Author Archives: marcia

What Are Those Lines in the Gobi Desert?

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Symbols in China Desert Are Spy Satellite Targets, Expert Says

Natalie Wolchover, Life’s Little Mysteries Staff Writer
Date: 15 November 2011 Time: 05:41 PM ET


A strange zigzag pattern in the Gobi Desert in China. Coordinates: 40.452107,93.742118. Credit: Copyright 2011 Google - Imagery copyright Cnes/Spot Image, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye
A strange zigzag pattern in the Gobi Desert in China. Coordinates: 40.452107,93.742118.
CREDIT: Copyright 2011 Google – Imagery copyright Cnes/Spot Image, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye

Newfound Google Maps images have revealed an array of mysterious structures and patterns etched into the surface of China’s Gobi Desert. The media — from mainstream to fringe — has wildly speculated that they might be Chinese weapons-testing sites, satellite calibration targets, street maps of Washington, D.C., and New York City, or even messages to (or from) aliens.

It turns out that they are almost definitely used to calibrate China’s spy satellites.

So says Jonathon Hill, a research technician and mission planner at the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University, which operates many of the cameras used during NASA’s Mars missions. Hill works with images of the Martian surface taken by rovers and satellites, as well as data from Earth-orbiting NASA instruments.

The grids of zigzagging white lines seen in two of the images — the strangest of the various desert structures — are spy satellite calibration targets. Satellite cameras focus on the grids, which measure approximately 0.65 miles wide by 1.15 miles long, and use them to orient themselves in space. [Gallery: Mysterious Structures In China’s Gobi Desert]

The existence of these calibration targets may seem suspicious or revelatory, but Hill said it really isn’t; China was already known to operate spy satellites, and many other countries (including the United States) do so as well. In fact, the U.S. also uses calibration targets. “An example I found just now is a calibration target for the Corona spy satellites, built back in the 1960s, down in Casa Grande, Ariz., [at coordinates] 32° 48′ 24.74″ N, 111° 43′ 21.30″ W,” Hill told Life’s Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience.

The 65-foot-wide white lines that make up China’s grids are not made of reflective metal as many news sites have suggested. “They have gaps in them where they cross little natural drainage channels and the lines themselves are not perfectly filled in, with lots of little streaks and uneven coverage. I think it’s safe to say these are some kind of paint,” Hill said, noting that if they were made of white dust or chalk, the wind would have caused them to streak visibly.

The calibration targets are larger than might have been expected, he said, suggesting that the satellite cameras they are being used to calibrate have surprisingly poor ground resolution.

Another strange image taken not far away shows a Stonehenge-like arrangement of objects radiating outward, with fighter jets parked at its center. “This is almost certainly a calibration/test target for orbital radar instruments,” Hill said. “Since a significant amount of radar return is due to differences in surface roughness, they’re probably testing ways of making the areas around planes ‘bumpy’ enough that the planes are partially masked.”

In other words, the Chinese military probably uses radar instruments to send signals down at the target from above, and determine how much radar bounces back to the instruments from the fighter jets, and how much gets scattered by the Stonehenge-like arrangement of bumps surrounding them. From this, the country’s radar experts can learn how best to hide China’s military operations from other countries’ satellites, and possibly get clues for how to find carefully hidden objects in other countries. However, the fact that the planes are made out of metal will increase their radar return and make it very hard to completely mask them, Hill said.

Since the initial reports of these structures became widespread, industrious readers of the gadget blog Gizmodo have spotted a few more interesting structures in China. One, Hill said, appears to be a weapons testing zone, perhaps for evaluating explosives. Elsewhere, a giant grid resembles a Yagi antenna array. Instruments like this can be used for any number of things, such as weather tracking, space weather tracking and high-altitude atmospheric research.

Hill noted that most of these structures are quite closer to each other. “I think we’re seeing some sort of military zone/test range, which explains the large amount of equipment and technology in an otherwise remote area,” he said. “Sometimes the truth can be just as interesting, if not more so, than the conspiracies that people come up with.”

