1.
Bilocation (film)
–
Bilocation is a 2013 Japanese science fiction horror film directed by Mari Asato. The film made its North American premiere at LA Eigafest 2014, asami Mizukawa As of 22 January 2014, the film had grossed ¥16.5 million in Japan. It has grossed HK$533,000 in Hong Kong, official website Bairokêshon at the Internet Movie Database
2.
Parapsychology
–
It is identified as pseudoscience by the overwhelming majority of mainstream scientists. Parapsychology research is conducted by private institutions in several countries and funded through private donations. Most papers about parapsychology are published in a number of niche journals. Parapsychology has been criticised for continuing investigation despite being unable to provide convincing evidence for the existence of any psychic phenomena after more than a century of research and it has been noted that most academics do not take the claims of parapsychology seriously. Para is from Greek, and means beside, closely related to, the term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the psychical research in order to indicate a significant shift toward experimental methodology. The term originates from the Greek, παρά para meaning alongside, in parapsychology, psi is the unknown factor in extrasensory perception and psychokinesis experiences that is not explained by known physical or biological mechanisms. The term is derived from the Greek ψ psi, 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet, the term was coined by biologist Berthold P. Wiesner, and first used by psychologist Robert Thouless in a 1942 article published in the British Journal of Psychology. The Parapsychological Association divides psi into two categories, psi-gamma for extrasensory perception and psi-kappa for psychokinesis. In popular culture, psi has become more and more synonymous with special psychic, mental, in 1853, the chemist Robert Hare conducted experiments with mediums and reported positive results. Other researchers such as Frank Podmore highlighted flaws in his experiments, agenor de Gasparin conducted early experiments into table-tipping. Over a period of five months in 1853 he declared the experiments a success being the result of an ectenic force, critics noted that the conditions were insufficient to prevent trickery. For example the knees of the sitters may have been employed to move the table and no experimenter was watching above, the German astrophysicist Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner tested the medium Henry Slade in 1877. According to Zöllner some of the experiments were a success, however, flaws in the experiments were discovered and critics have suggested that Slade was a fraud who performed trickery in the experiments. The Society for Psychical Research was founded in London in 1882 and its formation was the first systematic effort to organize scientists and scholars to investigate paranormal phenomena. Early membership included philosophers, scholars, scientists, educators and politicians, such as Henry Sidgwick, Arthur Balfour, William Crookes, Rufus Osgood Mason and Nobel Laureate Charles Richet. Presidents of the Society included, in addition to Richet, Eleanor Sidgwick and William James, and subsequently Nobel Laureates Henri Bergson and Lord Rayleigh, and philosopher C. D. Broad. Areas of study included telepathy, hypnotism, Reichenbachs phenomena, apparitions, hauntings, in the 1880s the Society investigated apparitional experiences and hallucinations in the sane
3.
Miracle
–
A miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws. Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being, magic, a miracle worker, other such miracles might be, survival of an illness diagnosed as terminal, escaping a life-threatening situation or beating the odds. Some coincidences may be seen as miracles, a true miracle would, by definition, be a non-natural phenomenon, leading many rational and scientific thinkers to dismiss them as physically impossible or impossible to confirm by their nature. The former position is expressed for instance by Thomas Jefferson and the latter by David Hume, theologians typically say that, with divine providence, God regularly works through nature yet, as a creator, is free to work without, above, or against it as well. The possibility and probability of miracles are then equal to the possibility and probability of the existence of God, a miracle is a phenomenon not explained by known laws of nature. Criteria for classifying an event as a miracle vary, often a religious text, such as the Bible or Quran, states that a miracle occurred, and believers may accept this as a fact. British mathematician J. E. Littlewood suggested that individuals should statistically expect one-in-a-million events to happen to them at the rate of one per month. By Littlewoods definition, seemingly miraculous events are actually commonplace, the Aristotelian view of God does not include direct intervention in the order of the natural world. Jewish neo-Aristotelian philosophers, who are influential today, include Maimonides, Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon. Directly or indirectly, their views are still prevalent in much of the religious Jewish community, in his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus Spinoza claims that miracles are merely lawlike events whose causes we are ignorant of. We should not treat them as having no cause or of having a cause immediately available, rather the miracle is for combating the ignorance it entails, like a political project. According to the philosopher David Hume, a miracle is a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity, or by the interposition of some invisible agent. According to the Christian theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher every event, even the most natural and usual, james Keller states that The claim that God has worked a miracle implies that God has singled out certain persons for some benefit which many others do not receive implies that God is unfair. If God intervenes to save life in a car crash. Thus an all-powerful, all-knowing and just God, as predicated in Christianity, the Haedong Kosung-jon of Korea records that King Beopheung of Silla had desired to promulgate Buddhism as the state religion. However, officials in his court opposed him, in the fourteenth year of his reign, Beopheungs Grand Secretary, Ichadon, devised a strategy to overcome court opposition. Ichadon schemed with the king, convincing him to make a proclamation granting Buddhism official state sanction using the royal seal, Ichadon told the king to deny having made such a proclamation when the opposing officials received it and demanded an explanation. Instead, Ichadon would confess and accept the punishment of execution, Ichadon prophesied to the king that at his execution a wonderful miracle would convince the opposing court faction of Buddhisms power
4.
Greek philosophy
–
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC and continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Ancient Greece was part of the Roman Empire. Philosophy was used to sense out of the world in a non-religious way. It dealt with a variety of subjects, including political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, ontology, logic, biology, rhetoric. Many philosophers around the world agree that Greek philosophy has influenced much of Western culture since its inception, alfred North Whitehead once noted, The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. Clear, unbroken lines of lead from ancient Greek and Hellenistic philosophers to Early Islamic philosophy, the European Renaissance. Some claim that Greek philosophy, in turn, was influenced by the wisdom literature. But they taught themselves to reason, Philosophy as we understand it is a Greek creation. Subsequent philosophic tradition was so influenced by Socrates as presented by Plato that it is conventional to refer to philosophy developed prior to Socrates as pre-Socratic philosophy. The periods following this, up to and after the wars of Alexander the Great, are those of classical Greek, the pre-Socratics were primarily concerned with cosmology, ontology and mathematics. They were distinguished from non-philosophers insofar as they rejected mythological explanations in favor of reasoned discourse, Thales of Miletus, regarded by Aristotle as the first philosopher, held that all things arise from water. It is not because he gave a cosmogony that John Burnet calls him the first man of science, according to tradition, Thales was able to predict an eclipse and taught the Egyptians how to measure the height of the pyramids. He began from the observation that the world seems to consist of opposites, therefore, they cannot truly be opposites but rather must both be manifestations of some underlying unity that is neither. This underlying unity could not be any of the classical elements, for example, water is wet, the opposite of dry, while fire is dry, the opposite of wet. Anaximenes in turn held that the arche was air, although John Burnet argues that by this he meant that it was a transparent mist, the aether. Xenophanes was born in Ionia, where the Milesian school was at its most powerful, Burnet says that Xenophanes was not, however, a scientific man, with many of his naturalistic explanations having no further support than that they render the Homeric gods superfluous or foolish. He has been claimed as an influence on Eleatic philosophy, although that is disputed, and a precursor to Epicurus, a representative of a total break between science and religion. Pythagoras lived at roughly the time that Xenophanes did and, in contrast to the latter. Parmenides of Elea cast his philosophy against those who held it is and is not the same, and all travel in opposite directions, —presumably referring to Heraclitus
5.
Occult
–
The occult is knowledge of the hidden. In common English usage, occult refers to knowledge of the paranormal, as opposed to knowledge of the measurable, the terms esoteric and arcane can also be used to describe the occult, in addition to their meanings unrelated to the supernatural. Occultism is the study of practices, including magic, alchemy, extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, religion. Alchemy was common among important seventeenth-century scientists, such as Isaac Newton, Newton was even accused of introducing occult agencies into natural science when he postulated gravity as a force capable of acting over vast distances. By the eighteenth century these unorthodox religious and philosophical concerns were well-defined as occult, inasmuch as they lay on the outermost fringe of accepted forms of knowledge and they were, however, preserved by antiquarians and mystics. Occult science is the research into or formulation of occult concepts in a manner that resembles the way natural science researches or describes phenomena. In his 1871 book Primitive Culture, the anthropologist Edward Tylor used the term occult science as a synonym for magic, Occult qualities are properties that have no known rational explanation, in the Middle Ages, for example, magnetism was considered an occult quality. Newtons contemporaries severely criticized his theory that gravity was effected through action at a distance, some religions and sects enthusiastically embrace occultism as an integral esoteric aspect of mystical religious experience. This attitude is common within Wicca and many other modern pagan religions, some other religious denominations disapprove of occultism in most or all forms. They may view the occult as being anything supernatural or paranormal which is not achieved by or through God, monistic in contrast to Christian dualistic beliefs of a separation between body and spirit, Gnostic i. e. Walker, Benjamin. Encyclopedia of the Occult, the Esoteric and the Supernatural, harold W. Percival, Joined the Theosophical Society in 1892. Blavatsky, Occultism versus the Occult Arts, Lucifer, May 1888 Bardon, true to His Ways, Purity & Safety in Christian Spiritual Practice, ISBN 1-932124-61-6. ISBN 1-57863-150-5 Forshaw, Peter, The Occult Middle Ages, in Christopher Partridge, The Occult World, London, Routledge,2014 Gettings, Fred, Vision of the Occult, ISBN 0-7126-1438-9 Kontou, Tatiana – Willburn, Sarah. The Ashgate Research Companion to Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism and the Occult, ISBN 978-0-7546-6912-8 Martin, W. Rische, J. Rische, K. & VanGordon, K. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.201 p. N. B, the scope of this study also embraces the occult. ISBN 0-8028-0262-1 Partridge, Christopher, The Occult World, London, the Tree of Life, An Illustrated Study in Magic. Newton, Isaac, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John by Sir Isaac Newton Rogers, L. W. Hints to Young Students of Occultism. Albany, NY, The Theosophical Book Company, joseph H. Peterson, Twilit Grotto, Archives of Western Esoterica Occult Science and Philosophy of the Renaissance
6.
Magic (paranormal)
–
Magic or sorcery is the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of exploiting supernatural forces. The term magic has a variety of meanings, and there is no agreed upon definition of what it is or how it can be used. Religious scholars have defined magic in many different ways, one approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer, has magic and science be opposites. Many scholars of religion have rejected the utility of the term magic, the term magic comes from the Old Persian magu, a word that applied to a form of religious functionary about which little is known. This meaning of the term was adopted by Latin in the first century BCE. The concept was incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. This concept was pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, although in the modern period Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to establish the idea of natural magic. Both negative and positive understandings of the term were retained in Western culture over the following centuries, throughout Western history, there have been examples of individuals claiming to be practitioners of magic and referring to themselves as magicians. This trend has proliferated in the period, with a growing number of magicians appearing within the esoteric milieu. Scholars of religion have failed to agree on a definition of magic is. The subject has one of intense dispute, with some scholars criticizing the validity of the term in the first place. Even among those throughout history who have described themselves as magicians, there has been some debate among scholars as to whether to use the term magic at all. The scholar of religion Jonathan Z. Smith for example argued that it had no utility as a term that scholars should use. Religious historian Wouter Hanegraaff agreed, stating that the magic is an important object of historical research. Since the 1990s its usage among scholars has declined, within Western culture, magic has been linked to the idea of the Other. Using the term magic when discussing non-Western cultures or pre-modern forms of Western society raises problems, alternately, this term implies that all categories of magic are ethnocentric and that such Western preconceptions are an unavoidable component of scholarly research. Magic is one of the most heavily theorized concepts in the study of religion, the intellectualist approach to defining magic is associated with two prominent British anthropologists, Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer. This was an approach that viewed magic as being the theoretical opposite of science, in his 1871 book Primitive Culture, Tylor characterized magic as beliefs based on the error of mistaking ideal analogy for real analogy
7.
