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A long time ago (i.e. the mid-90's), I had a green iguana named Merlin. After spending 450 to get a bladder stone removed (only a few months after I got him), he mysteriously died about two years later. I was heart broken. I always thought of getting another iguana, but I didn't want it to die as well.
Fast forward to today. My sweetie bought me a new one! In keeping with tradition, I named him after a wizard as well. Fizban is a character from the Dragonlance series of When doing some research, I found out quite a few new things compared to what I had known in the mid-90's. I also found out why Merlin died. In addition to a basking lamp (which provides standard UVA rays like any common light bulb), iguanas need a bulb that emits UVB rays. These are both produced by the sun, and iguanas need both. UVB allows them to utilize the calcium in their diet. Without these rays, the calcium can build up into... drumroll now... calcium deposits within the body, such as bladder stones. When an iguana doesn't get enough calcium (or be able to use it), it gets... metabolic bone disease (MBD for short). I always noticed that Merlin's legs were held at an odd angle, and it had some toes that were just bent around the wrong way. Also, he didn't grow. After two years, I should've needed two hands to hold him, but he was barely bigger than Fizban is now in these pictures. Unfortunately, they didn't know that much about UVB at the time. I had a couple I have him in a little tank right now (29 gallon) until the 55 gallon ones go on sale at Petco (for a dollar a gallon!). In no time at all, though, no conventional tank will be big enough for Fizban. See what he'll look like in three to five years:
Yes, they can grow from five to six feet long! Where to keep such a beast? Why, right here, in our mini-backyard of sorts:
Without the bike, of course! With the exception of the low fence dead ahead, it's pretty well enclosed. Fizban can roam loose in this area, but we need to make sure he stays in, and something like a bobcat stays out! We're going to buy some coated chain link fencing to go over those areas (hope the neighbors don't complain!). Fence or mesh is good, to let in some natural sunlight (though that only happens in the morning), and it should be coated so he can't scratch himself on the fence if climbing or rubbing his nose on it. We'd remove the rocks, as he can scrape his belly on those sharp things. I want to borrow some large rocks and branches from Mother Nature for him to climb on. We'll still need a basking light and a UVB lamp out there, since the sun won't shine into the yard nearly enough for him.
The only thing is, once it starts getting under seventy degrees at night, we'll have to find alternate accommodations for him - probably in our room. This awesome iguana owner (female, natch) has a series of racks nailed into the wall at high levels. She has the lights hanging up there, and it's food bowls and such on the racks. The racks went all around the room, in a spiral fashion. Pretty cool idea!
Oh, one last thing: I know I've been calling Fizban a 'he,' and he's (did it again!) named after a male wizard. Well, it's impossible to tell what sex they are until they reach sexual maturity - about one a half years old. I call him... well, him, both because I don't want to be calling my adorable little lizard an 'it,' and because I thought Merlin was male. The man at the pet store told me he was a boy when I bought him - at 2 or 3 months old. Amateur. So I was used to calling him 'Merlin Boy, Green Boy,' and such. It just comes natural now. Female iguanas are usually blessed with a calmer temperament (though both are easy-going if you train them right), but they tend to have health issues due to their egg-laying. Constipation, loss of protein, and other problems may occur. One can get them spayed at a veterinarian that knows what they're doing with reptiles.
Comments? Questions? Fire away! If you want to seek answers for yourself, try this website. There's a ton of iguana info here:
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TOPICAL STUDY
FORGIVEN
GEN 33:4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
GEN 33:11 Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.
GEN 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
GEN 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
GEN 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
GEN 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
GEN 45:9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
GEN 45:10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:
GEN 45:11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.
GEN 45:12 And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
GEN 45:13 And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.
GEN 45:14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
GEN 45:15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
GEN 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
GEN 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
GEN 50:21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones.
And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
EXO 23:4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
EXO 23:5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
NUM 12:1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
NUM 12:2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.
NUM 12:3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
NUM 12:4 And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.
NUM 12:5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
NUM 12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
NUM 12:7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
NUM 12:8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
NUM 12:9 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.
