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I posted this in a comment but I think I should make a post of it
I heard this story on NPR the other day and actually it seems the East Germans had more to fear from the British and Americans. I heard on NPR about the formally classified documents coming out - Gorbachev welcomed it as part of his reforms and his goal to create "pan-European process toward one common home". Thatcher and Bush however...
(Margaret Thatcher) was anxious as all get-out. I mean, she really did not want Germany to be reunified and so she was coming to Gorbachev to say do whatever you can to stop it. You've got those troops in East Germany. We want you to stop it. She actually tells the note-takers stop taking notes. Of course, his name was Anatoly Chernyaev. He runs out in the hallway and scribbles it down. And we have his diary today, which is part of what were publishing. Its fascinating because Chernyaev later writes, you know, Thatcher wants to prevent Germany from coming together, but she wants to do with our hands, that is to say, not her own. The top leaders were really worried. I mean, here in Washington, George Bushs national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, scribbles in one of his sort of daily diary entries: Gosh, you know we might be better off if Germany stayed divided because at least then wed have a little more stability. They were all scared to death of the unknown, what could happen.
NPR: Official Discusses Release Of Berlin Wall Documents
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NPR: In The End, Fall Of Berlin Wall Was Gorbachev's Call
Well looks like the dirty commies were the good guys... Well um... Well squashing and making Germany suffer to prevent it rising again as a potential powerful enemy worked in the past right? Right? uh... ♪♫ Rule Britannia! Britannia rule the waves! Britons never, never, never shall be slaves! ♫♪ Tags: links, nazis, russia
Current Location: 34 W. Weber
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: Ancient Rites - Cheruscan
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*Warning Spoilers*
Well I ran off to see The Men Who Stare at Goats and I'm really not sure what to make of it - as did most of the audience. First all it's only inspired by the book of the same name and a lot of names are changed - For instance the 'First Earth Battalion' becomes the 'New Earth Battalion' - and the story is set during the Iraq war. It's very Pro-First Earth Battalion.
The story follows a journalist named Bob Wilton whose marriage has resolved and goes to Iraq where he stumbles upon Lyn Cassady - a Jedi warrior (taken from Project Jedi - a project incorporating Zen training techniques for special forces troops to improve their powers of observation, mental acuteness, and reactions). Who tells him the story of the 'New Earth Battalion' (A lot of groups like Project Jedi, Project Grill Flame, Project Star Gate are conflated since the real First Earth Battalion was not an actual unit but more a movement inspiring the formation of units) from it's innocence stage to it's turn to the 'Darkside' (such as use of torture on prisoners) as the US Military tries to weaponize the paranormal. Although the antics and eccentricity are amusing the movie shows the magic they use as having real effects and working (Most of the Time anyways) - as in the case of some of the real projects - the Remote Viewing projects (under various names over several decades) were canceled (until it was apparently revived following 9/11) after the cold war because while they did get some good hits it was too unreliable (owing to the vagaries of the astral world).
Anyways as Cassady demonstrates his magical techniques and martial arts skill such as the use of the Predator a real device as Bob slowly becomes a believer and is finally initiated and trained as a Jedi near the end of the film. Cassady follows his intuition, instructions from a vision, and Remove viewing to reach a base where prisoners are being tortured and the army is conducting Psychological & Psychic Operations. With the help of Bill Django (the old leader of the New Earth Battalion and based on the real life Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon) who summoned Cassady they drug the base with LSD to make the soldiers ineffective (ala this British Test) and free the detainees being used as guinea pigs for new torture techniques along with the goats being used for training purposes. Django and Cassady steal a helicopter fly off and disappear (assumed by the military to be dead) while Bob goes home to share the story and like Ronson is frustrated when the tales of torture become a humor story since the Barney The Dinosaur 'I love you' song was one of the songs used during the sleep deprivation/sensory overload tortures. The film ends whit Bob making peace with his life and resolving to fight on for truth, justice, and peaces while talking about how the world needed more Jedis. He then runs at a wall and passes though it (as most the the already confused audience got even more confused).
An Interesting twist since Ronson despite some unexplained items was a skeptic and considered it all to be madness expressed by a Post-Vietnam shell shocked US Military.
I really don't know what to make of this film - It's kind of entertaining but very loosely based on the actual groups involved so if your interested in the real groups I'd recommend Jon Ronson's Book The Men who Stare at Goats, its excellent companion 3-part documentary Crazy Rulers of the World, and Donald Tyson's Soul Flight which has a section devoted to Grill Flame/Stargate/Et Cetera.
