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1,300 year old book of Egyptian spells finally deciphered

December 26, 2014 by Andrew Leave a Comment

book-of-spells

Do you believe in Egyptian magic? History claims they could do everything from exorcising demons, defeating enemies and had plenty of love spells?

In fact, such spells have been found in the Handbook of Ritual Power, a 20-page codex from the 8th-century which Malcolm Choat at Macquarie University and Iain Gardner at the University of Sydney have now decoded.

The researchers found 27 spells in the Coptic codex. The spells come from an era in Egypt in which many people were Christian and some of the spells actually reference Christ.

In Pure Spirit

Do you believe Egyptian magic as represented in this codex has any power at all? Or do you even doubt the historical value of the document?

Fans of Egyptian wisdom are able to buy accessories at Etsy. Shops liek Timeslide sell polished agate amulets from 1800 BC while others like Phytognosis offer up Ancient isis incense blends. Pagan Scrapbook Supply is even offering digital downloads in the style of magic spell pages so you can build your own grimoire.

Image credit: Macquarie University, Ancient Cultures Research Centre. Story via Io9.)

The truth behind the mighty and powerful Jibbers Crabst

December 7, 2014 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Jibbers Crabst is the holy lobster. Jibbers Crabst is the power that brought life to the universe; including and especially bombardier beetles and banana spiders.

This is the conclusion of high priest Matt Inman, Mr Oats, of The Oatmeal. The cartoonist got to the not-keynote for the first every BAHFest West at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco.

What’s BAHFest? It is the Festival of Bad Ad Hoc Hypotheses, that’s a form of hypotheses I’m fond of here at IPS, and deals with logically explained but clearly wrong evolutionary theory. High prest Matt Inman is a master.

Special shoutout goes to the sign language supplier who stands just behind Inman. She’s given some howlers to translate into ASL and does amazingly well. She wins the audience around.

In Pure Spirit

Do you doubt the lobster wisdom of Jibbers Crabst? What alternative evolutionary theory would you suggest?

This is what the Aztec Death Whistle sounds like

December 1, 2014 by Andrew Leave a Comment

It is thought that the Aztec Whistles of Death were used used in a few locations across ancient Mexico. The reason why death whistles were created, sadly, has been lost to history.

Examples of the death whistle have been found at the Ehecatl temple at Tlatelolco. Ehecatl is a wind god and the association with a whistle seems strong.

In Pure Spirit

If you had the chance would you listen to an old wizard play the death whistle?

Do you believe Monster energy drinks are Satan? This woman does

November 10, 2014 by Andrew Leave a Comment

This woman argues that Monster energy drinks are the work of Satan.

Sound silly? Sound odd? Even those it’s a vertical video – give it a watch. The Christian makes her argument without frothing and has even invested in display cards. How can she be wrong?

Monster-Wallpaper

In Pure Spirit

Crazy talk or has this eagle-eyed religious investigator discovered a terrible truth?

Bad news for Monster or does this video represent a great ad that the company will be pleased of? As the video goes viral will likes of ASDA, Tesco and Morrisons be pulling the juice from their shelves or see monster sales?

Highlights of the Bill Nye & Ken Ham evolution debate

February 5, 2014 by Andrew 2 Comments

This blog is about the open mind. You will find many articles here exploring religious faith and you will find science. Part of accepting an open mind is to push back against extremism.

This post acts as growing summary and observation page for debate between “science guy” Bill Nye and young Earth activist Ken Ham. The debate, which was actually two pre-prepared scripts, took place in Creation Museum in Kentucky.

Do you have any favourite comments, quotes or observations from the debate? Leave them in the comments below and they may be promoted to the main blog post.

Bill Nye 1

Bill Nye 2

Ken Ham, founder of the creationist ministry Answers in Genesis;

I challenge the evolutionists to admit the belief aspects of their particular worldview.

Bill Nye;

Your assertion that there is some difference between the natural laws that I observe today and the natural laws of 4,000 years ago is extraordinary and unsettling.

Ken Ham;

The battle is really about authority. It’s about who is the authority, man or God

Bill Nye 3

Who won the Creation vs Evolution debate?

The paper Christian Today has a poll that ran for the event. At the time of this update that poll has 13,784 votes and says that Bll Nye won the debate. In fact, on the Christian Today site some 92% of respondants said that Bill Nye came away top.

poll-1

In Pure Spirit

Do you want to watch the whole debate? Here’s a YouTube of the 2+ hour event that Answers have made available.

Five Reasons To Believe In Life After Death

January 31, 2014 by Guest Author 2 Comments

gravestone

The concept of life after death is one that transcends all cultures and religions. Death is the great unknown. After all, until we actually die, how can we be certain that life really does go on? And if it does, where exactly will we end up? Many people embrace the idea that the human soul continues on its journey after the demise of the physical body, but if you are not convinced, here are a few reasons why there really could be life after death.

