Away From Normal

Ouija Board and Planchette- Some new list of Dont's

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 20:40:00 +0000

1. Do not Taunt- The most important rule is to never taunt or goad a spirit to communicate with you through the Ouija board. This can have some serious and disastrous consequences.

2 Do not ask the future/Death -. Never ask when you are going to die.

3. Spirits are not always correct - Spirits wcan tell you anything they want. Just because a spirit says something does not mean it is true and you can never kow if it is benevolent or malevolent.

4. Never use a Ouija board alone.More people are better since there is more energy present to connect with a spirit. If not everyone can comfortably sit and touch the planchette, it’s fine to have some people just be viewers.

5. Don't do it at home - Do not use a Ouija board in your home. If you do connect with a malevolent spirit, the energy will be in your home and you can imagine the consequences if things go south.

6. Do not confuse the spirit and only a single persone should ask questions -.This is the person who will talk and ask questions while the group is using the board.

7. Be serious or silent - If you are using the Ouija board you should keep your fingers on the planchette and remain silent. No one should laugh or chat around. Your role is to close your eyes and focus your energy on the planchette.

8. Do not leave the planchette on the board - Once you are done, say your good byes and wrap up the board and planchette. Do not leave it as it is since you never know if the spirit left or is still working.

What are Energy Vampires?

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 09:15:00 +0000

An energy vampire is a person who feeds off your emotional, or psychic, energy.People who display energy vampire traits generally lack empathy, sensitivity, and emotional maturity. As a result of the pain or insecurity the

In coming blog posts i plan to outline them and their characteristics.y feel inside, energy vampires are addicted to preying on the vitality of others as an attempt to heal their inner suffering.

Energy vampires are attracted to you because they unconsciously desire to resolve a deeper problem within their psyches — and they perceive YOU as the solution to their problems.

Their encounters and conversations make you feel unworthy, stupid, unloved, offended, fearful, and even sick.

Energy vampires can be your family, friends, clients, colleagues, teachers, neighbors, lovers, or even strangers.

So beware. You definitely must have met certain people in your life.

Two Secret Rooms Discovered In Great Pyramid Of Giza

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 21:20:00 +0000

The discovery has come thanks to a collaborative project known as ‘Scan Pyramids’, a large combined effort between multiple universities and scientific organisations. The project aims to reveal new secrets of the enigmatic structures through the application of state of the art 3D scanning technology that has never been applied to the pyramids previously.

This week, the results bore fruit when 2 strange voids were visible within the pyramid, detected using a method known as muography. The cavities are located on the northeastern edge and another behind its descending corridor.

So far, it is not known what is actually in these chambers, but it’s quite possible that the rooms have remained undiscovered for thousands of years.

The team is moving forward and continuing to acquire muon data inside Khufu’s Queen Chamber inside the pyramid. “We expect to have the results of the analysis of those instruments during the first three months of 2017,” researchers said.

Source:http://www.itsastrangeworld.com/two-secret-rooms-discovered-great-pyramid-of-giza/

Massive Prehistoric Sea Monster Discovered In Antarctica

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 21:12:00 +0000

During the Cretaceous period, the sea monsters we read about in legend would very much have been part of everyday reality in Earth’s prehistoric seas.

Palaeontologists have now discovered the remains of a gargantuan dinosaur belonging to the mosasaur family in the Antarctica.

Researchers have analysed the remains and were able to confirm that the beasts skull measured a ridiculous 33ft in length, earning it the title of biggest ever found in the region.

Researchers have fondly named their new prehistoric pet Kaikaifilu hervei, which is derived from the Chilean Mapuche culture’s sea monster legend.

source: http://www.itsastrangeworld.com/massive-prehistoric-sea-monster-discovered-antarctica/

Mysteries of India -The Great Taj Mahal Conspiracy

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 19:31:00 +0000

Taj Mahal is without question the most famous—and possibly the most beautiful—building in India. Considered one of the modern wonders of the world, this ornate white marble building was created by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum to his deceased wife. Or was it?According to some theories,

Taj Mahal was never the architectural embodiment of eternal love history remembers it as. Instead, some evidence suggests that the building is actually about 300 years older than its supposed builder. New Delhi professor P.N. Oak, the man behind this theory, claims that the building was originally not a mausoleum at all. He suggests it is actually an ancient Hindu temple known as Tejo Mahalaya dedicated to the worship of the god Shiva. If true, this turns the entire history of TaJ Mahal on its head: Instead of building one of the world’s most precious constructions, Shah Jahan would merely have taken an existing temple, slapped on some decorations, and dedicated it to his wife.

While this may seem far-fetched to those of us who like Taj Mahal as it is, it’s worth noticing that Indian royalty have a history of capturing enemy temples and mansions and repurposing them into tombs for their loved ones. What’s more, the memoirs of travelers in the area during the time of Taj Mahal’s supposed construction make no mention of its building and even note that the “Taj” already existed as an important, established building. Is Taj Mahal as the ultimate display of romance just a giant lie created by shoddy historians and propagandists? Until the Indian government agrees to open the sealed rooms within the building so they can be thoroughly investigated by experts, the mystery remains.

Source: http://listverse.com/2014/02/19/10-incredibly-creepy-mysteries-from-india/

Mysteries of India - The Nine Unknown Men

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 19:04:00 +0000

The Nine Unknown Men are to India what the Illuminati is to the Western world, but even more pervasive and mysterious. According to legend, this powerful secret society was founded by Emperor Asoka in 273 BC after a bloody battle in Kalinga that killed 100,000 men. The bodies of slain men apparently sent the emperor into a state of grief and a horror of war which led him to convert to Buddhism.

The aim of the Nine Men was to protect the methods of destruction from falling into the hands of unqualified people and to further pursue knowledge which would benefit mankind. Each of the Nine Men is supposedly responsible for guarding a single book which dealt with a different branch of potentially hazardous knowledge. The books are known to cover the following subjects: Propaganda & Psychological Warfare, Physiology, Microbiology, Alchemy, Communication, Gravitation, Cosmology, Light and Sociology. Some people believe that the Nine Unknown Men exist to this day.
Source :http://inyminy.com/17-creepiest-unsolved-mysteries-india-will-leave-baffled/

Mysteries of India - The Mysterious Red Rain – Idukki, Kerala

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Sun, 05 Feb 2017 19:14:00 +0000

Idukki experiences a peculiar, unexplainable phenomenon known as the Red Rain. Apparently, red rain fell sporadically on the southern state of Kerala in 2001 from July 25 to September 23, staining clothes with an appearance similar to that of blood. According to locals, a loud thunderclap and flash of light, followed by groves of trees shedding shriveled grey “burnt” leaves, preceded the first colored rain.

The first incident of Red Rain in Idukki can be dated back to 1818. Ever since, the region, also known as ‘The Red Region’, has witnessed this unusual sight intermittently. In Hinduism, it is believed that red rain is the wrath of the Gods for punishing sinners. It is a signal of destruction and woe. Some believe the killing of innocents leads to red rain. Many scientists have proposed a possible explanation for the phenomenon. Some say that the rain contains micro-organisms that were responsible for the origin of life on earth. Others suggest an extra-terrestrial activity. Whatever be the explanation, the red color in the rain is a cause of curiosity and fear amongst villagers that still remains unsolved till date.

Source: http://inyminy.com/17-creepiest-unsolved-mysteries-india-will-leave-baffled/

Mysteries of India - Lake of Skeletons – Roopkund Lake, Chamoli, Uttarakhand

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Sat, 04 Feb 2017 18:51:00 +0000

A frozen lake full of hundreds of skeletons scattered across its length. Also known as the Lake of Skeletons, the Roopkund Lake lies about 16500 ft. above the sea level at the most uninhabitable place between The Himalayas. The skeletal remains first came to notice in 1942, when a British forest guard discovered an alarming number of human skeletons floating in the water and lying haphazardly along the lake’s edges after the harsh summer that year had melted off most of the ice from the lake. It was evident….something horrible had happened here.

At first, it was believed to be the remains of Japanese soldiers killed at war. But then in 2004, it was discovered that the skeleton dated back to 850 AD. But what caused such a massive death of hundreds of people all at once? Legend has it that a Goddess, enraged by the defiling (damaging the purity) of her mountain sanctuary, rained death upon these people by flinging hailstorms at them, that were described to be ‘hard as iron balls’. The remains can still be seen as the ice over the lake melts off during summers.

Source: http://inyminy.com/17-creepiest-unsolved-mysteries-india-will-leave-baffled/

What are the rules of Wicca?

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 20:58:00 +0000

In hopes that you know what the Wiccan religion truly encompasses or that you at least have an inkling as to what Wicca truly is, we can discuss the two major rules of Wicca that all Wiccans strive to abide by. Because Wicca is a very open and utterly not staunch religion, there aren't many rules or regulations per practitioner; however, these two rules are rules that one must strive to follow if wanting to know how to become a Wiccan.

An Ye Harm None, Do As Ye Will.

What does this rule mean exactly? It's sort of equivalent to the Christian saying "treat others as you would like to be treated", but is even more basic than that. If you plan on doing your first spell and it has implications of confusion or harm upon another person (even yourself), then you need to re-think what you're intentions are with becoming a Wiccan. Wiccans believe that everyone and everything has a purpose and is a part of the Universe and of the gods and goddesses. You wouldn't want to harm the universe or the gods now would you? So don't do harm to others or yourself, as we are all a part of the Universe.

