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1To most people, witchcraft and shamanism appear to be two distinct and separate disciplines. The general public associates shamanism with the holy healing people of native tribes, while they associate witches with spells, potions, Halloween, and, due to popular misconceptions, evil. The two seem worlds apart, but in reality, they come from a very similar root.
Witchcraft and Shamanism
What Is a Shaman?The word shaman, or saman, is Tungus in origin, coming from the Ural-Altaic tribal people of Siberia. Related to the Tungus word sa, which translates as to know, the Siberian people use the word saman to refer to men and women who act as the spiritual healers and wise ones of the tribe. They are the ones who know the mysteries of spirit. The word shaman is properly used to refer to the spirit healers of those tribes who share a similar genetic origin to those of Siberia. It is usually used in reference to the healers of the North and South American tribes, but culturally and linguistically it can be used throughout Eurasia.
The role of the shaman applies to both men and women, though culturally one gender can be more prevalent than the other. Few refer to female shamans with a different word, such as shamaness. Sexual orientation and gender identity does not preclude one from shamanism either. In many traditions, shamans dress in the clothes of the opposite gender or practice homosexuality.
For anthropologists exploring the spiritualities of tribal societies, the word shaman is an easier and safer term than the words witch, wizard, sorcerer, magician, and seer, even though these labels were used in the past to describe the tribal shamans European counterparts. For those from a Western mainstream academic background, shaman has less negative baggage than these other highly charged terms.
In an effort to be more precise, some anthropologists and mystical students use the term core shamanism to differentiate the use of shamanic techniques and ideas from traditional Siberian or Native shamanism. Although it is not a religion, shamanism has a definitive set of core practices that sets it apart from other traditions of magick, yet it can be found worldwide, particularly in tribal cultures, and in the foundations of visionary traditions. Not all mystics can be referred to as shamanistic in the truest sense of the word.
Core concepts to the practice of shamanism include the following:
·The ability to enter an altered state of consciousness through the use of sound, rhythm, movement, and plants.
·The experience of one or more nonphysical realities that are just as real to the practitioner as the physical world, and of actions in the nonphysical worlds that directly affect the physical world.
·The use of an altered state, a trance sometimes defined as an ecstasy, to project self-awareness from the physical world to the nonphysical worlds.
·Dealings with nonphysical beings, or spirits, who enter into a relationship with the practitioner. They offer guidance, healing, or power used to create change in the physical world.
·Other mystics may have the same gifts and abilities but do not access them through ecstatic trance or working with the spirits. Though they can be gifted medicine people or spell casters, without that link to the spirit world they are not necessarily shamans.
The voluntary interface with the unseen and the ability to use this link to create change is what sets a shaman apart from other magi. Shamans are typically equated with the title of medicine person, though not all medicine men and women use shamanic techniques to effect healing.
Humanity seems to be hard-wired with a few common ways to interface with the spirit world. These interfaces are a natural part of our physical and spiritual makeup. Wise ones across the globe separately discovered and applied these techniques and then applied their own cultural beliefs and rituals to them. These techniques have survived because they work. Archaeological evidence indicates that shamanic practice is at least 20,000 years old, making it truly the oldest profession. The recognition of core shamanic techniques in the lands beyond Siberia and the Americas has led to the somewhat controversial use of terms such as Celtic Shamanism and Norse Shamanism, applying a cultural adjective to the shamanic practice.
Practitioners of these other cultural traditions sometimes resent the label of shamanism. The word shaman, being from Siberia, was never used by the ancestors of the Celts, Norse, or any other Europeans. A Celtic practitioner once asked me why we dont say Siberian Druidism or Asian Druidism, and in a way he had a point. Through this anthropological choice, shamanism became a default term recognizable to all.
This practice of using the word shaman as a generic label has led to a bit of confusion and some difficult feelings. Those involved in the Native tribes feel that culturally it is their word and resent it being used as a generic label or default term. Modern pagans, sharing a similar spiritual history with tribal communities, should be sensitive to these feelings and make an effort to create bridges of understanding. As you study these techniques, it is important to remember that although there are great similarities between the healing practices of many cultures, there are also great differences in thought, philosophy, and interpretation. Such differences must be respected.
When I first started on my shamanic path, I attended a lecture in the Boston area by a scholarly and experienced Celtic practitioner of the Underworld traditions, visiting from the United Kingdom. He insisted, and made quite a convincing case, that there is no such thing as Celtic shamanism. In his opinion, people who use the term are careless, sloppy scholars and need to be better educated. The very next week, I attended another lecture by a Harvard scholar and practicing Celtic shaman who outlined the reasons why someone would call her practice shamanism. She, too, was quite convincing.
I realized then that if the professional experts cant agree, then perhaps there is no one right answer. I use the term shamanism myself because its practical when teaching and I truly feel called to the word. I like its meaning, history, and associations. The practice of core shamanism, and how it relates to the traditions of witchcraft, is a primary focus of my own work.
Stone Age WitchcraftWhen I teach workshops on core shamanism, during the introductions I hear stories of students who, like me, are of European descent. They tell me how they sought out spirituality in Native American traditions, going to drumming circles and sweat lodges, and how they are saddened that their own culture only has rigid, dogmatic institutions and not personal spiritual traditions. They ask me, Why dont we have our own shamans? Why didnt we carry on these traditions? We did. Our shamans were called witches.
When I trace back the history of witchcraft and paganism, I find my oldest spiritual ancestors in the Stone Age. During the Stone Age, we have evidence of Goddess-reverent cultures. In these seemingly primitive cultures, there is evidence of ritual and ceremony. We had a people directly dependent upon nature for survival. They learned to partner with the environment around them to prosper. They honored the earth as Mother Goddess, and perhaps the grain, sun, or animals as Father God. They believed in the innate magick, divinity, and spirit in all things. They worked with these spirits to create change, ranging from a successful hunt to rainstorms.
In these tribes were people who acted as spiritual guides. They had a deeper sense of connection with the spirit world and psychic ability. They could partner with the spirits and gods to receive information from the unseen lands that would help the tribe. Most likely many of these wise ones were women, since in the hunter-gatherer societies, the females were protected because of their ability to bring life into the tribe, while one man could father many children. The older men and the injured hunters with spiritual ability would join these women, offering their gifts and guidance to the tribes. This started the archetypal image of the female witch, the wise old wizard, and the wounded healer. They were the first shamans.
As these lands developed into an agrarian society, many of these wise ones gathered to form the first temples and became the first priestesses and priests of society.
They used the tools of the new society, such as writing and formal ritual items, in their crafts. Eventually these mystics created the high arts of ceremonial magick and worship. We find these priestesses and priests influencing the rulers of the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Egypt as those cultures grew into their classical empires.
Some wise ones chose to stay on the fringes of society, without formal temples. They continued on their primal paths to power. They did not have formal schools of training, but kept their teaching personal and individual. They kept the ways of the herbs and medicines. They were in closer contact to untouched nature, the elements and the animals, and continued their relationship with all to better serve those in need. The newly evolving urbanites were more likely to go to the formal temples, while the rural peasants sought help from the simple wise woman or man.
Thus the traditions remained, as empires grew and crumbled. Migrations of many tribes from the East, those of the Celts and Teutons, stretched out across Europe, absorbing the culture, myths, and magick of the indigenous people of Europe, those who had erected the mounds, henges, and standing stones. When you go back to the Stone Age root of all these spiritual and magickal traditions, all evidence points to the core shamanic techniques as a common origin from which the others sprang. What we would now call the forms of European shamanism survived and flourished in many lands, changing with the times. From the Stone Age medicine woman to the image of the medieval witch, the role was one of healing, herbcraft, and midwifery, acting as a bridge between the worlds.
It wasnt until the rise of Christianity that Europes magickal and shamanic traditions came under heavy fire. Intimately linked with what we now consider the pagan religions of old, practitioners of the magickal arts, those who partnered with the spiritual forces of worlds seen and unseen, became targets of fear and persecution. The old gods were called demons, and those who honored them became agents of evil in the minds of Church elders. We did have shamans in the form of witches, and we, as a culture, wiped most of them out and sent the rest underground. As logic, science, and technology replaced the old forms of mysticism, witches were cast into the land of fairy tales and make-believe, no longer taken seriously.
Those of European descent lost a rich shamanic history and tradition due to the persecutions of the Burning Times. Because of the propaganda that was spread, we dont even recognize the remnants of our heritage, though you can catch distorted glimpses of it in the witch-hunt trial transcripts. Though some magickal practices were preserved as folk wisdom and family secrets, others were resurrected through mythology and written lore.
The Surviving Traditions and TribesIf our European traditions are broken lines of wisdom, where do we go to find the missing pieces of our past? In my search, I looked to the surviving tribal people. Unlike the Europeans, the surviving tribal people of the Americas did not turn on their own healers and mystics. The native magick was only in danger after the European invasions and subsequent missionary drives to convert the native population to Christianity by fear and force. This form of spirituality, although threatened, has survived relatively intact in the modern era. Even the anthropologists research records tribal ways and makes information more widely available. When I think of most primal forms of shamanic witchcraft in Stone Age Europe, I think their way of life, and general belief system, isnt too far from those keeping the tribal ways now. Modern tribes provide a template for modern witches to reclaim our shamanic ancestry.
As modern witches seek to reintroduce elements of shamanism into witchcraft, we look not only to the traditions in the New World, but also to the practices of surviving traditions of European shamanism. Some are tidbits of folk wisdom from the families of seers brought to light by contemporary scholars. Others are reconstructions of this wisdom based on the old mythologies and intuitive experimentation. Folk magick and re-constructionist traditions are the surviving branches of our older forms of European magick.
Although these cultures, both of the Old World and the New World, influence modern Wicca today, few Wiccans see their magickal practices as shamanic in origin. Hopefully, with more time and information, shamanic roots will be incorporated more fully into the practice of witchcraft.
African spiritual traditions are diverse in tribe, language, and location, but have many shamanic techniques in common. Most believe that one distant creative force charged a pantheon of lesser beings to regulate creation. The tribal medicine men function as intermediaries between the people and these spirits, as well as the ancestors. They are respected as priests and ministers. Rituals use music, drumming, and dance. Westerners see the influences of African spiritual traditions in the religions of Voodoo, Santeria, Condomblé, and Ifa.
