SHIELD, and the horn of MY SALVATION, MY HIGH TOWER, and MY REFUGE, MY SAVIOUR; thou savest me from violence." If we put our trust in the Lord, He will be our shield, saviour, and refuge.Psalm 9:9 "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble." God is going to be our strong shelter in times of trouble, especially for the oppressed.Luke 6:47-49 tells us the story of what happens when we build our house upon sand instead of the rock. When the rain came crashing down, the man who built the house upon the rock survived because he built his house upon God. These verses in Luke also tell us how to go about building our house upon the rock.Luke 6:47-49 "Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation build an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great."When we go to God, listen to what He says, and then do what He tells us, we are building our foundations upon the rock. As we know, you can find what God tells you to do in His Word the Bible.3) TAKE STOCK OF YOUR RESOURCES: So as a Christian, you're out in the wilderness. What resources do you think you have to help you out? You have your knowledge of the Bible, the Bible itself, God in your heart, Prayer, Other Christians who can help and comfort you, and you have the armor of God.Ephesians 6:11 "Put on thew hole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."Ephesians 6:14-18 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above al, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."Now that's a lot of supplies you have at your disposal. We've got truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, a shield of faith that will keep away the "firey darts of the wicked," we've got salvation, the Word of God as our sword, and then we have prayer.4) BUILD YOUR FIREHave you ever heard the term "That person is on fire?" I don't mean literally on fire, but on fire as in, they burn for God. If you go up to somebody and try to witness to them and preach the Gospel, and you go up to them and say in a monotone, "Hey man... I think God loves you. My pastor tol dme so. And, yeah, I mean, maybe you should think about reading the Bible sometime, because, that's what they told me..." Do you think that person you're witnessing to is going to take you very seriously? Probably not, because you don't seem all that excited or enthusiastic about it yourself.If you go to a person and say, "Do you know that there's somebody who really cares about you and loves you? I really felt like I needed to come and talk to you about this because I want you to experience the same excitement and joy that I'm feeling. His name is Jesus and he died for your sins so that you wouldn't have to. John 3:16 says..."What was different about the second response? There were three main things different about the second attempt to witness to a person. First we were sincere and showed that we really cared about what we were talking about. Second, we were specific about why we were sharing this with the person and were specific about what we were sharing with them. Third, we used scriptures to back us up, instead of just telling them, "because my pastor said so."If you are unenthusiastic about God, other people aren't going to be enthusiastic, and are going to think you're not sincere in your love for Him.So here you are out in the wilderness surrounded by temptation, persecution, and unsaved sinners, and you need to start a fire to keep warm. Guess what, you are the fire! And it doesn't take much to start that fire up in yourself. If you get into the Word of God, God is going to be the one keeping you warm. And the best part is, once you've started that fire out in the world to keep warm by, other people are going to gather around your fire because they want to keep warm too. Just as we saw above, if you have no fire, they're not going to listen, but if you've got this big bonfire going, and your amped and enthusiastic and ready to spread the Word, people are going to go, "Hey, what does that guy have that I don't? I want what he has!"Matthew 5:14-16 "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it undera bushel, but on a candlestick: and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."Matthew 18:28 "For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness."5) FIND FOODAs Christians, were do we find food to sustain us? I don't mean the kind we eat and digest, but the kind that keeps us alive spiritually.Luke 4:4 "And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Again, we have God's Word in the Bible.1Peter 2:2 "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." When we drink the "word" of God, we grow not physically, but we do grow spiritually. Let's take a look at another scripture that talks about growing spiritually.2Peter 3:18 "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." When we grow, we're growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus.6) NAVIGATION (WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?)Psalm 119:105 "They word is a lam unto my feet, and a light unto my path." God's Word shows our feet where to travel, and lights up the dark path for us so that we can see where we're going.7) SIGNALING FOR HELP (HOW DO I ASK FOR HELP? WHO DO I ASK FOR HELP?)If you are lost in the wilderness, and a plane flies overhead, you signal for help, right? But how do you do that? Do you shout up at the plane? Probably not, because the people inside won't hear you. What about starting a signal fire? I hope you have the wood ready beforehand, because if you wait until the plane is flying overhead to try and find wood to start the fire,t hen it will pass you by before you can get it started. Another important thing to think about is this: is the person flying the plane somebody who is likely to help you?If you're in the real world trying to figure something biblical out, or trying to find help dealing with being persecuted, you're probably not going to ask for help from people who aren't believers. Instead we want to be asking for help from people who have solid roots in the Bible. This can be your pastor, parents, friends, teachers, other family members... anyone you know who has already built their shelter on the rock.Remember what I said about having your signal firewood ready beforehand? There are things you can do to prepare yourself for when that plane flies over. Part of building your shelter on the rock is getting into the Word of God yourself. Oftentimes I can't remember the exact wording of a scripture I need to use in defense of my beliefs or the Bible, but I remember the book it was in possibly, or at least I remember if it was in the old or new testament. This helps later on when I'm asking for help because I'm able to say, "Hey, do you remember that scripture that talks about treating others as you want to be treated? Where was that exactly... what was the exact wording of that?" If you're not reading your Bible and growing in the Word, then how can you possibly ask for help when you need it?At the very least you should be reading and giving yourself a foundation in God's Word, even if you can't remember every word of the Bible, or the exact place that it's in.Psalm 55:16 "As for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me." We signal God for help.Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."8) READ A SURVIVAL BOOK (THE BIBLE)2Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."This goes right along with having that firewood ready as well as building your foundation on the rock. You want to be in the Word of god all the time, so that if ever you are in need, you're ready because you've read the Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (B.I.B.L.E.).CONCLUSION:There are of course many other things you can take into account when thinking about Christian survival, but these are the basics that you should be familiar with, just as these are the basics of survival if you were in a plane wreck in the middle of nowhere. You really do want to have a basic idea of what to do before you're in this kind of situation, and the Bible is the start of this. A lot of people like to say that the Bible doesn't fit in today's world because the world is too different, but you'd be surprised what you find in God's Word that has real world applications in your life today. The Bible is supposed to be our final authority, but you have to let it be if you want to survive.

