I FOUND A NEW WEB SITE THAT LETS YOU POST YER POETRY FOR FREE!

AND IT GIVES YOU MUSIC, BACKGROUND DESIGN, ETC...

SO GO CHECK IT OUT AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YA THINK:

Gypsy Guillory's Poetry

www.poetrypoem.com/1369poetry

*In Loving Memory of: Cameron, David, Big Jack, Stitch, Wyatt, Steinie, Jimmy Don, Mike, Quite Man, Leather Jimmy, Pops, Big Joe, Black Dee...

<I also must add the story of how I came to write this poem: well; a couple of years ago at the Scorpions M/C Dallas Clubhouse I was attending one of their yearly 'St.Valentine's Day Massacre' party's and I brought a friend and all night everyone kept tellin' him "Marvelous Marin Stories" so at the end of the night as I sat drunk at the bar waitin' on my friend to finish talkin'....I sat their and wrote this poem:) Several of my brothers read it that night and said it sounded like Marvin helped some so I've always considered this me and Marvin's poem:) Hope ya'll continue to enjoy it as much as ya'll did before!>

The Midnight Riders of the Witching Hour Runs through the Crossroads

Midnight Riders ~

Hair flowing in the wind as they cruise on down those country roads.

Under the moon and the sky filled with a sea of stars with the mist and the darkness fancy on the air...

And ever so often, passing other riders and at times riding along on the Ghost Runs ~

Forever whisping on the waves of memories etched and engraved intriquitly detailed on our minds to be kept and beheld in our hearts and dreams of days passed and days yet to come into passing;

Down to the very sound of his hog barrelling down the road from around the bend then home from the many rally's.

Ride on; my brother; my friend,

Till we drift passed each other again rumbling through the crossroads at the witching hour.....

~Gypsy Guillory

Copyright ©2006 Gypsy Guillory

ASHLAND, Ore. - Even in death, Chet Fitch is a card. Fitch, known for his sense of humor, died in October at age 88 but gave his friends and family a start recently: Christmas cards, 34 of them, began arriving — written in his hand with a return address of "Heaven."

The greeting read: "I asked Big Guy if I could sneak back and send some cards. At first he said no; but at my insistence he finally said, 'Oh well, what the heaven, go ahead but don't (tarry) there.' Wish I could tell you about things here but words cannot explain.

"Better get back as Big Guy said he stretched a point to let me in the first time, so I had better not press my luck. I'll probably be seeing you (some sooner than you think). Wishing you a very Merry Christmas. Chet Fitch"

A friend for nearly 25 years, Debbie Hansen Bernard said, "All I could think was, 'You little stinker.'"

"It was amazing," she said. "Just so Chet, always wanting to get the last laugh."

The mailing was a joke Fitch worked on for two decades with his barber, Patty Dean, 57. She told the Ashland Daily Tidings this week that he kept updating the mailing list and giving her extra money when postal rates went up. This fall, she said, Fitch looked up to her from the chair.

"You must be getting tired of waiting to mail those cards," he told her. "I think you'll probably be able to mail them this year."

He died a week later.

{{let me start by sayin that I hate how dance or anything like is not an option in   the categorys;-(

I bring you Edgar Degas :

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Edgar Degas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edgar Degas (19 July 1834 – 27 September 1917), born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (pronounced[il?? ???m?~ ?d--?? d------?]), was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist. A superb draughtsman, he is especially identified with the subject of the dance, and over half his works depict dancers. These display his mastery in the depiction of movement, as do his racecourse subjects and female nudes. His portraits are considered to be among the finest in the history of art.

Early in his career, his ambition was to be a history painter, a calling for which he was well prepared by his rigorous academic training and close study of classic art. In his early thirties he changed course, and by bringing the traditional methods of a history painter to bear on contemporary subject matter, he became a classical painter of modern life.

Early life

Degas was born in Paris, France, the eldest of five children of Célestine Musson De Gas and Augustin De Gas, a banker. The family was moderately wealthy. At age eleven, Degas (as a young man he abandoned the more pretentious spelling of the family name) began his schooling with enrollment in the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, graduating in 1853 with a baccalauréat in literature.

Degas began to paint seriously early in life. By eighteen he had turned a room in his home into an artist's studio, and had begun making copies in the Louvre, but his father expected him to go to law school. Degas duly registered at the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris in November 1853, but made little effort at his studies there. In 1855, Degas met Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, whom he revered, and was advised by him to "draw lines, young man, many lines." In April of that same year, Degas received admission to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he studied drawing with Louis Lamothe, under whose guidance he flourished, following the style of Ingres. In July 1856, Degas traveled to Italy, where he would remain for the next three years. There he drew and painted copies after Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, and other artists of the Renaissance, often selecting from an altarpiece an individual head which he treated as a portrait. It was during this period that Degas studied and became accomplished in the techniques of high, academic, and classical art.

 Artistic career

After returning from Italy in 1859, Degas continued his education by copying paintings at the Louvre; he was to remain an enthusiastic copyist well into middle age. In the early 1860s, while visiting his childhood friend Paul Valpinçon in Normandy, he made his first studies of horses. He exhibited at the Salon for the first time in 1865, when the jury accepted his painting Scene of War in the Middle Ages, which attracted little attention. Although he exhibited annually in the Salon during the next five years, he submitted no more history paintings, and his Steeplechase—The Fallen Jockey (Salon of 1866) signaled his growing commitment to contemporary subject matter. The change in his art was influenced primarily by the example of Edouard Manet, whom Degas had met in 1864 while copying in the Louvre.

At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Degas enlisted in the National Guard, where his defense of Paris left him little time for painting. During rifle training his eyesight was found to be defective, and for the rest of his life his eye problems were a constant worry to him.

After the war, in 1872, Degas began an extended stay in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his brother René and a number of other relatives lived. Staying in a house on Esplanade Avenue, Degas produced a number of works, many depicting family members. One of Degas' New Orleans works, depicting a scene at The Cotton Exchange at New Orleans, garnered favourable attention back in France, and was his only work purchased by a museum (that of Pau) during his lifetime.

Degas returned to Paris in 1873. By now thoroughly disenchanted with the Salon, in 1874 Degas joined forces with a group of young artists who were intent upon organizing an independent exhibiting society. The result was the first of the exhibitions that became labeled Impressionist Exhibitions. The Impressionists subsequently held seven additional shows, the last in 1886. Degas showed his work in all but one, even though he was, in the words of art historian Andrew Forge, "continually at odds with the landscape painters. He deplored the scandal that surrounded the exhibitions and the publicity and advertisement that his colleagues quite naturally looked for. He objected violently to the label Impressionist that the press had hung on them."

At about the same time, Degas also began a hobby as a photographer, using it for pleasure, and to accurately capture action for his paintings and artwork.

At the death of his father in 1874, the subsequent settling of the estate revealed that René had amassed enormous business debts. To preserve the family name, Degas was forced to sell his house and a collection of art he had inherited. He now found himself suddenly dependent on sales of his artwork for income.

After several years, his financial situation improved and sales of his own work permitted him to indulge his passion for collecting works by artists he admired—old masters such as El Greco, moderns such as Delacroix, and his contemporaries Cézanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. Ingres and Manet were especially well represented in his collection.

As the years passed, Degas became isolated, due in part to his belief "that a painter could have no personal life. The Dreyfus Affair controversy brought his antisemitic leanings to the fore and he broke with all his Jewish friends. In later life, Degas regretted the loss of those friends.

While he is known to have been working in pastel as late as the end of 1907, and is believed to have continued making sculpture as late as 1910, he apparently ceased working in 1912, when the impending demolition of his longtime residence on the rue Victor Massé forced a wrenching move to quarters on the boulevard de Clichy. He never married and spent the last years of his life, nearly blind, restlessly wandering the streets of Paris before dying in 1917. Degas' last years were sad and lonely, especially as he outlived many of his closest friends.

 Artistic style

The Dance Class (La Classe de Danse),1873–1876, oil on canvas, by Edgar Degas

Degas is often identified as an Impressionist, an understandable but insufficient description. Impressionism originated in the 1860s and 1870s and grew, in part, from the realism of such painters as Courbet and Corot. The Impressionists painted the realities of the world around them using bright, "dazzling" colors, concentrating primarily on the effects of light, and hoping to infuse their scenes with immediacy.