Whatever you do comes back to you times three.

This rule is one that is supremely representative of Karma, in all its consequential glory. Whatever you do in your personal life, and whatever decisions you make, have a consequence be it good or bad. This is the same idea with practicing Wicca. If you put out a spell to take revenge upon an enemy, that negativity and revengeful energy will come right back at you...but three times as worse as what you put out there. Not good times...let me just say that. I have had personal experience with this rule...I didn't follow it and I was smacked in the face with it...times three. The same thing goes for if you are a loving and kind-hearted person, eventually you will receive that love and kindness back threefold; however, don't run around doing nice things for everyone purely for selfish motive...Karma and the universe just don't work like that.

When learning how to become a Wiccan, one must know these rules by heart and follow them whole-heartedly.

Source: https://exemplore.com/wicca-witchcraft/How-to-Become-a-Wiccan-A-Guide-for-Beginner-Wiccans

Hoia Bacui: The World’s Most Haunted Forest

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 14:00:00 +0000

The country of Romania, once known by its more infamous and ominous name Transylvania, likely conjures up images of vampires, gypsy caravans, werewolves, and bats. Perhaps it recalls more historical tales of Prince Vlad “the Impaler” Dracula and his crusade for Christian freedom against the invading Ottoman Empire. It is certainly a land of mystery and folklore but one of its lesser-known secrets, in the wake of rampant tourism to Dracula’s many castles, is a forest located in northern Romania just west of Cluj-Napoca. This place, known as Hoia Bacui (Shepherd’s Forest) has been nicknamed “Romania’s Bermuda Triangle” and has been dubbed the “World’s Most Haunted Forrest” by many tourists and paranormal investigators alike who have visited the site. In fact, many claim it’s slowly on the rise to becoming Romania’s number one tourist destination, ousting its famous vampire - Dracula.

History

It’s said the forest is named after a shepherd who reportedly went missing within its perimeter long ago, along with his flock of 200 sheep. To this day, locals are said to be anxious in the shadow of the forest and do not often venture towards it after dark. In fact, the hosts of the Travel Channel show Ghost Adventures visited the forest in season 8 for their Halloween special and were warned by a group of teenagers exiting the forest before sundown that strange things can happen once beneath its trees. It has been reported that locals emerge from the forest sick, disoriented, and plagued with rashes. But the forest first came to international attention in the 1960s thanks to some very creepy photographs.

In August 1968, a biologist named Alexandru Sift captured a, now famous, photo of a strange glowing disk hovering over the forest. Sift also reported that during his time in the forest he felt stalked by shadows and noted he often heard a strange sound he described as chattering teeth. When he emerged from the forest, the photos in his camera had been rearranged into a different order than how they had been taken. Sometime later, Emil Barnea, a military technician, snapped similar photographs of strange disks over the forest. Many have taken both these incidents as evidence that UFOs and aliens are the result of the strange condition of the forest. This phenomenon continued well into the 70s and beyond, with the most recent photo coming in 2002. Electronic equipment is also said to malfunction within the confines of the forest.

Strange Geography

Beyond the possible otherworldly connotations of the place, several people have reported paranormal and supernatural activity in the forest. Geographically speaking, there are already some weird anomalies to be seen. Several groups of trees grow in strange, curved angles and at the center of the forest is a clearing where no trees grow, believed by many to be a deadzone for electronic equipment as well. Studies have been done of the soil of the barren area and show nothing out of the ordinary that would result in a lack of vegetation.

Even odder, many trees are devoid of signs of green and as many as eight trees have grown from a single root. Some contain strange markings, described as burn marks or char by witnesses. Many are even said to grow in a bowed position, as if praying.

Vengeful Spirits

Hovering orbs of light are a common sighting within the forest, as are sounds of female voices and children giggling. There are even reports of people being scratched or attacked by unseen entities. Many believe this activity to be the result of some kind of haunting in the forest, postulating that the ghosts of peasants are trapped within its vast expanse after their untimely deaths. In fact, one of the most famous investigations of the area by Destination Truth showed the host violently thrown to the ground with scratches on his body, despite his clothes not being torn. Beyond physical evidence of spirits, many report a feeling of overwhelming anxiety while within the forest, a general unease, and an eerie quiet (when not interrupted by disembodied voices).

Some see the forest as a place of punishment as well. Locals have claimed that those who enter the forest with ill intentions are shown for what they truly are before delivering a punishment for the transgressor. Some also reported experiencing flashbacks to painful, and repressed memories while in the forest. Some of the typical poltergeist activity is experienced as well, including gust of wind, tickling, the feeling of a static shock, and the unease of being watched.

Time Warp

Even more chilling, many believe the forest to be a gateway to another dimension. Many have reported people wandering into the forest for days only to return with no memory of their disappearance or what took place during their hours missing. Most famously, a young girl from a nearby town was said to have disappeared into the forest for 5 days and returned in the same clothes she’d gone missing in with no memory of her time missing. Another woman claimed that during a walk in the forest she was overcome with an odd feeling and emerged finding a 15th century coin in her pocket and no memory of how it got there.

Another phenomena many experience, sometimes in conjunction with the strange black outs, is the event known as astral projection where they watch their body on the forest floor before being suddenly forced back into their physical form, violently.

Unsurprisingly, the forest has become a magnet for paranormal investigators seeking evidence of strange occurrences, as well as Wicca practitioners and Neo-Pagans looking to worship within the forest’s plentiful energy. Many, however, do not see the 1 square mile of forest as a place of adventure, spirituality, or investigation. The land is still considered cursed by locals who continue to warn outsiders to stay away. Whatever your beliefs for the energy’s intentions, the forest is a hot spot for strange and unexplained activity, making it a must-see destination for the brave supernatural seeker.

Source: http://www.theoccultmuseum.com/hoia-bacui-worlds-haunted-forest/

The Vampire of Moca

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 19:51:00 +0000

The trouble began a little before February 25, 1975, when a Puerto Rican newspaper first reported the strange animal deaths in the small town of Moca. In Moca's Barrio Rocha, fifteen cows, three goats, two geese, and a pig were found with puncture marks on their bodies, indicating a sharp object of some sort had been inserted into them... and all autopsies showed that the animals were missing every last drop of blood. Despite these two interesting details, police apparently tried to blame the deaths on dogs; meanwhile, the newspapers dubbed the unknown threat el Vampiro de Moca, the "Moca Vampire." By March 7, when a cow was found dead in Moca's Barrio Cruz with penetrating wounds on its skull and scratches around the wounds on its body, the death count had risen to over thirty animals. One theory going around was that the unknown creature was a supernatural bird of some sort, a theory based on one woman's report of a strange bird pecking at her rooftop and issuing a terrifying scream.

On March 12, a man named Luis Torres and his son and daughter witnessed something they described as looking like "The lights on a police cruiser" spinning in the night sky on the outskirts of Moca; Torres connected this noctural UFO sighting with the Moca Vampire by stating the object had been flying over fields in which some of the strangely killed animals had been found... and so theories shifted to the idea of the unknown creature possibly being an alien. By March 15, when a farmer lost thirty-four chickens to the Moca Vampire during the night, the animal death count was up to ninety victims in the two week period since it first manifested.

Around this time, Luis Torres killed two Puerto Rican boas, with each snake unusually large at over six-feet-long. Torres claimed to have captured the two snakes as they "stood ready to attack a 600-pound heifer." The local news media immediately blamed the strange animal deaths on the two snakes, and declared the problem ended... but on March 18, two goats were found drained of blood on the farm of a man named Hector Vega. The goats had puncture marks on their necks; and whatever made the marks came back the next night. In the morning Vega discovered seven goats injured, ten more killed, and a further ten goats that were just plain missing. By this point the Senate Agricultural Commission got involved in the matter, talking to the farmers and local law enforcement, which resulted in Senator Deynes asking the Superintendent of Police to "re-double his effots in getting to the bottom of the situation," which he felt could not have been caused by an animal.

On March 23, the strange killer struck again; and the nature of the attacks became weirder still. Felix Badillo discovered a ten pound piglet dead in its pen with no signs of a struggle, missing an ear and with a large hole on the side of its head... despite the presence of Badillo's watchdog, which had neither growled nor barked during the night. An expert noted the cut on the ear looked surgical in origin rather than animal made.

On March 25, a man named Juan Muniz claimed to have been attcked by a "horrible creature covered in feathers," while returning to the Barrio Pulido of Moca. He said he saw the strange creature, and then threw stones at it to try to frighten it away; instead it flew at him, and Muniz took cover first in some bushes, then at a neighbor's house. An armed group was unable to locate the strange 'bird.'

By April, reports of strange animal deaths started to turn up on farms all across the island of Puerto Rico, even as the police tried to find human perpetrators and the press tried to find rational explanations. On April 2, eight goats and a dozen rabbits were found dead in Corozal. Isauro Melgar, owner of the animals, mounted an all night watch on the following evening with a group of armed neighbors, and spread poison on the ground to protect his rabbits. They stayed up until three in the morning... but sometime after the group disbanded for the night, more animals were killed. Melgar then started all-night watches. On April 5, Melgar and his companions were suddenly deafened by a sound that appeared to be everywhere in the countryside; at the same time, a strange figure was seen running through trees away from an open pasture. They discovered later that four more goats had been slain.