Shamanism
–
The word shaman probably originates from the Tungusic Evenki language of North Asia. The term was introduced to the west after Russian forces conquered the shamanistic Khanate of Kazan in 1552, Mircea Eliade writes, A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be, shamanism = technique of religious ecstasy. Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul, alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community, Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment, hundreds of books and academic papers on the subject have been produced, with a peer-reviewed academic journal being devoted to the study of shamanism. The word shaman probably originates from the Evenki word šamán, most likely from the dialect spoken by the Sym Evenki peoples. The Tungusic term was adopted by Russians interacting with the indigenous peoples in Siberia. It is found in the memoirs of the exiled Russian churchman Avvakum, adam Brand, a merchant from Lübeck, published in 1698 his account of a Russian embassy to China, a translation of his book, published the same year, introduced the word shaman to English speakers. The etymology of the Evenki word is sometimes connected to a Tungus root ša- to know, other scholars assert that the word comes directly from the Manchu language, and as such would be the only commonly used English word that is a loan from this language. This proposal has been thoroughly critiqued since 1917, ethnolinguist Juha Janhunen regards it as an anachronism and an impossibility that is nothing more than a far-fetched etymology. Ethnolinguists did not develop as a discipline nor achieve contact with these communities until the late 19th century, there is no single agreed-upon definition for the word shamanism among anthropologists. The English historian Ronald Hutton noted that by the dawn of the 21st century, the first of these uses the term to refer to anybody who contacts a spirit world while in an altered state of consciousness. The second definition limits the term to refer to those who contact a spirit world while in a state of consciousness at the behest of others. Problematically, scholars advocating the third view have failed to agree on what the defining technique should be, the fourth definition identified by Hutton uses shamanism to refer to the indigenous religions of Siberia and neighboring parts of Asia. According to the Golomt Center for Shamanic Studies, a Mongolian organisation of shamans, Shamans are normally called by dreams or signs which require lengthy training. However, shamanic powers may be inherited, turner and colleagues mention a phenomenon called shamanistic initiatory crisis, a rite of passage for shamans-to-be, commonly involving physical illness and/or psychological crisis
8.
Paganism
–
Paganism is a term that derives from Latin word pagan, which means nonparticipant, one excluded from a more distinguished, professional group. The term was used in the 4th century, by early Christian community, the term competed with polytheism already in use in Judaism, by Philo in the 1st century. Pagans and paganism was a pejorative for the same polytheistic group, Paganism has broadly connoted religion of the peasantry, and for much of its history a derogatory term. Alternate terms in Christian texts for the group was hellene. In and after the Middle Ages, paganism was a pejorative that was applied to any non-Abrahamic or unfamiliar religion, there has been much scholarly debate as to the origin of the term paganism, especially since no one before the 20th century self-identified as a pagan. In the 19th century, paganism was re-adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. Forms of these religions, influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, exist today and are known as contemporary or modern paganism, while most pagan religions express a worldview that is pantheistic, polytheistic, or animistic, there are some monotheistic pagans. It is crucial to stress right from the start that until the 20th century people did not call themselves pagans to describe the religion they practised, the notion of paganism, as it is generally understood today, was created by the early Christian Church. It was a label that Christians applied to others, one of the antitheses that were central to the process of Christian self-definition, as such, throughout history it was generally used in a derogatory sense. The term pagan is from Late Latin paganus, revived during the Renaissance and it is related to pangere and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European *pag-. The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church, elsewhere, Hellene or gentile remained the word for pagan, and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace. However, this idea has multiple problems, first, the words usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centered on cities, the concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity. Third, unlike words such as rusticitas, paganus had not yet acquired the meanings used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans. Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon, Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as Milites Christi. As early as the 5th century, paganos was metaphorically used to persons outside the bounds of the Christian community. In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos, in it, he contrasted the fallen city of Man to the city of God of which all Christians were ultimately citizens. Hence, the invaders were not of the city or rural
9.
Folklore
–
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. These include oral traditions such as tales, proverbs and jokes and they include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles to handmade toys common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, the forms and rituals of celebrations like Christmas and weddings, folk dances, each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next, for folklore is not taught in a formal school curriculum or studied in the fine arts. Instead these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstration, the academic study of folklore is called folkloristics. To fully understand folklore, it is helpful to clarify its component parts and it is well-documented that the term was coined in 1846 by the Englishman William Thoms. He fabricated it to replace the contemporary terminology of popular antiquities or popular literature, the second half of the compound word, lore, proves easier to define as its meaning has stayed relatively stable over the last two centuries. Coming from Old English lār instruction, and with German and Dutch cognates, it is the knowledge and traditions of a particular group, the concept of folk proves somewhat more elusive. When Thoms first created this term, folk applied only to rural, frequently poor, a more modern definition of folk is a social group which includes two or more persons with common traits, who express their shared identity through distinctive traditions. Folk is a concept which can refer to a nation as in American folklore or to a single family. This expanded social definition of folk supports a view of the material, i. e. the lore. These now include all things people make with words, things they make with their hands, Folklore is no longer circumscribed as being chronologically old or obsolete. The folklorist studies the traditional artifacts of a group and how they are transmitted. Transmission is a part of the folklore process. Without communicating these beliefs and customs within the group over space and time, for folklore is also a verb. These folk artifacts continue to be passed along informally, as a rule anonymously, the folk group is not individualistic, it is community-based and nurtures its lore in community. As new groups emerge, new folklore is created… surfers, motorcyclists, in direct contrast to high culture, where any single work of a named artist is protected by copyright law, folklore is a function of shared identity within the social group. Having identified folk artifacts, the professional folklorist strives to understand the significance of these beliefs, customs, for these cultural units would not be passed along unless they had some continued relevance within the group
10.
Paranormal
–
A paranormal phenomenon is different from hypothetical concepts such as dark matter and dark energy. Unlike paranormal phenomena, these concepts are based on empirical observations. The most notable paranormal beliefs include those that pertain to ghosts, extraterrestrial life, unidentified flying objects, psychic abilities or extrasensory perception, the term paranormal has existed in the English language since at least 1920. The word consists of two parts, para and normal, the definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is normal and anything that is above, beyond, or contrary to that is para. On the classification of paranormal subjects, Terence Hines in his book Pseudoscience, what sets the paranormal apart from other pseudosciences is a reliance on explanations for alleged phenomena that are well outside the bounds of established science. Thus, paranormal phenomena include extrasensory perception, telekinesis, ghosts, poltergeists, life after death, reincarnation, faith healing, human auras, the explanations for these allied phenomena are phrased in vague terms of psychic forces, human energy fields, and so on. This is in contrast to many pseudoscientific explanations for other nonparanormal phenomena, in traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is a manifestation of the spirit or soul of a person. Alternative theories expand on that idea and include belief in the ghosts of deceased animals, sometimes the term ghost is used synonymously with any spirit or demon, however in popular usage the term typically refers to a deceased persons spirit. The belief in ghosts as souls of the departed is closely tied to the concept of animism, as the 19th-century anthropologist George Frazer explained in his classic work, The Golden Bough, souls were seen as the creature within that animated the body. Although the evidence for ghosts is largely anecdotal, the belief in ghosts throughout history has remained widespread, the possibility of extraterrestrial life is not, by itself, a paranormal subject. Many scientists are engaged in the search for unicellular life within the solar system, carrying out studies on the surface of Mars. Projects such as SETI are conducting a search for radio activity that would show evidence of intelligent life outside the solar system. Scientific theories of how life developed on Earth allow for the possibility that life developed on other planets as well, the paranormal aspect of extraterrestrial life centers largely around the belief in unidentified flying objects and the phenomena said to be associated with them. Early in the history of UFO culture, believers divided themselves into two camps, the first held a rather conservative view of the phenomena, interpreting them as unexplained occurrences that merited serious study. They began calling themselves ufologists in the 1950s and felt that logical analysis of sighting reports would validate the notion of extraterrestrial visitation, the second camp consisted of individuals who coupled ideas of extraterrestrial visitation with beliefs from existing quasi-religious movements. These individuals typically were enthusiasts of occultism and the paranormal, many had backgrounds as active Theosophists, Spiritualists, or were followers of other esoteric doctrines. In contemporary times, many of these beliefs have coalesced into New Age spiritual movements, both secular and spiritual believers describe UFOs as having abilities beyond what are considered possible according to known aerodynamic constraints and physical laws. The transitory events surrounding many UFO sightings also limits the opportunity for repeat testing required by the scientific method, acceptance of UFO theories by the larger scientific community is further hindered by the many possible hoaxes associated with UFO culture
11.
Hinduism
–
Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period, although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti and these texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, karma, samsara, and the various Yogas. Hindu practices include such as puja and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals. Some Hindus leave their world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion, with over one billion followers or 15% of the global population, known as Hindus. The majority of Hindus reside in India, Nepal, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term, the Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as an alternative name of India. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism, then spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th-century to denote the religious, philosophical, because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion defies our desire to define and categorize it, Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and a way of life. From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion, in India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term religion. Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma, the study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of Hinduism, has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents
12.
Siddhis
–
Siddhis are spiritual, paranormal, supernatural, or otherwise magical powers, abilities, and attainments that are the products of spiritual advancement through sādhanās such as meditation and yoga. The term ṛddhi is often used interchangeably in Buddhism, siddhi is a Tamil noun which can be translated as perfection, accomplishment, attainment, or success. In Tamil the word Siddhar/Chitthar refers to someone who has attained the Siddhic powers & knowledge, chitta is pure consciousness/knowledge in Sanskrit also. The individual must master kasina meditation before this is possible, dipa Ma, who trained via the Visuddhimagga, was said to demonstrate these abilities. In the Panchatantra, a siddhi may be the term for any skill or faculty or capability. The aim of Samkhya is to all kinds of physical and mental pains. In Patañjalis Yoga Sutras IV.1 it is stated, Janma auṣadhi mantra tapaḥ samādhijāḥ siddhayaḥ, Accomplishments may be attained through birth, in Hinduism, both Ganesha and Hanuman possess the eight siddhis and can give one access to them. Eight Siddhis is used for insight of the eight qualities of Nirankar or a. k. a, akal Purakh mentioned in the Mul Mantar in the Guru Granth Sahib. God has eight qualities, Oankar, Satnam, Kartapurakh, Nirbhao, Nirvair, AkaalMurat, Ajooni, the one who has insight of these qualities is called Sidh or Gurmukhi. In Tantric Buddhism, siddhi specifically refers to the acquisition of powers by psychic or magical means or the supposed faculty so acquired. These powers include items such as clairvoyance, levitation, bilocation, becoming as small as an atom, materialization, the term is also used in this sense in the Sarva-darśana-saṃgraha of Madhvacharya
13.