Technically, Degas differs from the Impressionists in that, as art historian Frederick Hartt says, he "never adopted the Impressionist color fleck", and he continually belittled their practice of painting en plein air, but he is described more accurately as an Impressionist than as a member of any other movement. His scenes of Parisian life, his off-center compositions, his experiments with colour and form, and his friendship with several key Impressionist artists, most notably Mary Cassatt and Edouard Manet, all relate him intimately to the Impressionist movement.

Degas has his own distinct style, one reflecting his deep respect for the old masters and his great admiration for Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres and Eugène Delacroix. He was also a collector of Japanese prints, whose compositional principles influenced his work, as did the vigorous realism of popular illustrators such as Daumier and Gavarni. Although famous for horses and dancers, Degas began with conventional historical paintings such as The Young Spartans, although his treatment of such subjects became progressively less idealized. During his early career, Degas also painted portraits of individuals and groups; an example of the latter is The Bellelli Family of (c.1858–60), a brilliantly composed and psychologically poignant portrayal of his aunt, her husband, and their children. In this painting, as in The Young Spartans and many later works, Degas was drawn to the tensions present between men and women. In his early paintings, Degas already evidenced the mature style that he would later develop more fully by cropping subjects awkwardly and by choosing unusual viewpoints.

Absinthe, 1876, oil on canvas, by Edgar Degas

By the late 1860s, Degas had shifted from his initial forays into history painting to an original observation of contemporary life. Racecourse scenes provided an opportunity to depict horses and their riders in a modern context. He began to paint women at work, milliners and laundresses. Mlle. Fiocre in the Ballet La Source, exhibited in the Salon of 1868, was his first major work to introduce a subject with which he would become especially identified, dancers.

In many subsequent paintings dancers were shown backstage or in rehearsal, emphasizing their status as professionals doing a job. Degas began to paint café life as well. He urged other artists to paint "real life" instead of traditional mythological or historical paintings. His rare literary scenes were modern and of highly ambiguous content; for example, Interior, which was probably based on a scene from Thérèse Raquin.

As his subject matter changed, so, too, did Degas' technique. The dark palette that bore the influence of Dutch painting gave way to the use of vivid colors and bold brushstrokes. Paintings such as Place de la Concorde read as "snapshots," freezing moments of time to portray them accurately, imparting a sense of movement. The changes to his palette, brushwork, and sense of composition all evidence the influence that both the Impressionist movement and modern photography, with its spontaneous images and off-kilter angles, had on his work.

Blurring the distinction between portraiture and genre pieces, he painted his bassoonist friend, Désiré Dihau, in The Orchestra of the Opera (1868-69) as one of fourteen musicians in an orchestra pit, viewed as though by a member of the audience. Above the musicians can be seen only the legs and tutus of the dancers onstage, their figures cropped by the edge of the painting. Art historian Charles Stuckey has pointed out that the viewpoint is that of a distracted spectator at a ballet, and that "it is Degas' fascination with the depiction of movement, including the movement of a spectator's eyes as during a random glance, that is properly speaking 'Impressionist'."

Musicians in the Orchestra, 1872, oil on canvas, by Edgar Degas

Degas' mature style is distinguished by conspicuously unfinished passages, even in otherwise tightly rendered paintings. He frequently blamed his eye troubles for his inability to finish, an explanation that met with some skepticism from colleagues and collectors who reasoned, as Stuckey explains, that "his pictures could hardly have been executed by anyone with inadequate vision." The artist provided another clue when he described his predilection "to begin a hundred things and not finish one of them," and was in any case notoriously reluctant to consider a painting complete.

His interest in portraiture led him to study carefully the ways in which a person's social stature or form of employment may be revealed by their physiognomy, posture, dress, and other attributes. In his 1879 Portraits, At the Stock Exchange, he portrayed a group of Jewish businessmen with a hint of antisemitism; while in his paintings of dancers and laundresses, he reveals their occupations not only by their dress and activities but also by their body type. His ballerinas exhibit an athletic physicality, while his laundresses are heavy and solid.

By the later 1870s Degas had mastered not only the traditional medium of oil on canvas, but pastel as well. The dry medium, which he applied in complex layers and textures, enabled him more easily to reconcile his facility for line with a growing interest in expressive color.

In the mid-1870s he also returned to the medium of etching, which he had neglected for ten years, and began experimenting with less traditional printmaking media—lithographs and experimental monotypes. He was especially fascinated by the effects produced by monotype, and frequently reworked the printed images with pastel.

These changes in media engendered the paintings that Degas would produce in later life. Degas began to draw and paint women drying themselves with towels, combing their hair, and bathing (see: After the Bath). The strokes that model the form are scribbled more freely than before; backgrounds are simplified.

The meticulous naturalism of his youth gave way to an increasing abstraction of form. Except for his characteristically brilliant draftsmanship and obsession with the figure, the pictures created in this late period of his life bear little superficial resemblance to his early paintings. Ironically, it is these paintings, created late in his life, and after the heyday of the Impressionist movement, that most obviously use the coloristic techniques of Impressionism.

For all the stylistic evolution, certain features of Degas's work remained the same throughout his life. He always painted indoors, preferring to work in his studio, either from memory or using models. The figure remained his primary subject; his few landscapes were produced from memory or imagination. It was not unusual for him to repeat a subject many times, varying the composition or treatment. He was a deliberative artist whose works, as Andrew Forge has written, "were prepared, calculated, practiced, developed in stages. They were made up of parts. The adjustment of each part to the whole, their linear arrangement, was the occasion for infinite reflection and experiment.

 Reputation

Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, a sculpture by Edgar Degas

During his life, public reception of Degas' work ranged from admiration to contempt. As a promising artist in the conventional mode, and in the several years following 1860, Degas had a number of paintings accepted in the Salon. These works received praise from Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and the critic, Castagnary.

Degas soon joined forces with the Impressionists, however, and rejected the rigid rules, judgements, and elitism of the Salon—just as the Salon and general public initially rejected the experimentalism of the Impressionists.

Degas's work was controversial, but was generally admired for its draftsmanship. The suite of nudes Degas exhibited in the eighth Impressionist Exhibition in 1886 produced "the most concentrated body of critical writing on the artist during his lifetime. ... The overall reaction was positive and laudatory." His La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, or Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, was probably his most controversial piece, with some critics decrying what they thought its "appalling ugliness" while others saw in it a "blossoming."

Recognized as an important artist by the end of his life, Degas is now considered "one of the founders of impressionism". Though his work crossed many stylistic boundaries, his involvement with the other major figures of Impressionism and their exhibitions, his dynamic paintings and sketches of everyday life and activities, and his bold color experiments, served to finally tie him to the Impressionist movement as one of its greatest early artists.

His paintings, pastels, drawings, and sculpture—most of the latter were not intended for exhibition, and were discovered only after his death—are on prominent display in many museums.

Although Degas had no formal pupils, he greatly influenced several important painters, most notably Jean-Louis Forain, Mary Cassatt, and Walter Sickert; his greatest admirer may have been Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

 

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BEIN' AS NATIVE AMERICAN DAY IS COMIN' UP THIS FRIDAY,

I THOUGHT I'D SHOW ASOME PRIDE AND POST A BLOG ABOUT MY NATIVE BACKGROUND ON MY GREAT-GRANDMA GUILLORY'S SIDE OF MY FAMILY.......

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Sovereign Nation of the Chitimacha

About Chitimacha

As the vast Roman Empire was crumbling some 7,000 miles away, the Chitimacha Tribe was establishing a settlement centered around the bayous of South Louisiana. Read about the history of this fascinating North American Indian tribe, and learn how the Chitimacha Nation has persevered and prospered.

History

Around 500 A.D., the final vestiges of the vast Roman Empire were disappearing from Europe, ushering in the beginning of modern history. Around the same time some 7,000 miles away on another continent, the Chitimacha were beginning settlement on land around the bayous of what is now Southern Louisiana.

