“In the 1920s O G S Crawford invented aerial archaeology, one of many services this eccentric Marxist misanthrope performed for the study of antiquity.”
- Jonathan Meades: Link

Bloody Old Britain: O G S Crawford and the Archaeology of Modern Life

By Kitty Hauser

Granta Books, 286pp

Amazon: Link

“Future archaeologists will perhaps excavate the ruined factories of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when the radiation effects of Atom bombs have died away.”
- O. G. S. Crawford, from Archaeology in the Field (1953)

O. G. S. Crawford @ Wikipedia: Link.

~ Karl Jones

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Kissed by Snow (Sedona, Arizona, 2000) photo by Light

Kissed by Snow is a moment of magnificent Creation seen through the eyes of Light Traveler. Majestic red rocks, caressed by clouds and kissed by snow with dancing light and soft dark shadows. Sedona is a beautiful pallet, a visual feast and an energetic hotspot. Wonderland….

Lovely photos of Sedona and festive trimmings by Light to begin December’s Holiday Season.

Everyday throughout December I will post a new inspirational blog dedicated to Spirit and the Holidays… music, art, photos, videos and customs from many traditions.

Come by for a visit everyday if you like and fill your cup with some Holiday Cheer.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  

Light Traveler (August 1946 - July 2003)  photographer, Reiki Master/Teacher, spiritual seeker and beautiful loving Spirit. He filled my life with awe and wonder. Here’s to you Light!!! You can see more and purchase his beautiful photography at Light Traveler’s gallery.

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

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Foxknot by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law (2002) watercolor 16 x 18

Movement, strength, mystery, nature, earth and a little whimsy too. Could this be an Animal Ally knot with Fox-faeries? As such the knot would impart wisdom of fox with a fae influence. The circular knot is a symbol of interconnection, unity and eternity. Fox imparts the ability to watch the motivations and movements of others while remaining unobserved. Faery is otherworldly, magical and mysterious; not of this world, nor influenced by it. This knot would be a spiritual tool to help the person become a silent watcher who moves easily between worlds. I love this wonderful, whimsical interpretation of a Celtic Knot.

A deeper understanding of Celtic knots and Animal Allies:

The Celtic knot symbolizes the Thread of Life. To the Celts, the human soul was thought to be a fragment of the divine, which will ultimately return to its divine source. Through successive rebirths the soul rids itself of its accumulated, inherited impurities until it finally achieves the goal of perfection.

The interlaced, or latticed, knotwork patterns, with their unbroken lines, symbolize the process of humankind’s eternal spiritual evolution. When the cord is unravelled, it leads us on. A knot lattice can be used as an aid to concentration by occupying the conscious mind with a demanding repetitive task.

Our Animal Allies or helpers choose us to help us with our growth and understanding.  A detailed description of Celtic Animal Allies.

Stephanie Pui-Mun Law is a 31 year old artist/programmer. She began painting otherworlds in early childhood.  Graduated from a program of Computer Science in 1998. After working in programming for three years, She left the world logic for the world of fae; painting full time.  You can read news, learn about watercolor painting, browse her galleries and purchase paintings at www.shadowscapes.com.

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

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Rome: It’s beautiful and it’s not. Kinda like everything else in life.

“La prossima fermata è Roma Termini.”

I moved to Italy to live at the end of September last year. I lived in Brescia (a medium-sized city in Northern Italy) until March 1, when I moved to Siena.

(I am once again back in Brescia, but that’s a story I’m going to save for another day.)

I picked up some vocabulary during those first five months in Italy, but it wasn’t until I started attending an Italian class for immigrants in Siena that I really started learning the language.

Now, finally!, I understand much of what is being said either to me or around me. The language no longer sounds foreign or like pretty sounds flowing forth from people’s mouths. Although I’m more motivated to learn the language–because it finally seems like an achievable goal to converse fluently–the glossy veneer of the nonsensical musical sounds has dulled. I don’t know, there’s something about understanding when somebody complains about the weather (or conversely, the ease in which I can complain about it) that makes any language sound less romantic.