Spiritualism
–
Spiritualism is the belief that the spirits of the dead have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living. The afterlife, or the world, is seen by spiritualists, not as a static place. Some spiritualists will speak of a concept which they refer to as spirit guides—specific spirits, often contacted, Spiritism, a branch of spiritualism developed by Allan Kardec and today practiced mostly in Continental Europe and Latin America, especially in Brazil, emphasizes reincarnation. Spiritualism developed and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, by 1897, spiritualism was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes. Many prominent spiritualists were women, and like most spiritualists, supported such as the abolition of slavery. By the late 1880s the credibility of the movement had weakened due to accusations of fraud perpetrated by mediums. Spiritualism is currently practiced primarily through various denominational spiritualist churches in the United States, Canada and they believe that spirit mediums are gifted to carry on such communication, but that anyone may become a medium through study and practice. They believe that spirits are capable of growth and perfection, progressing through higher spheres or planes, and that the afterlife is not a static state, many believers therefore speak of spirit guides—specific spirits, often contacted, and relied upon for worldly and spiritual guidance. According to spiritualists, anyone may receive messages, but formal communication sessions are held by mediums. Nevertheless, on significant points Christian Protestantism and spiritualism are different and this view is self-evidently incompatible with spiritualism, where the merely spiritual existence is superior to the embodied one. There are quite a number of spiritualist churches which are explicitly Christian in theology, forms of worship and praise, judaism It is held by some adherents of the Jewish religion that spiritualism is strictly forbidden by the Bible. Islam Within Islam, only rarely do some traditions - notably Sufism, despite this, the majority of the followers of Islam believe in the existence of spirits as a fundamental aspect of their religion. However, these spirits are not those of humans but of a third sapient creation said to be made by God called the jinn. Jinn are spirits made from fire, in a realm not visible to the eyes of people. A famous jinn in the Muslim tradition is Satan, as opposed to the Christian belief that he is a fallen angel, communication with these spirits, whether the spirit is good or evil in nature, is generally not encouraged in Islam. Additionally, the concept of Tawassul recognises the existence of spirits on a higher plane of existence closer to God. Spiritism Spiritism, the branch of spiritualism developed by Allan Kardec, Occultism Spiritualism also differs from occult movements, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn or the contemporary wiccan covens, in that spirits are not contacted to obtain magical powers. Eliphas Lévi, who is regarded as the founder of occultism, strongly rejected Spiritism, later on, Madame Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society, only practiced mediumship to contact powerful spirits capable of conferring esoteric knowledge
14.
New Age
–
The New Age is a term applied to a range of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices that developed in Western nations during the 1970s. Precise scholarly definitions of the New Age differ in their emphasis, although analytically often considered to be religious, those involved in it typically prefer the designation of spiritual and rarely use the term New Age themselves. Many scholars of the subject refer to it as the New Age movement, although others contest this term, such prominent occult influences include the work of Emanuel Swedenborg and Franz Mesmer, as well as the ideas of Spiritualism, New Thought, and Theosophy. Although the exact origins of the phenomenon remain contested, it is agreed that it developed in the 1970s and it expanded and grew largely in the 1980s and 1990s, in particular within the United States. By the start of the 21st century, the term New Age was increasingly rejected within this milieu, despite its highly eclectic nature, a number of beliefs commonly found within the New Age have been identified. Theologically, the New Age typically adopts a belief in a form of divinity which imbues all of the universe. There is thus a strong emphasis on the authority of the self. This is accompanied by a belief in a wide variety of semi-divine non-human entities, such as angels and masters, with whom humans can communicate. There is also a focus on healing, particularly using forms of alternative medicine. Those involved in the New Age have been primarily from middle, the New Age has generated criticism from established Christian organisations as well as modern Pagan and indigenous communities. From the 1990s onward, the New Age became the subject of research by scholars of religious studies. The New Age phenomenon has proved difficult to define, with much scholarly disagreement as to its scope, the scholars Steven J. Sutcliffe and Ingvild Sælid Gilhus have even suggested that it remains among the most disputed of categories in the study of religion. According to Hammer, this New Age was a fluid and fuzzy cultic milieu and he thus argued against the idea that the New Age could be considered a unified ideology or Weltanschauung, although he believed that it could be considered a more of less unified movement. Conversely, various scholars have suggested that the New Age is insufficiently homogenous to be regarded as a singular movement. There is no authority within the New Age phenomenon that can determine what counts as New Age. Many of those groups and individuals who could analytically be categorised as part of the New Age reject the term New Age in reference to themselves, some even express active hostility to the term. Rather than terming themselves New Agers, those involved in this milieu commonly describe themselves as spiritual seekers, other figures have argued that the sheer diversity of the New Age renders it too problematic for such use. In discussing the New Age, academics have varyingly referred to New Age spirituality and those involved in the New Age rarely consider it to be religion—negatively associating that term solely with organized religion—and instead describe their practices as spirituality
15.
Mysticism
–
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, the term mysticism has Ancient Greek origins with various historically determined meanings. Derived from the Greek word μυω, meaning to conceal, mysticism referred to the liturgical, spiritual. During the early period, the definition of mysticism grew to include a broad range of beliefs. In modern times, mysticism has acquired a limited definition, with applications, as meaning the aim at the union with the Absolute. This limited definition has been applied to a range of religious traditions and practices. Since the 1960s scholars have debated the merits of perennial and constructionist approaches in the research of mystical experiences. The perennial position is now largely dismissed by scholars, most scholars using a contextual approach, Mysticism is derived from the Greek μυω, meaning I conceal, and its derivative μυστικός, mystikos, meaning an initiate. The verb μυώ has received a different meaning in the Greek language. The primary meanings it has are induct and initiate, secondary meanings include introduce, make someone aware of something, train, familiarize, give first experience of something. The related form of the verb appears in the New Testament. As explained in Strongs Concordance, it properly means shutting the eyes and its figurative meaning is to be initiated into the mystery revelation. The meaning derives from the rites of the pagan mysteries. Also appearing in the New Testament is the related noun μυστήριον, the term means anything hidden, a mystery or secret, of which initiation is necessary. According to Thayers Greek Lexicon, the term μυστήριον in classical Greek meant a hidden thing, a particular meaning it took in Classical antiquity was a religious secret or religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to be communicated by them to ordinary mortals. In the Septuagint and the New Testament the meaning it took was that of a purpose or counsel. It is sometimes used for the hidden wills of humans, but is often used for the hidden will of God. Elsewhere in the Bible it takes the meaning of the mystic or hidden sense of things and it is used for the secrets behind sayings, names, or behind images seen in visions and dreams
16.
Christian mysticism
–
Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often connected to mystical theology, especially in the Roman Catholic. The attributes and means by which Christian mysticism is studied and practiced are varied and they range from ecstatic visions of the souls mystical union with God to simple prayerful contemplation of Holy Scripture. Mysticism is derived from the Greek μυω, meaning to conceal, in the Hellenistic world, a mystikos was an initiate of a mystery religion. Mystical referred to religious rituals and use of the word lacked any direct references to the transcendental. In early Christianity the term referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative. The biblical dimension refers to hidden or allegorical interpretations of Scriptures, the liturgical dimension refers to the liturgical mystery of the Eucharist, the presence of Christ at the Eucharist. The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God, William James popularized the use of the term religious experience in his 1902 book The Varieties of Religious Experience. It has also influenced the understanding of mysticism as an experience which supplies knowledge. Wayne Proudfoot traces the roots of the notion of religious experience further back to the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher, the notion of religious experience was used by Schleiermacher to defend religion against the growing scientific and secular critique. It was adopted by scholars of religion, of which William James was the most influential. Other critics point out that the stress on experience is accompanied by favoring the atomic individual, transformation has particular importance in the theology of Origen. Mystical experience is not simply a matter between the mystic and God, but is shaped by cultural issues. Thus, the nature of experience could be tailored to the particular cultural and theological issues of the time. The link between mysticism and the vision of the Divine was introduced by the early Church Fathers, who used the term as an adjective, as in mystical theology, in Christian mysticism, Shekhinah became mystery, Daat became gnosis, and poverty became an important component of monasticism. The Alexandrian contribution to Christian mysticism centers on Origen and Clement of Alexandria, given the importance of reason, Clement stresses apatheia as a reasonable ordering of our passions in order to live within Gods love, which is seen as a form of truth. Alexandrian mysticism developed alongside Hermeticism and Neoplatonism and therefore some of the same ideas, images. In particular, Philo taught that allegorical interpretations of the Hebrew Scriptures provides access to the meanings of the texts
17.
Jewish mysticism
–
Academic study of Jewish mysticism, especially since Gershom Scholems Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, distinguishes between different forms of mysticism across different eras of Jewish history. Of these, Kabbalah, which emerged in 12th-century Europe, is the most well known, among previous forms were Merkabah mysticism, and Chassidei Ashkenaz around the time of Kabbalistic emergence. This issue is crystallised until today by alternative views on the origin of the Zohar, traditional Kabbalists regard it as originating in Tannaic times, redacting the Oral Torah, so do not make a sharp distinction between Kabbalah and early Rabbinic Jewish mysticism. Academic scholars regard it as a synthesis from Medieval times, but assimilating and incorporating into itself earlier forms of Jewish mystical tradition, after Luria, two new mystical forms popularised Kabbalah in Judaism, antinomian-heretical Sabbatean movements, and Hasidic Judaism. As separate traditions of development outside Judaism, drawing from, syncretically adapting, the Kabbalistic form of Jewish mysticism itself divides into three general streams, the Theosophical/Speculative Kabbalah, the Meditative/Ecstatic Kabbalah, and the Practical/Magical Kabbalah. As in Kabbalah, the text can contain aspects of all three approaches, though the three streams often distill into three separate literatures under the influence of particular exponents or eras. Within Kabbalah, the tradition is distinguished from many forms of mysticism in other religions by its doctrinal form as a mystical philosophy of Gnosis esoteric knowledge. Instead, the tradition of Meditative Kabbalah has similarity of aim, if not form, with traditions of general mysticism. The tradition of theurgic Practical Kabbalah in Judaism, censored and restricted by mainstream Jewish Kabbalists, has similarities with non-Jewish Hermetic Qabalah magical Western Esotericism
18.
Alphonsus Liguori
–
Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, C. Ss. R. was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, in 1762 he was appointed Bishop of SantAgata dei Goti. A prolific writer, he published nine editions of his Moral Theology in his lifetime, in addition to devotional and ascetic works. Among his best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross and he was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. One of the most widely read Catholic authors, Alphonsus Liguori is the saint of confessors. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori was born in Marianella, near Naples and he was the eldest of eight children of Giuseppe and Anna Cavalieri Liguori. Two days after he was born he was baptized at the Church of Our Lady the Virgin as Alphonsus Mary Anthony John Cosmas Damian Michael Gaspard de Liguori, the family was of noble and ancient lineage, though the branch to which the Saint belonged had become somewhat impoverished. Alphonsuss father, Don Joseph de Liguori was a naval officer and his mother was of Spanish descent. Liguori learned to ride and fence, but was never a good shot due to poor eyesight, myopia and chronic asthma precluded a military career, so his father had him educated for the legal profession. He was taught by tutors before entering the University of Naples and he remarked later that he was so small at the time as to be almost buried in his doctors gown and that all the spectators laughed. When he was 18, like many nobles, he joined the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy with whom he assisted in the care of the sick at the hospital for incurables. He was thinking of leaving the profession, and wrote to someone, My friend, our profession is too full of difficulties and dangers, we lead an unhappy life and run risk of dying an unhappy death. At the age of twenty-seven, after having lost an important case—the first he had lost in eight years of practicing law—he made a resolution to leave the profession of law. Moreover, he heard a voice, saying, Leave the world. In 1723, he decided to offer himself as a novice to the Oratory of St. Philip Neri with the intention of becoming a priest. His father opposed this plan, but after two months, he and his father compromised, he would study for the priesthood, but not as an Oratorian and he was ordained on 21 December 1726, at the age of 30. He lived his first years as a priest with the homeless and he became very popular because of his plain and simple preaching. He said, I have never preached a sermon which the poorest old woman in the congregation could not understand and he founded the Evening Chapels which were managed by the young people themselves
19.