In addition to the strange animal deaths, sightings of UFOs reported over Santa Rosa and Cerro Gordo. A giant cigar-shaped object with retangular portholes emitting yellow light hovered 1500 feet above a home in the suburb of Cupey for forty-five minutes... long enough to guarentee a lot of witnesses. The following morning scorch marks were found by investigators at a spot the object had been seen to briefly land.

On May 13, a man in Corozal encountered a "round-headed, hairy-tailed and large-eyed creature" that growled like a small dog; and around the same time in Moca, three roosters, a rabbit, and five goats that belonged to the municipal treasurer all turned up dead, drained of fluids. As the killings continued and seemingly spread, the reports of UFOs also increased. In May three unknown objects, two resembling stars, flew over the town of Fajarado; witnesses clearly stated that the objects were neither a natural occurrence nor something made by humans. On May 17, at nine-thirty at night, large glowing balls of light, house-sized glowing crafts, and a dark object with a red light on top were seen to perform strange maenuvers very low in the skies over Rio Piedras, and San Juan.

On June 25, twenty-five farm animals just outside of Isabela were found dead, drained of blood; sometime after that fourteen fighting cocks in Yauco were found in the same condition. The activity of the "Moca Vampire" decreased as the Summer wore on, and no more deaths were reported after July 1975.

Source :http://anomalyinfo.com/Stories/1975-vampire-moca

Dancing Plague of 1518

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 19:47:00 +0000

The outbreak began in July 1518, when a woman, Mrs. Troffea, began to dance fervently in a street in Strasbourg. This lasted somewhere between four and six days. Within a week, 34 others had joined, and within a month, there were around 400 dancers, predominantly female. Some of these people eventually died from heart attacks, strokes, or exhaustion. One report indicates that for a period the plague killed around fifteen people per day.

Historical documents, including "physician notes, cathedral sermons, local and regional chronicles, and even notes issued by the Strasbourg city council" are clear that the victims danced. It is not known why these people danced, some even to their deaths.

As the dancing plague worsened, concerned nobles sought the advice of local physicians, who ruled out astrological and supernatural causes, instead announcing that the plague was a "natural disease" caused by "hot blood". However, instead of prescribing bleeding, authorities encouraged more dancing, in part by opening two guildhalls and a grain market, and even constructing a wooden stage. The authorities did this because they believed that the dancers would recover only if they danced continuously night and day. To increase the effectiveness of the cure, authorities even paid for musicians to keep the afflicted moving.

Historian John Waller stated that a marathon runner could not have lasted the intense workout that these men and women did hundreds of years ago.

Modern theories include food-poisoning caused by the toxic and psychoactive chemical products of ergot fungi, which grows commonly on grains in the wheat family (such as rye). Ergotamine is the main psychoactive product of ergot fungi, it is structurally related to the recreational drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25), and is the substance from which LSD-25 was originally synthesized. The same fungus has also been implicated in other major historical anomalies, including the Salem witch trials. Waller speculates that the dancing was "stress-induced psychosis" on a mass level, since the region where the people danced was riddled with starvation and disease, and the inhabitants tended to be superstitious. Seven other cases of dancing plague were reported in the same region during the medieval era.

Source: wikipedia.org

Baigong Pipes

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 04:52:00 +0000

In rural China, in a location that is considered to be uninhabitable to humans, there are three openings in Mount Baigong that contain hundreds of rustic iron pipes. Some of the pipes run deep into the mountain, others run to a nearby lake. There are more pipes in the lake bottom and there are pipes scattered along the shoreline. The pipes are cleanly cut and not jagged, so they appear to have had a use at one time. This all seems mundane: some pipes sticking out of the ground in China, but archeologists dated the pipes to a time when humanity was just getting familiar with fire, making casting iron impossible.

No, do these tell a story about Aliens, or pre dated Humans....Nobody knows.

The Supertide that Swallowed a French Abbey

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 19:22:00 +0000

A stunning photo went viral over the weekend, revealing a supertide that turned an 11^th-century French abbey that is usually surrounded by sheep into an island swallowed by the sea.

Similar photos from other news agencies also ran rampant on the Web. Thousands of people arrived on the coast of Normandy to watch the spectacular 14-meter-high surge of water envelop Mont Saint-Michel, the enclave around the abbey—usually accessible only by a causeway, which was overtopped by the tide.

The articles that accompanied such photos failed to explain why this supertide happened, or made vague references to the sun, or the moon, or the alignment of the sun and moon, or the eclipse that occurred the same day—and without attribution to any expert or scientific institution. Many also referred to the March 20-21 event as the “tide of the century,” even though it arises every 18 years. The previous occurrence was in March 1997, and the next one will be in March 2033.

So what caused the supertide? A strong clue is the repeat of “March” in the dates. Tides are driven by the moon’s gravitational pull. The sun’s gravity has an effect, too, although much smaller. When the sun and moon are aligned with the earth, their combined pull is greatest, creating what are called spring tides. They occur twice every month, but are often greatest in March and September, during the spring and autumn equinoxes.

This year the moon and sun aligned very exactly, causing Saturday’s eclipse. “If we see a solar eclipse there will be a spring tide,” Hal Needham, a climatologist at Louisiana State University, told me. “But if we see a spring tide it doesn't mean we will see a solar eclipse.”

But what explains the recurrence of March for the highest of tides? And why the 18-year cycle? This gets trickier. The best explanation, which Needham emailed me, comes from the U.K. Met Office, Britain’s official meteorological agency. Experts at the Met wrote in a blog that some spring tides are higher than others “because tidal forces are strengthened if the moon is closest to earth in its elliptical orbit. Tide forces are also enhanced when the sun and the moon are directly over the equator. For the sun this happens on or around 21 March or September. The moon’s orbit also takes it above and below the equator over a period of 27.2 days. Just as with the sun, the tide-generating forces are at their greatest when the moon is directly overhead at the equator.”

The Met also noted, “Very large spring tides occur when these astronomical factors coincide. Approximately every 4.5 years the moon is closest to the earth, and is also overhead at the equator.” So when the moon and sun align, and they are directly over the equator, and the moon is closest to earth, we get the so-called supertide.

Needham also noted, however, that the weather can have a greater influence on tides than any of these factors—witness Hurricane Sandy in New York City or Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. One 18-year supertide might be higher than another depending on whether winds are pushing water up against a coastline and whether atmospheric pressure is lower than normal, which can cause a local rise in sea level.

This weekend’s supertide was felt around the world and was most extreme in places that are prone to excessive tides. In North America, the most famous site is the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, where the tide can rise and fall by 10 meters even on a ho-hum day.

The Real Story behind ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 20:32:00 +0000

"I know that we did the right thing because I saw the sign of Christ in her hands. She was bearing stigmata and that was a sign from God that we should exorcise the demons. She died to save other lost souls, to atone for their sins." - Anna Michel (Anneliese's mother, 2005)

Questioning the Story:

When did Anneliese begin to experience strange symptoms?

Epilepsy may have been thecause of Anneliese Michel'sdemonic hallucinations.In 1968, when she was 17 and still in high school, Anneliese began to suffer from convulsions. Court findings have her experiencing her first epileptic attack in 1969. It was then that a neurologist at the Psychiatric Clinic Wurzburg diagnosed her with Grand Mal epilepsy. Soon, Anneliese started experiencing devilish hallucinations while praying. She also began to hear voices, which told her that she was damned. The court determined that by 1973 Anneliese was suffering from depression and considering suicide. In 1975, convinced that she was possessed, her parents gave up on the doctors from the psychiatric clinic.
They chose to rely solely on the exorcisms for healing. Anneliese's symptoms have since been compared with those of schizophrenia, and they may have responded to treatment.

Who first diagnosed Anneliese as being possessed?

The first unofficial diagnosis was made by an older woman who accompanied Anneliese on a pilgrimage. She noticed that Anneliese avoided walking past a particular image of Jesus, and that she refused to drink water from a holy spring.
The woman also claimed that Anneliese smelled hellishly bad An exorcist from a nearby town examined Anneliese and concluded that she was demonically possessed. After two failed requests, the rite of exorcism was finally granted by the Bishop.

Was Tom Wilkinson's character of Father Moore based on a real person?

The movie's Father Moorewas based on Father ArnoldRenz and Pastor Ernst Alt.Tom Wilkinson's character was more a combination of two real-life people, Father Arnold Renz and Pastor Ernst Alt .Both men were assigned by the Bishop of Wurzburg, Josef Stangl, to carry out "The Great Exorcism" on Anneliese Michel. The foundation for this ritual was the "Rituale Romanum", which at the time, was still a valid 17th century Cannon Law.
Father Arnold Renz had been a former missionary in China, and Pastor Ernst Alt was a pastor in a nearby community. Together they carried out 67 rites of exorcism over a period of 10 months, with one or two exorcism sessions held each week. Some sessions lasted up to four hours .

Did Anneliese Michel really see the faces of demons on the people around her like Emily Rose did in the film?

According to The Washington Post, as she grew more convinced that she was possessed, Anneliese began to see the faces of demons on the people and things around her.