 

from:    http://www.livescience.com/17052-mysterious-symbols-china-desert-spy-satellite-targets-expert.html

Recycle Project for Hotel Soap

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Kristi York Wooten

Founder of SustenanceGroup.org, Music and Culture Critic, Women’s Activist

Recycling 100 Tons of Hotel Soap to Keep Kids Healthier

Have you ever wondered what happens to all those little bars of soap in hotels? You use them once or twice during a stay and then they’re discarded the next day. Thanks to Global Soap Project, an Atlanta-based nonprofit founded by humanitarian worker Derreck Kayongo, more than 100 tons of soap has been collected from hundreds of U.S. hotels and recycled into new bars that are sent to the people who need it most. The process, which involves collecting soaps from hotels and scraping, pulverizing, heating, and repurposing them into new bars, also includes lab testing to ensure purity before they’re shipped to vulnerable populations in places like Haiti and Africa. GSP, which started in Kayongo’s basement a few years ago, is now receiving national attention, thanks to his recent nomination as a 2011 CNN Hero. Below, I caught up with the Hero nominee to find out more about his livesaving suds.

How did you first get the idea to re-process soap?



I grew up in Uganda watching my father make soap, and unfortunately we got a war that forced us to become refugees in Kenya. While in Kenya, I saw firsthand what it means not to have amenities like soap, and that stayed with me. Years later, when I came to the USA and checked into a hotel, there in the room I saw three bars of soap. This did not include all the shampoos! After going through a refugee experience of not having amenities like soap and then landing in a country that throws soap away to the tune of 800,000 million bars a year, the idea of recycling the soap was birthed in my mind.

Why is soap necessary and important to vulnerable populations?



Soap is the first line of defense against “opportunistic” diseases such as diarrhea. Even the CDC says that if you put a bar of soap in the hands of a child and an adult you could mitigate deaths from diarrhea by about 40%! These diseases can be fatal, especially when they find vulnerable populations like HIV/AIDS patients who have weak immune systems. Simply put, soap is a very important tool in public health.

2011-11-10-AP_Story_Photo1.jpg

Derreck Kayongo in his soap collection warehouse in Atlanta. Photo by Eric Guthrie. Photo courtesy of Global Soap Project.


Is it expensive to ship the soap?



Not for Global Soap, because we partner with organizations that already have containers going to places like Ghana, where we’ve shipped 20,000 bars of soap to the jails there. So the key is to work with NGOs like Medishare or churches that have missionaries taking goods to Africa, which doesn’t cost GSP a dime.

Would you also consider teaching people in developing countries the soap-making process?



GSP would love to grow into that space some day of teaching, for example, women’s groups how to make soap so they can also self-actualize. At this point, however, we are working hard to develop an “airtight” process of recycling soap from the hotels and ensuring its safe delivery to the relevant populations that need it.

How did your background in humanitarian work prepare you for this?



This is an important question, because it speaks to the technical side of the story. I am not just a passionate individual, I have been fortunate to work for such great organizations like CAREand Amnesty International, where I’ve learned to analyze the root causes of poverty and find ways of empowering communities through innovation. One needs a serious skill set in order to build a serious institution to fight the issue at hand. CARE, especially, has taught me that — and I am so thankful.

What have you learned from the CNN Heroes experience so far?


I have learned that when you don’t give up on an issue, it has a chance to be understood and recognized in the public eye. When you start your journey, know that there are people out there who are willing to join your journey and help you out. Those people, for me, have been the redoubtable board members who’ve stood by me through thick and thin, as well as my family, who’ve sacrificed their time and money to let me develop this vision into a practical idea.

for more, go to:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristi-york-wooten/africa-soap-_b_1086072.html?ref=impact

Crusader’s Arabic Inscription Translated

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Crusader’s Arabic Inscription No Longer Lost in Translation

Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
Date: 14 November 2011 Time: 06:24 PM ET
christian crusader's arabic inscription engraved in marble
The 800-year-old inscription was created with special Arabi characters, making it tricky to translate.
CREDIT: courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

A rare Arabic inscription from the Crusades has been deciphered, with scientists finding the marble slab bears the name of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, a colorful Christian ruler known for his tolerance of the Muslim world.