NUM 12:10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
NUM 12:11 And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.
NUM 12:12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.
NUM 12:13 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
1SA 24:10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD'S anointed.
1SA 24:11 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.
1SA 24:12 The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
1SA 26:9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?
1SA 26:23 The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness;
for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD'S anointed.
2SA 1:14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed?
2SA 1:15 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.
2SA 1:16 And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD'S anointed.
2SA 1:17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:
2SA 16:9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.
2SA 16:10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
2SA 16:11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
2SA 16:12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.
2SA 16:13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.
2SA 19:23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.
1KI 1:53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.
1KI 2:8 And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.
1KI 2:9 Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood.
1KI 13:3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
1KI 13:4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
1KI 13:5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
1KI 13:6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
PRO 19:11 The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.
PRO 24:17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
PRO 24:29 Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.
PRO 25:21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
PRO 25:22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
ECC 7:21 Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:
MAT 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
MAT 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
MAT 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
MAT 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
MAT 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
MAT 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
MAT 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
MAT 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
MAT 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
MAT 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
MAT 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
MAT 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
MAT 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
MAT 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
MAT 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
MAT 18:25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
MAT 18:26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
MAT 18:27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
MAT 18:28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
MAT 18:29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
MAT 18:30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
MAT 18:31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
MAT 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
MAT 18:33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
MAT 18:34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
MAT 18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
MAR 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
LUK 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
LUK 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
LUK 6:37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
LUK 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
LUK 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
LUK 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
ROM 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
ROM 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
ROM 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
ROM 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
ROM 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
1CO 4:12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
1CO 4:13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as tho filth of the world, and are the offscouring ofeall things unto this day.
EPH 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
COL 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
PHM 1:10 I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:
1PE 3:9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
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This world is full of suffering and
pain, and God does allow it. And while we may understand to a point why God had to allow suffering, why doesn't he end it now? Why has he allowed it to continue so long? That is a troubling question.
A
perfect and holy God created a perfect world. He "looked over all he made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way" (Genesis 1:31 nlt).
Yet not for long. Because of free will, humans had a choice of God's way or their way. They chose their way, and sin and evil entered the world. The perfect paradise God had created was destroyed. And from that moment forward-multiplied thousands of years-hunger, disease, hatred, wars, and untold heartache have plagued the human race. It is true God has promised to redeem those who trust in his Son for salvation and to restore creation back to his original design. But why is God taking so long to correct the tragic mess humans have made of this world?
A
Difficult Question
We
confess that we cannot satisfactorily explain why God has allowed suffering for as long as he has. We agree with agnostic Bart Ehrman that the question "Where is God in all this?" is a valid one, even though we disagree with his answers and conclusions.
But
why God is taking so
long to end pain and suffering is truly a perplexing question.
Over 2500 years ago Habakkuk, a prophet of Judah, had the same question. He lived at a time when Judah was violent and wicked, and many innocents suffered.
The prophet asked, "How long, O Lord, must I call
for help? But you do not listen! 'Violence is everywhere!' I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery?" (Habakkuk 1:1-3). It appeared to Habakkuk that God was ignoring the problem of pain and suffering.
Job
had a similar complaint. He had a large stock of animals that were stolen, and all his farmhands were killed. His house was destroyed and all of his children died. He contracted a terrible case of boils from head to foot. And as he sat in misery scraping his running sores with broken pieces of pottery, the only comfort and advice he got from his wife was, "Curse God and die" ( Job 2:9).
Instead,
Job cursed the day he was born and asked, "Why is life given to those with no future, those destined by God to live in distress?...I have no peace, no quietness. I have no rest; instead, only trouble comes" ( Job 3:23,26 nlt). He could not understand why God would allow such suffering for those without a future.
King
David had his questions for God too. He was misunderstood, mistreated, and betrayed, and he suffered at the hands of his enemies. He cried out,
O
Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How
long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day?...Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! (Psalm 13:1-3).