In 1727, the Chitimacha settlement was discovered west of the Mississippi River, although many had thought that the entire tribe was either destroyed or enslaved as a result of the long war. Several years later, more Chitimacha were found living near what is now known as Charenton, Louisiana, the site of today's Chitimacha Reservation.

Genealogy

Upon visiting the Chitimacha Reservation, many people ask the question, "Where did you originally come from?" The answer has been the same, from generation to generation "We have always been here" Proud of our ancestors, proud of the prehistoric Chitimacha who developed a full-fledged civilization, and proud of the subsequent generations that have faced extinction, but survived with a determination to preserve their native identity.

Old historical documents list the Chitimacha as members of "a great and mighty nation", but state that the Chitimacha suffered drastic reductions in both population and land holdings over the years, due to successive intrusions by the French, Spanish and English. Then, in 1706, the Chitimacha lost many of their people in a protracted war with the French. Although many were killed trying to defend their lands and families, and many others were captured and sold into slavery, the Chitimacha legacy survived. By the early 1900's, the tribe was down to six distinct families, numbering under 100 people total. In 1917, the Chitimacha Tribe was the first to be a federally recognized tribe in Louisiana. They are the only tribe in Louisiana that still retains some of their original tribal lands. Today, the Chitimacha have approximately 900 members on the Tribal roles, which contain the names of all Tribal members.  There is a large Tribal contingency in New Orleans, but many of the Chitimacha's still live on the ancestral lands of the Chitimacha Reservation in Charenton, Louisiana.

Tribal Lands

"Tribal tradition says that four sacred trees marked the boundaries of the Chitimacha world. One near Marigouin. One to the Southeast of New Orleans. One near the mouth of the Mississippi. And a fourth, a great cypress, at present-day Cypremort Point State Park."

Throughout successive centuries, the Chitimacha Nation grew to more than 20,000 people in these area, which encompassed most of the lower Mississippi River Delta and the Atchafalaya Basin. Fifteen villages would eventually develop throughout this region, spreading the distinctive Chitimacha language and culture.

The Chitimacha Master Development Plan provides for zoning and multi-use land planning for the Reservation. It maximizes the use of available land and prevents negative impact on the environment. The Plan will enhance job prospects for the region, while increasing  revenues for the Tribe. Professional planning firms are assisting the Tribe to ensure appropriate, orderly, and successful long-term development for retail, commercial, residential, and recreational uses.

Housing on the Chitimacha reservation is another top priority. The Tribe has developed  housing construction and finance programs in conjunction with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This has become a model for other tribes. The result has been a surge in home building on the Reservation, ranging from Acadian-style homes, along the banks of the Bayou Teche, to modern homes on suburban-type subdivision lots.

 

Chitimacha Tribal School

 

Recognizing the importance of education, coordinating efforts were taken to build the Chitimacha Tribal School, a state-of-the-art pre-school through eight grade facility located in the center of the Chitimacha reservation. Students are taught the traditional language of the Chitimacha, along with the standard curriculum.

 After graduating from the Chitimacha Tribal School, reservation children attend West St. Mary High School located in Baldwin, Louisiana or Hanson Memorial High School located in Franklin, Louisiana. Those students who academically qualify are provided financial assistance and given the opportunity to pursue a college degree.

 

After graduating from the Chitimacha Tribal School, reservation children attend West St. Mary High School located in Baldwin, Louisiana or Hanson Memorial High School located in Franklin, Louisiana. Those students who academically qualify are provided financial assistance and given the opportunity to pursue a college degree.

There is a scholarship program for the students attending college. Scholarship students pay back the Tribe for their schooling through extensive community service projects. They are a welcome, and continual, presence at the Tribe.

The Chitimacha children have truly become significant contributors to an improved quality of life in the land that they have always called home. With these basic educational services now in place, Chitimacha Nation prepares to face the 21st century with hope, confidence and security.

 

Way of Life

 

Take a Virtual tour through the Chitimacha village and discover how tribal customs and rituals were passed on from one generation to the next. Experience the rich traditions contained in Chitimacha stories, recipes, music and dance, along with arts and crafts. We hope. that you enjoy this unique adventure and gain valuable insight into the lives of this fascinating North American Indian tribe.

 

Dance

 

Earliest documented records show that the Chitimacha celebrated every aspects of life with ceremony and dance. The elders and the children of the community come together and celebrate around the Chitimacha men and the drum, dancing inter-tribal dances to inter-tribal music.

Today, the Chitimacha youth practice their dance each week at the Chitimacha Tribal School. Traditional outfits as well as contemporary inter-tribal outfits for fancy dancing have been made and are now a part of these young people's lifestyle. At certain times of the year for different events such as Honoring of the Elders Social and Veterans Honor Dance the Chitimacha don their outfits to dance and to celebrate. The elders of the community have shawls which they wear to participate in the dances along with the children. The Chitimacha elder men have sat at the drum along with the young me of the community, to raise their voices in song and in celebration. Preserving the Chitimacha heritage is a vital part of the Chitimacha community, breathing breath back the old ways, while moving forward to the future with determination and enthusiasm for the progress of the Chitimacha Tribe.

 

Music

Music was an integral part of the Chitimacha culture. From the earliest documentation by historians of the early 1700's, music has been mentioned along with ceremony, celebration, peace ceremonies and legends. The beginning of the peace ceremony between the Chitimacha and the French in 1718 was a chanting song, along with a stomp dance which lasted nearly a half hour. This was done with all seriousness due to the occasion. Music was made by drums, alligator skins, gourd rattles, and flutes. Legends were told and at a certain point, song would begin.

 

Today, the old songs and the music that accompanied them are either forgotten, or still being searched for through research. The legends are still remembered, but the songs that accompanied them are gone. But music and dance continues for the Chitimacha. The Chitimacha youth dance in regalia to Inter-Tribal songs, celebrating their culture and people with pride. Elders participate in honor dances and dance with the youth. Chitimacha men are sitting around the drum, singing and drumming, reviving the part of their culture that had been lying dormant. Music has come back to the Chitimacha, in celebration and in song.

Tourism

The Chitimacha Reservation is located in Charenton, Louisiana, following the curve of the Bayou Teche. Chitimacha legend has it that the Bayou Teche was created by a huge and venomous snake. It was so large and so long that its size was not measured in feet, but in miles. Its head was at what is now know as Morgan City and its tail at St. Martinville. This snake had been an enemy of the Chitimacha for many years, doing a lot of destruction to their ways of life. One day the Chitimacha chief called together his warriors and had them prepare for battle with their enemy, the snake. Using their clubs, bows and arrows the Chitimacha fought the snake, fighting courageously to kill the enemy, but it fought just as hard to survive. As the snake turned, coiled and twisted in the last few days of a slow death, it broadened, curved and deepened the place wherein its huge body now lay. As his body decomposed, the place began to deepen more. Thus, the Bayou Teche was formed.

The Chitimacha Reservation is situated on approximately 260.3 acres of land, covered with beautiful ancient oak and cypress trees. The Tribe is very proud of its economic developments, reflecting in the new homes for its Tribal members, the Trading Post, Tribal Museum, Multi-Purpose Office building, Health Department, Tribal Courts, Police & Fire, Senior/Youth Center and Tribal School. The Tribe's largest commercial development is the highly successful Cypress Bayou Casino, located on the Chitimacha Indian Reservation.

 

The Chitimacha Tribe and its Tribal Council, finds itself facing the 21st century in perhaps the best position it has ever been. There is a solid economic base on which to build. The people are healthy and enthusiastic, becoming better educated and gainfully employed. The Chitimacha have earned respect from the Federal government, becoming significant contributors to an improved quality of life in the land they always called home. The Chitimacha vision is reflected in the following statement.

"To still walk the same land our ancestors walked

To again be able to care and provide for our people

and those around us. To rekindle the pride in being Chitimacha

That is the greatest gift we can give our children"

 

Arts & Crafts

The Chitimacha dedicated most of their efforts to cultivating the soil, fishing and developing the domestic arts. The women wove a strong cloth from common weeds and the barks of certain trees native to the area. These women made everything that was needed for the Tribe's daily life.