What demons possessed Anneliese?

Anneliese was convinced that she had been possessed by several demons, including Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Cain, Hitler, and Fleischmann, a disgraced Frankish Priest from the 16th century. She also mentioned a few other damned souls who had manifested themselves through her.

Did Anneliese's mother Anna support the making of the film?

No. Anneliese's mother did not support the making of The Exorcism of Emily Rose. "I don't want to see the film and I don't know anything about it," Mrs. Michel said, who was at the time in her eighties. Anneliese's father Josef died six years prior to the film's release.

How many people were found guilty in Anneliese Michel's death?

Anneliese's parents and the exorcists were found guilty of negligence.In the 2005 film, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, only one of the characters, Father Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson), was found guilty of negligent homicide surrounding the death of Emily Rose. In the real-life case of Anneliese Michel ,which took place in 1978, there were four defendants, not just one.
They were Father Arnold Renz, Pastor Ernst Alt, and Anneliese Michel's parents, Josef and Anna. All four were found guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced to six months in prison, suspended with three years' probation.

Is it possible that Anneliese was copying what she had seen in William Friedkin's 1973 film The Exorcist?

Anneliese's behavior was similar to actress Linda Blair's.Director William Friedkin's film The Exorcist was released in Germany in 1974, two years prior to the audio tapings of the exorcisms in which we hear Anneliese's recorded voice . Even though her voice is quite chilling, it bares a striking resemblance to the growling, barking, and inhuman voice of Linda Blair from Friedkin's film. This has caused some people to conclude that Anneliese was simply mimicking what she had seen in the film, if she had in fact seen the film. Upon its release in Germany, the movie created a sort of paranormal hysteria that swept the nation. European Psychiatrists reported an increase of obsessive ideas among their patients .
The movie however, does not provide explanation for the years prior to 1974, in which she was experiencing numerous other afflictions that she and those close to her had attributed to demonic possession.

What other disturbing things did Anneliese do?

Anneliese carried out a number of highly disturbing actions. She licked her own urine off the floor. She ate flies, spiders, and coal. She bit off the head of a dead bird. In one instance, she crawled under a table and barked like a dog for two days. She could often be heard screaming through the walls for hours. Tearing off her clothes and urinating on the floor became a regular occurrence.

Did the exorcisms cause her bodily harm?

The exorcisms took a significant toll on Anneliese's body.Yes. Anneliese endured 67 rites of exorcism over a period of 10 months. Over time, the ligaments in her knees ruptured due to the 600 genuflections that she performed obsessively during each exorcism session. A genuflection is an act of reverence consisting of falling onto one or both knees (called a "double genuflection"). On June 30, 1976, during her last rite of exorcism before her death, too weak and emaciated to perform the genuflections on her own, Anneliese's parents stood and helped carry her through the motions.

Was there a doctor present during the exorcisms as in the film?

Goodman based her book on court records and eye-witness accounts.No. Around Easter time of the year that she died, Anneliese began to refuse food and drink. Her convulsions returned with a greater ferocity. No doctors were called . During the trial, specialists claimed that if the four accused (Father Arnold Renz, Pastor Ernst Alt, and the parents) would have begun to force feed Anneliese a week before her death, then she would still be alive. One of Anneliese's sisters explained to the court during the 1978 trial that Anneliese did not want to go to a mental hospital where she would be drugged and forced to eat.
In her book, The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel, Felicitas D. Goodman embraces the possibility that Anneliese was not epileptic, and that the medication the doctors had given her to control her seizures only made her hallucinations worse.

Why did Anneliese Michel refuse to eat?

She forced herself to fast because she believed that it would rid her of Satan's influence. At the time of her death, she weighed only 68 lbs .
Prior to her death, she had spoke of dying to atone for the sins of the wayward youth and apostate priests of the modern church.

What did Anneliese technically die from?

Anneliese's gravesite in Klingenberg Cemetery,Germany.According to the autopsy, on July 1, 1976 Anneliese Michel succumbed to the effects of severe dehydration and malnourishment. At the time of her death, she was also suffering from Pneumonia and a high fever . She was buried next to her illegitimate sister Martha at the outer edges of the cemetery . This area is normally reserved for illegitimate children and suicides .

What were Anneliese Michel's last words?

Weak and on the verge of death, she spoke her last known words on the day before she died. She told her exorcists "Beg for Absolution". To her mother Anna, she said, "Mother, I'm afraid."

Had Anneliese been a deeply religious person prior to 'being possessed'?

Yes. Anneliese and her three sisters were raised in a strict Catholic family. Her father Josef had considered training as a priest and three of her aunts were nuns. Four years before Anneliese was born, her mother gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, Martha.
As a result, her mother suffered great shame and was forced to wear a black veil on her wedding day. When Anneliese was a child, her mother encouraged her to atone for the sins of illegitimacy through fervent devotion. When Anneliese's sister Martha died at the age of eight during an operation to remove a kidney tumor, this likely only increased Anneliese's desire to do penance for her mother .
As she grew older, Anneliese continued to suffer for the sins of others. When she was a teenager, Anneliese slept on a bare stone floor to atone for the sins of wayward priests and drug addicts, who could be observed sleeping on the hard ground at the local train station .
In college at West Germany's University of Würzburg, she hung pictures of saints on her dorm room walls, kept a holy-water font near the door, and regularly prayed the Rosary. As stated earlier, even close to her death she spoke of dying to atone for the sins of the wayward youth and renegade priests.

Is it possible that the priests who performed the exorcisms provided Anneliese with the contents of her psychotic behavior?

"Doctrinaire Induction"theorizes that it was the exorcists who provided Anneliese with the basis for her demonic behavior.Some experts believe that this is possible. Psychiatrists who testified during the trial spoke about the "Doctrinaire Induction", which in relation to Anneliese explains that she accepted her behavior as a form of demonic possession, mainly because the exorcists introduced much of the idea to her and reinforced it with each exorcism .

In 1984, German bishops and theologians petitioned Rome to change the exorcism rite. They concluded that speaking directly or "imperatively" to the Devil, that is, "I command thee, unclean spirit . . . " only confirms to the patient that they are without a doubt possessed.

In the film, did the director try to provide an answer as to whether or not she was truly possessed?

No.
In an interview, Scott Derrickson responded to this question by saying, "We tried to put at the center of the movie the question of why did she die, and what is the truth behind this phenomenon?
And ultimately to not answer it." Screenwriter Paul Harris Boardman went on to explain, "We have a Scully-Mulder approach to this material, with me being a little more the skeptic and Scott the believer. We approach it and try to be very fair and even-handed to both points of view, to our points of view.
That's how we approach it analytically."

I read that the body of Anneliese Michel was exhumed after her death, is this true?

Yes. On February 25, 1978, almost two years after her death, the deceased body of Anneliese Michel was dug up and moved to a new oak-coffin lined with tin.
Her parents' desire to move her from the cheap coffin in which she was buried was allegedly used as an excuse to exhume her body. Instead, they were acting on a message received from a Carmelite nun from the district of Allgaeu in southern Bavaria. The nun had told the parents that she had a vision that their daughter's body was still intact. Official reports state that the body showed consistent deterioration.
Photos of the exhumed body were never released, and Anneliese's parents were prohibited from witnessing the exhumation. From a distance, they could however see her grave from the bedroom of their home, where her mother still lives today.

Is it true that another movie is being made about the exorcism of Anneliese Michel?

Yes. A German language film about Anneliese Michel called Requiem, directed by Hans-Christian Schmid, was released in 2006. It is much more a drama than a horror film, and it supposedly follows the real story of Anneliese Michel more closely.

Deals with the Devil - Robert Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 20:32:00 +0000

Robert Johnson was a great American Blues musician. Ranked 5th out of 100 on Rolling Stones list as the greatest guitarists of all time. The legend goes that he wanted to be great at guitar and was instructed to head to a crossroads. There he met the devil who tuned his guitar, giving him mastery over the instrument. Johnson did little to dispel the rumors, even encouraging them by alluding to the fact that he had, indeed, made a deal with the prince of darkness. He produced 6 records before his death at age 27. Johnson’s death is controversial as the most common claim is he was caught flirting with a married women and she offered him some whiskey which was believed to be poisoned by her husband. He was buried in an unmarked grave, the location of which is still under debate.

The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 16:36:00 +0000

People who are highly creative often have odd thoughts and behaviors—and vice versa.

He is one of the world’s best knownand most successful entrepreneurs, with hundreds of patents to his name—including the Segway scooter. But you will never see Dean Kamen in a suit and tie: the eccentric inventor dresses almost exclusively in denim. He spent five years in college before dropping out, does not take vacations and has never married. Kamen presides (along with his Ministers of Ice Cream, Brunch and Nepotism) over the Connecticut island kingdom of North Dumpling, which has “seceded” from the U.S. and dispenses its own currency in units of pi. Visitors are issued a visa form that includes spaces on which to note identifying marks on both their face and buttocks.