The movie seems have been designed to be a massive Glamourbomb and I'm kind of interested to see the reactions to it. Though the pro-very white light and bunnies new agers elements left me cringing at bits.
One finial note at one point a soldier from the unit goes crazy and marches out into the base's yard naked and starts shooting as the training soldiers in the yard who scramble for cover. He later turns the gun on himself - considering the Shooting at Ft. Hood yesterday I'm surprised they didn't postpone the movie's opening. Tags: films, new age, reviews, state alchemy
Current Location: 34 W. Weber
Current Mood:  amused
Current Music: Ancient Rites - Thermopylae
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Well yeah... It's been a while since I've really been done much on LJ and well, there have been a number of multiple factors which have kept me a way from connecting online. First and first of all I'm a lazy bastard. Two I've busier than usual for some reason and when I've had free time I've been turning into a couch potato since we have the Science Channel and Chiller (an all Horror and Mindfuck spin-off of Sci-fi (yes, I know it's Syfy now but I have trouble typing or saying that without cracking up). Also I've been working through things in the aftermath of all the crap that went on - I had some weird mood swings, lack of energy, and random weird cravings for several weeks that I chalked up to all the crap which was going on until I realized I hadn't been eating right (more specifically lack of protein) and after I adjusted my diet I quickly returned to my old self. As for more lately, on the 30th I went to the (infamous) Witch's Ball which was an interesting experience to say the least. I ran into an old class mate from my Indian Religions class who I didn't recognize at first since last time I saw her she was wearing a hijab and was an ardent Muslim. I also ran into several people from Marcon including someone who offered to teach me Reiki. On All Hallow's Eve I stayed around and watched movies on the odd chance that trick-or-theaters would show up and watched the Classic Dracula (1931), Bram Stroker's Dracula, and a bit from the Spanish Version. Holy Crap is the cinematography awesome - it really is a better version with one exception - Carlos Villarías' stare just doesn't come off right to me and his acting just isn't as good as Lugosi - So in the end I like the 1931 English version a little better (although I don't really understand the armadillos - besides that in southwestern folklore they are said to dig up corpses but then why are roaming about Romania?). The AVGN did a good short review of this film that's worth checking out since it shows off some of the differences. Later that night that I made offerings to my ancestors and family spirits and then did some divination - and all came out to show continued economic misfortune and social issues (no fault on my part when I inquired) with recommendations to simplify and get back to basics and to build and reestablish social relations. Certainly food for thought. Also that night there was an argument across the street and one guy started blaring Soft Rock (with occasional arguments) from about five am until well past 6 am when I got back to sleep (which was some what easy as the soft rock while loud outside come through the walls at an accetable level and it was Soft Rock - what kind of person blasts Soft Rock anyways?). November 1st - I headed to the local ADF grove's Samhain celebration (which was celebrated as a Norse Winternights Celebration) where I caught up with a few people and talked some more with a few people from Marcon. During the ritual there was a guided meditation bit I saw a pretty vivid picture of Hel of which any written description I can give cannot do her justice. I also had a fairly vivid encounter with a group of ancestors and could feel then when they touched me or I touched them. The past two days have included a lot of running around and I watched two things that I'll do a quick review of in the not to distant future but I'm too tired at the moment. Tags: random
Current Location: 34 W. Weber
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Therion - Der Mitternachtslowe
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 I've always wondered about the 1JJ Swiss tarot deck in which Juno replaces the Papess (High Prestess) and Jupiter replaces the Pope (The Hierophant) which also happens in Tarot de Besancon and a few others. I had a feeling that there was tradition behind it that kept the overall message intact but never had any confirmation until I read this in Jean Seznec's The Survival of the Pagan Gods: The Mythological Tradition and Its Place in Renaissance Humanism1 (Bolding added for emphasis): "... it sometimes happens that the author of the Comentaire strays from moral interpretation (of myths) into the realm of social criticism. In fact, the mythological divinities by no means always symbolize for him vice in general, but suggest the vices of his own time, and above all the vices of the great - of clergy and princes. Pluto, for example, incarnates the evil prelate; Mars and Neptune, earthly tyrants. In contrast, Saturn, Jupiter, and Apollo upon occasion represent the virtuous ecclesiastic. As for Juno, she remains the incarnation of the church."