What
is God's answer? Why doesn't he stop the madness? Today in the twenty-first century violence is everywhere. Life is also given to those with no real future. We see the misery and hopelessness of the starving and broken. Where is God? Why does he let it go on?
Even Jesus Asked Why
One
final question before we offer an answer. Jesus, who was very God and very man, also had a question. He knew he was to suffer and die a cruel death for the sins of the world. Yet just before his crucifixion he prayed, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine" (Matthew 26:39). It is not strange that on a human level Jesus didn't want to suffer. It is clear that he was struggling with the knowledge that he would experience great pain and suffering. Humanly he didn't want to endure the torturous death of the cross-yet he would do it for his Father.
And hours later Jesus asks perhaps the most perplexing
question of all time. While he is hanging on the cross, dying a hideous death, he musters the strength to ask, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
(Matthew 27:46). What a question to come from the Son of God to his Father!
Jesus was actually quoting Psalm 22:1, where King David asked that question.
David followed up that question with, "Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief" (Psalm 22:1-2).
It
is as if Jesus spoke on behalf of the entire human race with this question:
"Why, God, have you abandoned us?" It was as if his cry was amplified to echo back to the expulsion of the first couple from the Garden of Eden and forward to the end of time, asking, "Why
don't you do something about this now?"
God
Desires More Relationships
We
don't know if or how God answered his Son on the cross. The questions of Habakkuk, Job, and David were left unexplained. Search all of Scripture and you will find very few answers. The apostle Peter suggests that God is waiting for more people to come to him. "The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise to return," Peter says. "No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent...the Lord is waiting so that people have time to be saved" (2 Peter 3:9,15).
It's
true that the longer God waits to return, the more people are coming to him.
Studies by Operation World reported by the book Perspectives shows
that by 1887, after 100 years of Christian missionary work around the world, there were 3 million Protestant converts out of a world population of a billion and a half. Today, over 100 years later, those numbers have dramatically changed.
Christianity
may have declined as a proportion of the West's population, but this is not so in other major population areas of the world. For example, in 1900 there were 8 million Christians in Africa; by 2000 there were 351 million. Christianity has now become the major religion across sub-Saharan Africa. In 1900 there were 22 million Christians in Asia; by 2005 there were around 370 million. From 1900 to
2000 evangelicals grew in Latin America from about 700,000 to over 55 million.
And more Muslims are turning to Christ in the Middle East than at any other time in history. The 2006 Operation World report summarized it thus:
Evangelical
Christianity is currently the fastest growing religious movement in the world today. Evangelical growth represents more than double the growth rate of the next closest religion (Islam) and more than triple the world's population growth rate. 23
Does
this mean that as long as the earth is being populated and people are coming to Christ, God will wait to bring an end to it all? We don't know. But God does, and it seems clear he has simply chosen not to fully explain why he has allowed evil, suffering, pain, and death to last as long as it has.
Listen
to what God said to Habakkuk. "Look around at the nations; look and be amazed!
For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it" (Habakkuk 1:5). Yes, he had a plan then and he still does. He had a reason for doing what he was doing, he just wasn't going to explain it all to Habakkuk. Sure-God could explain to us today why there is suffering and why he is taking centuries to accomplish his ultimate goal of
"reconciling the world to himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19). He could explain why he hasn't yet recreated this world as a place where "there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain" (Revelation 21:4). But he has chosen not to explain it to us. Yet that doesn't mean we don't have an answer.
Focusing
on God Himself
It
seems that God gave Habakkuk understanding of how he wanted him-and all of us-to respond. Rather than trying to figure out the details of his plan, God wants us to focus on him as a person. He told Habakkuk that
these
things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked; but the righteous will live by their faith (Habakkuk 2:3-4 nlt).
There
it is: God wants us to trust in him personally even if we don't understand his plan. Job finally got the same message-that he was to put faith in the person of God. Job said to him, "I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked 'Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?' It is I-and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me" ( Job 42:2-3). And how did he come to the conclusion that God's ways and his plans were beyond his comprehension? By knowing God the person. "I had only heard about you before," Job said, "but now I have seen you with my own eyes" ( Job 42:5). His focus was no longer on a plan, but in a person whom he trusted to know what he was doing.