Kamen, who works tirelessly at inspiring kids to pursue careers in science and engineering, is one of many highly creative people whose personal behavior sometimes strikes others as odd. Albert Einstein picked up cigarette butts off the street to get tobacco for his pipe; Howard Hughes spent entire days on a chair in the middle of the supposedly germ-free zone of his Beverly Hills Hotel suite; the composer Robert Schumann believed that his musical compositions were dictated to him by Beethoven and other deceased luminaries from their tombs; and Charles Dickens is said to have fended off imaginary urchins with his umbrella as he walked the streets of London. More recently, we have seen Michael Jackson’s preoccupation with rhinoplasty, Salvador Dalí’s affection for dangerous pets and the Icelandic singer Björk dressed for the Oscars as a swan.

It isn’t just average Joes who perceive highly creative individuals as eccentric. These individuals often see themselves as different and unable to fit in. The latest findings in brain imaging, creativity research and molecular biology suggest that these perceptions are not just based on a few anecdotal accounts of “weird” scientists and artists. In fact, creativity and eccentricity often go hand in hand, and researchers now believe that both traits may be a result of how the brain filters incoming information. Even in the business world, there is a growing appreciation of the link between creative thinking and unconventional behavior, with increased acceptance of the latter.

Making the Connection
The incidence of strange behavior by highly creative individuals seems too extensive to be the result of mere coincidence. As far back as ancient Greece, both Plato and Aristotle made comments about the peculiar behavior of poets and playwrights. (Aristotle was also the first to note the relation between creativity and depression, an association that has been substantiated by modern research.) More than a century ago Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso catalogued the bizarre behavior of creative luminaries in his book The Man of Genius and attributed this behavior to the same hereditary “degeneration” that marked violent criminals.

In the past few decades psychologists and other scientists have explored the connection using empirically validated measures of both creativity and eccentricity. To measure creativity, researchers may look at an individual’s record of creative achievements, his or her involvement in creative activities or ability to think creatively (for example, to come up with new uses for ordinary household items). To measure eccentricity, researchers often use scales that assess schizotypal personality.

Schizotypal personality can appear in a variety of forms, including magical thinking (fanciful ideas or paranormal beliefs, such as Schumann’s belief that Beethoven channeled music to him from the grave), unusual perceptual experiences (distortions in perception, such as Dickens’s belief that he was being followed by characters from his novels), social anhedonia (a preference for solitary activities—Emily Dickinson, Nikola Tesla and Isaac Newton, for example, favored work over socializing), and mild paranoia (unfounded feelings that people or objects in the environment may pose a threat, such as Hughes’s legendary distrust of others).

Ref: Scientific American

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-unleashed-mind

Who are Indigo Children?

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 21:37:00 +0000

Indigo children are those who are believed to represent a higher state of human evolution. The term itself is a reference to the belief that such children have an indigo colored aura. The color indigo represents the chakra of the third eye, which is associated with intuition, and paranormal abilities such as seeing angels, spirits or deceased loved ones. They are highly empathic, possessing the ability to discern what others are thinking and feeling. Thus they have the ability to know when someone is being authentic, honest and truthful.

Indigo children are highly sensitive beings with a clear sense of self-definition and a strong feeling that they need to make a significant difference in the world. They are strong-willed, independent thinkers who prefer to be self-guided rather than directed by others.

They are unique in the way they see things and will not conform in order to fit into society. Indigo's possess wisdom and a high level of awareness "beyond their years." When you look into their eyes you can see that they are old souls, and wise ones. They can be very outspoken, speaking to an Indigo is like talking to a miniature adult of sorts!

They are often diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Dyslexia, and Learning Disabilities, they have a tendency to become unsociable when not around others of like mind.

They are also prone to depression and sleep disorders such as insomnia and persistent nightmares. Indigo's tend to be more visual, kinesthetic learners so remember best what they can picture in their brain and create with their hands. They are highly energetic people so movement is required to keep them better focused. They love to talk and explain things. They tend to be very animated and dramatic.They have a very difficult time sitting still unless they are doing something they find valuable.

The Indigo's life purpose is to bring awareness that the old systems no longer work and rally for change. They possess a low tolerance for people and systems that are not authentic and authority without a good cause or reason. They become very angry, frustrated and will act out if they sense injustice.

Because they are so highly sensitive they tend to a have lot of allergies to foods, and environmental toxins, and this can cause them to become off balanced easily. Indigo's need to learn how to maintain balance in their lives.

When surrounded by a lot of negativity, anger, loud, noisy places and things of this sort, they will become imbalanced and will absorb the negativity and begin to act out in an angry way or become very introverted and have difficulty coming out of their shell.

The characteristics and attributes of the Indigo and Crystal Child may apply to any age range . There were souls that elected to come to the planet early on to feel things out. An example would be in the 60's when the flower children and hippies were prevalent. To a large part many of these individuals eventually chose to conform to societies standards, however, the Indigo's of this generation aren't as willing to comply. The challenge today is for parents, teachers, and society to rethink how things are done.

The ‘Mad Scientist ‘ Stereotype : A thin Line between Insanity and Genius

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:40:00 +0000

E.A. Poe

Many of the history’s most celebrated and creative genuises were mentally ill, right from E.A. Poe to Issac Newton.And today this mental connection between Insanity and Genius seems no longer a myth.

Possibly its this insanity, which breeds genius or creativity as it gives the sufferer a different perception, which is quite hard to achieve in normal people.

Genius and insanity may actually go together, according to scientists who found that mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are often found in highly creative and intelligent people.

Bipolar sufferer Kay Redfield Jamison, a clinical psychologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said that findings of some 20 or 30 scientific studies confirms the idea of the "tortured genius" or "mad scientist". Jamison said that creativity appears to be significantly linked to mood disorders, especially bipolar disorder. For instance, one 2010 study that tested the intelligence of 700,000 Swedish 16-year-olds found that highly intelligent adolescents were more likely to develop bipolar disorder in a decade-long follow-up.

Bipolar disorder is a condition in which people have dramatic mood swings between "mania" or extreme happiness and severe depression.

Panelist and researcher James Fallon, a neurobiologist at the University of California-Irvine said that research found that people who suffer bipolar disorder tend to be more creative when they’re coming out of deep depression. Fallon suggested that when a bipolar patients' mood improves, activity decreases in the lower part of a brain region called the frontal lobe and increases in a higher part of that lobe, a shift that is also seen when people have bouts of creativity.

"There [is] this nexus between these circuits that have to do with bipolar and creativity,"

Elyn Saks, a mental health law professor at the University of Southern California who also developed schizophrenia as a young adult, said that people with psychosis do not filter stimuli as well as others without the disorder, meaning that they're able to ponder contradictory ideas simultaneously and gain insight into loose associations that the general unconscious brain wouldn't even consider worthy of sending to consciousness.

Saks said that while the invasion of nonsense into conscious thought can be overwhelming and disruptive, "it can be quite creative, too."

Studies on word associations that ask participants to list all the words that come to mind in relation to a stimulus word like "tulip" found that bipolar patients experiencing mild mania can generate three times as many word associations in the same amount of time as the general population.

The findings suggest that mania can lead to bouts of genius because the great amount of unsuppressed ideas means a greater probability of producing something original and profound.

Many prodigies like painter Van Gogh, author Jack Kerouac and mathematician John Nash had displayed self-destructive behaviors, and it is unclear as to why humans have evolved this trait.

"The notion of a 'tortured genius' or 'mad scientist' may be more than a romantic aberration," says the World Science Fair. "Research shows that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia correlate with high creativity and intelligence, raising tantalizing questions: What role does environment play in the path to mental illness?"

Scientists wonder whether the mental disorders are being positively selected for in the gene pool, and if there is actually a line between gift and deficit.

Past studies have suggested that much of the link between genius and madness is produced by one particular gene called the DARPP-32, and that three out of four people inherit a version of the DARPP-32 gene, which enhances the brain's ability to think by improving information processing in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.

Sir Issac Newton

However panelists noted that while society benefits from the productivity of its "tortured geniuses," people who are affected by mental disorders that often lead to bouts of creative energy don’t always consider their moment of brilliance to be worth their suffering.

Original Article at : http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/10149/20120604/genius-insanity-schizophrenia-bipolar-disorder.htm#mmJcgcflmJdPtejI.99

Rusalka, the Drowned Virgin

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:52:00 +0000

In Slavic mythology, a rusalka was a female ghost, water nymph, succubus or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a waterway.
According to most traditions, the rusalki were fish-women, who lived at the bottom of rivers. In the middle of the night, they would walk out to the bank and dance in meadows. If they saw handsome men, they would fascinate them with songs and dancing, mesmerise them, then lead the man away to the river floor to his death.
The stories about rusalki have parallels with those of Hylas and the Nymphs, the Germanic Nix, the Irish Banshee, the Scottish Bean Nighe and the Romanian Iele. See Slavic fairies for similar creatures.

Origin
In most versions, the rusalka is an unquiet dead being, associated with the "unclean force". According to Zelenin, people who die violently and before their time, such as young women who commit suicide because they have been jilted by their lovers, or unmarried women who are pregnant, must live out their designated time on earth as a spirit.
The ghostly version is the soul of a young woman who had died in or near a river or a lake and came to haunt that waterway. This undead rusalka is not invariably malevolent, and will be allowed to die in peace if her death is avenged.
Rusalki can also come from unbaptised children, often those who were born out of wedlock and drowned by their mothers for that reason. Baby rusalki supposedly wander the forest begging to be baptised so that they can have peace. They are not necessarily innocent, however, and can attack a human foolish enough to approach them.