Near Death Experiences

childlife

There have been numerous reports over the centuries of people having a near death experience at some critical moment in their life. They describe a sensation of drifting down a long tunnel towards the light, to a place where their loved ones are waiting. Often the person has stopped breathing and their physical body is to all intents and purposes dead. But even though the physical body has stopped working, their consciousness is still alive and kicking. So whether (or not) you believe in the idea of ‘heaven’, experiences like this suggest that our ‘essence’ does leave the physical body at the point of death and travel somewhere else.

Because the Bible Says So

bible

Most of us are familiar with the teachings of the Bible. Jesus was crucified on the cross and His dead body placed inside a cave. Three days later the tomb was discovered to be empty and Jesus’s body had disappeared. Many witnesses reported seeing a resurrected Messiah over the next forty days, which is a good indication that in Christianity at least, the concept of life after death really does hold water.

The Egyptians were Believers

egyptian
The ancient Egyptians were strong believers in the idea of life after death. In fact they were such firm believers that when anyone died, their corpse was mummified and placed in a burial chamber along with all of their worldly possessions, including household slaves and anything else that might have come in useful in the afterlife. The only problem with this scenario is that if the person did indeed enter the next life, their cozy domestic arrangements might have been hampered by a lot of very angry slaves.

Past Life Regression Therapy

perry marco
Past life regression therapy is a contentious practice. Proponents of the therapy place their patients in a deep hypnotic trance and using questions, try and take them back in time to a place before they were born. Critics regard the recovered memories as delusions and fantasies, but past life regression therapy has been around for thousands of years and it is even mentioned in ancient Indian literature. There is no concrete evidence that memories recovered during past life regression therapy sessions are real, but subjects who report such memories are convinced they are true, so who knows?

Paranormal Activity

scareface
Ghosts and paranormal goings on have been reported for centuries. It could be argued that a ghostly sighting is simply a residue of electrical activity left over from a traumatic event, but for those who believe in the afterlife, ghosts are simply more evidence in favor of life after death. The body of the person has died, but their soul remains tied to a place that has special significance to them and therefore it can’t move on.

If you are yet to be convinced about the concept of life after death, at least make sure you organize a good send off. After all, your funeral could be the last chance you get to be present at a great party.

In Pure Spirit

Richard Earnshaw, the author of this article, is part of the team at,  All State Cremation & Funeral Care,   leading providers of cremation and burial services, based in CT. He is extremely good at graphic designing and is also an amateur photographer.

Creative Commons: Elroy Serrao, Ralph Repo, Mike Johnson, Ravindu Ranaweera, Marco and Beckie.

Do something: Cancer Research tackles Slacktivism #ActNowForResearch

January 30, 2014 by Andrew Leave a Comment

00034-slackYou’ll have seen it happen. “Like this status” if you want to spread a positive message or “Share this” message if you want to raise awareness of a terrible situation.

It’s true. Social media is a great way of raising awareness. You’ll also have seen the backlash. Do you think liking a message on Facebook will really improve the situation in Syria, support women’s rights in Republican states or gay tolerance in Russia?

Cancer Research UK are trying something new. It’s still social and it works with bloggers but it encourages people to actually do something.

The new Do Button is a plugin for WordPress. It’s designed to sit along your current social media share buttons.

That’s a challenge. Bloggers install their share buttons in many ways. At the time this post went live In Pure Spirit uses the popular Jetpack plugin to add buttons to the bottom of posts. If you look closely Cancer Research’s Do Button has appeared – even if it’s a bit out of alignment. Not there any more? You might be reading this post after launch date and Cancer Research may still be updating their code so that it is compatible with the current WordPress install. You can see how this is a big project; a WordPress plugin is a lifelong commitment from a brand.

do-button-largePressing the button doesn’t share the post. Instead it takes readers to Act Now For Research.com where they’ll get a fun and random example of something to do that will help.

Those “Do” suggestions also include the awareness building activities that make social media a force for good but might also suggest bringing spare clothes in as a donation into a Cancer Research UK shop or signing up to Race for Life.

In Pure Spirit

Will you be adding the Do Button to your blog? What could you do today to support charitable research?

Insane? The great-grandson of Scientology shares the family skeletons

January 10, 2014 by Andrew Leave a Comment

This is an odd video. There’s jazz as a man pours out his soul. The team from Snap Judgement has the great-grandson of the man who created Scientology speak about his family secrets.

You’ll laugh. You’ll be shocked. This is a man who’s great-grandfather created a religion. Is he a god?

In Pure Spirit

Can you imagine what it would be like to be Jamie DeWolf?

What do you make of this video? From the heart or practised?