The Asian spiritual traditions have a strong shamanic foundation, with its influence found in the nature-based spiritual practices of China, Tibet, Japan, and Korea. Technically, according to the etymology of the word, shamanism most appropriately refers to the practices of those spirit workers in Central Asia and Siberia.
Although not directly linked to modern traditions of witchcraft, the modern seekers search for spirituality that led to the exploration of Native American traditions has also led the seeker to explore the traditions of the Australian aboriginals. As diverse as the tribes of the Americas and Africa, the Australian aboriginals share many shamanistic elements. Best known among them is the belief in the Dreamtime and the reverence of animal spirits.
Though the true oral traditions of the Druids may have been lost, the mysteries of the Celts have been preserved through the myths and poetry of Celtic tradition. Even though many have been Christianized from their original pagan foundation, you can clearly see the roots of a culture well versed in the spirit world when you read the tales of Ireland regarding the Tuatha de Danaan, the Welsh Mabinogi myth cycle, the classic transformation of Taliesin the Bard, and the prophecies of Merlin. The pagan Celts were a culture that saw the spirit worlds side by side with the material world, and one step could easily take you through the gates of the human world into the realm of the spirits and gods. Proponents of the old faiths claim that Celtic shamanism has survived under the veil of Christianity in folk customs honoring the faery folk, second sight, spiritual healing and the Underworld tradition. Looking to the surviving folklore of the British Isles, Im inclined to agree.
Central and South American
The ancient empires of the Incans, Mayans, Aztecs, and Toltecs had rich shamanic cultures that survive today in Central and South America with modern practitioners.
Although each of these cultures is very different, they all share striking similarities. Mystical healers and those who speak with the spirits are a part of life in these lands. Many consider themselves the guardians of the sacred past. Their magnificent buildings and potentially bloody rituals do not seem like shamanism to the casual observer, yet like the Egyptians and Greeks, their civilization and religion grew out of the guiding mysteries of shamanic technique. Use of sacred calendars, herbal lore, sacred sites, animal helpers, and spirit work can be found in these surviving traditions despite the encroachment of new religions and technology. In fact, like many African traditions, some have absorbed Christian principles as a way of survival. Ive felt a resonance in my own soul when comparing the Aztec and Mayan traditions to my own practice of European-based witchcraft.
With its sophisticated culture and architecture, ancient Egyptian civilization is another culture that doesnt spring to mind as being shamanic, yet shamans have one eye focused on the next world, the ancestors and the afterlife. Egyptian magick was focused on the mysteries of death and the afterlife as well as magick for daily life. One of the most prominent myths of this land is the death and resurrection of the god Osiris. Shamanic initiation journeys all over the world are much like the story of Osiris. In the spirit world, the shaman is confronted with death, horribly mutilated or torn into pieces. The power of magick, sometimes embodied as a goddess, resurrects the shaman, yet leaves him changed somehow, adding or subtracting some element. This rebirth grants the shaman new powers. Osiris was resurrected by his sister-wife, the goddess Isis, yet was missing his phallus, thereby becoming the lord of the dead. He could no longer create life, but gained a new kingdom. Perhaps Osiris was a shamanic god, and the Egyptian dynasties evolved from a more shamanic, tribal culture. The story of Isis and Osiris became the basis of Egyptian mystery schools.
The Finnish people also have a full shamanic tradition that is fairly unknown in the modern world. Historically, the Finns were well-known for being a nation of formidable wizards, holding great power and the ability to change the winds and weather with their songs. They are a nomadic people, coming out of Asia, who eventually settled in their current homeland. Linguistically and magickally they have more in common with the ancient traditions of Siberia, Mongolia, and Korea than their European counterparts. Some believe that the Finns may have predated the Celts in the British Isles, influencing Celtic myth and magick. Their shamanic practices continued when the Finns settled in North America, and they were sometimes considered witches in the New World. The word tietäjä, referring to a shaman or wizard, is used in Finnish translations of the Bible to refer to the wise men or magi. Their magick works primarily through the magicians relationship with the spirits of nature and the gods, through trance, drumming, words of power, song, and purification rituals of the sauna. Many of the traditional myths, folklore, and magickal charms were eventually recorded in the Kalevala, a collection of epic folk poems from the oral traditions of Finland and Karelia, first compiled in 1835. It is known as the Finnish National Epic.
The magickal lore and philosophy of Hawaii is called Huna, meaning hidden knowledge. Practitioners of Huna are called kahunas, acting as priests, ministers, and sorcerers to their people. Though this tradition was almost wiped out due to the Christianization of the Hawaiian islands, it has been preserved and its lore translated for the modern world. Huna contains a quite detailed form of spiritual psychology and healing. Kahunas have parallels in other Pacific lands, such as the tahuna of Tahiti and the tohunga of New Zealand.
One of the most interesting legacies of European shamanism comes from an area in Northern Italy known as Friuli, where Italian, Etruscan, Germanic, and Slavic traditions mingled. Although the pagan spiritual practices of Tuscany honored the ancestors and were somewhat shamanic in nature, in Friuli there existed a tradition known as the Benandanti, who practiced an unusual blend of shamanic magick. The Benandanti were an agricultural fertility cult, pagan in origin and possibly related to the Cults of Diana or the myths of the Wild Hunt. Later, Christian beliefs were mingled with their own. When the witch trials of the Burning Times caught up with them, the Benandanti honestly felt they were good Christians, doing Christs and the Lords will.
The members of the Benandanti, or good walkers, were marked at birth by a caul that was preserved as a magickal charm worn around their neck. On the Ember Days, the days just before the equinoxes and solstices, they would be called to service.
Some say they were called by drums or summoned by angels. Unlike many magickal orders, the Benandanti were called to gather together only in spirit, going into a deep slumberlike trance and projecting their spirits to a common meeting ground, the Valley of Josaphat in the center of the world. They would transform, or shapeshift, into animals such as mice, rabbits, cats, and butterflies. There in the valley, as good soldiers, they would fight the forces of malignancy, decay, and corruption, all the things that symbolized a poor harvest or harsh weather.
These forces were embodied as witches and warlocks by the later Christian Benandanti. Buying into the Christian propaganda, the witches, or bad walkers, were different from the Benandanti because they caused illness and harmed children, while the Benandanti protected the harvest, village, and children from the witches. They would fight the bad walkers with stalks of fennel, known for its healing powers. If they were successful, the year would be good. If they were defeated, the land would be plagued with problems. They returned to their bodies by the dawn and returned to otherwise normal lives.
To the witch inquisitors, this all sounded too much like a witchs sabbat, though the Benandanti fiercely denied it. The Church did not strongly persecute the Benandanti. To the modern eye, the rites of the Benandanti are very shamanicdrums, festival days, traveling in spirit, acting as sacred warriors of the village, shapechanging, and using the spiritual powers of plants to battle and heal. For more on the little-known Benandanti, look to Carlo Ginzburgs classic work The Night Battles.
To some, the traditions of Greece and Rome are the first that come to mind upon mention of the word paganism or witchcraft. Most people are familiar with the classical gods of Olympus, and with the emphasis on culture, society, and philosophy, most people dont tend to think of the Greco-Roman influence as particularly shamanic until you revisit the myths. When you understand that shamanism is not necessarily a tribal native religion, but a practice of walking between worlds, you cant help but see the parallels of the shaman in classic mythology.
Many Greco-Roman deities have shamanic and magickal characteristics, particularly Hermes, the messenger god. The story of Persephones transformation from the maiden Kore while in the Underworld of Hades is much like the shamanic initiation of the witch. In fact, some modern witchcraft traditions reenact the descent of this goddess during initiation rituals and seasonal celebrations. We now believe the initiatory rituals of the Eleusinian Mystery Schools are based on stories of Demeter, Kore, and Hades. The Mystery Schools of Pythagoras, Orpheus, Dionysus, Eleusis, and the imported Persian cults of Mithras could all be considered formalized shamanic rites. The early Greek mystics were certainly influenced by the more primal religions of the northern territories of Thrace and Scythia, known as the land of witches.
Native North American
When discussing shamanism, most people who are unaware of the Siberian origins of the word automatically assume that youre talking about the medicine people of the Native American tribes. Although viewed as a single culture by many, each tribe has its own mythology, rituals, songs, and traditions. As there has been a revival of such religious practices among Native people, some tribes have been willing to open their doors to seekers, usually white men and women, who want to participate and practice the medicine ways. Many people in the modern pagan and New Age movements spend a lifetime searching for their own practices and experiences, and participate in either Native rituals or anglicized forms of Native rituals. They then bring these experiences to their own traditions of witchcraft. Since European witchcraft has lost most of its specific shamanic rituals, modern witches draw upon Native American teachings for inspiration. I know many witches who participate in traditional forms of vision quests, sweat lodges, and tribal dancing, often studying with a Native American teacher.
Like the Celts, when you look to the myths of the Norse, you will find a rich, complex system of shamanic thought. Their prose, the epics of the Eddas, encode this wisdom much like the Celtic texts. In some ways, Norse mythology outlines the most complete and complex shamanic cosmology of Western Europe, consisting of nine worlds in the three regions of upper, lower, and middle levels. In each world dwell spirits, gods, and creatures that find parallels in other cultures across the globe.
Though many think of Norse magick as strictly the arena of rune magick and divination, the Norse have a long history of shamanic practice and seership, using song, poetry, and shivering and shaking to induce trance. Norse shamanic practices are sometimes referred to as Seidr. Seidr is associated with the goddess Freya and her priestesses. The cults of the rune master god Odin, or Wotan, are also considered shamanic in nature. Odin used the shamanic techniques of self-sacrifice, piercing his side with a spear, and hanging from the World Tree to learn the mystery of the runes. Initiates of these mysteries possibly reenacted the sacrifices of Odin to gain inspiration, vision, and magickal power.
The Siberian traditions of shamanism are possibly some of the oldest forms of shamanism surviving today. Outlawed under Soviet rule, Siberian shamans kept their knowledge and traditions in secret, and are now free to practice again. The origins of the word shaman come from Siberia, and many people theorize that the spread of tribal culture and shamanism to the Americas began with these cultures as groups migrated to other climates. After studying traditional teachings from these lands and speaking with those who have studied with the shamans of Siberia, I find many similarities with all the great traditions, making me wonder if this was one of the first fonts of magickal knowledge. Siberian shamanism weaves together information I have found in North and South American, European, and Far Eastern traditions. I didnt expect to feel so at home with Siberian mythology and cosmology. I thought it would be more alien to my Western witchcraft mind, yet I found many correspondences. Like other traditions, those of Siberia emphasize that shamanism is a calling, a vocation, and that one is literally called by the spirits to service.