Description
While her primary dwelling place was the body of water in which she died, the rusalka could come out of the water at night, climb a tree, and sit there singing songs, sit on a dock and comb her hair, or join other rusalki in circle dances (Russian: ????????, Polish: korowody) in the field.
Rusalka by Ivan Bilibin, 1934
Though in some versions of the myth, the eyes shine like green fire, others describe them with extremely pale and translucent skin, and no visible pupils. Her hair is sometimes depicted as green or golden, and often perpetually wet. The Rusalka could not live long on dry land, but with her comb she was always safe, for it gave her the power to conjure water when she needed it. According to some legends, should the rusalka's hair dry out, she will die.
Rusalki like to have men and children join in their games. They can do so by enticing men with their singing and then drowning them, while the children were often lured with baskets of fruit. Men seduced by the rusalka could die in her arms, and in some versions hearing her laugh could also cause death. Alternatively, they would attract men, mainly bachelors, and tickle them to death.
Specifics pertaining to rusalka differed within regions. Although in most tales they lived without men, in Ukraine they were often linked with water, while in Belarus they were linked with the forest and field. Where land was fertile, the maidens appeared naked and beautiful. In harsher areas of Great Russia, they appeared as "large breasted amazons" (Hubbs). And often, in the north, they were ugly and covered in hair.

Rusalka Week
The rusalki were believed to be at their most dangerous during the Rusalka Week (Rusal'naia) in early June. At this time, they were supposed to have left their watery depths in order to swing on branches of birch and willow trees by nights. Swimming during this week was strictly forbidden, lest mermaids would drag a swimmer down to the river floor. A common feature of the celebration of Rusal'naia week was the ritual banishing or burial of the rusalka at the end of the week, which remained as entertainment in Russia until the 1930s.
Max Vasmer notes that the very word rusalka originally referred to the dances of girls at Whitsuntide. The word is derived through Greek ???????? from "rosalia", the Latin term for Whitsuntide week (originally it meant "the festival of roses").

In Fiction
A rusalka makes an appearance in the adventure game Quest For Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness, and is the spirit of a murdered, unmarried woman. She is confined to the lake where she died, and will drown the hero unless he befriends her.
In the videogame Devil May Cry 4, the protagonist Nero is approached by two glowing blue, beautiful women who attempt to seduce him and lower his guard. The are actually attached the ends of antennae on the demon Bael, who upon being defeated, relinquishes an item called the Rusalka Corpse. Perhaps as a nod to their tradition of dwelling in water, they have a gelatinous quality to their bodies and make slippery, watery sounds when attacked and during the related cutscenes.

How to Become a Wiccan or Witch?

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:33:00 +0000

Being a Wiccan or Witch is generally not something you are born as or just wake up one morning and decide to become. More often than not, you come across it by accident unless you were raised that way. Many find the philosophies of how Wicca and Witchcraft view nature are the same as the one's they currently hold. They just didn't know there was a specific belief system that shared the same views.
As Silver RavenWolf accurately stated in her book To Ride A Silver Broomstick. "The Charge comes to each of us in a different manner. It is that moment in our lives when we feel the Magick of the Universe for the very first time coursing through us... and we know beyond all real and imagined shadows that this calling to the mysteries is indeed there. That it is truly there, and not a whimsical flight from reality."

If you are one who has seen striking similarities between what you believe and have found here, there are generally accepted ways to increase your awareness and find communion with others who feel the same. The following are the steps I would recommend to any one who wishes to learn more.

Read everything you can get your hands on that will tell you more about the beliefs of Wicca and Witchcraft. Only by learning as much as you can about the basic beliefs and tenets of this path can you decide if the old way's are right for you.
While doing this, you will begin to form associations and hopefully find correspondances within yourself. Note these feelings in a journal or diary. Write down the reasons you think Witchcraft is your path. What does being a Witch mean to you? What do you hope to achieve and learn? What do you fear about following this path? How do you see the Goddess and God? What does the Divine mean to you? Be absolutely honest with yourself here, this is a private book and nobody else will ever read it. This notebook will help you design your dedication/self-initiation ritual and eventually evolve into your Book of Shadows.

There are no right or wrong answers and it is not a test. It is only a way to help you define your understanding of this path.
Most importantly, listen to your inner voice. It is usually very good council and will not lead you astray. If something you read, hear or are told does not feel right, then it usually isn't right for you. If everything still feels right and you are sure Witchcraft is the path for you wish to follow after all this studying, now is the time to perform a dedication ritual.

This ritual should be yours and yours alone. Design it however you want to and in a way that will be most meaningful to you. A dedication ritual means exactly what it sounds like. You are dedicating yourself to the Craft and making the decision to live life in closer harmony and balance with the earth and nature. You are making a commitment to yourself and the Divine.

Mine was on the shore of a remote high cascade mountain lake here in Oregon. The dancing light of the campfire on the trees, a full moon reflecting off the snow pack fed waters of the lake all combined with the energy of surrounding nature. This setting was ideal for me but something completely different might be right for you.
I haven't mentioned anything about spells because you need to complete the first two steps before you even think about working with spells.
Before you begin working with magick, you need to understand what it is, where it comes from and the ethics involved. You will also need to learn and understand the basic structure of rituals, Casting circles, calling quarters, invoking the Goddess and God, raising and directing energy, grounding, centering and closing the circle.
Magick is raising and channeling the energy found in yourself, nature and in the Divine. A Witch combines this energy with their focused efforts. It takes dedication, effort, energy and hard work to achieve a desired result. The main ethical tenet to always remember is the point of the Witches Rede:

"An It Harm None."

Magick is not Hollywood hocus-pocus. It is not bending the natural order of things to fit your needs or desires. If that is what you are looking for, you are in the wrong place.
Witches have had enough bad press over the past few centuries and are working hard to turn those misconceptions around. We do not need people running around claiming to put spells and hexes on people because they cannot face reality, are not willing to work for what they want or are looking for an easy solution to their problems. Magick doesn't work that way...
All your reading and study will help you prepare for this. The Suggested Reading Section of our on-line catalog offer some excellent resources to help you understand these basic concepts.

You will also find that meditation and visualization exercises will increase your concentration. The ability to focus and visualize will greatly increase the power of your magick. Breathing exercises will help you focus as well so spend time on them.
If you are interested in joining a Coven, most will require the traditional year and a day of study before initiating new members. This gives you time to explore the religion and decide if it is the right path for you as well as giving you and the Coven members time to get to know one another. Covens are generally very selective and rightfully so. There are many out there who seek this path for all the wrong reasons.

Ref: www.wicca.com (credits to the original author)

Wicca, Witchcraft and Neo Paganism

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:56:00 +0000

Wicca:

A modern Pagan religion with spiritual roots in the earliest expressions of reverence for nature. Some major identifying motifs are: reverence for both the Goddess and God; acceptance of reincarnation and magick; ritual observance of astronomical and agricultural phenomena; and the use of magickal circles for ritual purposes.

Wicce:

Synonymous with Wicca. In some circles, Wicce is used for women and Wicca is used for men.

Witch:

A practitioner of folk magick, particularly that kind relating to herbs, stones, colors, wells, rivers, etc. It is used by some Wiccans to describe themselves. This term has nothing to do with Satanism.

Witchcraft:

The craft of the witch - magick, especially magick utilizing personal power in conjunction with the energies within stones, herbs, colors, and other natural objects. This belief system also has nothing to do with Satanism.

Pagan/Neo-Pagan/Paganism:

General term for followers of Wicca and other magickal, shamanistic, and polytheistic Earth-based religions. Also used to refer to pre-Christian religious and Spiritual belief systems.

Types of Wiccan traditions

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:08:00 +0000

Gardnerian Wicca

A retired British civil servant named Gerald B. Gardner is the 'Grandfather', at the very least, of almost all Neo-Wicca. He was initiated into a coven of Witches in the New Forest region of England in 1939 by a High Priestess named 'Old Dorothy' Clutterbuck. In 1949 he wrote a novel [*High Magic's Aid*] about medieval Witchcraft in which quite a bit of the Craft as practiced by that coven was used. In 1951 the last of the English laws against Witchcraft were repealed (primarily due to the pressure of Spiritualists) and Gardner published *Witchcraft Today*, which set forth a version of the rituals and traditions of that coven. There is an enormous amount of disagreement about virtually every statement I have made in this paragraph.

Gardnerism is both a tradition and a family, and lineage is a family tree. The High Priestess rules the coven, and the principles of love and trust preside. We follow our handed down book more carefully than many others, but we are free to add and improvise, as long as we preserve the original.

We work skyclad, practice binding and scourging, are hierarchal and secretive, therefore we are controversial. We're also controversial because we were first - the first craft tradition in the U. S. and descended from the man largely responsible for starting the craft revival. So, we're called the snobs of the Craft, but I think we're as much fun as anyone else; our parties as good, our jokes as bad.

*Each Gardnerian coven is autonomous and is headed by a High Priestess who can turn to her queen (the High Priestess who trained her) for counsel and advice. This maintains the lineage and creates a pool of experienced and knowledgeable leaders and teachers.