Shiny glossy veneers are so overrated. Don’t you think? I mean, a veneer is just a thin expensive sheet of wood (or metal) with layers upon layers of unusually toxic clear varnish. If it wasn’t for the common cheap material beneath (like pine or regular mild steel), the veneer would have nothing to attach itself to.

And I’ve always preferred the look of a dull, used or aged finish anyway…and now that I’ve exhausted my analogy I’m finished with this post.

But one more thing before I go to bed on this hot summer night: it is nice to know that you can simply listen to the conductor to know when your next stop is and not have the nervous wondering of whether you’ve missed it or have yet to arrive.

Arrivederci a dopo.

~Janelle Renée

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Natural Touch is a Non Governmental Organisation based in Calabar the Eastern part of Nigeria.The inspiration come from a point of observation of handicapped people and Children roaming the streets of some citites in Nigeria mostly in Calabar begging for alms.
Most of them at the end of the day retired to uncompleted buildings to pass the night,It was a very gory site when a reported case of ritual dehumanising killing of two of such people in a street close to my residence.These two were killed and some part of them remove for rituals activities or some other things not quite known to us.

So touched by such inhuman treament to people because of their inability to defend themselves or provide proper accomodation for themselves,and even a source of livelihood was traumatic,hence,my decision to get the NGO (NATURAL TOUCH) started,with the aim to provide food and shelter for the hanicapped.Make sure there is a future for them and security of life for them.

Upon our inception,we had limited our intention to mostly the young ones and average aged.Although we could not provide accomodation for them but we  provide the basic needs which is food for them atleast once a day.

It is our aim to increase the feeding arrangement to twice a day and also build a home for them.It is our aim to accomodate at least 2000-5000 handicapped people of difiers ages in the home,and Animals too.
With support from other Organisations/Individauls that are touched just as we are.We will establish a school or a handicraft centre for them to study and become independent of their own in future.
Suffice to say here that most of them roam the street with torn cloths and look unkept,We also provide clothing where necessary and affordable to them.
Based on our inability to sustain the financial burden,we are looking forward to Groups or Individuals with similar passion as we have towards uplifting the living standard of these hadicapped and also thinking of ensuring their future.

We are planning of building a home for them in Calabar to accomodate the handicapped and also recruit personnels to take care of their cooking and tranining.
We look forward to support  from passionate groups and individuals.
Thanks,
Dennis

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Technology for human needs:

• The Outquisition
• Engineers Without Borders
• MIT International Design Summit
• Free/Open Appropriate Technology
• Transition Towns
• Technology for Humanity

(...)
Read the rest of Technology for Humanity (735 words)

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NIÑITO IRAKI

del poeta Jimmy Calla Colana

Yo vi a un niñito en Irak,

era hermoso y radiante,

pero no tenía piernas,

también le faltaban sus brazos.

Si los ángeles con sus grandes

y hermosas alas se van al espacio sideral,

tú, niñito irakí,

sin la mitad de tu cuerpo,

¿por qué quieres quedarte en este lugar?

Si ellos hablan del reino celestial,

y del gran eje del mal,

tú, niñito irakí,

cuéntales de Alibabá y los 40 ladrones,

y de un endiablado genocida

que con los ejércitos

 más poderosos de la tierra

saquearon Bagdad.

O también que te robaron

la lámpara de Aladino,

arrasando pueblos enteros

so pretexto de armas bioquímicas

y grandes morteros.

Pero tú, niñito irakí,

con tu mirada dulce y tierna

que pide a gritos justicia y paz,

tus ojitos hablarán por ti,

aunque no digan  todo lo que siente.

Pero tampoco dijiste nada

cuando volaron tus piernas

o cuando  amputaron tus brazos.