The Slavic traditions of magick and shamanism found in Eastern Europe influenced the cults of the Benandanti in Northern Italy and continued independently on their own for quite some time. Many countries in Eastern Europe were the last to convert fully to Christianity. Knowledge of a diverse pantheon of spirits and deities has survived into modern times. Slavic traditions were very dualistic and had a strong focus on nature spirits and ancestor reverence. Like many cultures, Slavic tribes had a ritual totem animal. The Slavs also believed in a great World Tree with three divisions. A personal tree was seen as a sort of spiritual telephone to connect with the ancestors and other worlds. These traditions have a wheel of yearly celebrations somewhat similar to the modern pagan Wheel of the Year. Their religious orders at all levels are open to both men and women.
The Modern CraftDuring the witchcraft renaissance of the twentieth century, many witches planted the seeds of neoshamanism into Wicca. Just as modern paganism is more accurately called neopaganism, or new paganism, referring to the revival of paganism and not a truly unbroken line of practice, modern shamanic practice is sometimes referred to as neoshamanism. Just because it is a modern practice doesnt mean it is less valid. Modern people need modern traditions, but must pay homage to the past. Though most people would not consider a psychologist who practiced shamanic counseling to be an authentic shaman, most modern people would be more likely to experience the blessings of shamanic healing in the context of a psychology session than by visiting the nearest reservation and seeking out a tribal shaman. Many tribal shamans who build bridges to the modern world are versed in Western psychology. The old and the new can complement each other.
To find shamanism in the modern craft, you need only to look at the era of Gerald Gardner, cited as the founder of Wicca, to find his contemporary, Robert Cochrane, who practiced a more shamanic form of witchcraft. When you look at traditional Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca, which stress ceremonial-magick techniques such as casting the circle and calling the quarters, creating group consciousness in a coven, the gender polarity of the Great Rite, and magickal correspondences, the shamanic elements of witchcraft are not apparent. Ceremony and spellcraft are emphasized. But when you look beyond the traditional sources to the remnants of family traditions, you find witchcraft and shamanism intertwined. Cochrane claimed to be a hereditary witch, practicing a form of magick and ritual that was different from Gardners. Cochranes craft consisted mainly of silent ritual and meditative journey. These practices were more spontaneous and not performed from a Book of Shadows. From our modern point of view, Cochranes work seems more shamanic.
Doreen Valiente, Gardners highly influential high priestess, left Gardners group. She later contacted Cochrane and began practicing witchcraft with him. Cochrane detested the publicness of Gardner and might have coined the term Gardnerian as a derogatory word against the tradition. Valiente claimed that Cochranes tradition was more shamanic than the formal magickal style of Gardner, though Cochrane would probably not have appreciated the shamanic comparison in his life, since to him it would denote something simplistic or primitive and not necessarily the spiritual art he saw as his craft. His teachings helped the influential Valiente move away from the internal political strife that was threatening modern Wicca and into a more personal practice, though she eventually left his coven, the Clan of Tubal Cain, due to his later authoritarian ways and verbal attacks on Gardnerians.
Cochrane and his clan preferred to work outdoors, in three basic settings. The first was on the hilltop, and such works included images of the four-winded castle, relating to mysteries of the Goddess. The second was in a forest glade, working with the energies of the Green and Horned God in a wilder form of nature magick. Last were the mysteries of the cave and cauldron, dedicated to the triple goddess and the power of destiny. The ritual tools used were slightly different than what is now common in modern witchcraft, including an emphasis on the stang, or a forked staff. Altars were built around the stang itself. Other prominent tools included the cauldron, cup, knife, cord, and stone. Cochrane taught various types of spiritual vision, and his theology included specific information on the soul. The group structure consisted of a clan. Though the rituals of this tradition may not be as formalized as those of other traditions, the symbolism does indicate a sophisticated form of magickal practice and theory.
Many believe Robert Cochrane was one of the true hereditary witches with a formal tradition and not just smatterings of folk magick. He hinted as much in his private, personal letters. His practices and ideas varied greatly enough from the better-known forms of Wicca to demonstrate another living branch of the craft different from Gardner or Alex Sanders. Alexandrian Wicca, founded by Alex Sanders, has many parallels to Gardnerian Wicca, differentiating both from Cochranes teachings.
Unfortunately, as with many of our modern founders of Wicca, such as Gardner and Sanders, controversy surrounded Cochrane, putting his teachings into doubt. He first claimed to be taught by his maternal great uncle, and then later by his mother. Some skeptics claim he was initiated as a Gardnerian witch and later refuted the teachings, created his own tradition, and claimed a hereditary practice like many witches looking for authenticity in a greatly reconstructed tradition. Though Cochrane was very charismatic, he practiced a form of verbal power play, which he called grey magic, to baffle those he met, to prevent them from forming a clear opinion of him. This practice wasnt harmful, but simply confusing and meant to keep people off balance. Some thought Cochrane taught through puzzle and riddle, like an Asian scholar giving his students a paradoxical parable to contemplate and decipher. Perhaps this grey magick is what confused people.
Cochranes best-known controversy involved a plate stamped with 1734 on it. He gave it great mystical significance, claiming the plate had been passed down in his family for over a hundred years. Doreen Valiente later made it publicly known that she had purchased the copper plate for Cochrane to use to carry sabbat cakes at ritual. It is difficult to tell what was a whimsical joke and what was an outright lie for greater attention. Though much of Cochranes material is historically plausible, because of such fabrications, much of his work is suspect.
Cochrane died in 1966 from an overdose of belladonna leaves. During a visit with friend and former covenmate Evan Jones, Cochrane said his fate was in the lap of the Goddess. That night he was found in his garden by his neighbor. He was taken to the hospital and died three days later from the poison. Much speculation surrounds his death. It is usually thought of as a suicide or an accidental death in a visionary ritual gone awry. Some witches think he was the willing sacrifice of a summer solstice ritual, as an embodiment of the sacrificed God. Cochranes work continued onward after his death. His traditions were expanded and made their way to the United States as one of the lesser-known traditions of witchcraft, but still influencing the neoshamanic and witchcraft revival.
While in the Americas during the early 1960s, Carlos Castaneda was beginning his adventure from anthropology student to practitioner of the indigenous shamanism of Mexico. He reportedly met an old Yaqui Indian named Juan Matis who took him on as an apprentice. Juan Matis was called a sorcerer, and in this Toltec tradition, sorcerer was equated with our concept of the shaman. Castaneda wrote many books on his experiences, though the veracity of his works has come into question. He published The Teachings of Don Juan in 1968. Some believe Juan Matis to be a fictional character and literary vehicle to propel Castanedas own beliefs. Castanedas work was one of the first to bring the concepts of ordinary and nonordinary states of reality to the popular Western consciousness. Though his books did not emphasize the healing aspects of shamanism as much as the warrior aspects, they did serve to introduce the paradigms of shamanism and magick as a noble practice, rather than a fearful or demonic art, to the modern reader. It sparked the imagination of regular people seeking a new spiritual practice of experience to replace the old ones of pure faith and dogma.
Also in the early 1960s, anthropologist Michael Harner began a study of the tribes in South America and experienced a shamanic initiation, inspiring his research into the healing spiritual practices of those tribes and how those in the modern world can be a part of shamanic healing. From his life-changing experience he created the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. Through the foundation and his book The Way of the Shaman, he introduced both the concepts and the practice of core shamanic techniques to many in the Western world, paralleling the work of Castaneda, yet very different in approach because the focus was on healing. He made the practice of shamanism accessible and available to people of many different faiths and traditions, including those involved in modern paganism.
Selena Fox, high priestess of Circle Sanctuary near Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, began a tradition generally known as Wiccan Shamanism. The practice blends more traditional elements of Wicca, such as the magick circle and the Wheel of the Year, with elements of African and Native American tribal groups, including drumming, rattling, and ecstatic dance. Healing, spirit work, and ancestor reverence are primary focuses, and initiation experiences are conducted through solitary vigil. Though Wiccan Shamanism is traditionally associated with Fox, other groups have fused shamanic practices to Wicca, and have created common terms such as shamanic Wicca or shamanic witchcraft for their practice, with no direct ties to Fox.
Victor Anderson is a cofounder of the Feri (sometimes spelled Faery) tradition of witchcraft. While in Oregon, at age nine, Anderson was reportedly initiated into a tradition of witchcraft by a group who called themselves faeries. During the ceremony, an old naked woman sat in the center of the circle. She was surrounded by brass bowls filled with herbs. Anderson removed his clothes and was sexually initiated by her. Although he was nearly blind due to a medical condition, he experienced a vision of the old woman becoming the Goddess, and then they were joined by a vision of the Horned God, crowned in blue flame. The god was powerful yet effeminate, with an erect penis, and spoke to him. Once the communication with these deities was complete, the vision disappeared, and he returned to the circle with the old woman. She taught him about the herbs around her, and washed him in butter, oil, and salt. Through this ritual, he had a very shamanic experience.
Anderson later worked in a coven and eventually married a woman named Cora who practiced with him. A family friend, who was renamed Gwydion Pendderwen, was initiated by the Andersons, and with inspiration from an Alexandrian Book of Shadows, they created the formal rituals of the Faery Tradition, later renamed Feri. As the Feri tradition grew and evolved, aspects of Hawaiian and African spirituality were incorporated. Much of the Feri tradition remains a mystery to the public as little has been published on the subject. Since then, many traditions of witchcraft have evolved claiming kinship or partnership with the various spirits referred to as faeries. Names such as faery Wicca and faery witchcraft are now common, but not directly related to the Andersons tradition.
Starhawk, author of the highly influential book The Spiral Dance (1979), was initiated into the Feri tradition by Anderson, and it greatly impacted her own work and path. She is a founder of the Reclaiming, a feminist collective group based in the San Francisco area, and is also a political activist. In the revised tenth-anniversary edition of The Spiral Dance, Starhawk compared the modern pagan movement to more shamanic cultures. She considers witchcraft fundamentally a shamanic religion because of the emphasis on healing, otherworldly contact, and raising energy.
The husband and wife team of John and Caitlín Matthews, based in the United Kingdom, continue to do an amazing service of bringing both the history and practice of the Celtic traditions to the public. Both have written numerous books on the subject. Most notably, John authored The Celtic Shaman, and Caitlín authored Singing the Soul Back Home. Through both practical exercises and a detailed study of Celtic myth and texts, the two authors bring the practices of the Celts to life.
Much like John and Caitlín Matthews, author and teacher R. J. Stewart brings the Celtic faery and Underworld traditions to the modern pagan world. With a detailed foundation in both the Western Mysteries and Celtic lore, his works, such as Earth Light and Power Within the Land, teach practitioners to make real, living contact with the spirits of the Underworld.
Tom Cowan has added to the traditional lore of both witchcraft and shamanism. He coauthored Power of the Witch and Love Magic with Laurie Cabot and wrote Fire in the Head, a book of Celtic shamanism.
Author Kenneth Johnson has done remarkable work comparing various traditions of shamanism with paganism and witchcraft. His book Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey (formerly North Star Road) was one of the first works presented to mainstream pagan practitioners that overtly demonstrates the similarities between witchcraft and shamanism through a survey of cultures as diverse as the Norse and the Mayan. He is