*Reincarnation and the Wiccan Rede [An it harm none do what you will] are basic tenants of the tradition. Covens are as much as possible composed of male/female pairs for balance. Most working is accomplished with the energy raised by the interaction of the Lord and Lady as represented by the couples in the coven by dancing, chanting, etc.

*Like many Wiccan traditions, Gardnerians have three degrees. An American Gardnerian must be of the 3rd degree before she can become a HPS. The HPS/HP are responsible for conducting services (circles), training their conveners, and preserving and passing on Gardnerian Craft. *[This material quoted from Converging Paths Newsletter, Kyril, Brita, & Hugh authors.]

A lot of the controversy surrounding Gardnerianism questions the sources of the rituals and other materials, particularly those appearing in print. It is true that Gardner presented these materials as if they were directly from his New Forest tradition. It is clear, however, that whatever materials the coven may have had when he was initiated, Gerald made a lot of changes and added a great deal. Literary sources of the published Book of Shadows include Blake, Kipling, Yeats and Crowley. Much of the published material was written by Doreen Valiente, a member of the coven for a time and later founder of her own groups and author of many excellent books on the Craft.

Gardnerian Witches without doubt do have many materials which have not appeared in print, however, their emphasis on secrecy has made them a punch line in the Wiccan social world. How many Gardnerians does it take to change a light bulb? That's a secret! Their High Priestess will usually be called 'Lady' Soandso and High Priest, 'Lord Whats-his-name'. Alexandrian Wicca

*As most everyone by now is aware, the Alexandrian Tradition is very close to Gardnerian with a few minor changes. (One of the most obvious ones being that the Alexandrians use the athame as a symbol for the element of fire and the wand as a symbol for air. Most of the rituals are very formal and heavily indebted to ceremonial magick. It is also a polarized tradition and the sexuality of that female/male polarity is emphasized. The ritual cycle deals mostly with the division of the year between the Holly King and the Oak King and several ritual dramas deal with the dying/resurrected God theme. As with Gardnerians, the High Priestess is supposedly the highest authority. However, it is odd that the primary spokespersons for both traditions have been men.

Alexandrian Wicca

Alexandrian Wicca is the creation of Alex Sanders (with his then wife Maxine) who claimed to have been initiated by his grandmother in 1933. It's principal proponents are Janet and Stewart Fararr whose books set forth most, if not all, of the Alexandrian tradition. Contrary to popular belief, the name Alexandrian refers not to Alex Sanders, but to Ancient Alexandria.

Although similar to Gardnerian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca tends to be more eclectic, and liberal. Some of Gardnerisms strict rules, such as the requirement of ritual nudity, have been made optional by Alexandrian Wicca.

Mary Nesnick, an American initiate in Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions founded a 'new' tradition called Algard. This tradition brings together both Gardnerian and Alexandrian teachings under a single banner. This was possible due to the great similarities between the two traditions.

Dianic Wicca

*The Dianic Craft includes two distinct branches:

*1. One branch, founded in Texas by Morgan McFarland and Mark Roberts, gives primacy to the Goddess in its theology, but honors the Horned God as Her Beloved Consort. Covens are mixed, including both women and men. This branch is sometimes called 'Old Dianic', and there are still covens of this tradition, especially in Texas. Other covens, similar in teleology but not directly descended from the McFarland/Roberts line, are sprinkled around the country.

*2. The other branch, sometimes called Feminist Dianic Witchcraft, focus exclusively on the Goddess and consists of women-only covens and groups. These tend to be loosely structured and non-hierarchical, using consensus- decision- making and simple, creative, experimental ritual. They are politically feminist groups, usually very supportive, personal and emotionally intimate. There is a strong lesbian presence in the movement, though most covens are open to women of all orientations. The major network is Re-Formed Congregation of the Goddess, which publishes "Of a Like Mind" newspaper and sponsors conferences on Dianic Craft.

Celtic Wicca (Church of Wicca)

The Church of Wicca was founded by Gavin and Yvonne Frost. They offer correspondence courses in their brand of Wicca, which is sometimes called Celtic Wicca. The Church of Wicca has just recently begun including a Goddess in their deity structure, and has been very patrofocal as Wiccan traditions go. The Church of Wicca terms itself "Baptist Wicca"

*The Frosts call their tradition of Wicca Celtic. To me it seems more of a mixture of high magic and eclectic Wicca, with a smattering of Celtic thrown in. For instance, they use three circles, one within the others, made of salt, sulphur and herbs with runes and symbols between them instead of just one circle. They also insist on a white- handled athame and will not have a black handled one, whereas all the other traditions I have heard or read about use a black handled one. It seems to me the Wicca they practice and teach should not be called Celtic at all; but since a lot of it is made up or put together by them from other traditions they should also give it a made-up name; say Frostism. If you DON'T have to pay for the course, and have some extra time, it would probably be worth reading just for comparison. [*From Circe, who took their correspondence course.]

The Frosts have always been rather more public than most traditions (advertising their course in the Enquirer and similar publications) which has earned them heavy criticism in less public Craft groups.

Georgian Wicca

If one word could best describe the Georgean Tradition, it would be 'eclectic. Even though the material provided to students was nominally Alexandrian, there was never any imperative to follow that path blindly. George Patterson (the tradition's founder) always said 'If it works use it, if it doesn't, don't'. The newsletter was always full of contributions from people of many traditions. I've always felt Pat's intent was to provide jumping off points for students and members. So even though I can claim initiation into more than one tradition, I'll always consider myself 'Georgian first: George is greatly missed, may the God-dess watch over him. Bright Blessings, Lord Fafner.

Discordianism (Erisian)

*The Discordian or Erisian movement is described as a 'Non- Prophet Irreligious Disorganization and has claimed 'The Erisian revelation is not a complicated put-on disguised as a new religion, but a new religion disguised as a complicated put-on. " It all started with the *'Principia Discordia, or How I Found the Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her'*, a collection of articles and ideas compiled by Greg Hill (Malaclypse the Young-er). The central theme is 'Chaos is every bit as important as Order' as illustrated in the story of The curse of Greyface:

*Humor is central to Discordianism, but Discordianism should not be dismissed as a joke. Profound experiences frequently accompany the practice or Erisinaism. It is a perceptual game, one which demonstrates that the absurd is just as valid as the mundane and chaos is just as valid as order. It frees the practitioner from the order games (that most have forgotten are games) to play games with order or games with chaos, or both. The effects of Discordianism upon an individual can be far reaching and amazingly liberating. [Although a great many immature individuals have played at Discordianism and thereby side stepped any chance of spiritual growth whatsoever

What is Wicca?

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:56:00 +0000

I know i should have had posted it a long time ago?..as many things about wicca and rituals have been earlier discussed, but what exactly is wicca was never discussed. So here on for some later posts, Wicca and Witchcraft, Paganism and Neo-paganism, what exactly it signifies and symbolizes will be discussed .

What is Wicca?

Contrary to what those who choose to persecute or lie about us wish to believe, Wicca is a very peaceful, harmonious and balanced way of life which promotes oneness with the divine and all which exists.
Wicca is a deep appreciation and awe in watching the sunrise or sunset, the forest in the light of a glowing moon, a meadow enchanted by the first light of day. It is the morning dew on the petals of a beautiful flower, the gentle caress of a warm summer breeze upon your skin, or the warmth of the summer sun on your face. Wicca is the fall of colorful autumn leaves, and the softness of winter snow. It is light, and shadow and all that lies in between. It is the song of the birds and other creatures of the wild. It is being in the presence of Mother Earths nature and being humbled in reverence. When we are in the temple of the Lord and Lady, we are not prone to the arrogance of human technology as they touch our souls. To be a Witch is to be a healer, a teacher, a seeker, a giver, and a protector of all things. If this path is yours, may you walk it with honor, light and integrity.

Wicca is a belief system and way of life based upon the reconstruction of pre-Christian traditions originating in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. While much of the information of how our ancestors lived, worshiped and believed has been lost due to the efforts of the medieval church to wipe our existence from history, we try to reconstruct those beliefs to the best of our ability with the information that is available.

Thanks to archaeological discoveries, we now have basis to believe that the origins of our belief system can be traced even further back to the Paleolithic peoples who worshipped a Hunter God and a Fertility Goddess. With the discovery of these cave paintings, estimated to be around 30,000 years old, depicting a man with the head of a stag, and a pregnant woman standing in a circle with eleven other people, it can reasonably be assumed that Witchcraft is one of the oldest belief systems known in the world toady. These archetypes are clearly recognized by Wiccan as our view of the Goddess and God aspect of the supreme creative force and predate Christianity by roughly 28,000 years making it a mere toddler in the spectrum of time as we know it.

Witchcraft in ancient history was known as "The Craft of the Wise" because most who followed the path were in tune with the forces of nature, had a knowledge of Herbs and medicines, gave council and were valuable parts of the village and community as Shamanic healers and leaders. They understood that mankind is not superior to nature, the earth and its creatures but instead we are simply one of the many parts, both seen and unseen that combine to make the whole. As Chief Seattle said; "We do not own the earth, we are part of it." These wise people understood that what we take or use, we must return in kind to maintain balance and equilibrium. Clearly, modern man with all his applied learning and technology has forgotten this. Subsequently, we currently face ecological disaster and eventual extinction because of our hunger for power and a few pieces of gold.