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The Adventures Of An Overly Curious Cat Aka The Story Of My Winter Vacation

You know that saying "life is what happens when you're making other plans"? yeah... that would be yours truly this winter.

Winter in the SF/Bay Area is very different than winter in New York, where I grew up. In NY it's cold and grey with the rare and short lived dustings of white. In the Bay Area it's chilly, wet and green. It rains here from about November till sometime in April or May, then it stops and the land dries up, the hills go golden and then eventually brown. Around March we are all sick of the rain but by September we are watching the skies and praying for its return because just before the rains come we get fire season. The whole thing is a trade off.

Along with the rain comes seasonal allergies. In the winter its mold and dust, two organism that LOVE the high humidity. In the summer it's anything and everything that pollinates, happy as can be for all the winter rain followed by the warm sun. Being allergic to mold, dust and lots of growing things means I have year round allergies along with my Chemical Sensitivity. The summer is not so bad, its mostly hay fever type symptoms and hugging my air purifier a lot. In the winter though the damp and the chill gets into my bones along with the allergies and I end up with my annual sinus infection.

Since I have gotten sick every winter since I got MCS, I have come to expect to be sick in the winter. I learned this year that there is a problem with this plan. It tends to make me assume the worst and almost -not welcome the illness- but be pre-disposed to getting sick, as though there is no hope of not getting ill. My whole mind set for the winter becomes one of defeat and despair. Turns out this is a great way - energetically to get not just sick, but really really sick.

Not that I buy the theory that we make ourselves sick, I think that's blaming the victim and not helpful for healing. I do believe though that in starting my winter out feeling defeated I made choices that were not in my best interest. I didn't get the care I should have gotten for myself early on, specifically a flue shot and staying up to date on my allergy shots. I didn't stay on top of my symptoms and in contact with my doctor when things stayed bad and then only when they got much worse did I call her. The end result? A two week stay in the hospital. Worse yet, eight days of that was in ICU on a ventilator while they fought to keep me alive and kill the double pneumonia, H1N1, and staff infection that had taken over my body. And I thought I was just going to the ER for a quick fix!

I will say this for near death experiences - they certainly adjust one's perspective on life. Not the least of which is to show you how loved you are. I woke up to an abundance of love that I will never forget. So many people offered prayers, lit candles, came and read to me, played music for me, just spared a moment to keep me in their thoughts to help me find my way home - I can never thank you all enough for your love.

I'm going to be months healing from all of this, and while the impatient cat in me is not thrilled with this news, the creative cat is okay with this. I brought a lot of data back from the abyss that I need to process and there was a lot in my brain before I went adventuring, so some down time to rest and cogitate is no bad thing.

All of this is a really long winded way of saying I probably wont be posting much around here for a while... I got some sleeping to do!

Blessings & Gratitude,

Kate

Origin: master-of-pentagram.blogspot.com

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Natural Magic Is The Mundane

The Established Idiot's Teacher to Habitual Magick (Established Idiot's Teacher to): Miria Liguana, Nina Metzner: Books

ISBN: 1592574181

ISBN-13: 9781592574186

In the future it is silly to see others bother the word magic. In the function of is magic? It is not what you are use to seeing in the movies and television. All that is a beloved good cheer. Magical in a religion is a additional or less a ritualized prayer. In the function of it comes to gentle it is the simple dull life of gentle.