Part of the inscription reads: “1229 of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.”

The 800-year-old inscription was fixed years ago in the wall of a building in Tel Aviv, though the researchers think it originally sat in Jaffa’s city wall. To date, no other Crusader inscription in the Arabic language has been found in the Middle East.

“He was a Christian king who came from Sicily, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and he wrote his inscription in Arabic,” said Moshe Sharon, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, adding that it would be like the U.S. president traveling to a region and leaving an inscription in that area’s language.

Tricky translation

Until now, others who had examined the inscription had suggested it came from a 19th-century gravestone, not realizing the date in the last line referred to the Christian calendar, according to Sharon.

“It’s not so easy to read Arabic inscriptions, and particularly this one, which was written in an unusual script, and it is on stone and it is 800 years old,” Sharon said of the difficulty in translating the engraving.

Though Frederick II, who was known to have a deep familiarity with Arabic, may not have directly engraved the stone, “it was written by an artist and this artist decided to create a special script for this royal inscription and it took us a very long time until we were able to find out that, in fact, we were reading a Christian inscription,” Sharon said during a telephone interview.

Sharon and Hebrew University colleague Ami Shrager are preparing to submit a manuscript describing the work to the scientific journal Crusades.

“The emperor gives his name, and he lists all the countries in which he rules, which is not usual in inscriptions, although we find it in literary sources,” Sharon said.

A peaceful crusader

The Crusades were religious wars whose goal was to restore Christianity to holy places in and near Jerusalem, with the First Crusade beginning in 1095 and the Seventh and Eighth Crusades ending in 1291.

Frederick II led the Sixth Crusade, and succeeded without resorting to violence, it seems.

“Basically, the emperor went as a crusader to the Holy Land in 1228 in order to conquer that part of the Holy Land,” Sharon told LiveScience, “but instead of fighting they discussed things and in the end of the story the sultan of Egypt ceded to the emperor all these territories including the city of Jerusalem, which was fantastically unusual.”

Before signing the agreement, the emperor fortified the castle of Jaffa, and, it now appears, left in its walls two inscriptions, one in Latin and the other in Arabic. The small bit of the Latin inscription that remains was previously attributed to Frederick II, Sharon said.

In the Arabic inscription, Frederick II refers to himself as the king of Jerusalem, suggesting that although Pope Gregory IX had excommunicated him for not starting the Crusade earlier, Frederick II came to power with consent from the sultan, Sharon said.

“It was all diplomacy, which is very interesting,” Sharon said, adding, “Although he got the home of Jerusalem, what he didn’t get or want was a temple mount, he thought it was a Muslim sanctuary and should remain in the Muslim hands.”

As for Frederick II’s colorful personality, Sharon said that in addition to opening a zoo and a university, the ruler had a harem that included a Muslim woman.

from:    http://www.livescience.com/17027-crusader-arabic-inscription-translated.html

South Dakota Earthquake 11/14

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Magnitude 3.7 – SOUTH DAKOTA

2011 November 14 06:51:39 UTC

Earthquake Details

  • This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude 3.7
Date-Time
Location 43.050°N, 103.502°W
Depth 5 km (3.1 miles)
Region SOUTH DAKOTA
Distances 42 km (26 miles) S of Hot Springs, South Dakota
47 km (29 miles) WNW of Chadron, Nebraska
76 km (47 miles) W of Pine Ridge, South Dakota
293 km (182 miles) WSW of PIERRE, South Dakota
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 10.1 km (6.3 miles); depth +/- 3.1 km (1.9 miles)
Parameters NST= 79, Nph= 97, Dmin=126.9 km, Rmss=0.87 sec, Gp= 47°,
M-type=”Nuttli” surface wave magnitude (mbLg), Version=5
Source
  • Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
    Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID usc000