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Now to invert the conversation slightly, there are a few posts that will draw my ire or a rather terse response from me, if I bother responding at all.
First is extremely laziness. The number of questions I see that could be answered with six seconds of Googling is astounding, but generally even those are treated far more civilly than they probably deserve. There are also the "I got C++, how make game?" questions, which take lazy to a whole new level. Again I am still shocked at the treatment such a lazy question ellicits in these parts... I have seen pages of answer to a question someone took 2 seconds to write and often didn't bother with spelling or grammar checking in the least. On a near daily basis, I see two or three near identical threads on the same page! Yet, people still take the time and effort to respond to each of them.
Next is, a lot of people really DO need a reality check. People, most people it actually seems, want to skip the learning curve and "get to the fun bits". Game development doesn't work like that and pretending it does really is doing nobody any favors.
So I suppose I want to do the exact inverse of the OP. I want to congratulate the community at being so understanding of new developers, of having patience and giving your time and effort, even in the face of what is very often extreme laziness. And I want to applaud the moderation on this forum, for basically being mostly invisible, which is perhaps the high praise you can actually give them! The moderators on this forum seem exactly like all other (active) posters, while still maintaining civility in the face of absolute anarchy.
Edited by Serapth, 22 August 2012 - 01:41 PM.

subset: commoncrawl


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How many times have you ran out in the middle of a great party to buy a bag of ice from the gas station down…
Discontinued Product
44 lb Built-In Ice Maker
Sorry, the manufacturer is no longer producing this product.
Description & Highlights
OrienUSA 44 lb Capacity Built-In Ice Maker - FS-55IM
Orien's 44 lb Built-In Ice Maker (FS-55IM) makes a great addition to your kitchen or bar. Despite its compact size, this ice maker can make up to 44 pounds of clear ice per day. A front breathing cooling system allows it to be installed as either as a built-in or freestanding unit. The removable bin can store up to 25 pounds of ice and a stainless door looks great under your counter. The door is reversible and has a stainless steel handle.
To maintain the efficiency of this unit, we recommend using an inline filter to remove minerals from your water. This unit requires a gravity drain - if you don't have a gravity drain near the unit, you'll need a low-profile pump to drain water into a drain or up into a sink.
Can be used either freestanding or built-in:This ice maker vents in front for under-counter installation, and the black cabinet and stainless door look great for freestanding use
Reversible door:The door can hinge on either side, making it versatile for various installation scenarios
- Model: FS-55IMOrienUSA 44 lb Built-In Ice Maker
- Brand: OrienUSARemovable bin stores 25 lbs of ice
- Can be used both freestanding or built-inUL-listed
- Air-cooled condenserCFC-free
- Automatic overflow protectionElectrical: 3.7A/4.8A
- Reversible doorShipping weight: 116 lbs
- Warranty: 1 year fullDimensions: 33.5" H x 14.6" W x 23" D
- Height: 33.5"
- Width: 14.6"
- Depth: 23"


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Lean Champion for the Supply Chain
Lean Champion for the Supply Chain is an application based training program to prepare participants to implement, maintain and improve the flow of products, services and information throughout the supply chain. They will learn and apply guiding principles, tools and techniques of Lean to provide greater value by reducing costs and continuously improving value streams.
Key Supply Chain Management concepts taught include:
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Key Lean concepts taught include:
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22 DIY Ways To Reuse Empty Booze Bottles
Whether you're stuck inside during the hurricane with nothing to do but drink (and "work from home"), or just happen to have a whole bunch of empty bottles, you can make these easy projects even if the power goes out.
Before trying most of these projects, you'll want to remove the label from your bottle (unless you want an eternal reminder that you've been drinking rosé from the $5.99 bin). Creative Jewish Mom has some great tips on how to go about doing that. Also, it should go without saying that you don't actually have to use alcohol bottles.
1. Decorate a bottle with washi tape to make a pretty, easy vase:
All hail washi tape, supreme ruler of craft supplies.
2. Wrap them in twine or yarn:
Apply glue in sections starting from the bottom of the bottle up, wrapping the twine or yarn as you go.
3. Paint bottles and use the twine just around the neck for a more nautical look:
Instructions from A Smith of All Trades.
4. Make a lamp:
The obvious irony here is that you won't be able to test if it works until the power comes back on, but it'll give you something to look forward to (besides the sweet knowledge of your own survival). Find out how at Instructables; use hardware from an old lamp you don't like anymore instead of buying new stuff from the hardware store.
5. Decorate for Halloween:
Instructions available here.
6. Use nail polish to paint more intricate designs:
Some tips for painting with polish here. You might want to use a smaller bottle, like one for beer or soda, since the nail polish might run out quicker than you'd think. Also, be careful of fumes!
7. Or use Sharpie:
Instructions and pattern ideas available here.
8. Make chalkboard bottles:
You can write ANYTHING YOU WANT on them, like swear words or Justin Bieber's name. Find out how to make them here. You'll need chalkboard paint if you don't already have it lying around.
9. Wrap a bottle in tape before painting it to achieve this cool negative-space effect.
Varying the width of the tape strips will make the pattern appear random, like in this example, and you could also create stripes or some kind of picture with evenly spaced tape. Spray paint works best for this project, but if you don't have any on hand, any white paint will do.
10. Why stop at a vase? Use newspaper to make a bouquet of flowers that will never, ever die.
Cut a rectangular piece of newspaper that's about twice as long as the bottle. Wrap and secure around the bottle and cut the remaining newspaper at the top into strips around 1 1/2 inches wide. Run the edge of a scissor blade firmly but gently along each strip in order to curl it. Acknowledge that you've gone a little insane if you're already attempting to recreate living things out of your own garbage.
11. There is an unbelievably cool trick to cutting bottles that requires nothing but cotton string, acetone nail polish remover, and a candle or lighter:
This is witchcraft. Seriously, though, be so careful when doing this; keep the bottle of polish remover far, far away from the flame. Make sure you have plenty of water on hand, and work slowly so you don't cut yourself. An emery board will help sand down any sharp edges (who knew DIY manicures and at-home glasswork had so much in common?).
12. Once you've figured out how to cut bottles safely, experiment with the angle:
You could cut around the base of the neck for a modern-looking container.
13. Or remove the necks entirely to make tumblers:
This project definitely requires sanding down the cut edges with an emery board or sandpaper, since you'll presumably be bringing them near your face.
14. Again: You have wine. You have candles. Voilá, you have art.
If your candle is too wide to fit in the neck of your bottle, melt the bottom of the candle with another one. Melting the wax slightly will also help it stick better.
15. Bottles have other components too, like caps and corks. Make these adorable thumbtacks/magnets and you'll have even more ways to stare at your pet's precious face all day long:
Thanks a million, Martha.
16. Coasters! So you can drink more drinks:
These directions call for a cork base to absorb more moisture, but if you don't have some available you can glue the caps to a piece of felt or directly together.
17. Make a whole tabletop out of bottle caps:
You might require the help of a friend or two in order to drink this much beer over the course of a single hurricane. Maybe. Directions here.
18. Use spare drawer pulls to turn corks into reusable bottle stoppers:
Directions from The Spotted Fox. Side note: A few years ago I replaced the hardware on my Target bedside table with the drawer pull on the right, and it was a life-altering decision.
19. Or use spools of thread:
Find these directions at A Beautiful Mess.
20. Turn corks into stamps:
These easy, cute instructions are available here.
21. Make a meta wine bottle out of corks:
This example makes use of a wire outline for structure and support, but you can glue the corks directly together. Start at the "base" of the "bottle" and work upward, adding corks in horizontal layers.
22. Don't forget to remind the people you love that you love them!
And nothing says "I love you" like a gigantic heart made from remnants of all the booze you've consumed together. Just like the above project, start from the bottom and work your way up in rows.
Also: Save the bees.
- Sebastian Gorka, a national security advisor to President Donald Trump, is reportedly set to leave the White House in the coming weeks.
- An American soldier died in Iraq this weekend after a roadside bomb exploded during a security check, the Pentagon said.
- As the number of terrorist convictions has increased in the UK, so has the concern that other inmates could too be lured into extremism.
- Selena Gomez said the backlash surrounding "13 Reasons Why" "is going to come no matter what" and noted that she's very proud of the series.


