God is Alive, Magic is Afoot

https://youtu.be/FhmeroR20lc

God is alive
Magic is afoot
God is alive
Magic is afoot
God is afoot
Magic is alive
Alive is afoot
Magic never died

God never sickened
Many poor men lied
Many sick men lied
Magic never weakened
Magic never hid
Magic always ruled
God is afoot
God never died

God was ruler
Though his funeral lengthened
Though his mourners thickened
Magic never fled
Though his shrouds were hoisted
The naked God did live
Though his words were twisted
The naked Magic thrived
Though his death was published
Round and round the world
The heart did not believe

Many hurt men wondered
Many struck men bled
Magic never faltered
Magic always led

Many stones were rolled
But God would not lie down
Many wild men lied
Many fat men listened
Though they offered stones
Magic still was fed
Though they locked their coffers
God was always served

Magic is afoot
God rules
Alive is afoot
Alive is in command

Many weak men hungered
Many strong men thrived
Though they boasted solitude
God was at their side
Nor the dreamer in his cell
Nor the captain on the hill
Magic is alive
Though his death was pardoned
Round and round the world
The heart did not believe

Though laws were carved in marble
They could not shelter men
Though altars built in parliaments
They could not order men
Police arrested Magic
And Magic went with them
For Magic loves the hungry

But Magic would not tarry
It moves from arm to arm
It would not stay with them
Magic is afoot
It cannot come to harm
It rests in an empty palm
It spawns in an empty mind
But Magic is no instrument
Magic is the end

Many men drove Magic
But Magic stayed behind
Many strong men lied
They only passed through Magic
And out the other side
Many weak men lied
They came to God in secret
And though they left him nourished
They would not say who healed
Though mountains danced before them
They said that God was dead
Though his shrouds were hoisted
The naked God did live

This I mean to whisper to my mind
This I mean to laugh with in my mind
This I mean my mind to serve ’til
Service is but Magic
Moving through the world
And mind itself is Magic
Coursing through the flesh
And flesh itself is Magic
Dancing on a clock
And time itself the magic length of God

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Buffy Sainte-Marie / Leonard Cohen

God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Alphabet soup for the soul Vol.2 -“A”

Words from Walden

A is for Altruism

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in thelight of creative altruismor in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” – Martin Luther King Jr.-

Acts of kindness. Helping others without expecting anything in return. I believe this is inside the hearts of all humans and only fear, scarcity or lack can stop this innate desire.

‘Many hands make light work’ and ‘it takes a village’ are sayings that have been passed down since ancient times and still ring true today.

It is because theses maxims are not unique to a moment in history or a certain culture but apply to the entire species of humans. The same holds true for Altruism.

Our desire to help others is ingrained inside of every person on Earth, it is wired into our DNA. There is a reason it feels good to be kind to others.

Holding a door open…

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DIY Fire Cider

Ideas and Advice for How To Live a Joyful and Empowered Life.

Fire Cider is a traditional herbal remedy used to warm up the body during the cold months and support immunity during cold and flu season. Its striking blend of ginger, garlic, onion, horseradish, chilis and other herbs gives it a potent warming quality, while apple cider vinegar and honey give it a pleasant sweet-sour flavor. […]

DIY Fire Cider

DIY Herbal Bite and Sting Salve

Mixed Herbal Iced Tea for Health Benefits

Herbal Syrups For Health, Refreshing Ice Water and More!

I Made Calendula Viola Soda!

How to Make Oregano Tea and It’s Health Benefits

Nasturtiums Are Edible and Good for Hair Growth

Homemade Lilac Salve

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Ancient word of the day: Adder

Content Catnip

Snakes, serpents, vipers, adders – they all convey ancient power of life over death, of emerging in ones full power to take back what belongs to them, of transformation and return. A potent ancestral spirit and augur from the Land of the Dead.

Adder

The Adder Vipera berus is the only venomous snake in Britain.

Valiant, ephipanic and terrifying, snakes flare up and out of the earth, or from under leaf litter, or the dark waters of rivers, out of the darkness of the psyche.

But never met this Fellow

Attended or alone

Without a tighter breathing

And zero at the bone.

~A Narrow Fellow in the Grass, Emily Dickinson

The snake is a form for countless deities including Zeus, Apollo, Persephone, Hades, Isis, Kali, Shiva.