Pope Clement XIV
–
Pope Clement XIV, born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was Pope from 19 May 1769 to his death in 1774. At the time of his election, he was the only Franciscan friar in the College of Cardinals, to date, he is the last pope to take the pontifical name of Clement upon his election. He is best known for his suppression of the Society of Jesus, Ganganelli was born in Santarcangelo di Romagna in 1705 as the second child of Lorenzo Ganganelli and Angela Serafina Maria Mazza. He received the sacrament of baptism on 2 November 1705 and he initially studied at Verucchio but later received his education from the Society of Jesus at Rimini from 1717. He also studied with the Piarists of Urbino, Ganganelli entered the Order of Friars Minor Conventual on 15 May 1723 in Forlì and he changed his name to Lorenzo Francesco. He did his novitiate in Urbino where his cousin Vincenzo was a friar and he was professed as a full member of that order on 18 May 1724. He was sent to the convents of Pesaro, Fano and Recanati from 1724 to 1728 where he did his theological studies and he continued his studies in Rome under Antonio Lucci and obtained his doctorate in theology in 1731. He was ordained around this time after he received his doctorate and he taught philosophy and theology for almost a decade in Ascoli, Bologna and Milan. He later returned to Rome as the regent of the college that he studied in and was elected as the Definitor General of the order in 1741. In the general chapters of his order in 1753 and 1756, he declined the generalship of his order and some rumored it was due to his desire of a higher office. Ganganelli became a friend of Pope Benedict XIV who in 1758 appointed him to investigate the issue of the blood libel regarding the Jews. Pope Clement XIII elevated Ganganelli to the cardinalate on 24 September 1759 and his elevation came at the insistence of Lorenzo Ricci who was the Superior-General of the Society of Jesus. Ganganelli opted to become the Cardinal-Priest of Ss, in 1768 he was named the ponens of the cause of beatification of Juan de Palafox y Mendoza. King Louis XV of Frances minister, the duc de Choiseul, had experience of Rome as the French ambassador and was Europes most skilled diplomat. When one has a favour to ask of a Pope, he wrote, the conclave had been sitting since 15 February 1769, heavily influenced by the political manoeuvres of the ambassadors of Catholic sovereigns who were opposed to the Jesuits. During the previous pontificate, the Jesuits had been expelled from Portugal and from all the courts of the House of Bourbon, which included France, Spain, Naples, and Parma. Cardinal Ganganelli was elected pope on 19 May 1769 largely due to support of the Bourbon courts which had expected that he would suppress the Society of Jesus and he took the pontifical name of Clement XIV. Clement XIVs policies were calculated from the outset to smooth the breaches with the Catholic Crowns that had developed during the previous pontificate
20.
Christian
–
A Christian is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christian derives from the Koine Greek word Christós, a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach, while there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term Christian is also used as an adjective to describe anything associated with Christianity, or in a sense all that is noble, and good. According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, by 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey Christianity will remain the worlds largest religion in 2050, about half of all Christians worldwide are Catholic, while more than a third are Protestant. Orthodox communions comprise 12% of the worlds Christians, other Christian groups make up the remainder. Christians make up the majority of the population in 158 countries and territories,280 million Christian live as a minority. In the Greek Septuagint, christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ, in other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as Chrétien in French and Cristiano in Spanish. The second mention of the term follows in Acts 26,28, where Herod Agrippa II replied to Paul the Apostle, Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4,16, which believers, Yet if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed. The city of Antioch, where someone gave them the name Christians, had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames, in the Annals he relates that by vulgar appellation commonly called Christians and identifies Christians as Neros scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome. Another term for Christians which appears in the New Testament is Nazarenes which is used by the Jewish lawyer Tertullus in Acts 24, the Hebrew equivalent of Nazarenes, Notzrim, occurs in the Babylonian Talmud, and is still the modern Israeli Hebrew term for Christian. A wide range of beliefs and practices is found across the world among those who call themselves Christian, denominations and sects disagree on a common definition of Christianity. Most Baptists and fundamentalists, for example, would not acknowledge Mormonism or Christian Science as Christian, in fact, the nearly 77 percent of Americans who self-identify as Christian are a diverse pluribus of Christianities that are far from any collective unity. The identification of Jesus as the Messiah is not accepted by Judaism, the term for a Christian in Hebrew is נוּצְרי, a Talmudic term originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the Galilean village of Nazareth, today in northern Israel. Adherents of Messianic Judaism are referred to in modern Hebrew as יְהוּדִים מָשִׁיחַיים, the term Nasara rose to prominence in July 2014, after the Fall of Mosul to the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The nun or ن— the first letter of Nasara—was spray-painted on the property of Christians ejected from the city, where there is a distinction, Nasrani refers to people from a Christian culture and Masihi is used by Christians themselves for those with a religious faith in Jesus. In some countries Nasrani tends to be used generically for non-Muslim Western foreigners, another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in a political context, is Ṣalībī from ṣalīb which refers to Crusaders and has negative connotations
21.
Saint
–
A saint, also historically known as a hallow, is a term used for a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness to God. Depending on the context and denomination, the term also retains its original Christian meaning, as any believer who is in Christ and in whom Christ dwells, whether in Heaven or on Earth. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official ecclesiastical declaration, the English word saint comes from the Latin sanctus. The word translated the Greek ἅγιος, which derives from the verb ἁγιάζω, the word ἅγιος appears 229 times in the Greek New Testament, and its English translation 60 times in the corresponding text of the King James Version of the Bible. In the New Testament, saint did not denote the deceased who had recognized as especially holy or emulable. Many religions also use similar concepts to venerate persons worthy of some honor, the anthropologist Lawrence Babb in an article about Sathya Sai Baba asks the question Who is a saint. These saintly figures, he asserts, are the points of spiritual force-fields. They exert powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the lives of others in transforming ways as well. In the Bible, only one person is called a saint, They envied Moses also in the camp. The apostle Paul declared himself to be less than the least of all saints in Ephesians 3,8, in the Catholic Church, a saint is anyone in Heaven, whether recognized on Earth or not. There are many persons that the Church believes to be in Heaven who have not been formally canonized, sometimes the word saint also denotes living Christians. They remind us that the Church is holy, can never stop being holy and is called to show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ, the Catholic Church teaches that it does not make or create saints, but rather recognizes them. Proofs of heroicity required in the process of beatification will serve to illustrate in detail the general principles exposed above upon proof of their holiness or likeness to God. On 3 January 993, Pope John XV became the first pope to proclaim a person a saint, on the petition of the German ruler, before that time, the popular cults, or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous. Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish martyrs, walter of Pontoise was the last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope, Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen, canonized him in 1153. Thenceforth a decree of Pope Alexander III in 1170 reserved the prerogative of canonization to the Pope, one source claims that there are over 10,000 named saints and beatified people from history, the Roman Martyrology and Orthodox sources, but no definitive head count. Alban Butler published Lives of the Saints in 1756, including a total of 1,486 saints, the latest revision of this book, edited by Rev. Herbert Thurston, SJ and British author Donald Attwater, contains the lives of 2,565 saints. Monsignor Robert Sarno, an official of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of the Holy See, expressed that it is impossible to give an exact number of saints
22.
Monk
–
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of other monks. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions, in the Greek language the term can apply to women, but in modern English it is mainly in use for men. The word nun is typically used for female monastics, although the term monachos is of Christian origin, in the English language monk tends to be used loosely also for both male and female ascetics from other religious or philosophical backgrounds. However, being generic, it is not interchangeable terms that denote particular kinds of monk, such as cenobite, hermit, anchorite, hesychast. In Eastern Orthodoxy monasticism holds a special and important place. Orthodox monastics separate themselves from the world in order to pray unceasingly for the world and they do not, in general, have as their primary purpose the running of social services, but instead are concerned with attaining theosis, or union with God. However, care for the poor and needy has always been an obligation of monasticism, the level of contact though will vary from community to community. Hermits, on the hand, have little or no contact with the outside world. Orthodox monasticism does not have religious orders as are found in the West, basil the Great and the Philokalia, which was compiled by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth. Hesychasm is of importance in the ascetical theology of the Orthodox Church. Meals are usually taken in common in a dining hall known as a trapeza. Food is usually simple and is eaten in silence while one of the brethren reads aloud from the writings of the Holy Fathers. The monastic lifestyle takes a deal of serious commitment. Within the cenobitic community, all monks conform to a way of living based on the traditions of that particular monastery. In struggling to attain this conformity, the comes to realize his own shortcomings and is guided by his spiritual father in how to deal honestly with them. For this same reason, bishops are almost always chosen from the ranks of monks, Eastern monasticism is found in three distinct forms, anchoritic, cenobitic, and the middle way between the two, known as the skete. One normally enters a community first, and only after testing and spiritual growth would one go on to the skete or, for the most advanced. However, one is not necessarily expected to join a skete or become a solitary, in general, Orthodox monastics have little or no contact with the outside world, including their own families
23.
Muslim
–
A Muslim is someone who follows or practices Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims consider the Quran, their book, to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts, Muslim is an Arabic word meaning one who submits. Most Muslims will accept anyone who has publicly pronounced Shahadah as a Muslim, the shahadah states, There is no god but the God and Muhammad is the last messenger of the God. The testimony authorized by God in the Quran that can found in Surah 3,18 states, There is no god except God, which in Arabic, is the exact testimony which God Himself utters, as well as the angels and those who possess knowledge utter. The word muslim is the active participle of the verb of which islām is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral S-L-M to be whole. A female adherent is a muslima, the plural form in Arabic is muslimūn or muslimīn, and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt. The Arabic form muslimun is the stem IV participle of the triliteral S-L-M, the ordinary word in English is Muslim. It is sometimes transliterated as Moslem, which is an older spelling, the word Mosalman is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central Asia. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans, although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist, musulmán/Mosalmán is a synonym for Muslim and is modified from Arabic. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Arabi said, A Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God. Islam means making ones religion and faith Gods alone. The Quran states that men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values. Thus, in Surah 3,52 of the Quran, Jesus disciples tell him, We believe in God, and you be our witness that we are Muslims. In Muslim belief, before the Quran, God had given the Tawrat to Moses, the Zabur to David and the Injil to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12. 7% of the worlds Muslims, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. About 20% of the worlds Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa, Sizable minorities are found in India, China, Russia, Ethiopia. The country with the highest proportion of self-described Muslims as a proportion of its population is Morocco
24.