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Assignment: Education - Technology and Flip Teaching
The new method of teaching is made possible through the use of technology
ONALASKA, Wis. -- Class discussions can be a big part of a student's learning process. And now, students in a few classes at Onalaska High School are going even deeper into those classroom conversations thanks to a new teaching method called "flip teaching."
"It's the whole notion that doing what we typically do at school, which is lecture, and the kids go home and apply what they've learned,"said Gregg Hilker, Onalaska School District instructional technology coordinator. "You flip that so that the lecture is done at home and the application is done at school where there is help and the teacher can facilitate learning."9148038
To be clear, the teacher isn't dropping by each of their students' houses to give them a personal lecture after dinner. Through this pilot program, teachers are able to record their lectures and put them online for students to view.
"When they do come into the classroom then, the ability to ask than what they thought sparks conversations that, once again, if I was just serving it up to them in the transitional sense, I wouldn't necessarily have the opportunity to do it in a classroom that has some time constraints," said Darin Shepardson, Onalaska High School teacher.
Teachers can also have students watch video clips, do online readings, and blog about what they learned through a learning software package called Moodle.
"It structures it nicely in kind of a tidy way so that you don't lose your way going to varying other places online to get that information or to access what the teacher wants the student to use and see," said Hilker.
"They can manipulate on their cell phones. They can manipulate on their iPods. They can get Moodle up anywhere they have internet access," said Shepardson.
Mr. Shepardson started using this new teaching concept in his Social Problems class in January. He said he has already noticed there has been an increase in class participation.
"I'm seeing a lot of participation in the blogs; much more participation that way then maybe asking some of those same questions in the classroom," said Shepardson.
For junior Mike Lind, he enjoys the online conversation because he admits he isn't always the first person to raise his hand in class.
"It's just different doing it online," said Lind. "So, everyone types and everyone gets a chance to participate and see everyone's perspective instead of just the main people that raise their hand."
And just like in a traditional classroom, teachers are still able to hold their students accountable for their homework whether it's done from a text book or online.
"So, for example, if I'm to have them watch a video clip, along with that video clip, I may have them answer a few questions on a blog," said Shepardson. "It's very easy for me to go in and see that they did that. And if they didn't do that, I can shoot them a quick note saying don't forget you need to blog on this, as well."
So, as a few teachers at Onalaska High School continue to move forward with this new teaching concept, they will continue to monitor the progress of the program.
"This is the language that they speak," said Hilker. "These are tools that they use and they use effectively. And if we can better do our jobs as teachers by using these tools, it just makes sense.
Latest News
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Sweet, Dan. I'm always a fan of the friendly eccentric neighbors, and this is a perfect portrait of one such.
Great technique! Even better story!
Great strip. Different, but distinctly you.
Just great. I love the whole thing!
Definitely not what I'd expected from you, delightfully so. Can't wait to see what you surprise us with next.
What a wonderful story and so well executed. Thanks so much.
Great approach and story. Nice homage.
I love it - short, sweet, and well-executed.
"a chance for me to draw more effortless cartooning"
- does that mean you made no effort with it?
Joking Dan, joking… its nice to see this.
As it happens i thought just last week that an old Japanese lady i knew had died in her apartment without anyone knowing. I tried to get in touch with her several times and even went round to her place. Turned out she HAD taken a heart attack in her kitchen, but thankfully did not die. She's recovering in hospital now.
Well done, Dan, well done. I really love the style you employee her to tell your tale.
[...] Next Door Neighbor series (edited by the fine chap who is Dean Haspiel). The latest tale, Red Plastic, is something of a homecoming as it was created by Dan Goldman, whose praises I've sung on [...]
Great flow and usage of your signature photo style (in a differnet way than usual). I really like how you flexed a different style here, I think it really strengthens your overall skill, and it really helps illustrate the essence or style of the story. really well executed! "I do believe"
Dan mate, I really enjoyed reading this little 'slice of life' strip. What a great way to remember someone. Love to see more of the likes of this sort of work by you.
[...] [Comics] "Red Plastic" Link: Dan Goldman [...]
Hey Dan - the e-mail came through this time! Good stuff here.
[...] Goldman did the honors for this week's entry in Smith's Next Door Neighbor [...]
Lovely, just lovely.
As always.
Dude, I'm a little late to this tea party, but I enjoyed it all the same. I echo many of the comments above in telling you how much I liked the way you told this story. Having the versatility and skills to adapt your "tools" to the tale at hand is a rare gift — and you use it beautifully.
Well is is a shame she did not accept the invitation. She must have felt safer at home. It is good that she is remembered at least with the bucket.
Thanks for the good.
[...] Next Door Neighbor series (edited by the fine chap who is Dean Haspiel). The latest tale, Red Plastic, is something of a homecoming as it was created by Dan Goldman, whose praises I've sung on [...]
An outstanding share! I've just forwarded this onto a coworker who has been doing a little research on this. And he actually ordered me dinner simply because I found it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending some time to talk about this issue here on your web site.