Es que tú, niñito irakí,

eres  tímido

y muy reservado,

pero yo

sí te he visto alegre y feliz,

 aunque hayas perdido

a más de la mitad de tu cuerpo.

Gracias a ti,

niñito irakí,

sé que hay

un muñeco malo,

que le gusta jugar a la guerra

matando niños, ancianos y mujeres.

Que le gusta apretar botones

para que salgan cohetes

vomitando fuego

y maten gente,

no importando raza, religión,

templos, cultura,

costumbres: nada.

Sólo quieren el maldito

oro negro

 que es de tu jardín

 y que también pronto se les acabará

y vendrán aquí a mi América morena

con su TLC

a robarse el agua, la selva y ese oro negro

que es de nuestra verde pradera.

Qué grande  eres, niñito irakí.

En esos brazos

que perdiste se van mis ilusiones.

En esas piernas que te volaron

se va mi llanto lleno de esperanzas.

Pero en esos ojitos tristes,

te llevaste mi corazón partido.

Invierno en Bagdad - Parte 1
http://es.youtube. com/watch? v=G2nLAlzcyHA

Invierno en Bagdad - Parte 2
http://es.youtube. com/watch? v=dUpKx5LzKTI

(( 2 )) Fotos del genocidio

http://www.contrana tura.org/ graficas/ fotos/iraq/

(( 3 )) ¡Fuera Bush!

http://www.contrana tura.org/ graficas/ fotos/fuera- bush/

TOQUE-ME

          Alice Ruiz

toque baião, toque frevo,
toque rock, toque rumba,
mas não toque nesse assunto
toque tudo sempre assim
só não toque nesse assunto
e nunca toque no fim
toque paixão, toque samba,
toque funk, toque mambo
toque só porque eu mando
toque o mundo, toque fundo
eu quero que você se toque
em cada parte de mim

 Do livro: Poesia pra tocar no rádio, Blocos, 1999, Rio de Janeiro - RJ

‘The Prayer’ - live duet by Céline Dion and Josh Groban

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! A wondrous remembrance of thankfulness for this day and everyday.

An amazing, moving performance. Beautiful voices coming together in perfect harmony. Could feel Spirit moving through them both. Gave me chills and brought tears. Very touching!

Live duet by Céline Dion and Josh Groban at Concert for World Children’s Day in 2000 singing The Prayer. First included on the album: These Are Special Times 1997 (promo), won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song 1999; Soundtrack from the movie Quest for Camelot 1998.

Céline Dion and Josh Groban also preformed ‘The Prayer’ live during her CBS TV special, aired  February 15, 2008. This live duet was released as a digital single.

Céline Marie Claudette Dion born March 30, 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada is a singer/songwriter/actress. She is the youngest of 14 children of a highly musical family. She began singing at age 5 and regularly preformed with her siblings at a nightclub her parents owned. Céline began to receive recognition for her talent in 1982, winning the Gold Medal at the Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo, along with the coveted Musician’s Award for Top Performer. In 1983, she became the first Canadian ever to receive a Gold Record in France. In 2004, after becoming the best selling female artist of all time, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards. You can read news, listen to music, and watch videos at her website www.celinedion.com.

Josh Groban singer/songwriter was born February 27, 1981 in Los Angeles, California. In 1997 and 1998 he attended Interlochen Arts Camp, majoring in musical theater and voice. He graduated in 1999 with a major in theater from Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Soon after graduation he was offered a recording contract at Warner Brothers Records. His recording debut was singing “For Always” with Lara Fabian on the soundtrack to A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001). Read news, listen his wonderful music, watch videos, see photos and read his blog at www.joshgroban.com.

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

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ATO

Mariana Botelho

um poema me deixou um sismo na carne
me arqueou o corpo
e traçou em minhas costas itinerários de espuma.

com um gosto de cor
na boca
deixei cair pulsante
um
longo beijo
morno
 

Mineira da pequena Padre Paraíso, no Vale do Jequitinhonha, Mariana é formada em educação física e escreve desde os 12 anos.