For more information, go to:    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0006rmy.php

Earthquake in Georgia

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Small earthquake strikes in northwest corner of Georgia

Published: Sunday, November 13, 2011, 9:25 AM     Updated: Sunday, November 13, 2011, 9:25 AM
quake
U.S. Geological Survey
A tiny earthquake struck in northwest Georgia this morning near the Alabama state line.The 1.9 magnitude earthquake struck at 5:49 a.m. about 7 miles northwest of Trion, Ga., the U.S. Geological Survey reports. The quake was about four miles deep, according to the survey.

Earthquakes of that magnitude are generally too weak to be felt.

Today’s small quake was located within the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, which includes a portion of northeast Alabama.
from:    http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/11/small_earthquake_strikes_in_no.html

But then, Consider this report:

11/13/2011 — Georgia earthquake near DORMANT VOLCANO — Vulcan Mining company @ location !

video here:

link:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-BjrCdtSGn8

 

A 2.7 magnitude earthquake struck the state of Georgia this past week — several people reported hearing some kind of “explosion”– then felt an earthquake.

I think I may have determined a “cause” or a likely “earthquake trigger” — and more specifically, why THIS area in particular can expect further movement .  Also, I think this may explain why some people heard an explosion of some kind.

Screenshot of the earthquake culprit below:

We see a chain of “old” dormant volcanic sites .. furthest to the south we see a massive supervolcano caldera.. several miles across.. 4 miles long / 2 miles wide

There is a MINE at the location in question — on Blue Hole Road @ Pigeon Mountain in Georgia…. the name of the mine is… seen on google earth street view —

VULCAN MINES !!

Check out the GATE TO THE MINE !

……….

In short — my opinion — the earthquake in Georgia was due to the old dormant supervolcano caldera, cone, and blasted out flank volcano .. located 19 miles west of the earthquake epicenter.

This is due to the global uptick in volcanic / tectonic activity.. literally, we are seeing volcanic areas which have been dormant for thousands of years are starting to show some activity — Pisgah, Black Hills, Volcano CA, Mono Lake, Yellowstone uplift, sites in Idaho, Utah, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have shown activity… this is just listing USA activity recently (past 2 months).

Now we can add Pigeon Mountain to the list .

 

for more on this, go to:   http://sincedutch.wordpress.com/

AND, as always, you decide…

Time and Meditation

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Susan Morales, M.S.W.

Psychotherapist and student/practitioner of meditation

 Can Meditation Change Our Perception of Time?
Posted: 11/13/11 11:58 AM ET

I often hear, “I don’t have time to meditate.” In our society where time equals money, this statement is hard to dispute. The new movie “In Time” takes this concept to the extreme. Time has become the currency. A cup of coffee costs four minutes of one’s life.

The very fact that time is precious is the reason we should meditate. I have found that taking time to meditate gives me time — the same way that exercising takes energy but ultimately helps one have more energy.

#1: We See The Big Picture

When we close our eyes and focus inside, we are able to see get an overview, a broader perspective of our lives. We step away from the minutiae and see the broad-brush strokes that make up our days. Meditation gives us the opportunity to see what is really important. Try this exercise: Imagine a day in which you were very over-scheduled. You felt overwhelmed. (I hope this isn’t every day!) Now let your mind float over the activities without trying to judge them. Which stand out as important and/or meaningful? Which could you have done without? Perhaps there were some phone calls you didn’t really have to make or a lunch date that could have been postponed.

When we’re overwhelmed we have less energy to focus on the important tasks. Sometimes we end up rushing things that need more attention. We may even make mistakes that cost us more time.

Meditation can help you sort out what is important, help you prioritize so that your time is spent where you really want it and not on activities that are less important to you.