Sufism
–
Sufism or Taṣawwuf, which is often defined as Islamic mysticism, the inward dimension of Islam, or the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam, is a mystical trend in Islam characterized. These orders meet for sessions in meeting places known as zawiyas, khanqahs. They strive for ihsan as detailed in a hadith, Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him, if you cant see Him, Rumi stated, The Sufi is hanging on to Muhammad, like Abu Bakr. Sufis regard Muhammad as al-Insān al-Kāmil, the perfect man who exemplifies the morality of God. The orders largely follow one of the four madhhabs of Sunni Islam, classical Sufis were characterized by their asceticism, especially by their attachment to dhikr, the practice of repeating the names of God, often performed after prayers. According to William Chittick, In a broad sense, Sufism can be described as the interiorization, historically, Muslims have used the Arabic word taṣawwuf to identify the practice of Sufis. In this view, it is necessary to be a Muslim to be a true Sufi. However, Islamic scholars themselves are not by any means in agreement about the meaning of the word sufi, Sufis themselves claim that Tasawwuf is an aspect of Islam similar to Sharia, inseparable from Islam and an integral part of Islamic belief and practice. Classical Sufi scholars have defined Tasawwuf as a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else, two origins of the word sufi have been suggested. Commonly, the root of the word is traced to ṣafā. Another origin is ṣūf, wool in Arabic, referring to the simple cloaks the early Muslim ascetics wore, the two were combined by the Sufi al-Rudhabari, who said, The Sufi is the one who wears wool on top of purity. Scholars generally agree that ṣūf or wool is probably the word of Sufi. This term was given to them because they wore woollen garments, the term labisal-suf meant he clad himself in wool and applied to a person who renounced the world and became an ascetic. Others have suggested that the word comes from the term ahl aṣ-ṣuffah and these men and women who sat at al-Masjid an-Nabawi are considered by some to be the first Sufis. Al-Qushayri and Ibn Khaldun both rejected all other than ṣūf on linguistic grounds. Sufi orders are based on the bayah that was given to the Prophet Muhammad by his Sahaba, by pledging allegiance to the Prophet Muhammad, the Sahaba had committed themselves to the service of God. According to Islamic belief, by pledging allegiance to Prophet Muhammad and it is through the Prophet Muhammad that Sufis aim to learn about, understand and connect with God. Such a concept may be understood by the hadith, which Sufis regard to be authentic, in which Prophet Muhammad said, I am the city of knowledge, eminent Sufis such as Ali Hujwiri refer to Ali as having a very high ranking in Tasawwuf
25.
Our Lady of the Pillar
–
Mary is often depicted carrying the Christ Child on her arms resting above a pillar, sometimes carried by angelic cherubs. The Virgin Mary is invoked under this title as the Patroness of Spain, of the Spanish Civil Guard, the celebrated wooden image is enshrined at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza. The statue was granted a Canonical Coronation by Pope Saint Pius X on 20 May 1905, christian tombs at Saragossa, dating from Roman days, appear to bear images representing the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. The oldest written testimony of devotion to the Blessed Virgin in Saragossa is usually identified as that of Pedro Librana in 1155 and he was disheartened with his mission, having made only a few converts. While he was praying by the banks of the Ebro River with some of his disciples, Mary and Angels performed a variety of most unnatural activities and assured James that the people would eventually be converted and their faith would be as strong as the pillar she was standing on. She gave him the pillar as a symbol and an image of herself. James was also instructed to build a chapel on the spot where she left the pillar, after establishing the church, James returned to Jerusalem with some of his disciples where he became a martyr, beheaded in 44 AD during the reign of Herod Agrippa. His disciples allegedly returned his body to Spain, the apparition of Our Lady of the Pillar is a widely accepted tradition. Popes from earliest times issued Papal Bulls attesting to the authenticity of the shrine, Pope Calixtus III issued a bull in 1456 encouraging pilgrimage to the Lady of the Pillar. It acknowledged the miracle of its foundation and the miracles that had taken place in the Spanish shrine and it was also through this bull that the name Lady of the Pillar was confirmed. So many contradictions had arisen concerning the origin of the church that during the reign of Pope Innocent XIII Spain appealed to the Holy See to settle the controversy. According to ancient and pious tradition, St. James the Greater, led by Providence into Spain and he there received a signal favor from the Blessed Virgin. The apostle delayed not to obey this injunction, and with the assistance of his disciples soon constructed a small chapel. In the course of time a church was built and dedicated. Pope Clement XII allowed the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar all over the Spanish Empire in 1730, as the date coincides with the discovery of the Americas, the lady was later named as Patroness of the Hispanic World. The pillar left by the Virgin Mary is presently enshrined in the same and it is believed to be the same pillar given and promised by Mary, in spite of numerous disasters that beset the church. A fire in 1434 burned down the church that preceded the present basilica, the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary may or may not be the original. Some reports state that the wooden image was destroyed when the church burned down in 1434
26.
Anthony of Padua
–
Saint Anthony of Padua, born Fernando Martins de Bulhões, also known as Anthony of Lisbon, was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was born and raised by a family in Lisbon, Portugal. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on 16 January 1946 and he is also the patron saint of lost things. Fernando Martins was born in Lisbon, Portugal and his wealthy and noble family arranged for him to be instructed at the local cathedral school. At the age of fifteen, he entered the community of Canons Regular at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint Vincent on the outskirts of Lisbon. In 1212, distracted by frequent visits from family and friends, he asked to be transferred to the motherhouse of the congregation, there the young Fernando studied theology and Latin. After his ordination to the priesthood, Fernando was named guestmaster, while he was in Coimbra, some Franciscan friars arrived and settled at a small hermitage outside Coimbra dedicated to Saint Anthony of Egypt. Fernando was strongly attracted to the simple, evangelical lifestyle of the friars, news arrived that five Franciscans had been beheaded in Morocco, the first of their order to be killed. King Afonso ransomed their bodies to be returned and buried as martyrs in the Abbey of Santa Cruz, inspired by their example, Fernando obtained permission from church authorities to leave the Canons Regular to join the new Franciscan Order. Upon his admission to the life of the friars, he joined the small hermitage in Olivais, adopting the name Anthony, Anthony then set out for Morocco, in fulfillment of his new vocation. However, he fell ill in Morocco and set sail back for Portugal in hope of regaining his health. On the return voyage the ship was blown off course and landed in Sicily, from Sicily he made his way to Tuscany where he was assigned to a convent of the order, but he met with difficulty on account of his sickly appearance. He was finally assigned to the hermitage of San Paolo near Forlì, Romagna. There he had recourse to a one of the friars had made in a nearby cave, spending time in private prayer. One day, in 1222, in the town of Forli, on the occasion of an ordination, a number of visiting Dominican friars were present, Anthony objected but was overruled, and his sermon created a deep impression. Not only his voice and arresting manner, but the entire theme and substance of his discourse and his moving eloquence. Everyone was impressed with his knowledge of scripture, acquired during his years as an Augustinian friar, at that point, Anthony was sent by Brother Gratian, the local Minister Provincial, to the Franciscan province of Romagna, based in Bologna. He soon came to the attention of the founder of the order, Francis had held a strong distrust of the place of theological studies in the life of his brotherhood, fearing that it might lead to an abandonment of their commitment to a life of real poverty
27.
Gerard Majella
–
Gerard Majella, C. Ss. R. was an Italian lay brother of the Congregation of the Redeemer, better known as the Redemptorists, who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. His intercession is sought for children, unborn children, women in childbirth, mothers, expectant mothers, motherhood, falsely accused people, good confessions, lay brothers and Muro Lucano, Majella was born in Muro Lucano, Basilicata, the youngest of five children. He was the son of a tailor who died when Gerard was twelve and his mother then sent him to her brother so that he could teach Gerard to sew and follow in his fathers footsteps. The boy kept silent, but soon his uncle found out, after four years apprenticeship, he took a job as a servant to work for the local Bishop of Lacedonia. Upon the bishops death Gerard returned to his trade, working first as a journeyman and his earnings he divided between his mother and the poor, and in offerings for the souls in purgatory. He tried to join the Capuchin Order, but his health prevented it, in 1749 he joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as Redemptorists. This order was founded in 1732 by St. Alphonsus Liguori at Scala and they are essentially a missionary order dedicated to preaching the word of God to the poor. Their apostolate consists principally in the giving of missions and retreats, during his life, Majella was very close to the peasants and other outsiders who lived in the Neapolitan countryside. In his work with the Redemptorist community he was at different times, gardener, sacristan, tailor, porter, cook, carpenter, at age of 27, Majella became the subject of a malicious rumor. An acquaintance named Neria accused him of having had relations with a young woman, when confronted by Alphonsus Liguori, the founder, regarding the accusations, the young lay brother remained silent. The girl later recanted and cleared his name, one day he walked across the water to lead a boatload of fishermen through stormy waves to the safety of the shore. He was reputed to have had the gift of bilocation and the ability to read souls, majellas last will consisted of a small note on the door of his cell saying, Here the will of God is done, as God wills, and as long as God wills. He died on October 16,1755 in Caposele, Campania, of tuberculosis, some quotations attributed to Gerard Majella include, The Most Blessed Sacrament is Christ made invisible. The poor sick person is Christ again made visible, I see in my neighbor the Person of Jesus Christ. Consider the shortness of time, the length of eternity and reflect how everything here below comes to an end, of what use is it to lean upon that which cannot give support. One miracle in particular explains why Majella became known as the patron of mothers. A few months before his death, Gerard visited the Pirofalo family and accidentally dropped his handkerchief, one of the Pirofalo girls spotted the handkerchief moments after he’d left the house, and she ran after Gerard to return it. “Keep it, ” he said to her, “You may need it some day
28.
Charles of Mount Argus
–
Charles of Mount Argus, C. P. was a Dutch Passionist priest who served in 19th-century Ireland. He gained a reputation for his compassion for the sick and those in need of guidance and his reputation for healings was so great at the time that a reference is made to him in the famous novel Ulysses by James Joyce. He has been canonized by the Catholic Church and his feast day is January 5. He was named after his uncle and godfather, but to the family he was known as Andrew. His father was a miller by trade, as a boy Andrew attended the village primary school. One of 11 children in a family, he was a slow learner in his youth. To those outside his family he seemed quiet and extremely shy, a slow learner, for ten years he walked the two miles to a secondary school at nearby town of Sittard. When Houben was 19 years old he was enrolled for military service in the First Infantry Regiment of the Netherlands and it is said that on occasion during his time as a soldier there was a disturbance in the town, the army were called out and ordered to fire. Afraid that he hit someone, Andrew pointed his rifle the wrong way. On 18 February 1845 his period as a reserve in the army came to an end, feeling called to religious life, in 1845 Houben was admitted to the novitiate of the Passionists, who had recently arrived in Belgium, in the village of Ere, near Tournai. He professed his religious vows the year and was given the religious habit. His father died in 1850, just before Charles ordination as a priest, the family were so poor they could not afford to go to his ordination because of the expenses of the funeral. Even happy days were lonely days and he was sent to serve in England in 1852. He did parochial ministry in the Parish of St. Wilfred, serving there, Charles first came in contact with the Irish who were moving to England in the wake of the devastating famine taking place there. In July 1857 Charles was transferred to Ireland to the newly founded monastery of Mount Argus, in Harolds Cross, traditionally Passionists are supposed to conduct missions and retreats and, through preaching, spread devotion to the Passion of Christ. Charles was not a good preacher and he never really mastered the English language, but it was in the confessional and in comforting the sick that he excelled, and he became fond of the Irish people. In community he was cheerful and often was heard humming the Dutch national anthem as he walked around the house and it was Charles gift of healing the sick which is most clearly remembered. Another member of the Passionist community in Dublin, Sebastian Keens, without delay he called Charles and shortly afterwards found the boy walking up and down in front of the house completely cured
29.