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WILDE: 'I definitely shed a tear for him'
GREEN BAY, Wis. - Andrew Quarless looked into Jermichael Finley's eyes and saw the fear. And then Quarless got scared, too.
While initial reports on Finley were encouraging Sunday evening – the Green Bay Packers veteran tight end had feeling and movement in all his extremities and was undergoing further tests at a local hospital – in the moments immediately after Finley suffered a neck injury during the Packers' 31-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns Sunday, Quarless and Finley's other teammates feared the worst. Even after the game, tears welled in some of their eyes as they spoke.
"I ain't going to lie, man. I ain't cried in long time, but I definitely shed a tear for him. That's my brother," said Quarless, who was the first Packers player on the scene after Finley took a hit from Browns safety Tashaun Gipson.
"He couldn't move at the time. So I just told him, 'Just stay here, just lay here, don't move.' That look he had in his eyes, that was something that stuck with me. It really hurt me just to see him like that. My brother was out there on the ground.
"I was the first one there, I tried to help him up, and he just couldn't get up. That was tough to see, for me to see my brother out there on the ground and I couldn't do anything about it."
Finley was injured with 10 minutes 28 seconds left in the game. He had just caught a 10-yard pass from quarterback Aaron Rodgers when Gipson hit him in the head and neck area as Finley ducked down after making the catch.
Finley was motionless on the field, lying on his side, as the Packers' medical staff tended to him. Finley was down for roughly 6 minutes before leaving the field on a gurney, having had the facemask removed from his helmet and his head immobilized. He could be seen moving his hands as he departed.
Gipson was penalized 15 yards for a personal foul for "leading with the helmet," according to referee Jeff Triplette, although it did not appear to be a dirty play. After the hit, Finley fell face first to the Lambeau Field turf, and his head appeared to shake.
After team physicians Dr. Patrick McKenzie and Dr. John Gray attended to him, Finley was placed on a backboard, had his head immobilized with a belt across the top of his helmet and was wheeled off the field on the gurney as his teammates, including Quarless, Rodgers, guard Josh Sitton, center Evan Dietrich-Smith and wide receiver Jordy Nelson looked on.
"It's a reminder how tough this game is. We put our bodies on the line, our future health on the line," Rodgers said. "Obviously with Jermichael, he was playing really well. He's a great friend, great teammate. He's had a very good year for us. Injuries are a part of the game, but those are tough to see. Not being able to walk off the field, I know in the back of our minds, is kind of our worst nightmare."
Nelson had a hard time talking about the play, and his eyes were moist as he spoke.
"That's honestly the first time (an injury) really got me. I didn't like what I saw," Nelson said. "Hopefully he'll be all right.
"It makes you sick. Just seeing a guy lay there. You start thinking a little bit."
This is the second such injury Finley has sustained this season. As he was catching a pass down the seam in Cincinnati on Sept. 22, he started to fall forward after the reception and absorbed a similar hit from Bengals safety George Iloka. Finley suffered a concussion on the play, but when Iloka was later fined $15,750 by the NFL for the hit, Finley said he didn't believe the hit was dirty and that he didn't think Iloka should have been fined.
Asked about the hit in the visitors' locker room after the game, Gipson said he hit Finley only with his shoulder but didn't know exactly where he hit him.
"It's scary for me, seeing him just lay there. You definitely never want to see something like that happen," Gipson said. "I shot a prayer up for him and if I can reach out after the game I'm going to try get in contact with him and let him know my condolences go out to him."
Finley's injury brought back memories for some of his teammates of the 2011 neck injury suffered by three-time Pro Bowl safety Nick Collins at Carolina. Collins never played again for the Packers and was released before the 2012 season after the team refused to clear him to play for them again.
"He was moving his head. I think he was trying to see what could move," Quarless said, choking up. "I don't know. I don't know. I just think back to stuff like Nick Collins' injury. You don't want to see a guy on the ground, not moving. It's tough. It's tough."
After Finley suffered the concussion against the Bengals, his son Kaydon told him he didn't want him to play football anymore. Finley also said he doesn't want his son to play the game.
"I get calls from my grandma all the time," Finley said of the woman who raised him, Clara Mitchell. "I tell her I only want to play 8 to 10 more years, and she says, 'Boy, you need to quit this dang game.'
"That's the thing. I know the risks. But family members that care about you, they see it from a different perspective than we do."
Listen to Jason Wilde every weekday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on "Green & Gold Today" on 540 ESPN, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jasonjwilde.


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If I could write a letter to my students, this is what it would say.
1. God is preparing you… so be a good steward of your education.
Learning is a responsibility… not just a grade. God gives us opportunities to learn, and we should do this to the best of our ability. Once you get out of college, you pay your bills based on the money you bring in not the grade you get from a teacher. Treat your studies like a job. Practice now, because you will learn soon enough that your job won't fail you or give you a 'zero' for not doing your work. They will fire you.
Test, quizzes, writing assignments, and projects are designed to track your learning progress. Use these experiences to guide you throughout your educational experience. It is your responsibility to learn. Communicate with your teachers when you are having difficulty learning. We are here to help.
2. Attitude is everything
I would rather work with someone that is less talented with a great attitude, than with someone that is super talented with a poor attitude. Work on your attitude. Learn from your bad attitude days and find ways to change your attitude.
3. Life is not easy.. don't make excuses & stop whining
If life was easy… everyone would be good at it… only the successful rise to the top. Successful people have the same life issues as unsuccessful people. However, successful people learn how to overcome their difficulties. They strive longer and harder for success.
Think about your grandparents. What have they overcome for you and your family to have the opportunities that you have today? If you slack up today, how are you affecting your own future, and the future generations? Work hard. Don't make excuses. Get the job done. You will see the fruits of your labor (good or bad).
4. No one ever truly knows their own potential… so don't sell you self-short.
Dream big. I am only the person I am today because people saw potential in me. They encouraged me. However, I have had my fair share of non-supporters in my life. They didn't believe in me, and at times I thought I wasn't going to amount to much. I found out the hard way… no one truly knows your full potential.
Start with small successes. Let each success prepare you for your next opportunity. Seek out challenges and you will get stronger. You will grow from each experience.
Find other people that are successful in your chosen profession. Get to know their life story. Connect with these people early in life, and you will find that many people work hard to get to the top.
5. Rules are generally safe boundaries… Embrace them.
Don't touch the hot stove. Literally… don't touch it. We can easily see why this rule is valid and important. The rules of life are not always that clear in why we should or should not follow them. For example, I have a no cell phone policy in my class. The reason I don't allow cell phones is because you generally should not be playing with your cell phone in a professional setting. If you play with it during a meeting, you could be perceived as unprofessional or disrespectful. So why practice this bad behavior in college? I could go on and on with examples. The point is… when you encounter a rule about life, relationships, finances, ect. .. Just know that this is God's way of protecting you. Embrace them.
This letter is not specifically for my students. It is more of a reflection of my own experiences and the lessons I have learned the hard way. I know my students may not understand this even if I told them… but I wish I would have learned these lessons the easy way.


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Gallery: 5 Eco-Friendly Fine Motor Ski...
Project #1: Counting Fine Motor Skills GameWhat you will need:
- an empty cardboard food can with lid (I used a baking powder one)
- discarded buttons, milk caps or other circular items
What you will need:
Simply clean out the inside of an empty cardboard can. Then, cut slots the same size of your circular items with your craft knife. This is a great way for little ones to practice their fine motor skills by putting the circular items into the small slot. You can also color code each piece to help with color identification.
What you will need:
Another great fine motor and sorting activity is encouraging your little ones to sort all of the items by color into separate sections of the muffin tin. I used paper from the recycling bin to color code the bottom of each muffin tin. This fine motor skill activity is great for color recognition, sorting and counting.
Manipulating small items such as toothpicks and inserting them into the slot is great not only for fine motor skill development, but also for hand-eye coordination. If you choose to use straws, you can punch holes in the lid of the container instead of pushing the toothpicks through to make holes.
This is a great fine motor skill activity that incorporates the principles of precision and balance as little ones place the marbles to balance atop the tees. This is great for toddlers who are strengthening their fine motor skills and is a little more difficult than the other activities. You can also color code this game to help your child practice their color recognition at the same time.
Learning how to lace is great for little ones especially considering they will be tying their own shoes shortly. If you have very small children, just learning how to lace the string through the holes is enough, older children will enjoy tying the yarn after lacing it through the holes. Simply cut a rectangle from a piece of cardboard (I used a cereal box), punch side-by-side holes and let your little one lace away.


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The week from May 27 to 31 was a mixed one for major European stock markets (Milan +1.9%, London -1.7%, Paris -0.2%, +0.5% Frankfurt, Madrid +0.7%). The positive U.S. macroeconomic data (consumer confidence in May to the highest level since February 2008, first quarter GDP growth of 2.4% QoQ) drove upward stock prices in the early sessions of the week but caution prevails among operators waiting for more visibility on the evolution of the Fed monetary policy: the U.S. Central bank may stop the current Quantitative Easing in light of the positive economic data.
European Auto&Parts stocks continued to rise last week gaining 3.1%: according to Morgan Stanley, the sector benefited last month from sustained purchases by investors (+11.8% the performance of the European index; +10.4 pp vs. DJ Stoxx 600) following the prospects of a recovery in the second half of 2013. An important signal will be given by the forthcoming publication of May car registrations data.
Pirelli ended the week at € 8,945, a rise of 4.9% with an average daily trading volume of around 1.8 million. Goldman Sachs has revised the recommendation on the stock to Neutral (from Sell) and the target price to € 9.8 from € 7.6: the increase in valuation reflects the reduction in the cost of capital and the revision of the estimates on profitability; the positive view on the sector was confirmed. The consensus target price stands now at € 9.3 with 40% of the coverage with a Buy recommendation.
Categories: Peers & Markets Pirelli


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Union Church in Hackensack to host speaker on Sunday
Leonard Fineday, director of legal affairs for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibway, will give a presentation at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, at Union Church in Hackensack, where brunch will be served.
The Union Church Board of Christian Learning in cooperation with the Justice Ministry Team will host Fineday in a discussion of "Blood Quantum and Land Ownership." The federal government over the years has differently defined who is and is not an American Indian. These definitions have had critically important implications for ownership and use of tribal lands.
Fineday was at Union two years ago with Eli Hunt for a forum on the history of the Leech Lake reservation.
For more information, contact Fred Smith at 947-4635.