In the function of humans partake in "Habitual Magical," it is merely living within gentle it self. In the function of we start a garden, we perform natural magic. In the function of we bird poke around, we are performance natural magic. Slightly aspect we do with gentle is a form of natural magic. Sorry, no sparks from the fingers, or some form of brilliant energy above ground sequence do its stuff doesn't matter what.

No issue forth what religion we win in, we do all sorts of rituals. To us these rituals mean a violent narrow to us in our union with the Blessed life. Sometimes we grasp all sorts of typeset to help guide us depressed our lives. We after that grasp these typeset trendy a magnificent celebration of our expect. All these rituals are a form of magic. So what is this magic?

Beyond doubt acquaint with is a switch in the spelling. Magical is caution and illusions. In Pagan faiths, refinement use magick. They use gentle. In magick pagans can to some quantity go on gentle additional or less to the same extent a farmer or some form of environmentalist. This is done depressed knowledge and incident of gentle and the state of affairs. We as everyday beings stick the abilities to farm our state of affairs either for the enhance or reduce. That is why it is so telltale to do everything to protect all life on Land-living, as well as our own.

Offer is one thing for verifiable you can count on, all pagans apparition take over believe of the state of affairs. They understand that we are virtuous as to a great extent a part of gentle as gentle is up your sleeve of humans. In the function of us humans can do their part in living within gentle, we apparition end up plunder believe of the state of affairs. Pagans' faiths are a big part of gentle. Like it or not, mankind has been do its stuff this what the beginning time.

In the function of Christianity came behind with bound to be refinement, has man started to lack of care gentle as something telltale in our day-to-day lives. In the function of the Roman Catholic Church starting to stabbing others that do not win in the ways they do, the penchant of neglecting gentle started. Sadly, from the beginning of Christianity, hostility started to bloom.

This was trusty. It after that shows how telltale natural life is popular in our lives today in the 21st Century. Dictate the existence abhorrence has been exaggerated what. In the function of we start using "in the name of something" to get what we appeal, in simple terms vault disadvantageous fill apparition come out of it. In the realities of fill, we stick to work for something in order to get it. Magick is not the logic of using nature's energies to get what we appeal having the status of assembly on our butts.

Magick is a tool, vigor additional. I stick read whichever become old that a good bountiful pagans do not use any form of magick. The suggestion of having natural magick to use is to assistance mankind in the whole realm of gentle itself. Habitual magic is not the logic of fascistic life on Land-living as so bountiful stories, movies, and televisions shows commence. Basically if you ever done doesn't matter what with gentle, you are do its stuff natural magick.

Blessed Be to Isis and you,

Brandon The suggestion of this blog is to caution how bad Christianity is service out to be.

Source: my-spiritual-path.blogspot.com

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Werewolf

Whither Werewolf?

by Lilith Silverhair

"Even a man who's pure of heart
and says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms
and the Autumn Moon is bright."
- Curt Siodmak

Modern film makers and writers have done much to make the werewolf a pitiable creature. A man trapped by his own baser desires, unable to control the change or the urges that come upon him when the Moon shows Her full form each month.
But deep in our hazy past there was a time when the 'werwulf,' (spirit-wolf or man-wolf) was honored among our ancestors. The Wolf and those able to take her shape were worshipped as Goddesses and heroes.

Belief in shapeshifters was found throughout the range of the wolf's former habitats: from Europe and Asia as far east as India and China and throughout North America. What ties the legend if the werewolf together in all of these places is the fact that the wolf was the largest predator indigenous to those regions. The violence and aggression of were-beasts make this seem on the surface to be a hunting and warfare legend. True, it is this, but also much more.

Prehistoric peoples learned the ways of the hunt from the animals around them, and they learned the concept of time from watching the phases of the Moon. The Moon phases also concurred with the female menstrual cycles and so hunting, sex and time became totally enmeshed. The Full Moon was also the time in which the women of the tribe bled, in effect, canceling all sexual activity. The men's minds turned to the Hunt, knowing that sexual activity would resume after they had brought enough meat home to supplement the diet of grains and berries the women provided.

It is this circular reasoning that created the association of a female deity concerned with hunting, and in many cultures She was a Wolf. Apollo Lycaeus (Wolfish Apollo) was mated to Artemis as the "divine Wolf-bitch." The Sabine Goddess Feronia was "Mother of Wolves." Perhaps the most well-known of all was Diana, Mistress of the Hunt. Gaulish Diana under her totemic name Lupa, "She Wolf," was Mother of wild animals. Young men learned magic and shapeshifting from Her and She guided and protected them (provided, of course, that they never set foot inside a Christian Church.) Her follower's shapeshifting ability followed the Moon phases and the Moon was another form of the Goddess.