Padre Pio
–
Padre Pio, also known as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, O. F. M. Cap. was a friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic, born Francesco Forgione, he was given the name of Pius when he joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Padre Pio became famous for exhibiting stigmata for most of his life, thereby generating much interest and he was both beatified and canonized by Pope John Paul II. Francesco Forgione was born to Grazio Mario Forgione and Maria Giuseppa Di Nunzio on May 25,1887, in Pietrelcina and his parents made a living as peasant farmers. He was baptized in the nearby Santa Anna Chapel, which stands upon the walls of a castle and he later served as an altar boy in this same chapel. His siblings were a brother, Michele, and three younger sisters, Felicita, Pellegrina, and Grazia. His parents had two children who died in infancy. When he was baptized, he was given the name Francesco and he stated that by the time he was five years old, he had already made the decision to dedicate his entire life to God. He began taking on penances and was chided on one occasion by his mother for using a stone as a pillow and he worked on the land up to the age of 10, looking after the small flock of sheep the family owned. This delayed his education to some extent, Pietrelcina was a town where feast days of saints were celebrated throughout the year, and the Forgione family was deeply religious. They attended daily Mass, prayed the Rosary nightly, and abstained from meat three days a week in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, although Francescos parents and grandparents were illiterate, they memorized the scriptures and narrated Bible stories to their children. His mother said that Francesco was able to see and speak with Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and his angel. According to the diary of Father Agostino da San Marco, who was his spiritual director in San Marco in Lamis, at six he suffered from a grave gastroenteritis which kept him bedridden for a long time. At ten he caught typhoid fever, as a youth, Francesco reported that he had experienced heavenly visions and ecstasies. When Francesco expressed his desire to his parents, they made a trip to Morcone, the friars there informed them that they were interested in accepting Francesco into their community, but he needed first to become better educated. Francescos father went to the United States in search of work to pay for tutoring for his son. It was in period that Francesco received the sacrament of Confirmation on September 27,1899. He underwent private tutoring and passed the stipulated academic requirements, on January 6,1903, at the age of 15, he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin friars at Morcone
30.
Ambrose
–
Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose, was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was the Roman governor of Liguria and Emilia, headquartered in Milan, Ambrose was a staunch opponent of Arianism, and has been accused of fostering persecutions of Arians, Jews, and pagans. Ambrose was one of the four original Doctors of the Church and he is notable for his influence on Augustine of Hippo. Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family about 340 and was raised in Gallia Belgica and his mother was a woman of intellect and piety. Ambroses siblings, Satyrus and Marcellina, are venerated as saints. There is a legend that as an infant, a swarm of bees settled on his face while he lay in his cradle and his father considered this a sign of his future eloquence and honeyed tongue. For this reason, bees and beehives often appear in the saints symbology, after the early death of his father, Ambrose followed his fathers career. He was educated in Rome, studying literature, law, Ambrose was the Governor of Aemilia-Liguria in northern Italy until 374, when he became the Bishop of Milan. He was a popular political figure, and since he was the Governor in the effective capital in the Roman West. In the late 4th century there was a conflict in the diocese of Milan between the Nicene Church and Arians. In 374 the bishop of Milan, Auxentius, an Arian, died, Ambrose went to the church where the election was to take place, to prevent an uproar, which was probable in this crisis. His address was interrupted by a call Ambrose, bishop, which was taken up by the whole assembly. Ambrose was known to be Nicene Christian in belief, but also acceptable to Arians due to the charity shown in matters in this regard. At first he refused the office, for which he was in no way prepared. Upon his appointment, Ambrose fled to a colleagues home seeking to hide, upon receiving a letter from the Emperor Gratian praising the appropriateness of Rome appointing individuals evidently worthy of holy positions, Ambroses host gave him up. Within a week, he was baptized, ordained and duly consecrated bishop of Milan and this raised his popularity even further, giving him considerable political leverage over even the emperor. Ambrose also wrote a treatise by the name of The Goodness of Death, according to legend, Ambrose immediately and forcefully stopped Arianism in Milan. He studied theology with Simplician, a presbyter of Rome, in the confrontation with Arians, Ambrose sought to theologically refute their propositions, which were contrary to the Nicene creed and thus to the officially defined orthodoxy
31.
Martin de Porres
–
Martin de Porres Velázquez, O. P. was a lay brother of the Dominican Order who was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is the saint of mixed-race people, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers. He was noted for work on behalf of the poor, establishing an orphanage and he maintained an austere lifestyle, which included fasting and abstaining from meat. Among the many miracles attributed to him were those of levitation, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, Juan Martin de Porres Velázquez was born in the city of Lima, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, on December 9,1579. He was the son of a Spanish nobleman, Don Juan de Porres, and Ana Velázquez. He had a sister named Juana, born two years later in 1581, after the birth of his sister, the father abandoned the family. Ana Velázquez supported her children by taking in laundry and he grew up in poverty and, when his mother could not support him, Martin was confided to a primary school for two years, and then placed with a barber/surgeon to learn the medical arts. He spent hours of the night in prayer, a practice which increased as he grew older, by law in Peru, descendants of Africans and Native Americans were barred from becoming full members of religious orders. At the age of 15 he asked for admission to the Dominican Convent of the Rosary in Lima and was received first as a servant boy, Martin continued to practice his old trades of barbering and healing and was said to have performed many miraculous cures. He also took on work, laundry, and cleaning. After eight years at Holy Rosary, the prior Juan de Lorenzana, decided to turn a blind eye to the law, when Martin was 24, he was allowed to profess religious vows as a Dominican lay brother in 1603. He is said to have several times refused this elevation in status, which may have come due to his fathers intervention. It is said that when his convent was in debt, he implored them, I am only a poor mulatto, sell me. Martin was deeply attached to the Blessed Sacrament, and he was praying in front of it one night when the step of the altar he was kneeling on caught fire. Throughout all the confusion and chaos that followed, he remained where he was and he was known for his care of the sick. His superiors saw in him the necessary to exercise unfailing patience in this difficult role. It was not long before miracles were attributed to him, Martin also cared for the sick outside his convent, often bringing them healing with only a simple glass of water. He ministered without distinction to Spanish nobles and to slaves brought from Africa
32.
Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria
–
This article uses dates and years written in the Coptic calendar, using the A. M. calendar era, in addition to the Gregorian calendar, using the A. D. calendar era. Pope St. Cyril VI of Alexandria also called Abba Kyrillos VI, born Azer Youssef Atta, Pope Cyril VI was born in Damanhour, Egypt, into a Coptic Orthodox family. He resigned a civil service position to become a monk in July 1927 and he passed his probationary period and, on 24 February 1928, took his monastic vows at the Paromeos Monastery, assuming the name of Father Mina el-Baramosy. He was also known as Father Mina the elder, in 1947, Father Mina built the Church of Saint Mina in Cairo. He also used to pray in the Church of the Holy Virgin in Babylon before assuming the papacy, Father Mina became Pope of Alexandria on 10 May 1959. In accordance with the old Coptic church tradition, Pope Cyril VI was the monk in the 20th century A. D. /17th century A. M. to be chosen for papacy without having been a bishop /Metropolitan first. Before him, there were three bishops / Metropolitans who became Popes of Alexandria, Pope John XIX, Pope Macarius III, after him, Pope Shenouda III was also a bishop before becoming Pope. Pope Cyril VI elevated the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church to the title of Patriarch-Catholicos, abuna Basilios, who was the first Ethiopian to be appointed Archbishop of Ethiopia by Pope Joseph II, became Ethiopias first Patriarch. Pope Cyril VI was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Star of Solomon by Emperor Haile Selassie in gratitude, in November 1959 he laid the foundation stone of the new Monastery of Saint Mina in the Desert of Mariout. In January 1965, Pope Cyril VI presided over the Committee of Oriental Orthodox Churches in Addis Ababa, in June 1968, Pope Cyril received the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist and Apostle, which had been taken from Alexandria to Venice over eleven centuries earlier. Cyrils papacy also saw marked the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Zeitoun, the Seat of Pope Cyril VI was initially located in Saint Marks Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Azbakeya, Cairo. However, during his papacy he built the Saint Marks Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Abbasseya, also in Cairo, Pope Cyril died on 9 March 1971, after a short illness. Pope Shenouda III spoke about his predecessor, There is no man in all the history of the church like Pope Cyril VI and he prayed more than 12,000 liturgies. This matter never happened before in the history of the Popes of Alexandria or the world and he was wondrous in his prayers. On 20 June 2013,42 years after his death, he was canonised as a saint by the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church
33.
Isidore the Laborer
–
Isidore the Farm Labourer, also known as Isidore the Farmer, was a Spanish farmworker known for his piety toward the poor and animals. He is the Catholic patron saint of farmers and of Madrid and his feast day is celebrated on 15 May. The Spanish word labrador means someone who works the cow, not a worker in general and his real name was Isidro de Merlo y Quintana. Isidore was born in Madrid, in about the year 1070, of poor but very devout parents, Isidore spent his life as a hired hand in the service of the wealthy Madrilenian landowner Juan de Vargas on a farm in the citys vicinity. He shared what he had, even his meals, with the poor, Juan de Vargas would later make him bailiff of his entire estate of Lower Caramanca. It was said that he stood two meters tall, Isidore and Maria had one son. On one occasion, their son fell into a well and, at the prayers of his parents. In thanksgiving Isidore and Maria then vowed sexual abstinence and lived in separate houses and their son later died in his youth. Isidore died on May 15,1130, at his close to Madrid although the only official source places his death in the year 1172. In the morning going to work, Isidore would usually attend Mass at one of the churches in Madrid. One day, his farm workers complained to their master that Isidore was always late for work in the morning. Upon investigation, so runs the legend, the master found Isidore at prayer whilst an angel was doing the ploughing for him. On another occasion, his master saw an angel ploughing on either side of him, Isidore is also said to have brought back to life his masters deceased daughter, and to have caused a fountain of fresh water to burst from the dry earth to quench his masters thirst. One snowy day, when going to the mill with corn to be ground, taking pity on the poor animals, he poured half of his sack of precious corn upon the ground for the birds, despite the mocking of witnesses. When he reached the mill, however, the bag was full, and the corn, Isidores wife, Maria, always kept a pot of stew on the fireplace in their humble home as Isidore would often bring home anyone who was hungry. One day he brought home more hungry people than usual, after she served many of them, Maria told him that there simply was no more stew in the pot. He insisted that she check the pot again, and she was able to spoon out enough stew to feed them all, on 2 April 1212, after torrential rains had exhumed cadavers from cemeteries in Madrid, his body was discovered in an apparent state of incorruptibility. He is said to have appeared to Alfonso VIII of Castile, throughout history, other members of the royal family would seek curative powers from the saint
34.