    Fonte: blog Suave Coisa
    (http://quelevequenada.blogspot.com)

Manresa - Rose Faerie by Bonnee Klein Gilligan, (1998) pastel drawing 9″ x 12″

Manresa is of and responsible for the red rose. She can help in all aspects of love and fertility. She is luminescent with a rainbow-like shimmer on the surface of her being. She has wings like a dragonfly and hair of white light. Often she appears like a ball of bluish-white light. If you enjoy Manresa and would like to own a copy you can purchase prints at my Spirit Art Gallery.

Definition of Fairies from one of my favorite metaphysical reference books: ‘The Donning International Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary’ by June G. Bletzer, Ph.D.

Faerie (Latin fata; Archaic fay, means “enchanted”) a small, ethereal replica of a human in appearance and mannerisms. Desires a rapport with humans but lives in its own invisible culture. A collective word used to mean the whole lower-half of the angel being kingdom of over 1,000 varieties. Work with and have charge of the four elements of air, fire, water and earth under the supervision of the angels. Pure elemental vortexes of energy. Light energy field capable of forming an etheric body of substance drawn from the etheric double of earth to carry out its function. Live in the rhythm of nature. Synchronizes its heartbeat to that of the work at hand. Concerned with the process of nature’s evolution and its service to humanity. At times fairy gives off a luminous reflection and at times it takes on the shape of a human form, altered in size. Human form changes with locale. Appears in either gender but most often prefers male gender. Body appears loosely knit and felt to have a dense body inside the light body. Can be perceived clairvoyantly and seen with physical eyes. Cannot be touched. Materializes and dematerializes itself going from dimension to dimension very quickly. An energetic vapor-like ethereal substance using the same material that feelings are made of; responds quickly to human emotions. Has a sensation consciousness similar to the plant kingdom. Posesses the ability of sending an electric charge to stimulate the human intellect and emotions in order to communicate with them. Actions and thoughts influence mankind’s ethereal bodies. Neither an angel nor a devil put mediate space between mankind and angels.

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

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Después de un tiempo
Uno aprende la sutil diferencia
Entre sostener una mano y encadenar el alma,
Y uno aprende que el amor no significa acostarse
Y una compañía no significa seguridad
Y uno empieza a aprender …
Que los besos no son contratos
Y los regalos no son promesas,
Y uno empieza a aceptar sus derrotas con la cabeza alta y los ojos abiertos.
Y uno aprende que realmente puede aguantar,
Que uno realmente es fuerte,
Que uno realmente vale …
Y después de un tiempo
Uno planta su propio jardín y decora su propia alma
En lugar de esperar a que alguien le traiga flores
Con el tiempo aprendes
Que estar con alguien porque te ofrece un buen futuro
Significa que tarde o temprano querrás volver a tu pasado
Con el tiempo aprendes
Que sólo quien es capaz de amarte con tus defectos, sin pretender cambiarte
Puede brindarte toda la felicidad que deseas.
Con el tiempo aprendes
Que si estas al lado de esa persona sólo por acompañar tu soledad,
Irremediablemente acabarás no deseando volver a verla.
Con el tiempo comprendes que los verdaderos amigos son contados,
Y que quien no lucha por ellos
Tarde o temprano se verá rodeado sólo de amistades falsas.
Con el tiempo aprendes
Que disculpar cualquiera lo hace
Pero perdonar es sólo de almas grandes.
Con el tiempo comprendes
Que si has herido a un amigo de forma dura
Muy probablemente la amistad jamás volverá a ser igual.
Con el tiempo te das cuenta
Que aunque seas feliz con tus amigos,
Algún día llorarás por aquellos que dejaste ir.
Con el tiempo te das cuenta
De que cada experiencia vivida con cada persona, es  única e irrepetible.
Con el tiempo te das cuenta
De que el que humilla o desprecia a un ser humano,
Tarde o temprano sufrirá las mismas humillaciones o desprecios.
Con el tiempo aprendes a construir todos tus caminos en el hoy,
Porque el terreno del mañana es demasiado incierto para hacer planes.
Con el tiempo comprenderás
Que apresurar las cosas o forzarlas a que pasen
Ocasionará que al final no sean como esperabas.
Con el tiempo te das cuenta
De que en realidad lo mejor no era el futuro,
Sino el momento que estabas viviendo justo en ese instante.
Con el tiempo verás que,
Aunque seas  feliz con los que están a tu lado,
Añorarás terriblemente a los que ayer estaban contigo
Y ahora  se han marchado …
Con el tiempo aprenderás que intentar perdonar o pedir perdón,
Decir que amas …  decir que extrañas,
Decir que necesitas …  decir que quieres ser amigo,
Ante una tumba … ya no tiene sentido.
Y uno aprende y aprende …
Y con cada dia uno aprende.
Pero desafortunadamente … sólo con el tiempo.