#2: Our Perception of Time Is Expanded

When we are busy and engaged, time flies. When we are bored or not where we want to be, time drags. Of course, time doesn’t change, it is merely our experience of it that changes. During peak performances athletes describe being in “the zone.” This phenomenon also occurs in traumatic events. Time seems to expand, slow down. I stumbled this last spring while playing tennis, going up and back to hit an overhead. The fall that took my head to the concrete probably took a split second, but I had time to think at least a dozen thoughts, including “Is this how my life is going to end?” I had time to break the fall with my hip so my head only bounced off the court causing a moderate concussion. This sensation of time slowing can also happen in meditation. By focusing on our internal sensations, or our breath, our brain waves shift to a slower rhythm allowing the sense of time to expand.

When time seems to slow down, we feel we have time for whatever we want. Our bodies and minds relax and stress is reduced. Not stressing means more time!

#3: We Focus On The Present Moment

Our thoughts, our feelings and our actions happen in the present moment. So why are we so focused on the past and the future? Consider how often you anticipate what is going to happen or worry about something that might happen. Conversely,
how much do you dwell on the past? Obsess about how you should have done something or said something differently. Or how so-and-so did you wrong?

This past or future focus can be a huge drain on our energy and our time. Being in the present moment gives us the chance to channel all our energy on what we’re doing, on whom we’re with. Meditation can teach you this kind of focus and concentration. One of the things that I’ve noticed is that I am more efficient, less distracted. The pay off is more time for what’s important to me.

There’s also a big bonus to keeping your attention in the present moment: Your memory improves. What I’ve experienced — granted after many years of a regular meditation practice — is that I retrieve information more quickly, forget things less often and find misplaced items more easily. All of this translates into more time.

My life is extremely full. Often I’m asked, “How do you do all of it?” My answer is simple. “I meditate.”

from:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-morales-msw/making-time-for-meditation_b_1083308.html?ref=healthy-living

Andrew Weil on Happiness

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Dr. Andrew Weil

Founder and director, The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine 

10 Ways to Have a Happier Life

Posted: 11/8/11 08:13 AM ET

In my new book, “Spontaneous Happiness,” I write about lifestyle practices that can help people achieve and maintain happy lives. Bear in mind that by “happy,” I am not referring to endless bliss. Despite what many in the media proclaim these days, such a state is neither achievable nor desirable. Instead, these practices are designed to help most people reach and maintain a state of contentment and serenity. From there, a person can still experience appropriate emotional highs and lows, but knows that he or she will soon return to a pleasant state that might be termedemotional sea level.

I’ve summarized information about 10 of those practices. These will, I believe, be of particular benefit for those who struggle with mild to moderate depression, but can also potentially benefit nearly anyone who follows them:

1. Exercise: Human bodies are designed for regular physical activity. The sedentary nature of much of modern life probably plays a significant role in the epidemic incidence of depression today. Many studies show that depressed patients who stick to a regimen of aerobic exercise improve as much as those treated with medication. Exercise also appears to prevent depression and improve mood in healthy people.  Many exercise forms — aerobic, yoga, weights, walking and more — have been shown to benefit mood.

Typical therapeutic exercise programs last for eight to 14 weeks. You should have 3 to 4 sessions per week, of at least 20 minutes each. For treatment of depression and anxiety disorders, activities of moderate intensity, like brisk walking, are more successful than very vigorous activity.

I am a particular fan of integrative exercise — that is, exercise that occurs in the course of doing some productive activity such as gardening, bicycling to work, doing home improvement projects and so on. Many people find it far easier to stick to activities like this than to lifting weights or running on a treadmill.

2. Follow an Anti-Inflammatory Diet: Normally, inflammation occurs in response to injury and attack by germs. It is marked by local heat, redness, swelling and pain, and is the body’s way of getting more nourishment and more immune activity to the affected area. But inflammation also has destructive potential. We see this when the immune system mistakenly attacks normal tissues in such autoimmune diseases as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Excessive inflammation also plays a causative role in heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, as well as other age-related disorders, including cancer. More recent research indicates that inappropriate inflammation may also underlie depression — so controlling it is key to both physical and mental health.