Bury St Edmunds witch trials
–
The Bury St Edmunds witch trials were a series of trials conducted intermittently between the years 1599 and 1694 in the town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England. Two specific trials in 1645 and 1662 became historically well known, the 1645 trial facilitated by the Witchfinder General saw 18 people executed in one day. For the purposes of government the town and the remainder of the county were quite distinct. In the same year, Oliffe Bartham of Shadbrook was executed, the trial was instigated by Matthew Hopkins, the self-proclaimed Witchfinder General and conducted at a special court under John Godbolt. On 27 August 1645, no fewer than 18 witches were hanged at Bury St Edmunds, Anne Leech and Anne Wright, origin unknown. 6% of that total. Both Hopkins and Stearne treated the search for, and trials of witches as military campaigns, there was much to keep the minds of Parliamentarians busy at this time with the Royalist Army heading towards Cambridgeshire, but concern about the events unfolding were being voiced. Prior to the trial a report was carried to the Parliament –. as if some men had made use of some ill Arts to extort such confession. That a special Commission of Oyer and Terminer was granted for the trial of these Witches, the will meddle with none but poore old women, as appears by what we receive this day from Bury. Divers are condemned and some executed and more like to be, life is precious and there is need of great inquisition before it is taken away. They may have been aware of other, inhabiting a small town. Their one other link was the fact that they had tried and failed to purchase Herrings from a Lowestoft merchant and his two daughters Elizabeth, and Deborah were victims of the accused and, along with their aunt, Samuel Pacys sister Margaret, gave evidence against the women. The jury found guilty of the thirteen charges of using malevolent witchcraft. They were hanged in the town on 17 March 1662, thomas Browne, the philosopher, physician and author, attended the trial. His reporting of events that had occurred in Denmark influenced the jury of the guilt of the accused. He also testified that the young girls accusing Denny and Cullander were afflicted with organic problems, original documents in the Public Record Office and other contemporary records clearly states it took place in the 14th year of the reign of Charles II. This case became a model for, and was referenced in, the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts, another recorded witch trial in Bury St Edmunds was in 1655 when a mother and daughter by the name of Boram were tried and said to have been hanged. The chief charge was 17 years old, the second brought by a man on his way home from an alehouse, sir John so well directed the jury that she was acquitted. European witchcraft Cunning folk Notes Bibliography Gaskill, Malcolm, ISBN 0-674-01976-8 Geis, Gilbert, and Bunn Ivan
35.
Salem witch trials
–
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, fourteen of them women, twelve other women had previously been executed in Massachusetts and Connecticut during the 17th century. Despite being generally known as the Salem Witch Trials, the hearings in 1692 were conducted in several towns, Salem Village, Salem Town, Ipswich. The most infamous trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town, the episode is one of Colonial Americas most notorious cases of mass hysteria. It has been used in political rhetoric and popular literature as a cautionary tale about the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations. It was not unique, but a Colonial American example of the broader phenomenon of witch trials in the early modern period. Many historians consider the effects of the trials to have been highly influential in subsequent United States history. According to historian George Lincoln Burr, the Salem witchcraft was the rock on which the theocracy shattered, at the 300th anniversary events in 1992 to commemorate the victims of the trials, a park was dedicated in Salem and a memorial in Danvers. In November 2001, the Massachusetts legislature passed an act exonerating all of those convicted and listing them by name, in January 2016, the University of Virginia announced its Gallows Hill Project team had determined the execution site in Salem, where the nineteen witches had been hanged. The city owns the site and is planning a memorial to the victims, in Against Modern Sadducism, Joseph Glanvill claimed that he could prove the existence of witches and ghosts of the supernatural realm. Glanvill wrote about the denial of the resurrection, and the spirits. In his treatise, Glanvill claimed that men should believe in witches and apparitions, if they doubted the reality of spirits, they not only denied demons. Glanvill wanted to prove that the supernatural could not be denied, works by men such as Glanvill and Cotton Mather tried to prove that demons were alive. The earliest recorded execution was that of Alse Young in 1647 in Hartford. Historian Clarence F. Jewett included a list of people executed in New England in The Memorial History of Boston, Including Suffolk County. New England had been settled by religious refugees seeking to build a pure and they lived closely with the sense of the supernatural. The original 1629 Royal Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was vacated in 1684, Andros was ousted in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution in England replaced the Catholic James II with the Protestant co-rulers William and Mary. At the same time tensions erupted between English colonists settling in the Eastward and French-supported Wabanaki Indians of that territory in what came to be known as King Williams War
36.
Matthew Hopkins
–
Matthew Hopkins was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although title was never bestowed by Parliament. His witch-hunts mainly took place in East Anglia, Hopkins witch-finding career began in March 1644 and lasted until his retirement in 1647. He and his associates were responsible for people being hanged for witchcraft than in the previous 100 years. He is believed to have responsible for the deaths of 300 women between the years 1644 and 1646. It has been estimated that all of the English witch trials between the early 15th and late 18th centuries resulted in fewer than 500 executions for witchcraft, very little is known of Matthew Hopkins before 1644, and there are no surviving contemporary documents concerning him or his family. He was born in Great Wenham, Suffolk and was the son of six children. His father, James Hopkins, was a Puritan clergyman and vicar of St Johns of Great Wenham, the family at one point held title to lands and tenements in Framlingham at the castle. His father was popular with his parishioners, one of whom in 1619 left money to purchase Bibles for his three children James, John and Thomas. Thus Matthew Hopkins could not have been born before 1619, and could not have been older than 28 when he died, Hopkins brother John became Minister of South Fambridge in 1645 but was removed from the post one year later for neglecting his work. Hopkins states in his book The Discovery of Witches that he never travelled far, in the early 1640s Hopkins moved to Manningtree, Essex, a town on the River Stour, about 10 miles from Wenham. According to tradition Hopkins used his recently acquired inheritance of a hundred marks to establish himself as a gentleman and to buy the Thorn Inn in Mistley. From the way that he presented evidence in trials, Hopkins is commonly thought to have trained as a lawyer. The work of Hopkins and John Stearne was not necessarily to prove any of the accused had committed acts of maleficium, Witches then became heretics to Christianity, which became the greatest of their crimes and sins. Within continental and Roman Law witchcraft was crimen exceptum, a crime so foul that all legal procedures were superseded. Because the Devil was not going to confess, it was necessary to gain a confession from the human involved and they extended throughout the area of strongest Puritan and Parliamentarian influences which formed the powerful and influential Eastern Association from 1644 to 1647, centred on Essex. Both Hopkins and Stearne would have required some form of letters of safe conduct to be able to travel throughout the counties. According to his book The Discovery of Witches, Hopkins began his career as a witch-finder after he overheard various women discussing their meetings with the Devil in March 1644 in Manningtree, in fact, the first accusations were made by Stearne and Hopkins was appointed as his assistant
37.
Aleister Crowley
–
Aleister Crowley was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century, a prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life. Born to a wealthy Plymouth Brethren family in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire and he was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attentions on mountaineering and poetry, resulting in several publications. Some biographers allege that here he was recruited into a British intelligence agency, in 1898 he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he was trained in ceremonial magic by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Allan Bennett. Moving to Boleskine House by Loch Ness in Scotland, he went mountaineering in Mexico with Oscar Eckenstein, before studying Hindu and Buddhist practices in India. Announcing the start of the Æon of Horus, The Book declared that its followers should Do what thou wilt, in 1907, he and George Cecil Jones co-founded a Thelemite order, the A∴A∴, through which they propagated the religion. Thelemite groups were established in Britain, Australia, and North America, in 1920 he established the Abbey of Thelema, a religious commune in Cefalù, Sicily where he lived with various followers. His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press, and he divided the following two decades between France, Germany, and England, and continued to promote Thelema until his death. Crowley gained widespread notoriety during his lifetime, being a recreational drug experimenter, bisexual and he was denounced in the popular press as the wickedest man in the world and a Satanist. Crowley has remained an influential figure over Western esotericism and the counter-culture. In 2002, a BBC poll ranked him as the seventy-third greatest Briton of all time, Crowley was born as Edward Alexander Crowley at 30 Clarendon Square in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, on 12 October 1875. His father, Edward Crowley, was trained as an engineer and his mother, Emily Bertha Bishop, came from a Devonshire-Somerset family and had a strained relationship with her son, she described him as the Beast, a name that he revelled in. The couple had married at Londons Kensington Registry Office in November 1874. Crowleys father was particularly devout, spending his time as a preacher for the sect and reading a chapter from the Bible to his wife. Following the death of their daughter in 1880, in 1881 the Crowleys moved to Redhill. At the age of 8, Crowley was sent to H. T, habershons evangelical Christian boarding school in Hastings, and then to Ebor preparatory school in Cambridge, run by the Reverend Henry dArcy Champney, whom Crowley considered a sadist. In March 1887, when Crowley was 11, his father died of tongue cancer, Crowley described this as a turning point in his life, and he always maintained an admiration of his father, describing him as his hero and his friend. Inheriting a third of his fathers wealth, he began misbehaving at school and was punished by Champney
38.
David Lynch
–
David Keith Lynch is an American director, screenwriter, producer, painter, musician, and photographer. He has been described by The Guardian as the most important director of this era, allMovie called him the Renaissance man of modern American filmmaking, while the success of his films has led to him being labelled the first popular Surrealist. He moved to Los Angeles, where he produced his first motion picture, meanwhile, Lynch embraced the Internet as a medium, producing several web-based shows, such as the animated DumbLand and the surreal sitcom Rabbits. Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director and a nomination for best screenplay. He has won Frances César Award for Best Foreign Film twice, as well as the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival, the French government awarded him the Legion of Honor, the countrys top civilian honor, as a Chevalier in 2002 and then an Officier in 2007. Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive are widely considered by critics to be among the greatest films of their respective decades, Lynch was born in Missoula, Montana on January 20,1946. His father, Donald Walton Lynch, was a research scientist working for the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Lynchs maternal great-grandparents were Finnish, and had immigrated to the United States from Finland in the 19th century. The Lynch family often moved around according to where the USDA assigned Donald and it was here that Lynchs sister Martha was born. The family then moved to Durham, North Carolina, then Boise, Idaho, Lynch found this transitory early life relatively easy to adjust to, noting that he found it fairly easy to meet new friends whenever he started attending a new school. Commenting on much of his life, Lynch has remarked, Alongside his schooling, Lynch joined the Boy Scouts, although he would later note that he only became so I could quit. He rose to the highest rank of Eagle Scout and it was through being an Eagle Scout that he was present with other Boy Scouts outside of the White House at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, which took place on Lynchs birthday in 1961. They had some hopes that in Europe they could train with the expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka at his school. Upon reaching Salzburg, however, they found that he was not available and, Back in the United States, Lynch returned to Virginia, but since his parents had moved to Walnut Creek, California, he stayed with his friend Toby Keeler for a while. He decided to move to the city of Philadelphia and enroll at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, after advice from Jack Fisk and it was here that he began a relationship with a fellow student, Peggy Reavey, and they were married in 1967. The following year, Peggy gave birth to their daughter Jennifer, later describing this situation, Peggy stated that definitely was a reluctant father, but a very loving one. Hey, I was pregnant when we got married, later describing living there, Lynch stated that We lived cheap, but the city was full of fear. A kid was shot to death down the street and we were robbed twice, had windows shot out and a car stolen. The house was first broken into three days after we moved in
39.