The Chitimacha Tribe displayed the greatest skill through the art of weaving baskets. Wild cane gathered from the swamps was split by the teeth of the basket makers, dyed in vivid yellows, reds and blacks, and woven into two layers, producing beautifully intricate baskets of unique designs that were capable of floating. This Tribe's basketry reached such a degree of development that it might be placed among the higher arts. The Chitimacha still retain this art today.

 

Stories

Life Lessons, humorous instances, history of the Chitimacha were taught to the people through oral tradition. As earlier generations of Chitimacha had no form of writing, story tellers repeated the legends and history orally, thereby preserving an integral part of Chitimacha culture.

How the Great Spirit made the World

The Legend of the Bayou Tech

The Little Bird that could Talk

The First Canoe

..> ..>

Recipes

..> ..>

Macque Choux Recipe by Al LeBlanc, Chitimacha 12 ears Fresh Sweet Corn 3 Medium Onions 1/4 Cup vegetable oil Black pepper and salt Clean corn thoroughly, Cut corn off Cob using the "Macque Choux" method: *Using a sharp knife, cut the first layer of corn about 1/8" (just taking the tops). Cut a second layer, getting very near the cob (not into it). Next, back-scrape the cob using your knife to extract the rest of the pulp and milk. Note: Remember, the cut of the corn is directly proportionate to the quality of the Macque Choux. Cut the onions very fine, by peeling, halving, slicing in 1/8" slices with the grain, and finally 1/8" across the grain, forming 1/8" dices. This is not so critical as the corn, but try to keep it small. Mix the onions and corn thoroughly in a large bowl, seasoning with salt and black pepper to taste. In a large black iron skillet or dutch oven: Heat the oil to frying heat. Add corn and onions all at once. You must cook this on a medium fire and keep well stirred for the next 45 minutes. It will brown to a nice golden brown and take on a slightly nutty consistency. It will have a naturally sweet consistency. If it does not, then you can use a tablespoon or so of brown sugar to get it there. You may also want to add a bit of cream (canned evaporated milk) to give it a more creamy consistency. Enjoy!!! Chitimacha Baked Duck Recipe by Leroy and Dora Burgess, Chitimacha Leroy gets the ducks. Dora cooks them. Place cleaned ducks in large pot. Add salt and pepper, onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic (to taste) Cover with water and gently boil till tender. Heat oven to 350° Remove ducks from water. Place in baking dish. Put pats of margarine in and on the ducks. Bake till brown. Corn Soup Recipe by Vickie Mora, Chitimacha 12-16 Ears of Corn Salt Meat 1 can Diced Tomatoes 1 block Margarine 2 Onions Melt Margarine in pot and then sauté the onions for about 10 minutes. Add the scraped corn in the pot and cook on a low fire for about 15 minutes. Next, add water to the corn and let it come to a boil, then add the diced tomatoes to the soup. Also, after you have boiled the salt meat, you may also add it to the soup. Add salt and pepper to your desire. You can leave out the diced tomatoes, if you so desire.

Tribal News

Keep updated with the latest developments in the Chitimacha Community by reviewing the Tribal news releases and events. News and press releases will be regularly posted, and updated to keep you informed of current events within this Native American community. From the latest commercial developments to the extensive collection of social services offered on the reservation, you have access to a timely schedule of current events and attractions.

 

I'm just tired of the gay community stealing one of the very things that makes Ireland Irish....It's also one the national symbols of the whole country! And it's high time the Irish take it back!!!

So I went looking for something to write in this blog about RAINBOWS...and boy did I find a most perfect passage:

Genisis 9:8-17

Then God said to Naoh & to his sons with him, "Behold, I establish my covenant with you & your descendants after you, & with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, & every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all be cut off by the waters of a flood, & never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me & you & every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud, & it shall be a sign of the covenant between me & the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth & the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant which is between me & you & every living creature of all flesh; & the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy the flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it & remember the everlasting covenant between God & every living creature of all flesh that it is upon the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me & all the flesh that is upon the earth."

HERE IS THE LINKS TO MY YAHOO360 GROUP 'IRISH-PLAID':

The group email address:
Irish-Plaid@yahoogroups.com

The group home page location:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Irish-Plaid

I SEE THE MOON AND THE MOON SEE'S ME

AND THE MOON SEE'S THE ONES THAT I WANT TO SEE

SO GOD BLESS THE MOON AND GOD BLESS ME AND GOD BLESS THE ONE'S THAT I WANT TO SEE ~

For Victoria & Travis & Harold

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

~EXERPT FROM "THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD"

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SO ALL YOU BIKERS, BIKER OL' LADY'S, BIKERS KIDS, ETC...
GET OUT YER PENS/PENCILS & PAPER....

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THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE WITH YA'LL MORE ABOUT ME~~~

Hierophant

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The role of the hierophant in religion is to bring the congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy. The word comes from Ancient Greece, where it was constructed from the combination of ta hiera, "the holy," and phainein, "to show." In Attica it was the title of the chief priest at the Eleusinian Mysteries.

known Hierophants:

• Eunapius
• Nestorius
• Priskus

 Tarot

In Tarot, The Hierophant is one of the twenty-two trump cards comprising the Major Arcana, and represents conformity to social standards, or a deference to the established social moral order. As the guide towards knowledge, insight and wisdom, in a tarot reading it might, for example represent a priest, scholar, therapist or teacher...although these individuals are more definitively represented by the Hermit, or suggested by the traits attributed to the King of Cups. As in all readings, of course, the identity, positions and orientations of the other cards in the layout (as translated by the reader's intuition and unconscious insight)best determine how to interpret the appearance of the Hierophant.

 Popular culture

• Many games, particularly traditional role-playing games and computer role-playing games, feature entities called Hierophants, whether as a character class or enemy within the game. One example is Dungeons & Dragons, which has featured several rankings termed Hierophant for spellcasters in its various editions. Another example is The House of the Dead 2, in which an enemy called The Hierophant serves as a boss. These depictions do not always resemble their Tarot card inspirations.

• Guitarist Steve Hackett's album Voyage of the Acolyte is all inspired by Tarot cards - the last song is called Shadow of the Hierophant.

• The Cenobites in Clive Barker's novella "The Hellbound Heart" (filmed as Hellraiser) are often referred to as "Hierophants".

• In the novel Mumbo-Jumbo by Ishmael Reed, the Hierophant leads the "Wallflower Order," a secret society dedicated to the containment of the "Jes Grew" epidemic.

• The Fortean Times features a monthly column of paranormal gossip written by "The Hierophant".

• On the booklet artwork for Marilyn Manson's album Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) there are photos featuring Manson and the other band members as characters in a tarot card collection. Manson himself is found as The Hierophant as well as several other of the cards. There is also a web fan community for Manson named The Hierophant Council. Also, in his album Antichrist Superstar the first four tracks collectively make up the first part of the album, known as "The Heirophant."

• The English band Coil has a track called "The Auto-Asphyxiating Hierophant" on their Autumn Equinox CD EP released in 1998. The track is also available on the compilation Moon's Milk (In Four Phases) from 2002.

• In the movie, "Edmond", the protagonist played by William H. Macy who recently saught the services of a Tarot reader, is given a card from a man he meets in a bar (Joe Mantegna) who has offered him advice. At first, he thinks he sees the Heirophant, but the card is actually the name of a strip club.

• In the book Nuklear Age, "Hierophant" is the name of a minor hero that has a brief appearance, meant to be a main character in Atomik Age (both by Brian Clevinger).

 See also

• Daduchos

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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierophant"

Categories: Eleusinian Mysteries | Esoteric schools of thought | Ancient Greek titles

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Priestess

A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to perform and administer religious rites; and in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of the deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively.

Priests and priestesses have been known since the earliest of times and in the simplest societies (see oracle and shaman). They exist in some branches of Christianity, Shintoism, Hinduism, and many other religions, as well, and are generally regarded as having good contact with the deities of the religion to which he or she ascribes, often interpreting the meaning of events, performing the rituals of the religion, and to whom other believers often will turn for advice on spiritual matters.