Perhaps the most powerful way to control inflammation is via diet. My anti-inflammatory diet consists of whole, unprocessed foods that are especially selected to reduce inappropriate inflammation, as well as provide abundant vitamins, minerals and fiber. It consists of fruits and vegetables, fatty cold-water fish, healthy whole grains, olive oil and other foods that have been shown to help keep inflammation in check.

3. Take Fish Oil and Vitamin D: Adequate blood levels of these nutrients has been strongly tied to emotional health. They are so necessary and deficiencies are so common in the developed world that I believe everyone, depressed or not, should take them. Take up to three grams of a quality, molecularly distilled fish oil supplement daily — look for one that provides both EPA and DHA in a ratio of about three or four to one. I also recommend 2,000 IU of vitamin D each day.

4. Take Depression-Specific Herbs: Specifically for those with mild to moderate depression, I suggest trying:

  • St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum): This European plant appears to work well for those affected by low mood. Look for tablets or capsules standardized to 0.3 percent hypericin that also list content of hyperforin.  The usual dose is 300 milligrams three times a day.  You may have to wait two months to get the full benefit of this treatment.
  • SAMe (S-adenosy-L-methionine): A naturally-occurring molecule found throughout the body, SAMe  (pronounced “sammy”) has been extensively studied as an antidepressant and treatment for the pain of osteoarthritis.  Look for products that provide the butanedisulfonate form in enteric-coated tablets.  The usual dosage is 400 to 1,600 milligrams a day, taken on an empty stomach.  Take lower doses (under 800 milligrams) once a day, a half hour before the morning meal; split higher doses, taking the second a half hour before lunch.
  • Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea): A relative of the jade plant native to the high northern latitudes, it appears to improve mood and memory. Look for 100-milligram tablets or capsules containing extracts standardized to three percent rosavins and one percent salidroside.  The dosage is one or two tablets or capsules a day, one in the morning or one in the morning and another in early afternoon.  This can be increased to 200 milligrams up to three times a day if needed.

5. Do Breathing Exercises:  Conscious breath control a useful tool for achieving a relaxed, clear state of mind. One of my favorite breathing exercises is the 4-7-8 (or Relaxing) Breath. Although you can do the exercise in any position, sit with your back straight while learning the exercise. Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue just behind your upper front teeth, and keep it there through the entire exercise. You will be exhaling through your mouth around your tongue; try pursing your lips slightly if this seems awkward. Then:

  • Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
  • Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.

Hold your breath for a count of seven.

Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.

This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

 

Note that you always inhale quietly through your nose and exhale audibly through your mouth. The tip of your tongue stays in position the whole time. Exhalation takes twice as long as inhalation. The absolute time you spend on each phase is not important; the ratio of 4:7:8 is important. If you have trouble holding your breath, speed the exercise up but keep to the ratio of 4:7:8 for the three phases. With practice you can slow it all down and get used to inhaling and exhaling more and more deeply. This exercise is a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system.

Andrew Weil, M.D., is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicineand the editorial director of www.DrWeil.com.

from:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/tips-for-a-happier-life_b_1071805.html

November 13-19

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Overall Color for the Week:    Royal Blue

The energy of this color assists you in knowing, without a doubt, of your deservedness.  It can remove doubts and open you to what it is that you feel is your true queen/kingdom.  Much that was unresolved can be finding form this week. At this time, you can take a hand in how things are turning out, so be aware of what is happening around you and take hold of the opportunities that are coming your way.  There is much emotion in the air this week, and some sorrow.  As things shift and change, so are you and those around you.  This can lead to nostalgia and a desire for how things used to be.  This is part of everything that is happening right now.  When you are feeling out of control, there is a tendency to look to the past for it is set, and there are no more decisions to be made.  There might be regrets, but at this time your perspective is widening, and you will be able to see things in a new way, even to make out a plan behind it all.  This is a week to be in touch with your life’s purpose.  This is a week in which you can move forward in many areas.  Take advantage of the flow and the vibration.,  It is there for you.  Be aware also that your senses are changing, and you will be finding that things are just different.  This is all a response to the shifts of the new vibrations and frequencies as they come in.