Autor: Borges

Dimitris P Kraniotis

Rugas silenciosas
em nossa testa
as fronteiras da história,
jorra oblíquos olhares
aos versos de Homero.
Ilusões
cheias de culpa
redinem
sussuros feridos
que se fizeram ecos
em cavernas iluminadas
dos pobres inocentes.

Von den Elben - QNTAL, music video by Brian Froud

Von den Elben means From the Elfin. A haunting magical video about Elfs and Faerie. The images are otherworldly, captivating and mysterious. They speak of things unknown, places in-between visited only by a few. Von den Elben is an intensely moving work of art!

Band: QNTAL, Song: Von Den Elben, Album: Silver Swan (2006). Music video created by Brian and Toby Froud. First seen at the 2006 Faerieworlds Festival.

Brian Froud says, “How do you see Faeries? You can’t see them with your eyes, you see them with your heart.”

QNTAL is a German “electro-medieval” band founded in 1991 by Michael Popp. Band members: Syrah vocals; Michael Popp vocals, Fidel, Saz, Shalmei, Ud, Tar; and Fil Keyboards, Vocals, Guitars, Programming; plus Markus Köstner (live) Drums, Percussion.  You can listen to more of their music, read latest news and find out more at www.qntal.net.

Brian Froud born 1947 in Winchester, England is a world renown fantasy artist who was the conceptual designer on the fantasy-film-classics ‘The Dark Crystal’ and ‘The Labyrinth’. His wife Wendy Froud also a fantasy artist is credited with the design of the characters The Gelflings, Jen and Kira in the Dark Crystal and Yoda in Star Wars. You can see more of Brian and Wendy’s art, watch videos, and read news at the World of Froud.

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

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Screen 1.  "Bee" System Provides Connectivity in Emergencies

Screen 2.  Feeding Children During "Rat Flood" in Bangladesh

Would you like to explore the possibilities for volunteer, professional, and/or career involvement in civic action, community service, and other constructive developmental efforts in countries that are of greatest interest to you ??

Take a little time to acquaint yourself with the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that are currently engaged in programs of this sort.  Link up and learn from them if you can find opportunities to do so.  Use the directories below:

TakingITGlobal Organizations Directory

InterAction Membership Directory

USAID Private Voluntary Organizations Directory

Visit and explore the growing International Civic Action, Community Service, and Development Film Clip Collection, at:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/yourturf/civactnet.htm#FilmClips

>>>  If you want to forward this material to others, the correct URL is:

http://civact6.tigblog.org/post/536415

Best wishes to all,

Dave Matthews,  Facilitator
The Civic Action Free University
http://www.tcafu.net
"Nation-Building:  Are You Serious ??"
E-Mail Address:  civact6@yahoo.com


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