King
David understood the message that he was to live by faith in the person of God, too. Right after he asked God, "Why have you abandoned me?" he declared, "Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them...they trusted in you and were never disgraced" (Psalm
22:3-5). Read the entirety of Psalm 22 and you will find David got the message.
He may not have understood why God delayed in making all things right, but he believed he was good and knew what he was doing.
And
while Jesus as God knew that his suffering was the only solution for sin, suffering, and death, he modeled for us what we must do-place our faith and trust in God, who does all things right in his right timing. Peter said,
God
called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor even deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God [he kept entrusting himself to God] who always judges fairly (1 Peter 2:21-23).
We
may not understand God's plan, but we can trust in his person. He is faithful and just and always judges rightly. And he is always with us. Jesus said, "I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid" ( John 14:27). He prayed to his Father to send us his Spirit-the Holy Spirit to guide us, comfort us, and be with us no matter what happens. Jesus said, "Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
This
chapter originally appeared in "77 FAQs About God and the Bible" by Sean McDowell and Josh McDowell (2012). Used by permission from Harvest House Publishers.
Credit: http://magic-and-spells.blogspot.com
PART 1 CONCEPTS OF THE OTHER
Throughout Celtic story we find humans meeting the spirits in ways and places outside of or beyond common life. Gods, messengers, allies and opponents arrive among mortals bringing tales of their homes, of strange halls and wild places both near and far. In turn the tales tell of mortals who visit Other Folk. It is from these tales that we begin to understand the nature of what we often simply call the Otherworld.
The tales describe the dwellings of the Other Clans as being both very near to our mortal world and very far from our common lands. The armies of the Sidhe ride out from beneath the land. Mortals enter the courts and feasts of the Lords of the Mound, leaving behind common time and place. Other tales tell of emissaries arriving from over the sea, or of mortals who voyage, and of the lands of wonder, danger and vision that lie beyond the ocean wave.
Your studies should offer plenty of chances to read these tales. It is useful to immerse your imagination in the motifs of Celtic story. These provide raw materials with which we can build an understanding of the Celtic Otherworld.
It may be that the ancient idea of the Otherworld bears a resemblance to various metaphysical models. Those familiar with western magical systems might compare the Otherworld with the '"astral plane"' or the '"etheric realm"'. However, the Celtic spirit-lands don't seem to be causal to the common world in the way the '"astral"' is sometimes described to be. We might find a parallel with the Dreamtime of the Australian First Peoples - a mythic, storied and ritual reality in which mortals participate along with the Gods and spirits. Hindu cosmology presents a variety of '"lokas"' - worlds - in which Gods, spirits, ancestors and daemons dwell. The Norse have a similar system of Nine Realms. Celtic lore is far less specific about the number and order of the realms or worlds, though a variety of environments are described.
PART 2 VISION AND THE THRESHOLD
In this month's first exercises we will enter an imagined series of landscapes and environments. In some cases we will consciously select or design the spaces. In others we will enter visions that we do not deliberately create. We will consider this half-constructed, half-discovered imaginal world to be a Threshold, a place Between the common world and the independent reality of the Other Places. We can move our point of view, our '"presence"', into this Threshold realm in a form we invent, and in the same way the Gods and spirits can create forms that move and live in that space. The forms we see (AND MAKE) in the Threshold may or may not be the '"true"' forms of the spirits but that need not prevent us from speaking to them through those forms. The Threshold is a reflection both of our common world and of the Other realms beyond.
While we may consciously shape and influence it, the Threshold realm exists without our conscious making. Just as the landscapes of dream occur as if subjectively real so the places of Threshold are waiting for us when we arrive. Just as in a lucid dream we can shape events and places, but the life of the Threshold realm goes on, around or even without our conscious constructions.