Animals and plants and weather and water and everything else take on a new meaning this week as old patterns and ways change and anomalies prevail.  Keep an eye on these things as they are all part of the larger pattern and, in many cases, they represent a response, a reaction, to what has been done to the environment, to Nature, and to the things of Nature.  As this happens, so-called revelations will come out about things that have been going on for a long, long time, but have been hidden.  This will effect all areas, politics, religion, finance, spirituality, ET’s, etc.  Be ready for some surprises.  There will be more Earth events, some tragic, and many unexpected and seemingly without a cause.  It is time to go within and recognize the ley lines and grids that hold Gaia together.  She does not work within our definitions.  She has her own, and that will become more and more obvious as time goes by.  It appears that Air is the element to watch this week.

Sunday, November 13:    Lilac

There is time today for remembering people and things that have been important in your life.  These are not just people you knew personally, but also such as historical figures, characters in novels, etc.  There are so many layers at work today.  You can find yourself aware of all sort s of things at all different times.  This can be a bit confusing and perhaps disconcerting, but there is synchronicity in the air today and everything can be brought together in a new perspective.  Look for that ah-ha moment.  It can tell you much about what is going on right now in your life.

Crystal energy:    Brazilianite—-The energies of this mineral work to align separate levels and types to bring about an harmonious and fulfilling exchange.  Resonates with the Solar Plexus, Heart, and Throat chakras.

Monday, November 14:    Grainy White

There is not a lot of ambition or perkiness in the air this morning, so just take it easy.  This is a good day for engaging with things you love, people, places, and things — some real, some imaginary, and some very wishful. Do not look to get things settled today, there is a slipperiness in the air that makes things not stick.  So center in WHO you are and take a look at the environment.  The very slipperiness of the energy of the day leaves trails and tracks which can show you what is behind a lot of the things that are happening all around you.  Take time to go within when things are confusing.  Your own strong heart knooing will bring to the surface all that you need to know.  And the wonderful thing about it all, is the serendipity and the play.  There is a lot of that around today also.

Crystal Energy:    Fossils—-Ammonites:  The energy of this fossil aids in working with the mysteries of the individual within the whole. It traces a path with many outcroppings and allows one to see the choices ahead. Resonates with the Solar Plexus and Heart Chakras.

Tuesday, November 15:    Dark Blue

There is more going on with people from your past, so expect there to be a rebound.  Perhaps there will be contact, on whatever level, perhaps not, however in any case there will be a sense of what went before.  This is a foundational energy and assists you in establishing your own foundation, both knowing where you came from and being clearer as to where you are going.  This is a day for stepping into the mystery of which all things are part and becoming one with it.  By so doing, you can learn much about you, about WHO you are on all levels and in all dimensions.  The Trickster loves this in-between energy and likes to have fun with it, so be clear as to what is real and what is just seeming.

Crystal Energy:    Pearl—-The energy of this beautiful piece has to do with taking what you are given and, through clear focus, creating what you desire.  There are no limits or definitions unless you choose them. Resonates wtih the Crown and Upper Chakras.

Wednesday, November 16:    Royal Blue

Pay attention to your intuition today as it can guide you through some otherwise sticky situations.  Once again, the Trickster is about, and he is causing a lot of little slip ups, including Freudian slips, schedule mix-ups, and lacks of communication.  The energy is such that you will be seeing things more within a larger picture than usual, and you might just feel “Oh, well,” about it all. Just remember that not everyone is feeling that way and do not react without first taking a moment to understand what it is that is truly happening.  A lot of people are having trouble knowing what their priorities are.