Shapeshifting abilities usually lay within the realm of one person in the tribe, the shaman. It was reasoned that at the moment of death, the animals that the hunters killed and/or emulated took themselves to the spiritual
"other-world." For the shamans to 'speak' to these animals, so that they could intervene on behalf of the humans, the shamans themselves must lose their own bodies and take on the aspects of the animals. And so the first shapeshifters were born.

Down through the years the werewolf was known in almost every culture. The title of the shaman who held high position in the life of the Slavs was
'volkhvi.' Variants are the German Volk, 'people' and the Russian Vrach,
'physician.' This indicates that the werewolves were people, shamanic healers in wolf masks.

It wasn't until Christianity came on the scene that the werewolf became the demonic creature that he is today. Christ was known as the Lamb of God and the enemy of the lamb is of course the wolf. The shift toward the imagery of the Lamb of Christ led in natural sequence to the wolf as satanic. The werewolf whose first meaning in biblical translations meant 'outlaw,' devolved from that into 'ravening wolf,' as in Matthew 7:15: "Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Werewolves were captured and tortured by the Inquisition alongside accused Witches.

And so the werewolf descended throughout the centuries; from deity to demi-god, from shaman to satanic. The noble wolf, whose only crime was to howl at the Moon and teach awkward humans to hunt was demonized by those who would rather be led by a lamb than a true king or queen of beasts.

Sources:

The Beast Within: A History of the Werewolf. Adam Douglas - 1992

The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Barbara G. Walker - 1983

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Artemis Fowl And The Time Paradox By Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox is the sixth in this series of books about the young criminal mastermind and his adventures with the technologically advanced fairy people, who live below the Earth's surface. Except he's not criminal anymore! When we first met him in 2001(I think) he was a twelve year old criminal genius and he's now nearly eighteen, although due to time travelling escapades in his previous adventure, he only looks fourteen!

Artemis has been getting gradually more ethical and, (for want of a better word) nice throughout the series and in this book he discovers his mother is gravely ill, and that he caused it by using his ill gotten magical powers on her to mesmerise her into not questioning why he only looks fourteen. He calls for help from Captain Holly Short, his fairy friend, and comes to realise that the antidote to this fairy illness is only available from a certain type of lemur, which unfortunately, Artemis himself sold to an extinctionist group eight years ago to raise an obscene amount of money to rescue his father.

So cue more time travelling adventures as Artemis and Holly travel back in time to when Artemis was ten to rescue the lemur and save his mother. Being as Artemis knows when and where this exchange happens this should be a relatively simple job, but in true Artemis style it leads to a mad chase across continents pursuing the younger version of himself and managing to involve just about every fairy character ever to appear in these stories, all before they knew Artemis, of course.

The most interesting part of this story was the juxtaposition of Artemis then and Artemis now. The ten year old Artemis is very much the character we met in the first books of the series, obnoxious, cunning and devious, and the present day Artemis is shocked to realise exactly how obnoxious he was, and this realisation is pressed on him all the more firmly because to outwit his former self, he has to think like him.

This was a good read, and probably the best of this series since the first one. It had some lines that really made me chuckle, but unfortunately I can't quote them because I left the book with my Mum to read. And it had lots of surprises, including an inter species kiss between Artemis and Holly. I really didn't see that coming! Nor did I see the end coming, which without saying too much, ties the whole series up very nicely, but also leaves it open for more, depending I suppose on how Colfer feels. I do think it would be difficult to top this one though.

Credit: practicing-wicca.blogspot.com

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Mormon Feminism Is Back

From the Salt Basin Tribune:A new way of feminism seems to be unwrap across Mormonism.LDS women are flanked by on the Internet, exploring women's issues, debating theology and rupture their group joys and agonies in the arms of their male-run church. Happy-go-lucky about liable annoyance - and even pilot hints of collaboration in sermons - the faith's "slam better part" is reaching out to appreciate its stories in new ways and new seating to new audiences.A blatant British official statement, the Minder, published an paper this week by LDS blogger Tresa Edmunds, who unabashedly explained her cooperative nature as a Mormon and a feminist. Similarly this week, Newsweek featured Neylan McBaine, founder of a website that profiles sparkling and rare LDS women, examining the uncomfortable views of Mormon fatherhood.This summer, EXPONENT II, the decades-old quarterly for Mormon women that blocked printing in 2006, was reborn.

Origin: asatru-religion.blogspot.com

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