PART 3 FIRST STEPS IN THE MIST
The very first Threshold technique is to learn to rise and move within an imagined point-of-view. In some spiritual systems students are taught to develop a detailed, repeating and specific '"body of vision"' which serves as the seer's '"vehicle"'. This does have value, but we find it best to recommend a more natural approach. Each of us carries a basic self-image and it is in that form that we can most easily approach our vision journeys.
One important trick of basic journey-work is to train yourself to keep your point-of-view located '"behind the eyes"' of your vision-self. By learning to keep your point of view firmly fixed in one place and in one direction at a time you create a sense of reality in your early visions that helps you move into the Threshold realm. Your point of view may move by drifting, flying or purposeful striding but you should be careful to keep it in one place at a time in most cases.
From that beginning you can move deeper into the Threshold in a variety of ways. We will use a symbol drawn directly from Celtic story - the Mist of the Between. By passing through the vision of the thick mist so common in the ancient forests you can emerge much deeper within the Threshold realm.
By passing the Mist we seek to enter a space in which we can both discover and create a greater, more ideal Sacred Grove. In next month's lesson we will move on to the work of passing the Mist and beginning the Inner Grove. This will become a base of operations for many further visions and workings.
Recommended
Credit: http://esoteric-soup.blogspot.com
Harold Longman
pictures by Harry Devlin
Parent's Magazine Press, 1962
Full disclosure. I took my son to see How to Train Your Dragon last week, and he fell for it, hook, line and sinker. He's a sucker for any sort of enchanted animal and has swallowed the story whole, making the past week thoroughly dragon-filled. The moment we walked out of the theater, we headed over to the Recently, gifting
What kind of house
Should a tree house be
A castle, maybe,
Strong and tall
With towers and
A high stone wall?
Why not?
Or maybe a fairy tale house or an airplane or a nest or a fort? The possibilities are endless, though in the end, good old dad knows just what to do to make the house come alive. Because, after all, a tree house can be anything we want in our imaginations. My husband is dying to build a tree house with my son, but we have a few birthdays still to go before that happens. Makes me insane that he'll be in kindergarten next year. Where has the time gone?
As my son and I sat on the couch this morning, finishing up the last two chapters of How To Train Your Dragon, both admittedly weeping openly at the end... I made a pact that as long as my son will let me, I'll keep dishing out
Source: http://wizard-notes.blogspot.com
"I'm one with the Goddess
and open to Her Wisdom."
3rd Day of the 9th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Persephone
Lunar Tree Cycle of Coll/Hazel
23rd Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Tinne/Holly
3rd Day of the Cycle of Lughnasadh -
Days of Lugh
Moon Phase: waxing New
Moon rises: 8:32AM EDST
Moon sets: 9:29PM EDST
Moon in Leo v/c 2:19AM EDST
Moon enters the Mutable Earth
Sign of Virgo at 4:41AM EDST
Blodeuwedd's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The blessing of water
Sun in Leo
Sunrise: 6:17AM EDST
Sunset: 8:36PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "What
soul food nourishes you?"
Lughnasadh ( Gwyl Awst) Quarter
of the Year
August 1st, 2011
MOON IN VIRGO - The Moon in Virgo sends us back to work and gives us a to-do list. We become impatiently aware of what needs to be improved, fixed or healed. Our compassion is strong, but we can get irritated at less industrious folk. This transit is a time to edit, critique, care, exercise, investigae, study, and heal but be gentle with others. The Moon in Virgo asks us to consider what needs healing and what needs composting. It's time to study, learn, train, organize and turn our compassion into pragmatic action. Don't get stuck in your head. During this transit important issues are practicality, organization, cleaning up your diet and/or house, healing your body and/or offering healing to others and attending to loose ends. After the Leo party it's time to clean up our act and turn our attentions to the matters of our health and hygiene. Practical Virgo cleans the house, sets things in order, washes the dogt and harvests the vegetables. She purifies and organizes our diet, setting us on the healthy road for the month. It is a time of taking responsibility and cleaning up the messes we've been leaving. Virgo brings painstaking attention to detail: housecleaning is a good way to work through a Virgo transit. During a Virgo Moon transit women are mentally active but there is a tendency to excessive criticism both of oneself and others. Emotionally it's an inward time, when we can reflect on personal relationships. The moon speaks directly to our spirit. It describes the daily pulse and the emotional matrix we walk through. As the moon changes signs every 2 1/2 days, the filters on our inner world changes. Let the garden be a metaphor for any project you want to nourish. Our own moon sign indicates our personal spiritual lineage and our emotional prime-directive. Moon in Virgo is the best time to work magick involving employment, intellectual matters, health, and dietary concerns. Healing rituals for ailments of the intestines or nervous system are also done during this period of time. Those born under a Moon in Virgo moon sign are curious, responsible and caring but need to cultivate acceptance of self and others.