In many (but not all) religions, being a priest or priestess is a full-time assignment, ruling out any other career. In other cases it is an auxiliary role. For example in early Icelandic history the chieftains were entitled goði, a word which meant "priest", but as in the saga of Hrafnkell Freysgoði, this consisted merely of offering periodic sacrifices to the Norse gods and goddesses, and it was not a full time occupation, nor did it involve any special training or ordination.

In some religions, priesthood is a position inherited in familial lines. The term "priestess" is often used for women officiating in ancient and modern Paganism, Neopagan religions such as Wicca, and various Polytheistic Reconstructionism faiths; however, in Christian churches that ordain women, such as those of the Anglican Communion or the Christian Community, ordained women are simply called, priests. Those officiating in Judaism, both men and women, are called rabbi.

In Judaism

In Judaism, the Kohanim (singular ???? kohen, plural ??????? kohanim, whence the family names Cohen, Cahn, Kahn, Kohn, Kogan, etc.) are hereditary priests through paternal descent. These families are from the tribe of the Levi'im (Levites) (whence the family names Levy, Levi, Levin, Lewin, Lewis, etc.), and are traditionally accepted as the descendants of Aaron.

During the times of the two Jewish Temples in Jerusalem, they were responsible for daily and special Jewish holiday offerings and sacrifices within the temples known as the korbanot.

Since the demise of the Second Temple, and therefore the cessation of the daily and seasonal temple ceremonies and sacrifices, Kohanim in traditional Judaism (Orthodox Judaism and to some extent, Conservative Judaism) have continued to perform a number of priestly ceremonies and roles such as the Pidyon HaBen (redemption of a first-born son) ceremony and the Priestly Blessing, and have remained subject, particularly in Orthodox Judaism, to a number of special rules including restrictions on marriage, ritual purity, and other requirements. Orthodox Judaism regards the Kohanim as being held in reserve for a future restored Temple. In all branches of Judaism, Rabbis do not perform a priestly role in the sense of special roles in propitiation, sacrifice, or sacrament. Rather, a Rabbi's principle religious function is to serve as an authoratative judge and expositor of Jewish law. Rabbis have also generally come to perform clerical and social leadership roles such as congregational leadership and pastoral counseling, Judaism does not, however, reserve such roles to rabbis.

 In Christianity

Two different Greek words have traditionally been translated into English as priest (Greek was the language in which the New Testament was composed, hence its importance in understanding early Christian practice). Both words occur in the New Testament, which draws a distinction not always observed in English. The first, presbyteros (p?esß?te???), Latin presbyterus, is traditionally translated priest and the English word priest is indeed etymologically derived from this word; literally, however, this word means elder, and is used in neutral and non-religious contexts in Greek to refer to seniority or relative age. It is the term used in Catholicism and Orthodoxy to refer to one given the sacrament of Holy Orders in that degree.

The second word, hiereus ('?e?eu?), Latin sacerdos, refers to priests who offer sacrifice, such as the priesthood of the Jewish Temple, or the priests of pagan gods. The New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews draws a distinction between the Jewish priesthood and that of Christ; it teaches that the sacrificial atonement by Jesus Christ on Calvary has made the Jewish priesthood redundant. Thus, for Christians, Christ himself is uniquely hiereus. Roman Catholics, the Orthodox and many Anglicans (especially Anglo-Catholics) therefore, believe that priests and bishops share in the one priesthood of Christ through the sacrament of Holy Orders, and are empowered to offer the one sacrifice of Jesus in the Eucharist which, as the Book of Hebrews says, is offered "once for all" (Hebrews 10:10), being identical with the very sacrifice of the Cross: the Mass, or Divine Liturgy, as the Eucharistic celebration is known, is therefore literally a re-presentation (making present again) of Christ's single sacrifice. According to this theology, Christ himself is both the Priest and the Sacrifice. The priest does not offer Christ again in sacrifice; but rather, in the Eucharist, the Church mystically enters into that same sacrifice that was made once for all on Golgotha. Only in this sense is the priest also a sacerdos (sacrificer), and so the term appears in works of theology but is not the usual term now used for the office. These faiths teach that through the offering of the Eucharist, the priest who celebrates and the congregation which is present participate in Christ's redemptive work, for themselves, for the good of the Church, and for the whole world.

At some point in the late first century or early second century of the Christian era, Greek-speaking Christians began using hieros to refer, first, to bishops and then, by extension, to the presbyters under them, but still making a distinction between the Jewish priesthood, pagan priesthoods, and the one priesthood of Christ. The Didache, for example, refers to "prophets" (13:3) as "high priests" (and later stating, in 15:2, that "bishops" are functionally equivalent to prophets, thus extending the term "priest" to them as well). The Letter of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, written in the late First Century CE, draws an analogy between the ministry of the Jewish priests and Christian bishops. The usual term for bishop, however, is episcopus, the Latin word from which the English "bishop" is derived, and which is itself derived from the Greek word ep?s??p?? (epískopos) for "overseer" or "supervisor." In Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, and associated Churches, the terms "presbyter" and "priest" (both words are ultimately derived from LL presbyter, Gk p?esß?te??? presbýteros "elder, priest") are thus virtually interchangeable (although bishops, obviously, are also included in this concept of priesthood). Priests, like deacons, are clergymembers and can only be ordained by a bishop.

Roman Catholic and Orthodox

Main article: Priesthood (Catholic Church)

The most significant liturgical acts reserved to priests in these traditions are the administration of the Sacraments (known as the "Sacred Mysteries" by Eastern Christians), including the celebration of the Mass or Divine Liturgy (the terms for the celebration of the Eucharist in the Western and Eastern traditions, respectively), and the Sacrament of Penance, also called Confession. The sacraments of Anointing of the Sick (Unction) and Confirmation or Chrismation are also administered by priests, though in the Western tradition Confirmation is most often celebrated by a bishop. In the East, Chrismation is performed by the priest immediately after Baptism, and Unction is normally performed by several priests (ideally seven), but may be done by one if necessary. In the West, Holy Baptism can be celebrated by anyone and Matrimony may be witnessed by a deacon, but most often these are also normally administered by a priest. In the East, Holy Baptism and Marriage (which is called "Crowning") may only be performed by a priest. If a person is baptized in extremis (i.e., when in fear of immediate death), only the actual threefold immersion together with the scriptural words (Matthew 28:19) may be done by a layperson or deacon. The remainder of the rite, and Chrismation, must still be done by a Priest, if the person survives. The only sacrament which may only be celebrated by a bishop is that of Ordination (cheirotonia, "Laying-on of Hands"), or Holy Orders.

In these traditions, only men who meet certain requirements may become priests. In Roman Catholicism the canonical minimum age is twenty-five. Bishops may dispense with this rule and ordain men up to one year younger. Dispensations of more than a year are reserved to the Holy See (Can. 1031 §§1, 4.) A Catholic priest must be incardinated by his bishop or his major religious superior in order to engage in public ministry. In Orthodoxy, the normal minimum age is thirty (Can. 9 of Neocaesarea) but a bishop may dispense with this if needed. In neither tradition may priests marry after ordination. In the Roman Catholic Church, they must be celibate and there are special rules for married clergy converting from certain other Christian confessions. Married men may become priests in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches but in neither case may they marry after ordination even if they become widowed. It is also important to note that candidates for the episcopacy are only chosen from among the celibate.

Dress

priestess or goddess from Crete, dated 1600 BC

The dress of religious workers in ancient times may be demonstrated in frescoes and artifacts from the cultures. The earliest religions documented to date are based upon the worship of the great goddesses who created the universe and related Earth Mother deities, who give birth to the plants, animals, and people.^{[citation needed]} Those shown officiating at the religious rites are typically priestesses. The dress is presumed to be related to the customary clothing of the culture, with some symbol of the deity worn on the head or held by the person. Sometimes special colors, materials, or patterns distinguishes celebrants, as the white wool veil draped on the head of the Vestal Virgins. Occasionally the celebrants at religious ceremonies shed all clothes in a symbolic gesture of purity, as the early priestesses at some Greek temples. Long after the tradition of goddesses changed to include gods, and later even being suppressed and supplanted by gods, priestesses often remained as the officiating participants, as recorded about ceremonies at ancient oracles in Classical Greece and even into Roman times at temples such those maintained by the Vestal Virgins. In some cultures, such as Mesopotamia and Babylonia, the priestesses began to wear false beards during the cultural transition to gods alone or metamorphose into figurative images such as trees, plants, flowers, or animals. Sometimes only their symbols remain as the labrys held by a celebrant or figure in an artifact. The retention of long skirts among many ranks of contemporary priests when they officiate may be interpreted to express the ancient traditions of the cultures from which their religious practices arose.