Lost Highway (film)
–
Lost Highway is a 1997 French-American film written and directed by David Lynch. It stars Bill Pullman as a man convicted of murdering his wife, after which he inexplicably morphs into a young mechanic and begins leading a new life. The movie, which has noir elements, features the last film appearances of Robert Blake, Jack Nance, and Richard Pryor, Lynch co-wrote the screenplay with Barry Gifford, whose novel served as the basis for Lynchs film Wild at Heart. Lynch conceived Lost Highway after the critical and box office failure of Twin Peaks, Fire Walk with Me, despite receiving mixed reviews upon release, Lost Highway has developed a cult following and is greatly admired by some critics. In 2003, the film was adapted as an opera, Fred Madison, a Los Angeles saxophonist, receives a message on the intercom of his house, Dick Laurent is dead. During a break at a one night, Fred calls his home. Arriving home later, Fred finds her sleeping in their bed, the next morning, Renée finds a VHS tape on their porch which contains a videotape of their house. After having sex one night, Fred sees Renées face as that of a old man. As the days pass, more tapes arrive showing the interior of their house, Fred and Renée call the police but the detectives they send over offer no assistance. Fred and Renée then attend a party being thrown by her friend Andy, at the party, the man Fred dreamed about approaches Fred, claiming to have met him before. The man then says he is at Freds house at that very moment, Fred learns from Andy that the man is a friend of Dick Laurents. Terrified, Fred leaves the party and heads home with Renée, the next morning, another tape arrives and Fred watches it alone. To his horror, it shows him hovering over Renées dismembered body and he is sentenced to death for her murder. While on death row, Fred is plagued by headaches and visions of the Mystery Man, a cabin in the desert. During a cell check, the prison guard finds that the man in Freds cell is now Pete Dayton, Pete is released into the care of his parents, who take him home. Pete is followed by two detectives who are trying to find out more about him, the next day, Pete returns to work at the garage where gangster Mr. Eddy, asks him to fix his car. Mr. Eddy takes Pete for a drive, on which Pete witnesses Mr. Eddy chase, the next day, Mr. Eddy returns to the garage with his mistress, Alice Wakefield and his Cadillac for Pete to repair. Later, Alice returns to the garage alone and invites Pete out for dinner, soon, Pete and Alice begin an affair
40.
Thomas Pynchon
–
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. A MacArthur Fellow, he is noted for his dense and complex novels and his fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, science, and mathematics. For Gravitys Rainbow, Pynchon won the 1974 U. S. National Book Award for Fiction, hailing from Long Island, Pynchon served two years in the United States Navy and earned an English degree from Cornell University. After publishing several stories in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he began composing the novels for which he is best known. The Crying of Lot 49, Gravitys Rainbow, and Mason & Dixon, Pynchon is also notoriously reclusive, very few photographs of him have ever been published, and rumors about his location and identity have circulated since the 1960s. Pynchons most recent novel, Bleeding Edge, was published on September 17,2013, Thomas Pynchon was born in 1937 in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, one of three children of Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Sr. and Katherine Frances Bennett. Pynchon attended Oyster Bay High School in Oyster Bay, where he was awarded student of the year and these juvenilia incorporated some of the literary motifs and recurring subject matter he would use throughout his career, oddball names, sophomoric humor, illicit drug use, and paranoia. After graduating from school in 1953 at the age of 16, Pynchon studied engineering physics at Cornell University. In 1957, he returned to Cornell to pursue a degree in English, together the two briefly led what Pynchon has called a micro-cult around Oakley Halls 1958 novel Warlock. Pynchon later reminisced about his days in the introduction he wrote in 1983 for Fariñas novel Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me. He reportedly attended lectures given by Vladimir Nabokov, who then taught literature at Cornell, in 1958, Pynchon and Cornell classmate Kirkpatrick Sale wrote part or all of a science-fiction musical, Minstrel Island, which portrayed a dystopian future in which IBM rules the world. Pynchon received his BA in June 1959, after leaving Cornell, Pynchon began to work on his first novel, V. S. When published in 1963, V. won a William Faulkner Foundation Award for the best first novel of the year, Pynchon during this time flirted with the lifestyle and some of the habits of the Beat and hippie countercultures. In 1964, his application to study mathematics as a student at the University of California. In 1966, Pynchon wrote a report on the aftermath. Titled A Journey Into the Mind of Watts, the article was published in The New York Times Magazine, from the mid-1960s Pynchon has also regularly provided blurbs and introductions for a wide range of novels and non-fiction works. In 1968, Pynchon was one of 447 signatories to the Writers and Editors War Tax Protest, in the mid-1960s, Pynchon lived at 217 33rd St. in Manhattan Beach, California, in a small downstairs apartment. Pynchon described the decision as a moment of temporary insanity, but noted that he was too stubborn to let any of them go, Pynchons second novel, The Crying of Lot 49, was published a few months later in 1966
41.
Against the Day
–
Against the Day is a 2006 historical novel by Thomas Pynchon. Like its predecessors, Against the Day is an example of historiographic metafiction or metahistorical romance, besides appearing within the book itself, the novels title apparently refers to a verse in the Bible reading the heavens and the earth. Reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, William Faulkner, whose diction frequently echoes the King James Bible, liked the phrase, and many reviewers have traced it to a speech of Faulkners against racism. Perhaps as relevant is a passage in Absalom, Absalom, the Creditor there is Mephistopheles, to whom Faustus/Sutpen would owe his soul. Nonliterary sources for the title may also exist, Contre-jour, a term in referring to backlighting. - * The French makes it clearer, qu’irrités contre l’heure A1998 childrens novel by Michael Cronin uses the same title, as Pynchon researched and wrote the book, a variety of rumors about it circulated over the years. Kovalevskaya briefly appears in the book, but Pynchon may have modeled the major character Yashmeen Halfcourt after her. In mid-July 2006, a signed by Pynchon himself appeared on Amazon. coms page for the novel. Readers who had noticed the synopsis re-posted it and this disappearance provoked speculation on blogs and the PYNCHON-L mailing list about publicity stunts and viral marketing schemes. Shortly thereafter, Slate published an article revealing that the blurbs early appearance was a mistake on the part of the publisher. Associated Press indicated the title of the anonymous novel. Pynchons synopsis states that the action takes place between the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair and the years just after World War I. With a worldwide disaster looming just a few years ahead, it is a time of unrestrained corporate greed, false religiosity, moronic fecklessness, no reference to the present day is intended or should be inferred. Pynchon promises cameo appearances by Nikola Tesla, Bela Lugosi and Groucho Marx, as well as stupid songs, like several of Pynchons earlier works, Against the Day includes both mathematicians and drug users. As an era of certainty comes crashing down around their ears and unpredictable future commences, sometimes they manage to catch up, sometimes its their lives that pursue them. The synopsis concludes, If it is not the world, it is what the world might be with an adjustment or two. According to some, this is one of the purposes of fiction. Let the reader decide, let the reader beware, the published jacket-flap of the book featured an edited-down version of this text, omitting the last three sentences, references to specific authorship
42.
Yevgeny Petrov (writer)
–
Yevgeny Petrov was the pen name of Yevgeny Petrovich Katayev, a popular Soviet author in the 1920s and 1930s. He often worked in collaboration with Ilya Ilf, as Ilf and Petrov, Yevgeni Petrov and Ilya Ilf wrote The Twelve Chairs, released in 1928 and its sequel, The Little Golden Calf, released in 1931. He was the brother of Valentin Katayev, following Nazi Germanys invasion of the Soviet Union, Petrov became a war correspondent. He was killed in a crash while returning from besieged Sevastopol. The short film Envelope was dedicated to Yevgeny
43.
Kevin Spacey
–
Kevin Spacey Fowler, better known as Kevin Spacey, is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, and singer. He began his career as an actor during the 1980s before obtaining supporting roles in film. In Broadway theatre, Spacey won a Tony Award for his role in Lost in Yonkers and he was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 until stepping down in mid-2015. Since 2013, Spacey has played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, Spacey was born in South Orange, New Jersey, to Kathleen Ann, a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. He has two siblings, a sister, Julie, and a brother, Randy. He has English, Swedish, and Welsh ancestry and his family relocated to Southern California when Spacey was four years old. He attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School, and then Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, California, where he graduated co-valedictorian of his class in 1977. At Chatsworth, Spacey starred in the senior production of The Sound of Music. He took Spacey as his stage name, several reports have incorrectly suggested that he took his name in tribute to actor Spencer Tracy, combining Tracys first and last names. He had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years, before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, during this time period, Spacey performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests. Spaceys first professional appearance was as a spear carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance, as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsens Ghosts, then he portrayed Philinte in Molières The Misanthrope. In 1984, he appeared in a production of David Rabes Hurlyburly, next came Anton Chekhovs The Seagull. In 1986, he appeared in a production of Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre, Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey. He made his first major appearance in the second-season premiere of Crime Story. Although his interest soon turned to film, Spacey remained actively involved in the theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Uncle Louie in Neil Simons Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers, Spaceys father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known. Some of Spaceys early roles include a widowed eccentric millionaire on L. A. Law, the television miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan, opposite Lemmon, and he earned a fan base after playing the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt on the television series Wiseguy
44.
Joe Nickell
–
Joe Nickell is an American prominent skeptic and investigator of the paranormal. He has helped expose such famous forgeries as the diary of Jack the Ripper. Nickell is Senior Research Fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and writes regularly for their journal and he is also an associate dean of the Center for Inquiry Institute. He is the author or editor of over 30 books, Joe Nickell is the son of J. Wendell and Ella Nickell, and grew up in West Liberty, Kentucky. His parents indulged his interest in magic and investigation, allowing him to set aside a room in their house as a crime lab. In 1968, he avoided the draft by moving to Canada where he began his careers as a magician, a dealer. When President Jimmy Carter granted unconditional pardons to draft dodgers in 1977, in late 2003, Nickell reconnected with his college girlfriend, Diana G. Harris, and learned he had a daughter, Cherette, and two grandsons, Tyner and Chase. Harris and Nickell married in Springfield, Illinois on April 1,2006, Harris has assisted Nickell in his investigative work. Cherette had always told that her biological father was her mothers first husband. On her wedding day, one of the guests mentioned that her parents werent married when she was conceived, later Cherette asked her mother about her father and sensed an equivocation in the answer. More conversations with her mother and a DNA test proved that Nickell was her father, Nickell used his daughters claim that her search was the result of an intuition as the basis for an article on the unconscious collection and processing of data. Nickell concluded, Cautions notwithstanding, I must admit to a new appreciation of intuition and its enough to warm an old skeptics heart. Nickell holds B. A. M. A. and Ph. D. degrees from the University of Kentucky and his Ph. D. is in English for graduate work focusing on literary investigation and folklore. Since the early 1980s, he has researched, written, co-authored and edited books in many genres, in the 2007 horror film The Reaping, actress Hilary Swank plays an investigator of the paranormal. Nickell was selected as a consultant and invited to the movie set to meet with Swank. Nickell said, I liked the first 10 or 15 minutes, but then it changed into the world of the supernatural, which, for good or evil, has never happened to me, Ive never had frogs rain down upon upon me. Nickell is frequently consulted by news and television producers for his skeptical perspective and he was profiled by The New Yorker writer Burkhard Bilger who met Nickell during the summer of 2002 at Lily Dale, New York, where he had disguised himself to investigate Spiritualist psychics. Nickell is a recurring guest on the Point of Inquiry podcast, Nickell explained his philosophy to Blake Smith of the Skeptic podcast MonsterTalk, I dont like debunkers and I dont like dismissers, people who are just trying to say, Oh, humbug