Finding Happiness: Volunteer and Grow

December 23, 2013 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

bulb-216975_640Anita managed to become more aware of life and all that surrounds it thanks to volunteering. Today, she is happily married and enjoys raising her two daughters.

Let me share something that happens to be one of the fastest roads to personal growth and to a higher level of self awareness for me.

I started volunteering on causes I care about. These happen to be animal rights and helping children from bad neighborhoods understand the importance of education for their lives. This is something I wanted to do for a long time, and when I finally did, it paid off big time. I will share what lessons I’ve learned along the way, and share some of my musings. Read on…

Why Volunteer?

First off, I’d love to list the reasons many people list as what drives them to volunteer. I have to admit it, when asked I’ve named the same reasons as well:

  • I am altruistic and selfless
  • I love to help others
  • I want to make the world a better place

What I’ve learned by volunteering and listening to my true feelings is that volunteering is far from selfless. It is a selfish act, as you can’t help others without helping yourself (more on that below) and when you make the world a better place, you make it better for all, including yourself. This is far form altruistic and selfless.

What Can You Gain By Volunteering?

By volunteering, I’ve learned a lot of things and gained an insight I never had before. For starters, I realized that there are people far worse off than I am. It was a very humbling experience. Yes, you might mentally know that some people don’t live nearly as good as you do. But it never truly processed on an emotional level for me, until I’ve seen it and party experienced it.

I’ve met a lot of great people. People that cared for others and for the world around them. They were much different than people I used to associate with, who were mostly all about themselves. Hanging out with new friends has made an incredible impression on me and has changed the way I view the world by 180 degrees.

I’ve realized that we are all part of one living, breathing being. We all need to make a contribution. Every individual counts. Some people might be able to bring more change than others, but all of our voices count. If we amass enough people (and some speculate that only 10% is needed to create a critical mass), we can change the world.

Lessons Learned

I’ve learned that anything I do, no matter if I frame it as altruistic or not, helps me in the end. This realization has left me transformed as I gained an entirely different perspective on life after that. When others grow, I grow, when I grow, others grow too.

I highly suggest you make a conscious effort to make positive ripples in the world around you. If you don’t have the time to help people out, you can support organizations such as Red Cross or Mater Foundation and still have fun. Mater Foundation has a charitable lottery to fight cancer, for example.

I’ve learned that I can become more positive by realizing how lucky I am in life and by hanging out with people that can teach me a lot about life. Particularly, people who are doing what they preach and that aren’t just talking about things are the ones that have the most to offer.

I’ve also realized that I became pleased and proud of myself because I consistently took the time out of my day to help children and animals. It has made me much happier as I felt like I was making a difference.

And the thing is, when we are happy, when we are doing as much as we can to make a positive impact on the world, our self awareness and our consciousness grow as a result.

British first: Pagan wins Halloween case

December 20, 2013 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

spellbook

For hundreds of years, Pagans have been persecuted by the law and people who didn’t understand their way of life and thus hated them for it. In 2013, British courts ruled in favor of a practicing Pagan against her employers with unfair dismissal, sexual and religious discrimination claims, receiving a total of £15,337.12. It is seen as the first ruling of this nature and a welcomed recognition for Pagans and their beliefs.

Karen Holland, aged 45, claimed that she was fired from the shop she was employed at in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, around Halloween after sharing her beliefs in Paganism. She went to the Feast of the Dead which is a traditional Pagan festival around Halloween. Once Gurnam Singh and Tarloch (brothers that owned the store) found out that she was a ‘witch’, they proceeded to ridicule her. They showed a clear disliking to the idea that she was a Pagan. Karen felt alienated by her bosses and shortly after Halloween, she was fired. Her bosses allegedly asked Karen if she rode around on a broom among other things, which they later denied saying. She said that she was made to feel that she had done something wrong just for following what she believed in.

Tarloch and Gurnam Singh claimed that she had been caught stealing a lottery ticket and magazine on camera, but later when asked to provide evidence, they said that they had deleted the footage. They denied ever ridiculing her about her beliefs, which they also couldn’t prove. Without the proper evidence for their case, the brothers could only deny what was being revealed in the tribunal.

The court ruled that Karen was to receive £6,145.44 for unfair dismissal and an additional £9,095.84 for charges of religious and sex discrimination. This ruling shows that all people, including Pagans, enjoy the same rights as everybody else.

The owners of the small shop say that the payout will put their business in jeopardy. They are challenging the court’s decision but without any evidence for their case, an overruling on the previous decision is unlikely.

It appears that Pagans across UK do not need to fear expressing their feelings about their religion as the law is firmly behind them and their rights as human beings.

In Pure Spirit

What do you make of the news? A step forward for religious equality or not?

Story: Daily Telegraph | Picture: Fixie Foo

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