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iVillage.com: Do These Stars Look Good in Glasses?
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|With six kids at home, a wedding to Angelina Jolie in the works and a winning movie career to maintain, we'd understand if stellar style slipped from Brad Pitt's priority list. But the "Moneyball" star looks effortlessly cool with his specs (December 2011) or without them (May 22).
(CREDIT: Getty Images)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
|Kim Kardashian always looks sultry -- no matter what accessories she's wearing! On March 11, the reality star (who went glasses-free on May 24) shared a series of four-eyed photos via her her website. "Glasses can be sexy!" she wrote. "No one should feel embarrassed about wearing glasses... geek-chic is hot!" We couldn't agree more!
(CREDIT: Courtesy Kim Kardashian/Celebbuzz; Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
|No matter the occasion, actor Jake Gyllenhaal is always a sharp dresser. His black frames add extra flair to his look in October 2011, but the scruffy star looks just as stylish without them on April 2.
(CREDIT: Getty Images)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
|Hollywood veteran Susan Sarandon dresses down and rocks big frames on April 22 -- but opts for a more glamorous style on May 16.
(CREDIT: Getty Images)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
|Musician Bruno Mars is amazing just the way he is! The singer's trendy eyewear (June 2011) shows off his quirky fashion sense, but a glasses-free look (April 20) lets his smile steal the spotlight.
(CREDIT: Mark Davis/Wireimage)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
| Heiress Paris Hilton brings a touch of glamour wherever she goes! The red-carpet regular shows off pink studded specs (and fluffy earmuffs!) on Jan. 21 -- but goes without them for an event on May 2.
(CREDIT: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images for Extra)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
| When he's not busy showing off his killer dance moves, Usher focuses on fashion. The performer flaunts a pair of oversized frames on May 16 after going glasses-free in November 2011.
(CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/Wireimage for SiriusXM; Debra L. Rothenburg/FilmMagic)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
| Even behind her giant, tortoise-shell frames, Jennifer Aniston's blue eyes still pop. The star sports her trendy specs in November 2010, and goes glasses-free in February 2011.
(CREDIT: James Devaney/FilmMagic; Theo Wargo/FilmMagic)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
| In her thick black glasses, Oscar winner Cate Blanchett looks studious on April 14. But she easily morphs into a red-carpet goddess at the Met Costume Institute Gala on May 7.
(CREDIT: Dave M. Bennett/Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
| Just when we think David Beckham (left, October 2010) can't get any hotter, he throws on a pair of sexy glasses! Although, the soccer stud also looks pretty darn cute spending time with his boys at the Teen Choice Awards in August 2010.
(CREDIT: Bauer Griffin; Kevin Mazur/TCA 2010 WireImage)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
| Will the "Fashion Police" come after Kelly Osbourne (left, September 2011; right, May 4 ) for her thick-framed specs? Or will they appreciate the reality star's quirky style?
(CREDIT: Jason Laveris/FilmMagic)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
| Tina Fey's "30 Rock" character, Liz Lemon, is rarely seen without her famous eyewear. But the actress (left, July 2010; right, February 2011) often goes sans her signature frames, especially at red-carpet events.
(CREDIT: John Shearer/Getty Images for Paramount; Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
| Tinted blue lenses add a unique twist to style rebel Johnny Depp's specs (December 2010). But the movie star proves he can look just as mysterious without his glasses in January 2010.
(CREDIT: Jamie McCarthy/FilmMagic; Charley Gallay/Getty Images for PCA)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
| The eccentric pop star -- who usually hides her eyes behind oversized dark shades -- throws a fashion curveball by donning retro-looking eyeglasses at a rally in September 2010. But at the 2010 MTV VMAs, Lady Gaga lets her blue-gray hair do the talking.
(CREDIT: Cliff Kucine/Getty Images)
The Full Story from iVillage.com
Catch "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."
The 10 worst places to start a business.
Contest winners show sky's fragile wonders.
Greatest undrafted players in NFL history.
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Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boats
For a summer spin on taco night, try these zucchini stuffed with ground turkey, seasoned with cumin and spiced and topped with a blend of Mexican cheese – cheesy goodness!!
I actually got the inspiration for this dish from a comment I read on my sausage stuffed zucchini boats, I love when you guys give me new ideas! They turned out so good, and will be a part of my summer rotation.
Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Servings: 4 • Size: 2 halves • Points +: 7 pts • Smart Points: 5
Calories: 286 • Fat: 12 g • Carb: 18 g • Fiber: 5 g • Protein: 28 g • Sugar: 6 g
Cholest: 8 mg
- 4 medium (32 ounces) zucchinis, cut in half lengthwise
- 1/2 cup mild salsa
- 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 small onion, minced
- 2 tbsp bell pepper, minced
- 4 oz can tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped scallions or cilantro, for topping
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place 1/4 cup of salsa in the bottom of a large baking dish.
Using a small spoon or melon baller, hollow out the center of the zucchini halves, leaving 1/4-inch thick shell on each half. Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini in small pieces and set aside 3/4 of a cup to add to the taco filling, (squeeze excess water with a paper towel) discarding the rest or save to use in another recipe. Drop zucchini halves in boiling water and cook 1 minute. Remove from water.
Brown turkey in a large skillet, breaking up while it cooks. When no longer pink add the spices and mix well. Add the onion, bell pepper, reserved zucchini, tomato sauce and water. Stir and cover, simmer on low for about 20 minutes.
Using a spoon, fill the hollowed zucchini boats dividing the taco meat equally, about 1/3 cup in each, pressing firmly. Top each with 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through. Top with scallions and serve with salsa on the side.


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Grado GR8e In-Ear Headphone
"GRADO GR8E Before I get started let me introduce myself, my name is Adam. I am a 38 years old headphone and portable audio lover, mostly iems. I am your average guy that works 8-10 hours a day and am required to wear hearing protection all day. My choice of hearing protection is usually an iem. My reviews are aimed at the average Tom, Dick, Jane or Harry, one day I did a search on the..." --acain
GR10 - In Ear Series Hi Performance Sound Isolating Moving Armature Earphones
Learning never ends and the GR10 is a result of a constant desire to look at designs and materials and improve upon them. Improvements upon the single armature design found in the GR8 are now in the GR10. A higher level of precision and new materials allows for the performance of the GR10 to add frequency extension in both the higher and lower ranges as well as lowering distortion. A...
Plantronics BackBeat 906 Stereo Bluetooth headset
Plantronics BackBeat 906 Stereo Bluetooth headset with Bluetooth adapter 3.5mm audio ports. This wireless headphones feature Altec Lansing sound technology for rich, full-spectrum stereo music and dual-mic AudioIQ noisecanceling technology for exceptional call clarity. This provides up to 7 hours of talk time and up to 8 days of standby time. It is equipped with A2DP technology.
Earpiece Kit 6 Sizes STARSET/H31CD
Plantronics offers products for the computer and mobile market segments, specializing in telephone products, such as amplified telephone headsets, telephones for hearing-impaired users and noise-canceling headsets, handsets for use in high-noise environments and value packs. As the world's leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of lightweight communications headset products,...


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Bombay Sapphire Gin and GQ magazine, a collaborative team on the hunt to find our nation's "Most Inspired" bartender, brought the party to town Thursday night. Their mixology contest is sweeping through 30 U.S. cities and selecting one behind-the-bar superstar from each stop. The winners, including one from Charleston, will converge in Las Vegas later this year and compete for a chance to be featured in the magazine's Man of the Year issue. Thanks to a large turnout, the $25 entrance fee netted $10,000 for Charleston Chefs Feed the Need, an effort by local restaurants, caterers, and hoteliers to provide 400 free meals every Wednesday. The program, which got its start in April, has already served an estimated 6,400 meals via four local agencies: Crisis Ministries, Tricounty Family Ministries, East Cooper Meals on Wheels, and Neighborhood House. Proceeds from Thursday's ticket sales will underwrite approximately 4,500 meals for the initiative.
The floor of the Riviera Theatre was thumping as DJ Trav spun baseline-heavy house tunes. The invitation urged guests to don paparazzi-worthy threads, and the bulk of the crowd interpreted the apparel cue as shorter-than-short South Beach fashions: micro minis paired with towering heels on the girls and floodwater trousers on the guys. A smattering of seersucker reminded us that we were, in fact, in Charleston and not Miami despite the prevalence of Bombay's signature shade of electric blue, which dominated the decor (and the tube dresses worn by the brand ambassadors).
Milo Rodriguez, a noted mixologist who travels the Bombay promotions circuit, attempted to demonstrate a recipe from the stage, but the din never dissipated despite several calls-for-quiet from the bouncers positioned around the room—guests were clearly having too much fun with their custom cocktails! Unfortunately, that also meant the crowd largely drowned out Mickey Bakst (founder of Charleston Chefs Feed the Need), who took the microphone to thank guests for their attendance and let everyone know about the charitable impact of the ticket sales. With so many nonprofits scrambling these days to raise a dollar, it was a tad surreal to be among several hundred event attendees, who were aloof to the wonderful (and substantial) impact of their indirect contributions (via their ticket purchase); however, I have no doubt the gratitude felt for each forthcoming subsidized meal will be very real to those involved with feeding our local need—4,500 free meals is incredible!


