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Amazing photographs from FESTIMA: Festival International des Masques

January 14, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

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North of Burkina Faso there’s Dédougou, the capital of Mouhoun Province, and home of Festival International des Masques. Italian photographer Anthony Pappone attended and took a series of stunning photographs.

It is said that the person wearing a mask becomes the embodiment of the spirit shown by the mask. As they dance the chief can control the mask and the person inside enters a trance and looses control. This is an animist tradition, one where spirits are important, and the masks and dance are used to encourage rain.

Rappone kindly shared his photograph set, known as The Spirit of the Masks, on Behance. It’s well worth checking the entire album.

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In Pure Spirit

Are you impressed by the mask creations on display?

Actual masks from Burkina Faso are incredibly rare but you can get some fantastic handmade masks from Etsy for a range of prices, even those with a spirit mask focus, and have them delivered to your home.

3 spirit haunted items from White Rose Witches

January 3, 2015 by Andrew 2 Comments

The White Rose Witches are three sisters who have moved from America back to the home of their great grandmother in Cornwall, UK. The three white witches keep their eyes open for items which they believe have power and run an interesting store on Etsy to trade.

You can visit the White Rose Witches store here.

Three of the witches’ current stock are described as haunted but helpful. Let’s take a look.

Dragon Angel Spirit: Haunted Ring

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Learn more about this ring.

The White Rose Witches say;

This item is one of the most powerful and wondrous items we have ever had in our collection. An item of true beauty and dazzling energy. A very grounded but extremely powerful item that will work wonders for the right person. Very very loyal and true of spirit, likely intended for a sole practitioner, someone connected to the earth and animals with a great sensitivity to nature and the wild energies for the four elements. The spirit within is extremely loyal and will be your companion through thick and thin. A true rarity.

Angel Spirit: Haunted Ring

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Study the ring.

Katri, one of the travelling witches, says;

This item is an amazing ring with a wonderful Angel spirit. Wonderful for children for protection or for an adult pure of heart for clarity. The energy is so beautifully clear and cool. A calm presence to ease burning pain, quick temper, or nervous temperament.

Witch Owned: Haunted Prism Pendant

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Take a closer look.

The store says;

This item is a beautiful and positively charged pendant with a strong connection to a guardian angel like spirit named Kathreena. There is a healing energy and I believe this is intended for someone who not only needs a healing energy themselves but is in a care position and will share with others the beautiful white light energy that flows steadily from this pendant. This item is safe for all, including children. And I will include a lovely blessing ritual that can be performed for a calm bonding experience.

In Pure Spirit

Do you visit the White Rose Witches on Etsy and trade with them? Let us know in the comments below.

Which online stores would you recommend for tools of the craft and useful items?

1,300 year old book of Egyptian spells finally deciphered

December 26, 2014 by Andrew Leave a Comment

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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?

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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?

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