MOON DAY - the Day of Remembering and Feeling - Impression Day...There are Major magickal energies today for Borrowing or Lending Money; there are minor magickal energies for doing rites/spells dealing feminine or domestic issues.
LAMMAS - LUGHNASADH - older alternate for Lammas. Pronounced Loo-naz - August Eve - August 1st. Also known as Cornucopia (Stega tradition) Thingtide (Teutonic tradition), Lammas and Lammastide (old Christian). Witches' calendar beginning of Autumn, first of the three harvest festivals. Lammas was the Christian name given the holy day. The term literally means 'loaf mass' for a feast of bread to celebrate the wheat harvest.
The grain god was molded into an edible figure and passed around. Everyone broke off a piece and ate it thereby becoming one with the deity in symbol. This is clearly the predecessor to the Christian rite of communion. In Ireland this holy day was traditionally a festival of the dead, a mourning ritual.
Wheat may have been regarded with awe as it was what made civilization (loosely defined) possible in Western Europe. This festival was called Lammastide in medieval times and was observed with craft fairs, parades, dances, ceremonial plays and the usual warm weather revels. Baking bread is a tradition as is the making of a corn dolly to guard your home for the coming season. This is the celebration of the first fruits of the harvest. The Sun King gives his energy to the crops to ensure life. Now is the time to teach the young what you have learned so that the fruits of your accomplishments may endure. Altars are common decorated with Baked Breads, Grains, Fruits and Vegetables.
[From the 2011 Season of the Witch Datebook.]
At this blog site Beth has created a beautiful Laughnasadh posting that everyone should view and listen to...
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Chocolate is said to be an aphrodisiac, a mild euphoric, and helps to heal depression. It is therefore extremely effective in love potions and spells. In this spell two ingredients are brought together to help you to enchant your loved one.Strawberries are well known as lovers' fruits.
YOU WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING ITEMS FOR THIS SPELL:
* Strawberry incense
* Pink candles
* A plate of strawberries
* Melted chocolate
CASTING INSTRUCTIONS:
Be very clear in your own mind what you want to happen before you start. Be aware that it is not right to influence the other person against their will or their natural inclinations.You should use this spell to prepare the ground for true relationship.
Light the candles and the incense. Dip each strawberry in the chocolate. As you do so, visualize you and the other person together enjoying one anther's company, becoming closer and so on.
Say the words below (or something similar)as you prepare the fruit:
"Lover, lover, come to me"And even then you shall be free"To come, to go just as you please"Until to stay your heart decrees."
Do be aware that you have not put a time limit on this so if you cannot handle such an open relationship choose different words.
As you enjoy the fruit together be prepared to take responsibility for what occurs. This spell can be quite powerful, particularly if you use the same pink candles when your lover arrives.Strawberries and chocolate both come under the rulership of Venus the Goddess of Love, though there is a belief that Jupiter also has a connection with strawberries.
Found at: Spells of Magic
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Wikipedia says:
The 969 MOVEMENT is a nationalist group opposed to what they see as Islam's expansion in predominantly-Buddhist Burma. The three digits of 969 "symbolize the virtues of the Buddha, Buddhist practices and the Buddhist community."The first 9 stands for the nine special attributes of the Lord Buddha and the 6 for the six special attributes of his Dhamma, or Buddhist Teachings, and the last 9 represents the nine special attributes of Buddhist Sangha [monks]. Those special attributes are the three Gems of the Buddha. In the past, the Buddha, Sangha, Dhamma and the wheel of Dhamma were Buddhists' sign. And the same goes for 969; it is another Buddhist sign.