In most Christian traditions, priests wear clerical clothing, a distinctive form of street dress. Even within individual traditions it varies considerably in form, depending on the specific occasion. In Western Christianity, the stiff white clerical collar has become the nearly universal feature of priestly clerical clothing, worn either with a cassock or a clergy shirt. The collar may be either a full collar or a vestigial tab displayed through a square cutout in the shirt collar. Eastern Christian priests mostly retain the traditional dress of two layers of differently cut cassock: the rasson (Greek) or podriasnik (Russian) beneath the outer exorasson (Greek) or riasa (Russian). If a pectoral cross has been awarded it is usually worn with street clothes in the Russian tradition, but not so often in the Greek tradition.

Distinctive clerical clothing is less often worn in modern times than formerly, and in many cases it is rare for a priest to wear it when not acting in a pastoral capacity, especially in countries that view themselves as largely secular in nature. There are frequent exceptions to this however, and many priests rarely if ever go out in public without it, especially in countries where their religion makes up a clear majority of the population. Pope John Paul II often instructed Catholic priests and religious to always wear their distinctive (clerical) clothing, unless wearing it would result in persecution or grave verbal attacks.

Christian traditions that retain the title of priest also retain the tradition of special liturgical vestments worn only during services. Vestments vary widely among the different Christian traditions.

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Shamanism

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This article is about the practice of shamanism; for other uses, see Shaman (disambiguation).

Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. There are many variations in shamanism throughout the world, though there are some beliefs that are shared by all forms of shamanism:

• The spirits can play important roles in human lives.
• The shaman can control and/or cooperate with the spirits for the community's benefit.
• The spirits can be either good or bad.
• Shamans get into a trance by singing, dancing, taking entheogens, meditating and drumming.
• Animals play an important role, acting as omens and message-bearers, as well as representations of animal spirit guides.
• The shaman's spirit leaves the body and enters into the supernatural world during certain tasks.
• The shamans can treat illnesses or sickness.
• Shamans are healers, psychics, gurus and magicians.
• The most important object is the drum; it symbolizes many things to a shaman. Sometimes drums are decorated with rattles, bells or bones to represent different spirits and animals, depending on the region and the community.

Its practitioners claim the ability to diagnose and cure human suffering and, in some societies, the ability to cause suffering. This is believed to be accomplished by traversing the axis mundi and forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over, spirits. Shamans have been credited with the ability to control the weather, divination, the interpretation of dreams, astral projection, and traveling to upper and lower worlds. Shamanistic traditions have existed throughout the world since prehistoric times.

Some anthropologists and religious scholars define a shaman as an intermediary between the natural and spiritual world, who travels between worlds in a state of trance. Once in the spirit world, the shaman would commune with the spirits for assistance in healing, hunting or weather management. Ripinsky-Naxon describes shamans as, "People who have a strong interest in their surrounding environment and the society of which they are a part."

Other anthropologists critique the term "shamanism", arguing that it is a culturally specific word and institution and that by expanding it to fit any healer from any traditional society it produces a false unity between these cultures and creates a false idea of an initial human religion predating all others. However, others say that these anthropologists simply fail to recognize the commonalities between otherwise diverse traditional societies.

Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible forces or spirits that affect the lives of the living. In contrast to animism and animatism, which any and usually all members of a society practice, shamanism does not require specialized knowledge or abilities. It could be said that shamans are the experts employed by modern, animists or animist communities. Shamans are, however, often organized into full-time ritual or spiritual associations, as are priests, being the unordained priests of instinct.

Etymology

Shaman |'shäm?n; 'sha-| noun (pl. -mans) originally referred to the traditional healers of Turkic-Mongol areas such as Northern Asia (Siberia) and Mongolia, a "shaman" being the Turkic-Tungus word for such a practitioner and literally meaning "he (or she) who knows." The words in Turkic languages which refer to shamans are kam, and sometimes baksi.

The Tungusic word šamán is from Chinese sha men (Chinese: ??,??), "Buddhist monk," borrowed from Pali samana, ultimately from Sanskrit sramana "ascetic," from sramati "he fatigues" (see shramana). The word passed through Russian and German before it was adopted into English.

Another explanation analyzes this Tungusic word as containing root "sa-", this means "to know". "Shaman" is "one who knows": a person who is an expert in keeping together the multiple codes through which this complex belief system appears, and has a comprehensive view of them in their mind with certainty of knowledge.

Accordingly, the only proper plural form of the word is "shamans" and not "shamen", as it is unrelated to the English word "man". Similarly, the feminine form is not "shamaness" but "shamanka".

In its common usage, it has replaced the older English language term witch doctor, a term which unites the two stereotypical functions of the shaman: knowledge of magical and other lore, and the ability to cure a person and mend a situation. However, this term is generally considered to be pejorative and anthropologically inaccurate. Objections to the use of shaman as a generic term have been raised as well, by both academics and traditional healers themselves, given that the word comes from a specific place, people, and set of practices.

 Criticism of the term "Shaman"

Certain anthropologists, most notably Alice Kehoe in her book "Shamans and Religion: An Anthropological Exploration in Critical Thinking", are highly critical of the term. Part of this criticism involves the notion of cultural appropriation. This includes criticism of New Age and modern Western forms of Shamanism, which may not only misrepresent or 'dilute' genuine indigenous practices but do so in a way that, according to Kehoe, reinforces racist ideas such as the Noble Savage.

Kehoe is highly critical of Mircea Eliade's work. Eliade, being a historian rather than an anthropologist, had never done any field work or made any direct contact with 'shamans' or cultures practicing 'shamanism'. According to Kehoe, Eliade's 'shamanism' is an invention synthesized from various sources unsupported by more direct research. To Kehoe, what Eliade and other scholars of shamanism treat as being definitive of shamanism, most notably drumming, trance, chanting, entheogens and hallucinogenics, spirit communication and healing, are practices that

• exist outside of what is defined as shamanism and play similar roles even in non-shamanic cultures (such as the role of chanting in Judeo-Christian rituals)
• in their expression are unique to each culture that uses them and cannot be generalized easily, accurately or usefully into a global 'religion' such as shamanism.

Because of this, Kehoe is also highly critical of the notion that shamanism is an ancient, unchanged, and surviving religion from the Paleolithic period.

(see also Plastic shaman)

Hoppál also discusses whether the term "shamanism" is appropriate. He recommends using the term "shamanhood" for stressing the diversity and the specific features of the discussed cultures. This is a term used in old Russian and German ethnographic reports at the beginning of the 20^th century (p. 15, par. 3 of). He believes that this term is less general and places more stress on the local variations. Hoppál mentions similar thoughts on ISSR, 2001 Summer (abstract online in 2^nd half of 2^nd paragraph), where he also conjectures a contemporary paradigm shift.

See books and small online materials on this topic.

 Function

The shaman may fulfill multiple functions in the community, such as healing; leading a sacrifice; preserving the tradition by storytelling and songs, fortune-telling; acting as a psychopomp (literal meaning, "guide of souls"). As a psychopomp, the shaman may accompany the incarnating soul of a newborn baby, or inversely, the departing soul of the newly-dead. They may also serve the community by maintaining the tradition through memorizing long songs and tales.

 Mediator

Shamans act as "mediators" in their culture. The shaman is seen as communicating with the spirits on behalf of the community, including the spirits of the dead. In some cultures, this mediator function of the shaman may be illustrated well by some of the shaman's objects and symbols. E.g. among the Selkups, a report mentions a water fowl species as a spirit-animal: ducks are capable of both flying and diving underwater, thus they are regarded belonging to both the upper world and the world underneath. Somewhat similar remarks apply for the identification of the shaman and the jaguar in some Amazonian cultures: the jaguar is capable of both swimming in the water and climbing trees.