The underworld realm of the dead that snakes mythically inhabit is also the fecund ground from which new life emerges, a place of healing…

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What about Noah’s wife, and languages for empathy

Context, Thought, and Learning: ShiraDest Offers Project Do Better

This week’s Torah portion, called a Parashah, is the 2nd portion of the cycle, Parashat Noach and reminded me of a story I wrote, in a couple of different versions, a few years ago based on a question about some of those who stayed behind, in the Great Flood story. This image, btw, is an Islamic image of Noah’s Ark, which I found interesting.

Waves lapped at her breasts, the cold water raising goose bumps on her clammy chilled flesh. The matron shivered, lifting her head, drawing a deep breath from her belly, and pushing the words out with her diaphragm:

“Soon and very soon

we are going to see the King”

the others joined in, linking arms,

“Soon and very soon

we are going to see the King”

Was she seeing that right?

“What are they doing singing?!” tears stung her face as Naamah bellowed

“Get them in…

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Oil Spill in California- Bad for the Wildlife and the Environment

FunWritings

As minutes and days go by oil might seep into wetlands after the sea birds are covered with oil

The impacts of these oil spills have increased even though there are many worker who toil

It is heartbreaking to see the damage that is done after oil is released because the pipelines laid on the sea floor started leaking

You would believe these pipelines would be monitored and no anchor would damage them, but maybe after a while people stopped thinking

No one is able to tell when the water here will be clean again, the pollution was terrible

When beaches are destroyed, no one can go there and enjoy themselves, life for many is no longer incredible

The production of clean energy should be getting all our attention

We should be making more electric cars and looking forward to seeing other inventions

Photo by Mike on Pexels.com

More of…

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What you need to know about growing pomegranates in your garden – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Pomegranate tree Punica granatum in bloom. (Photo credit: Joshua Siskin)

In a seminal 2010 study on the potential benefits of pomegranates in the prevention of breast cancer, the following conclusion was reached: “Pomegranate intake may be a viable strategy for the chemoprevention of breast cancer.” Specifically, pomegranate consumption inhibits the activity of aromatase, the enzyme that produces estrogen and its associated breast cancer cells, especially in post-menopausal women.

The conclusion of another 2009 peer-reviewed article about nutrition and cancer that addressed the cancer-prevention potential of pomegranates was more far-reaching: “Recent research has shown that pomegranate extracts selectively inhibit the growth of breast, prostate, colon and lung cancer cells in culture. In preclinical animal studies, oral consumption of pomegranate extract inhibited growth of lung, skin, colon and prostate tumors.”

The pomegranate is native to the Middle East. It is one of five fruits (along with grape, fig, olive, and date) indigenous to the Land of Israel that are mentioned in the Bible. Thus its ability to survive drought is embedded in its DNA, as years of drought in the Middle East are as common as they are in California.

Yet just because a plant species can survive a drought does not mean it will thrive with a minimum of irrigation following a dry winter. Where pomegranates are concerned, for example, the same water regime for growing citrus trees is recommended. That means a pomegranate tree should be deep soaked every 10 to 20 days during the summer, depending on how hot it gets. You can do this by moving a slowly trickling hose around the drip line or canopy circumference line, where water drips off foliage when it rains.

Source: What you need to know about growing pomegranates in your garden – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

New data suggests Canada’s ‘gamble’ on delaying, mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines paid off | CBC News

New Canadian data suggests the bold strategy to delay and mix second doses of COVID-19 vaccines led to strong protection from infection, hospitalization and death — even against the highly contagious delta variant — that could provide lessons for the world.

Preliminary data from researchers at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) and the Quebec National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ) shows the decision to vaccinate more Canadians sooner by delaying second shots by up to four months saved lives.

The researchers excluded long-term care residents from the data, who are generally at increased risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19, in order to get a better sense of vaccine effectiveness in the general population — and the results were exceptional.

The analysis of close to 250,000 people in B.C. from May 30 to Sept. 11 found two doses of any of the three available COVID-19 vaccines in Canada were close to 95 per cent effective against hospitalization — regardless of the approved vaccination combination.

Source: New data suggests Canada’s ‘gamble’ on delaying, mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines paid off | CBC News

Taliban say they will not cooperate with US to contain IS extremists | Afghanistan | The Guardian (Me: Misleading headlines give air to fear)

“We are able to tackle Daesh independently,” Shaheen said, when asked whether the Taliban would work with the US to contain the IS affiliate. He used an Arabic acronym for IS.
IS has carried out relentless assaults on the country’s minority Shia population since emerging in eastern Afghanistan in 2014.  Source: Taliban say they will not cooperate with US to contain IS extremists | Afghanistan | The Guardian