The movement that inspired strong reactions within and beyond Myanmar. In the international media it has received criticism. The Straits Times, in 2013, dramatically described it as "Myanmar's "neo-Nazi group" and alleged that it spreads anti-Muslim sentiment".
Alex Bookbinder, in The Atlantic, links the movement's origins to certain ideas of U Kyaw Lwin and states it holds 969 as a number symbolizing Buddhism. He also cites criticism of it by Min Ko Naing.
The movement's Myanmar Buddhist supporters deny it is anti-Muslim with BhikkhuWirathu stating it is a protective movement about targeting "Bengalis who are terrorizing ethnic Rakhine (Buddhists)."
WIRATHU
Main article: Ashin Wirathu
Wirathu is regarded as the movement's highest protector. It has been reported that he advocates the boycott of shops owned by Muslims.[10][11] Wirathu has himself stated that the movement has been treated as a scapegoat unfairly blamed for events like the 2012 Rakhine State riots and that "969 is not violent." The Asia Times Online has described him as a "complex figure" who demonizes Muslims, but also protests police violence. An article in The Straits Times says a source indicated that Wirathu had changed his tone and has "pledged to promote peace among religious communities."[12]
Wirathu is mentioned on the cover story of Time magazine as "The Face of Buddhist Terror" on June 20, 2013.[13] "You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog," Wirathu said, referring to Muslims. "If we are weak," he said, "our land will become Muslim. Some people misunderstood the title [of the Time article]... seeing it as an insult to religion," said Dr. Yan Myo Thein, a political analyst. "They believe it's equating Buddhism with terrorism."[14] After the publication of the Time article, Wirathu denied responsibility for anti-Muslim violence.[15] Shortly after, the 2013 July issue of Time Magazine featuring Wirathu was banned in Myanmar.[16]
Burmese President Thein Sein has defended Wirathu, saying the report undermined efforts to rebuild trust between faiths and that the monk's order was striving for peace and prosperity. "The government is currently striving with religious leaders, political parties, media and the people to rid Myanmar [Burma] of unwanted conflicts," it added.[17] Burma's government is objecting to a Time Magazine article critical of an extremist monk who has been attacking Islam. Authorities deny they are defending the monk, Wirathu, but said they are concerned the article could create problems after recent unrest between Buddhists and Muslims. Wirathu said the Time Magazine article is not against Buddhism, just against him. In an interview with the The Irrawaddy Magazine he also alleges Muslim extremists are behind the article and planning to wage jihad against Burma.[18]
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Yangon early on June 30,2013 afternoon in a peaceful demonstration against TIME magazine's article on senior monk U Wirathu and the 969 movement he leads. Marching monks held a banner proclaiming that U Wirathu is "Not The Terrorist, but The Protector of race, language and the religion." Speaking to Mizzima News, one demonstrator, a 51-year-old office manager, said, "TIME Magazine is wrong. He [Wirathu] is peaceful. Every monk is a peacemaker. The Buddhist religion wants brotherhood with everyone."[19]
INITIATIVES
The movement is seeking to draft a law that would forbid Buddhist women from marrying non-Buddhist men without the permission of local officials, as well as the conversion to Buddhism of the husband-to-be.[20]
SEE ALSO
* Buddhism and violence
* Rohingya conflict in Western Burma
* 2012 Rakhine State riots
* 2013 Burma anti-Muslim riots
* Persecution of Muslims in Burma
* Bodu Bala Sena
REFERENCE
* ^ "A"B"C"969: The Strange Numerological Basis for Burma's Religious Violence by Alex Bookbinder, The Atlantic
* ^ "A"B"C"
* ^
* ^
source:: http://way-of-witch.blogspot.com