For the past several hundred years, the image of the Witch has been mistakenly associated with evil, heathenism, and unrighteousness. In my humble opinion, these misconceptions have their origin in a couple of different places.
To begin, the medieval church of the 15th through 18th centuries created these myths to convert the followers of the old nature based religions to the churches way of thinking. By making the Witch into a diabolical character and turning the old religious deities into devils and demons, the missionaries were able to attach fear to these beliefs which aided in the conversion process. Secondly, as medical science began to surface, the men who were engaged in these initial studies had a very poor understanding of female physiology, especially in the area of a women's monthly cycles. The unknowns in this area played very well with the early churches agenda lending credence to the Witch Hunters claims and authority. The fledgling medical professions also stood to benefit greatly from this because it took the power of the women healers away giving it to the male physicians transferring the respect and power to them.

Unfortunately these misinformed fears and superstitions have carried forward through the centuries and remain to this day. This is why many who follow these nature oriented beliefs have adopted the name of Wicca over its true name of Witchcraft to escape the persecution, harassment and misinformation associated with the name of Witchcraft and Witch not to mention the bad publicity the press and Hollywood has given us simply to generate a profit.

What Witchcraft is:

Witchcraft is a spiritual system that fosters the free thought and will of the individual, encourages learning and an understanding of the earth and nature thereby affirming the divinity in all living things. Most importantly however, it teaches responsibility. We accept responsibility for our actions and deeds as clearly a result of the choices we make. We do not blame an exterior entity or being for our shortcomings, weaknesses or mistakes. If we mess up or do something that brings harm to another, we have no one but ourselves to blame and we must face the consequences resulting from those actions. No ifs, ands or buts and no whining...

We acknowledge the cycles of nature, the lunar phases and the seasons to celebrate our spirituality and to worship the divine. It is a belief system that allows the Witch to work with, not in supplication to deities with the intent of living in harmony and achieving balance with all things.
The spells that we do involve healing, love, harmony, wisdom and creativity. The potions that we stir might be a headache remedy, a cold tonic, or an herbal flea bath for our pets. We strive to gain knowledge of and use the natural remedies placed on this earth by the divine for our benefit instead of using synthetic drugs unless absolutely necessary.

Wiccan believe that the spirit of the One, Goddess and God exist in all things. In the trees, rain, flowers, the sea, in each other and all of natures creatures. This means that we must treat "all things" of the Earth as aspects of the divine. We attempt to honor and respect life in all its many manifestations both seen and unseen.
Wiccan learn from and revere the gift of nature from divine creation by celebrating the cycles of the sun, moon and seasons. We search within ourselves for the cycles that correspond to those of the natural world and try to live in harmony with the movement of this universal energy. Our teachers are the trees, rivers, lakes, meadows, mountains and animals as well as others who have walked this path before us. This belief creates a reverence and respect for the environment, and all life upon the Earth.

We also revere the spirits of the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water which combine to manifest all creation. From these four elements we obtain insight to the rhythms of nature and understand they are also the rhythms of our own lives.
Because Witches have been persecuted for so many centuries, we believe in religious freedom first! We do not look at our path as the only way to achieve spirituality, but as one path among many to the same end. We are not a missionary religion out to convert new members to think the same as we do. We are willing to share our experience and knowledge with those who seek our wisdom and perspective however. We believe that anyone who is meant for this path will find it through their own search as the Goddess speaks to each of us in her time and way. Wiccan practice tolerance and acceptance toward all other religions as long as those faiths do not persecute others or violate the tenant of "Harm None."

What Witchcraft is not:

Witchcraft or Wicca is not a cult. We do not proclaim ourselves to be spokespersons for the divine or try to get others to follow us as their leaders.
We do not worship Satan or consort with Demons. Satan is a Christian creation and they can keep him. We do not need a paranoid creation of supreme evil and eternal damnation to scare us into doing the right thing and helping others. We choose to do the right thing and love our brothers and sisters because it IS the right thing and it feels good to do it. I suppose it is a maturity thing.
We do not sacrifice animals or humans because that would violate our basic tenant of "Harm None." Anyone who does and claims to be a Wiccan or a Witch is lying.
We have no need to steal or control the life force of another to achieve mystical or supernatural powers. We draw our energy from within, our personal relationship with the divine and nature.
We do not use the forces of nature or the universe to hex or cast spells on others. Again, "Harm None" is the whole of the law.

Witches have a very strict belief in the Law of Three which states that whatever we send out into our world shall return to us three fold either good or bane. With this in mind, a "True Witch" would hesitate in doing magick to harm or manipulate another because that boomerang we throw will eventually come back to us much larger and harder then when we threw it.

This is not to say that Witches are perfect, we are human too just like everyone else and make mistakes and errors in judgment.   Just as there are parents who love and nurture their children, there are parents who abuse their children.   As there are many who devote their lives to giving and helping mankind, likewise there are those who devote their lives to taking advantage of and using people for their own gain.   Unfortunately the same flaws in human nature applies to witches too.
Most of us continually strive to consider all potential outcomes of our thoughts and actions pausing to seriously consider the consequences before undertaking a ritual, spell or rite that could go astray.   It is when we follow the path with the love of the Goddess in our hearts and adhere to the basic tenant of the Reed that our works are beneficial and we achieve harmony and balance with all things.
The heart of Wicca is not something summed up into a few short words and can often take on different meaning to each since the Lord and Lady touch us in different ways.   To gain a fuller understanding of the Craft, I urge you visit the other pages on this site as well as following the links to a select group of exceptional Wiccan and Witchcraft sites.   Through the wisdom and words set down through the ages, you will find that you are able to understand the basis of our beliefs and how they may apply to you.   Your inner voice will also quickly let you know if the intent of what you are reading is for superficial purposes to benefit self instead of working to benefit the whole.   Remember to read with your heart, for it is when you see life and the world with your heart and spirit that you truly gain an understanding of what Wicca is.

Ref: www.wicca.com (credits to the original author)

Fighting Fire With Fire: 'Vampire' Bacteria Has Potential as Living Antibiotic

noreply@blogger.com (Nous Dementor) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:50:00 +0000

A vampire-like bacteria that leeches onto specific other bacteria – including certain human pathogens – has the potential to serve as a living antibiotic for a range of infectious diseases, a new study indicates.
The bacterium, Micavibrio aeruginosavorus, was discovered to inhabit wastewater nearly 30 years ago, but has not been extensively studied because it is difficult to culture and investigate using traditional microbiology techniques. However,biologists in the University of Virginia's College of Arts & Sciences, Martin Wu and graduate student Zhang Wang, have decoded its genome and are learning "how it makes its living," Wu said.
The bacterium "makes its living" by seeking out prey – certain other bacteria – and then attaching itself to its victim's cell wall and essentially sucking out nutrients. Unlike most other bacteria, which draw nutrients from their surroundings, M. aeruginosavorus can survive and propagate only by drawing its nutrition from specific prey bacteria. This kills the prey – making it a potentially powerful agent for destroying pathogens.

One bacterium it targets is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is a chief cause of serious lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients.
"Pathologists may eventually be able to use this bacterium to fight fire with fire, so to speak, as a bacterium that will aggressively hunt for and attack certain other bacteria that are extremely harmful to humans," Wu said.
His study, detailing the DNA sequence of M. aeruginosavorus, is published online in the journal BMC Genomics. It provides new insights to the predatory lifestyle of the bacterium and a better understanding of the evolution of bacterial predation in general.

"We used cutting-edge genomic technology in our lab to decode this bacterium's genome," Wu said. "We are particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms that allow it to hunt for and attack prey. This kind of investigation would have been extremely difficult and expensive to do only a few years ago."
He noted that overuse of traditional antibiotics, which work by either inhibiting bacteria propagation or interfering with cell wall formation, are creating so-called "super bugs" that have developed resistances to treatment strategies. He suggests that new approaches are needed for attacking pathogens without building up their resistance.

Additionally, because M. aeruginosavorus is so selective a feeder, it is harmless to the thousands of beneficial bacteria that dwell in the general environment and in the human body.

"It is possible that a living antibiotic such as M. aeruginosavorus – because it so specifically targets certain pathogens – could potentially reduce our dependence on traditional antibiotics and help mitigate the drug-resistance problem we are now facing," Wu said.

Another benefit of the bacterium is its ability to swim through viscous fluids, such as mucus. P. aeruginosa, the bacterium that colonizes the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients, creates a glue-like biofilm, enhancing its resistance to traditional antibiotics. Wu noted that the living cells of M. aeruginosavorus can swim through mucus and biofilm and attack P. aeruginosa.

M. aeruginosavorus also might have industrial uses, such as reducing bacteria that form biofilms in piping, and for medical devices, such as implants that are susceptible to the formation of biofilms.

Wu said M. aeruginosavorus requires further study for a more thorough understanding of its gene functions. He said genetic engineering would be required to tailor the predatory attributes of the bacterium to specific uses in the treatment of disease."We have a map now to work with, and we will see where it leads," he said.
Wu and Wang's co-author is Daniel E. Kadouri, a researcher at the New Jersey Dental School. Kadouri is interested in M. aeruginosavorus as an agent for fighting oral biofilms, such as plaque.

Ref: www.virginia.edu