"The shaman's tree" is an image found in several cultures (Yakuts, Dolgans, Evenks) as a symbol for mediation. The tree is seen as a being whose roots belong to the world underneath; its trunk belongs to the middle, human-inhabited word; and its top is related to the upper world.

 Distinct types of shamans

In some cultures there may be additional types of shamans, who perform more specialized functions. For example, among the Nanai people, a distinct kind of shaman acts as a psychopomp. Other specialized shamans may be distinguished according to the type of spirits, or realms of the spirit world, with which the shaman most commonly interacts. These roles vary among the Nenets, Enets, and Selkup shamans (paper; online).

 Ecological aspect

In tropical rainforests, resources for human consumption are easily depletable. In some rainforest cultures, such as the Tucano, a sophisticated system exists for the management of resources, and for avoiding the depletion of these resources through overhunting. This system is conceptualized in a mythological context, involving symbolism and, in some cases, the belief that the breach of hunting restrictions may cause illness. As the primary teacher of tribal symbolism, the shaman may have a leading role in this ecological management, actively restricting hunting and fishing. Not only Tucanos, but also some other rainforest Indians have such ecological concerns related to their shamanism. Besides Tukanos, also many Eskimo groups think that the shaman is able to "release" game animals (or their souls) from their hidden abodes.

 Soul concept, spirits

The plethora of functions described in the above section may seem to be rather distinct tasks, but some important underlying concepts join them.

 Soul concept

In some cases, at some cultures, the soul concept can explain more, seemingly unassociated phenomena:

Healing

may be based closely on the soul concepts of the belief system of the people served by the shaman (online). It may consist of the retrieving the lost soul of the ill person. See also the soul dualism concept.

Scarcity of hunted game

can be solved by "releasing" the souls of the animals from their hidden abodes. Besides that, many taboos may prescribe the behavior of people towards game, so that the souls of the animals do not feel angry or hurt, or the pleased soul of the already killed prey can tell the other, still living animals, that they can let themselves to be caught and killed. The ecological aspect of shamanistic practice (and the related beliefs) has already been mentioned above in the article.

Infertility of women

can be cured by obtaining the soul of the expected child to be born.

 Spirits

The beliefs related to spirits can explain many phenomena too, for example, the importance of storytelling, or acting as a singer, can be understood better if we examine the whole belief system: a person who is able to memorize long texts or songs (and play an instrument) may be regarded as having achieved this ability through contact with the spirits.

Knowledge

The word "shaman" refers to "one who knows":a person who is an expert in keeping together the multiple codes through which this complex belief system appears, and has a comprehensive view on it in their mind with certainty of knowledge. The shaman uses (and the audience understands) multiple codes. Shamans express meanings in many ways: verbally, musically, artistically, and in dance. Meanings may be manifested in objects, such as amulets.

The shaman knows the culture of their community well, and acts accordingly. Thus, their audience knows the used symbols and meanings — that's why shamanism can be efficient: people in the audience trust it. Such belief system can appear to its members with certainty of knowledge — this explains the above described etymology for the word "shaman".

There are semiotic theoretical approaches to shamanism

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"

Juha Pentikäinen, in his introduction to Shamanism and Northern Ecology, explains how the Sámi drum embodies Sámi worldviews. He considers shamanism to be a 'grammar of mind' , because shamans need to be experts in the folklore of their cultures

"

.

Such approaches can be related also to hermeneutics ("ethnohermeneutics", online).

Other fieldworks use systems theory concepts and ecological considerations to understand the shaman's lore. Desana and Tucano Indians have developed a sophisticated symbolism and concepts of "energy" flowing between people and animals in cyclic paths. Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff relates these concepts to the changes how modern science (systems theory, ecology, some new approaches in anthropology and archeology) treats causality in a less linear way. He suggests also a cooperation of modern science and indigenous lore.

According to Vladimir Basilov and his work Chosen By the Spirits, a shaman is to be in the utmost healthy conditions to perform their duties to the fullest. The belief of the shaman is most popular through the people located in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The traditions of the shamanism is also imbedded in the Tadzhiks and Uzbeks regions. The shaman's bodies are to be formed in a strong manner, someone having a small build would be turned away at once. Age is a requirement as well, definitely being over the age of fifty would disqualify those that want to be involved in serving the spirits. The shamans are always of the higher intellect and are looked at in a different perspective, they have a way that makes them quick on their feet and at ill will curing those in need.

One of the most significant and relevant qualities that separate a shaman from other spiritual leaders is their communications with the supernatural world. As early as the beginning of the century self-hypnosis was very highly thought of by those who worship. Another characteristic of the shaman is the talent to locate objects and discover thieves, shocking those of their tribe and those others also around to witness. The belief in the spirits or the supernatural is what attracts those to believe in the shamans. Those who have ill children or are in failing health of their own is what draws them to the shaman spiritual healings. Although the shamans are still in existence, the population is surely declining.

Practice

Initiation and learning

In the world's shamanic cultures, the shaman plays a priest-like role; however, there is an essential difference between the two, as Joseph Campbell describes:

"The priest is the socially initiated, ceremonially inducted member of a recognized religious organization, where he holds a certain rank and functions as the tenant of an office that was held by others before him, while the shaman is one who, as a consequence of a personal psychological crisis, has gained a certain power of his own." (1969, p. 231)

A shaman may be initiated via a serious illness, by being struck by lightning and dreaming of thunder to become a Heyoka, or by a near-death experience (e.g., the shaman Black Elk), or one might follow a "calling" to become a shaman. There is usually a set of cultural imagery expected to be experienced during shamanic initiation regardless of the method of induction. According to Mircea Eliade, such imagery often includes being transported to the spirit world and interacting with beings inhabiting the distant world of spirits, meeting a spiritual guide, being devoured by some being and emerging transformed, and/or being "dismantled" and "reassembled" again, often with implanted amulets such as magical crystals. The imagery of initiation generally speaks of transformation and the granting powers to transcend death and rebirth.

In some societies shamanic powers are considered to be inherited, whereas in other places of the world shamans are considered to have been "called" and require lengthy training. Among the Siberian Chukchis one may behave in ways that "Western" bio-medical clinicians would perhaps characterize as psychotic, but which Siberian peoples may interpret as possession by a spirit who demands that one assume the shamanic vocation. Among the South American Tapirape shamans are called in their dreams. In other societies shamans choose their career. In North America, First Nations peoples would seek communion with spirits through a "vision quest"; whereas South American Shuar, seeking the power to defend their family against enemies, apprentice themselves to accomplished shamans. Similarly the Urarina of Peruvian Amazonia have an elaborate cosomoligcal system predicated on the ritual consumption of ayahuasca. Coupled with milleanrian impulses, Urarina ayahuasca shamanism is a key feature of this poorly documented society.

Putatively customary shamanic "traditions" can also be noted among indigenous Kuna peoples of Panama, who rely on shamanic powers and sacred talismans to heal. As such, they enjoy a popular position among local peoples.

Note: The Lakota-tradition (with the Heyoka and Black Elk above) are not really shamanic. There is a big difference between the Lakota-culture and shamanic-cultures. In shamanic-cultures there is the use of psycho-active substances (peyote, fly agaric, psylo, etc.) In the Lakota-culture pain is often used instead of psycho-active plants. While a siberian shaman would use fly agaric, a Lakota medicine-man would do a sundance. The Lakota-medicine-people have some bias against the use of psycho-active plants.

 

OKAY~I KEEP SEEIN' THIS FLOAT AROUND ON HERE A LOT LATELY....I POSTED THIS ABOUT 2YRS AGO WHEN I FORST GOT ON HERE AND NO ONE PAYED ATTENTION..OR SO IT SEEMED...NOW IT'S EVERYWHERE!!!

Just a biker?



This is so True!
In the end it is the Biker that makes the better citizen.

I was just a biker

I saw you hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line.

But, you didn't see me put an extra $10.00 in the collection plate last
Sunday.

I saw you pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk.

But, you didn't see me playing Santa at the local mall.

I saw you change your mind about going into the restaurant.