P. 93-94 This accords with many interpretation of the Pappess as representing the community of the Church in the tarot with Jupiter nicely filling in as an alternate symbol for the pope of the Tarot. Reading Seznec's work I've been surprised to learn that in that in the middle ages some deities took on new forms and attributes for example Juno who is identified as a personification of Memory in the form of Juno-Memoria:  The Iconography of which is explained thusly: Memory does, of course, keep alive the recollections of sin: hence the veil behind which Juno may hide her shame. The recollection of sin leads to repentance, and thus to reconciliation with God: This explains the rainbow, sign of divine forgiveness. Reconciliation gives birth to spiritual consolation, which fills the soul with rapture: hence the perfumes. And having, by virtue of Memory, attained repentance and reconciliation, the soul in its new state of blessedness regains the mastery of itself which sin had caused it to lose: hence the scepter, etc.
p.94 Seznec finds very little breakage in the tradition dealing with mythology and maintained that "The (Renaissance) scholar who believed that he had recovered the secret of the lost wisdom of antiquity was in reality merely returning to the hybrid doctrine that the (Church) Fathers had inherited from the last defenders of paganism. He prided himself on walking in the footprints of Plato, but the paths he followed had been well worn since the time of Fulgentius. (p.104) The only real distinguishing feature was that during the Renaissance Paganism at times merged with and became an equal with Christianity (with both faiths seen as allegories and symbols of a greater truth) instead of the gods being elements of the Christian universe as they had traditionally been seen. The former being characterized by Martianus Rufus' declaration: "Est unus deus et una dea. Sed sunt multa uti numina ita et nomina: Jupiter, Sol, Apollo, Moses, Christus, Luna, Ceres, Proserpina, Tellus, Maria. Sed haec cave enunties. Sunt enim occulta silento tamquam Eleusinarum dearum mysteria. Utendum est fabulis atque enigmatum integumentis in re sacra. (There is but one god and one goddess, but many are their powers and names: Jupiter, Sol, Apollo, Moses, Christ, Luna, Ceres, Proserpina, Tellus, Mary. But have care in speaking these things. They should be hidden in silence as are the Eleusinian Mysteries; sacred things must needs be wrapped in fable and enigma.)" (p. 99) Truly interesting. 1 Seznec, Jean. The Survival of the Pagan Gods: The Mythological Tradition and Its Place in Renaissance Humanism. Translated by Barbara F. Sessions. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972. Well I work everyday until next Tuesday and with it being OSU'S Welcome Week I'll probably not be around much on the net the rest of this week. Tags: books, christianity, paganism
Current Location: 34 W. Weber
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Anon - A Zaluzi To The Gods (Hurrian Hymn 6)
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A little update I picked this up for $6.99:
 It's the deluxe edition of the 2006 remake of Jai Santoshi Maa ( wiki). The original film was made in 1975 on a very low budget and stuck a cord. It features a local goddess called Santoshi Maa, who was rather obscure before the film and rocketed to stardom as result. The film shows her (and by implication other local deities, who are primarily goddesses) as more responsive, down to earth, and involved in their followers lives than the great gods and brought about a Renaissance in devotion to local deities, Women's roles in religion, and Shaktism (with which the cult of Santoshi Maa is associated). The deluxe edition came with a number of addition items so that one could offer a Puja to Santoshi Maa: 
The box (which is about the size and make of an average cigar box) includes the DVD of the 2006 remake, Aarti (hymn) Book, Santoshi Maa Idol, Diya (lamp), Puja Bell, Puja Thali (an offering dish) Mata's Chunnari, Incense Sticks and a Garland.
The Santoshi Maa statue which came in the box (which now rests on my shrine).
The Hymn Book - unfortunately it's all in Hindi and as such I cannot read it.
The Incense Sticks.I also ordered the original film for $6.79 (sadly no fun extras) from another seller and that should be coming soon - I think I'll do a review of both films in the future. Tags: hinduism, random
Current Location: 34 W. Weber
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Grindhouse Go-Go: Plan 9 From Outer Space
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Ok, since a couple of people have told me that they like my reviews and Taking a quick look at my stuff off the top of my head there's a lot of weird religious-related stuff I have easy access to, such as Pantheon High, Garuda (The day God turns against men, lives will be sacrificed, faith will be destroyed!), Chemical Wedding, the Dinoriders Daoist episode, Mothman, The Other Conquest, et cetera - I think I'm going to try to do a weekly review as I have enough material to easily last me months at that rate. So my first quick target is going to be a new show on the History Channel that has attracted my attention - CLASH OF THE GODS.  ( Read more... )Tags: moonstruck, paganism
Current Location: 34 W. Weber
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Ex Deo - The Pantheon (Jupiter's Reign)
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