Crystal Energy:    Root Beer Obsidian—-This stone emits a strong healing energy, but one that is also discretionary and listens to the needs, wants, and desires of the person.  It can be a good friend to those of the heart, yet seem powerless to those who cannot be at peace with its lessons.  It resonates with all chakras.

Thursday, November 17:    Pale Apricot

There is a kind of lazy energy in the air today, contrasting at the same time with a snese that there are a lot of things that you want to get down.  But then, there is confusion as to which is most important, which to do first, and which can wait until later.  Do not allow yourself to fall into this.  If you are confused, take a moment to write down what it si that you are thinking of doing.  Then take a moment, go within, center, and then look again.  You will find that things become a lot clearer when you go from your heart center.  There will be a lot of things being said today also, and you will want to know the true from the not-so-true.  People are beginning to feel themselves bowing to pressures all around them, especially as the time of the Holiday Season grows nearer, along with the powerful Winter Solstice of this year.  Time is all out of whack, that too adds to the general muddledness of the day and the next month or so.

Crystal Energy:    Sugilite—-This mineral emits a healing energy which can be directed and utliized in accordance with its color, blue or purple.  It brings clarity of vision and connection.  Resonates with the THird Eye, Crown, and Upper Chakras.

Friday, November 18:    Light Navy Blue

Look around at the things and people who surround you.  This is a day for knowing your “team”, which can also be your community.  If you are feeling yourself isolated and not part of the group, then this is a good time to analyze what is going on with all of this, and if it is not right for you, then it is time to move on.  Again intuition and the knowing of the heart fit onto this process.  Do not discount what you are feeling or even the ‘voices in your head’.  You know deep inside what is right for you and it is time to act upon  that.  You do not need to be one of the crowd unless you want to be.  This is a time for making decisions, but first you must o within to your Core Self .  This involves time spent in meditative activity, whatever kind works for you — sitting, walking, drawing, painting, writing, day dreaming, anything that allows you to let go of the logical element and move into the deeper place within.

Crystal Energy:    Conichalcite—-There is a healing energy that this mineral imparts.  Its influence moves throughout the body.  Resonates with all chakras.

Saturday, November 19:    Bright Lavender

Things that you have been expecting to happen today may take more time than you thought.  Also, you can find that you will need to change your plans as odd obstacles pop up unexpectedly.. Keep your sense of bhumore about you and do not fall into some of the general anger and upset that is all around.  The waves opf energy that are penetrating this dimension right now are contradictory and out of sync.  You may feel this alos in how you are feeling physically.  Listen to your body.  This is a good day to stay well hydrated, so keep that water coming. This is a kind of symbolic representation of allowing the energy to move through.

Crystal Energy:    Analcime—–The energy of this mineral aids in setting boundaries and defining terms in relationships.  It resonates with the Fourth Dimension and assists in dimensional shifts.

Unusual Solar Activity

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REMARKABLE SOLAR ACTIVITY: There haven’t been any strong solar flares in days. Nevertheless, some impressive activity is underway on the sun. For one thing, an enormous wall of plasma is towering over the sun’s southeastern horizon. Stephen Ramsden of Atlanta, Georgia, took this picture on Nov. 11th:

“Solar forums all over the world are buzzing with Sun-stronomers proclaiming this to be the biggest prominence that many of them had ever witnessed,” he says.

Remarkably, though, this is not the biggest thing. A dark filament of magnetism is snaking more than halfway around the entire sun: SDO image. From end to end, it stretches more than a million km or about three times the distance between Earth and the Moon. If the filament becomes unstable, as solar filaments are prone to do, it could collapse and hit the stellar surface below, triggering a Hyder flare. No one can say if the eruption of such a sprawling structure would be Earth directed.

“I cant help but wonder what could possibly come next since we are still over a year away from the forecasted Solar Maximum,” adds Ramsden. “There’s never been a better time to own a solar telescope than now!”

from: spaceweather.com