But, you didn't see me attending a meeting to raise more money for the
hurricane relief.

I saw you roll up your window and shake your head when I drove by.

But, you didn't see me driving behind you when you flicked your cigarette
butt out the car window.

I saw you frown at me when I smiled at your children.

But, you didn't see me when I took time off from work to run toys to the
homeless.

I saw you stare at my long hair.

But, you didn't see me and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.

I saw you roll your eyes at our leather coats and gloves.

But, you didn't see me and my brothers donate our old coats and gloves to
those that had none.

I saw you look in fright at my tattoos.

But, you didn't see me, cry as my children were born and have their name
written over and in my heart.

I saw you change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.

But, you didn't see me going home to be with my family.

I saw you complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.

But, you didn't see me when you were changing the CD and drifted into my
lane.

I saw you yelling at your kids in the car.

But, you didn't see me pat my child's hands, knowing he was safe behind me.

I saw you reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road.

But, you didn't see me squeeze my wife's leg

when she told me to take the next turn. I saw you race down the road in the
rain.

But, you didn't see me get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car
to go on his date.

I saw you run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.

But, you didn't see me trying to turn right.

I saw you cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in.

But, you didn't see me leave the road.

I saw you waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.

But, you didn't see me. I wasn't there.

I saw you go home to your family.

But, you didn't see me.

Because I died that day you cut me off.

I was just a biker and a person with friends and a family.

But, you didn't see me.

PLEASE REPOST THIS AND/OR PASS THIS ON FOR YOUR FRIENDS WHO RIDE AND ALSO FOR THOSE WHO FEEL THE SAME WAY AS THE ABOVE, ABOUT THE BIKER! ........ LETS HELP MAKE PEOPLE AWARE!

ALSO I MUST ADD THAT WHEN I WAS IN LOUISIANA THIS PAST WEEK I SAW A TON OF BILLBOARDS THAT PROMOTED BIKER AWARENESS!!! I LUVED SEEIN' THEM! I THINK MORE STATES SHOULD HAVE THEM! DOES YOUR STATE HAVE THEM? IF NOT THEN GET THEM UP!!!

MAKE CAGERS AWARE OF US!!!

THEY ARE THE ONES OUT TO GET US!

OKAY~I WROTE THIS POEM BACK IN '05..BUT I JUST FOUND IT...SO HOPE YA LIKE:

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

HEY LITTLE SUZY Q, COME WITH ME ON MY BIG JET-AIRLINER TO THE LOVELY PLACE OF KASHMIR. WE'LL TAKE A TRAIN WITH A POUND OF COCAIN & WE'LL GET NO SLEEP TILL BROOKYN WITH A LITTLE CHANGE IN OUR POCKETS.                              

WE CAN GO ON THE STRAY CAT STRUTT; MY FRIEND MISERY IS IN A THEATRE PLAY ABOUT A DOPE SHOW - IT'S ABOUT STEPPIN' INTO THE TWILIGHT ZONE, DIRTY LAUNDRY, THE HIGHWAY TO HELL, AND THE TOXICISITY OF THE GAME; AND OF COURSE HOW LOVE STINKS..."THE STORY OF MY LIFE, HOW 'BOUT YOU?"

WE COULD GO TO SEE THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL AT MUSTANG SALLY'S....TO WATCH THE MISSISSPPI QUEEN? YEAH, GYPSY, SHE'S BAD TO THE BONE LIKE A HONKEY TONK GIRL SHOULD BE! SHE'S THE GIRL IN A T-SHIRT THAT SUCH A FOXY LADY & HER STRUTT ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY WILL SHAKE YOU ALL NIGHT & PUT YOUR HEAD IN THE STATE OF MISSISSPPI SOMEWHERE!

IN SWEET HOME ALABAMA WE'LL GO ON THE HUNT FOR THE MAGIC MAN NEAR THE HOUSES OF THE HOLY. AS LONG AS WE STAY CLEAR OF THE LUMBER JACK , A REAL REDNECK PUNK AND WILD THING THAT'S NOTHIN BUT T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!

AND IN THE SUMMERTIME, VISIT THE SPACE COWBOY AT THE ROAD HOUSE BLUES, IT NEEDS A NEW COAT OF PAINT SINCE THE HANGMAN SHOT THAT WHITE RABBIT.....NOW THERE'S GREASE PAINT AND MONKEY-BRAINS UNDERNEATH FROM WHEN EL PHANTASMO AND HIS CHICKEN RUN BLAST-O-RAMA WHERE SCREAMIN', "GIMME BACK MY BULLETS!!" IN THE MIST OF ALL THE HELTER SKELTER.

WE COULD GO FOR A WALK IN THE FOREST AND MEET THE CREEPER; EAT SOME TV DINNERS, DRINK A SCOTCH, BOURBON AND A BEER; AND HE CAN SHOW US HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER, A NIGHT PROWLER OF SORTS WHO CAN BLUR THE TECHNICOLOR LIKE A ROLLIN' STONE JOKER WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS INTO THE OCEAN......

~GYPSY GUILLORY

Copyright ©2005 Gypsy Guillory

Okay, here's the plan....
Tonight we boogie with Stu, roastin' a hot-dawg! The star , Angel, is a centerfold, but don't forget she's a lady~chanting gypsy magicks of abracadabra and she'll still rock you at the Road House Blues Club in sweet home Alabama, as she strutts up the stairway to heaven in the houses of the holy.....
 
"C'mon; Eileen and Roxanne will put on the red light for a pick-up man who comes to bring them closer to god! Yes, my Sharona will praise you, in heaven, it's it's a family tradition for the trashy women to all get drunk and screw! The female of the species loves to love you! And they'll say, "Call me, Clint Eastwood, my #'s 867-5309, come with me to a free for all, and of course Sk8er Boi-OH yer so bad, when you stroke me....Fell like makin' love?
Hey ya; you bring the dawg out in me which is spooky since I'm hot for teacher....So many beautiful girls all dressed in pink! And Dolly Dagger awaits a rapture on a blue monday for the helter skelter to fade to black down that highway to hell eating grease paint and monkey brains to blur the technocolor no longer being the living dead girl drapped in the blood-milk'n sky. There's a whole lotta love for the black dawg in the zoo with such a tainted love...When the levy breaks to fall head fall head over foot no longer dazed and confused yet still won't back down from Godzilla on that stray cat strutt covered in blood and roses hangin' on the telephonesince another one bites the dust in the land of 1,000 drums; jump around and leave your hat on cuz you've been caught stealin' so come with me to the ring of fire and aquire the ball and chain to forever be in a strangelhold...
 
Do not place another brick in the wall, tear down the damn wall instead! Yer no good with that cocain rappers delight, but the fame of a super-freak is how you will remind me you're no good with those little white lines...fall under preasure with those skillz of 'Oh my head's in Mississippi and I'm not an addick."! Yet all the while still takin' more of those jagged lil pill's just to eventually surrender to the ocean during the rain song...
 
I hear ya knockin' but ya can't cum in-my TNT will bring you to your d'yer maker and the last thing you may see is ypour legs.
 
Like a rollin' stone I am the Bull-God who's got one for ya... I have my weapon of choice and a seven nation army with big balls marching over hills and far away to the brick house next to the red house over yonder....
So let's get it on like a rollin' stone!
 
OH yer so bad with that tainted love, so come jump around with the beautiful paople at the dope show!
 
~GypsyGuillory
 

Copyright ©2006 Gypsy Guillory

I WAS BORED BACK IN JANUARY ONE NIGHT....

WHEN I CAME UPON THIS GUESTBOOK THING.....

SO I SIGNED UP AND GOT ONE FER ALL MY FRIENDS TO SIGN:)

AND HERE RECENTLY IT HAS CLEANED ITSELF OUT OF POSTS:(

SO~GO CHECK IT OUT AND SIGN IT:)

THANK YOU:)(:

To visit my guestbook go to:
http://www.guestbookcentral.com/guestbook.cfm?guestbook=42448

Or my other one that I had forgot about:       

http://www.a-free-guestbook.com/guestbook.php?username=Gypsypink

YER FRIEND,
GYPSY*