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Adventures galore. Sounds great. G'day to Jill and Alan and kidsxx
Send back some heavy stuff to Marion's place.
Edinburgh and Kippen
Trip Start May 30, 2008
49Trip End Nov 02, 2008
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Where I stayed
Edinburgh is so beautiful. Many more proficient and expressive writers than me have described its charms so I won't exhaust my superlatives here. Suffice to say, when I was walking back to my hostel over the bridge towards the old town, with the sun coming through the clouds to shine over the castle, the ancient buildings and the gorgeous greenery that stretched out around and beyond the city, I got chills.
Went on a three hour free walking tour (the guides survive on tips alone), which was surprisingly informative and really well done
As some of you know, I do have a predisposition to nightmares, so I was very hesitant to go on a tour described as 'the scariest in Edinburgh'. But it turned out to be a lot funnier than expected - the guide was really entertaining (I could listen to his Scottish accent all night), and the information was kind of a horrible histories of the area. The scary bit was when we were taken into a tomb where there has been 'paranormal' activities. Luckily, being summer, it wasn't dark, or I definitely would have freaked out. The guide was telling us about all the terrible things that had happened to tour groups in the past, when a guy dressed all in black with a creepy mask on jumped out and scared the bejesus out of all of us. And, because I'd lost my voice that day, I couldn't even scream. I just stood there with my mouth open looking stupid. It was fun, but afterwards me Solei and Sophie had to go for a drink to calm our nerves and check for poltergeist marks.
The next day, thanks to the glories of facebook, I realised a fellow Flying Bat, Sabs, was also in the lovely town of Edinburgh
Sabs got hers though - the woman asked for volunteers to pretend to be satyrs (who used to entertain at Mary's banquets), and I pushed her forward. She had to turn around and shake her 'tail' at everyone - much more embarrassing.
After we were castled out, we headed to a local pub and ate haggis. I have to admit I was quite scared, but found it tasted like the inside of a meat pie but a bit more peppery. Great with the addition of some tomato sauce mate. After that feast, I walked off the offal by climbing to the top of Arthur's Seat. Wow. After I stopped huffing and puffing (thank god I did my couch to 5k running program before leaving oz or I would never have made it), I was knocked out by the beautiful view. It's a pity photos can only give you a tiny understanding of the majesty of the landscape because it was absolutely gorgeous. Headed out that night for cider and pints with Sabs and her friend (and fellow Battie) Jane
On the train to Stirling in the morning (with a slight headache from the previous night) and was greeted by Jill at the station and taken to her little villiage, Kippen. Her and Alan haven't seen me since they came to Australia in 1988, when I was a precocious two year old. Met their lovely kids, Emma, 11, and Rory, 6, who are teaching me the Scottish lingo. Went for a walk to Loch Katrine and had a picnic surrounded by midges (horrible little bugs that swarm around you and leave welts when they bite). We then headed off to a local music festival and saw the Red Hot Chilli Pipers - a bagpiping rock group.
Have just been chilling in their villiage today. Played a bit of golf for the first time in my life with Alan and Rory (I wasn't too bad), then a pint in the local pub. I love the Scottish accent and the feel of villiage life. Everyone knows each other and everyone speaks really slowly and self assuredly. I asked a local in the pub about what mountain we could see in the distance, and the man took about 2 mins of sucking in air, considering, looking around, drinking his beer and then finally gave me the answer - "och, tha thare's Ben Ann, dochaknoow lassie?"
Just had a delicious Sunday roast dinner and treacle tart for dessert, then went and read Rory a nice bedtime story. Apparently I gave him shocking nightmares yesterday after I told him all about funnel webs, redbacks, box jellyfish and tiger snakes, oops! After the kids head to bed, Alan and Jill and I are going finish the night by tasting different types of Scotch whiskey.


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Badr Hari on Naazim Richardson: "Can't Wait to Work With Him"
- Written by Dave Walsh
Badr Hari is steadfast in making his transition to the Heavyweight Boxing world, and it seems like Naazim Richardson has been chosen to be his main trainer by Mike Passenier and Hari himself. Yesterday we looked at an interview with Naazim where he talked about looking forward to working with Badr Hari, and it appears that FightHype has been busy working all sides of the spectrum as they put up an interview with Badr Hari himself. In the interview with Badr they discuss his yearly trip to Morocco, which is where he has been recently -- not with Brock Lesnar -- and how important his Muslim roots are to him. Badr also has a rather enlightened view of religion saying that it is a very personal thing that has been pushed upon other people and started wars.
Hari is looking forward to working with Naazim Richardson, though, and talks about how Naazim was selected as his trainer.
BH: That's not what he said. He said that it is an extra because he knows all the rituals etc. for being a Muslim. It is important to him that I have a trainer who is there for me, who can motivate me, and bring me to the top level; a trainer who brings out the best in me. And that is important to me too. I want to be number one. I don't come for second place; not in fighting and not by a trainer.
Hari also discusses his last fight in kickboxing with Gokhan Saki and dodges a lot of personal questions, read the rest of the interview here. Ominous by its absence is any discussion about fighting for K-1 again.


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Tibetan / Vajrayana
Vajrayana Buddhism is most closely associated with Tibet and can be characterized by the figure of the siddha, the master whose spiritual realization is so profound that he or she has power over the phenomenal world, and in whom the profundity and vastness of absolute truth is fully and completely manifested. Many of our most well-known authors come from this tradition of Tibetan Buddhism .
[Note: The tags for the various schools are not definitive as many books span multiple traditions, etc. They are meant to use as a starting point for exploring this collection.]
Lighting the WayThis concise and extremely accessible presentation of the path of Tibetan Buddhism by the world's best-known Buddhist teacher shows how to apply Buddhist principles in our lives. Lighting the Way contains three fundamental Buddhist teachings given by the Dalai Lama to Western students. His Holiness often refers to this short work as one of his main sources of inspiration for the practice of compassion. The Dalai Lama's commentary on Atisha's… Read More
Paperback$22.95+ Add to Bag
Buddhism with an Attitude
The Tibetan Seven-Point Mind-TrainingAll of us have attitudes. Some of them accord with reality and serve us well throughout the course of our lives. Others are out of alignment with reality and cause us problems. Tibetan Buddhist practice isn't just sitting in silent meditation, it's developing fresh attitudes that align our minds with reality. Attitudes need adjusting, just like a spinal column that has been knocked out of alignment. In this book, B.… Read More
Paperback$24.95+ Add to Bag
Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-KindnessWarning: Using this book could be hazardous to your ego! The slogans it contains are designed to awaken the heart and cultivate love and kindness toward others. They are revolutionary in that practicing them fosters abandonment of personal territory in relating to others and in understanding the world as it is. The fifty-nine provocative slogans presented here—each with a commentary by the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa—have been used… Read More
Paperback$14.95+ Add to Bag


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Answers by Expert:
I can answer most questions dealing with all aspects of U.S. military history. My expertise is the Vietnam War. I also have written extensively about the U.S. Civil War, World War II, World War I, The Philippine War, and the American Revolution. My books include a concise biography of the Marquis de Lafayette, the history of the American Flag, and the post-Jefferson history of Monticello, and therefore know a great deal about those specific subjects. I specialize in writing about matters of strategy--not tactics. And I also am interested in personalities. I have very little knowledge about ordnance or the value of old military memorabilia. Nor do I know a lot about uniforms and insignia--except about the Vietnam War. To repeat: I have no expertise in assessing the value of ordnance or uniforms or any type of military equipment. And my knowledge about military uniforms is only limited to those of the Vietnam War era. If you have questions on these topics, I recommend contacting an antiques dealer in your area who specializes in military uniforms, ordnance, etc.
Author and journalist with more than 35 years' experience.
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Vietnam Veterans of America Excellence in the Arts Award, 2011
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You can view the page at http://www.sirstevesguide.com/conten...-Line-Canceled
You can view the page at http://www.sirstevesguide.com/conten...-Line-Canceled
I feel a great disturbance in the Force.
The fact that I am happy about this news is probably the best indication that I should seriously consider stepping away from Star Wars collecting, for a few years at least.
So much for the droid factory head that came with the new yoda starfighter!! They were so toting this at the last celebration!
Yoda has a starfighter?
That just seems wrong to me. I consider the Desert Sport Skiff and Cruisemissile to be more canon than that. And, no, I'm not joking about those two vehicles, for a change.
That's my jacket!
At least they gave an official word as soon as they could on the matter. It's such a sad situation, it sounds like we're going to end up seeing a price increase either way, that they'll not be able to keep the already market-busting TVC pricing at its current levels. Still, if the droid parts were tacking on another buck, then I guess that's unusable. But it's very frustrating, it seems like there's a leak somewhere and it's likely at least one of the three M's: management (upper, not brand), materials, or manufacturing - somewhere in there is too much overhead, and probably it's a mix of all three, Hasbro's new structure seems to need the brands to carry that upper level management load until they're crushed by it, that brand management has to pay for Hasbro as a company's overhead, that materials costs have gone up, and putting all their efforts into China have finally bit them the way they have everybody.
Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.
Kylo Ren - came from Space Brooklyn, although he moved to Space Williamsburg before it was trendy.
The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.
Well, dat smells stink-a-whiff. I wonder what the line will look like for the first half of the year - I'm assuming Movie Heroes and The Clone Wars will shamble on as planned since they haven't said anything to the contrary. The fact that "many" of the figures will be reintroduced later means some will probably be dropped, but it's not exactly like this was the best lineup they've ever had, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
At this point I'm starting to think they're continuing the line only because the new movie is coming out, and what they're doing now is a place holder to cover up terrible management of the line for half a year or more.
Pathetic, and sad.
They're continuing this line because it's the #1 licensed boys toy line.
Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.
Kylo Ren - came from Space Brooklyn, although he moved to Space Williamsburg before it was trendy.
The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.


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The LED on pin 13 is most useful at times, especially during debugging, so it would be wise to leave it, IMHO.K
Hi sweansw,Just to make sure I follow, are you the person to have actually build then soldered the Taiji-uino as shown in your picture ?Albert
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Free Baby Bear Hat Pattern
12 comments :
- AnonymousAugust 17, 2012 at 11:34 AM
LOVE IT!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 17, 2012 at 8:39 AM
Hello Hannah, many thanks for the pdf file. Very much appreciated love. Have 2 newborn babys to make these hats for. The pattern is just perfect for what i was looking for.ReplyDelete
Have a great day Hannah!
Take care love!
So glad you can use it! I am sure it will be ADORABLE on your two newborns! (How wonderful to have two!)Delete
Love, Hannah
- patrica byrnSeptember 22, 2012 at 9:58 AM
I have had two grandkids since april and one due anytime I can scale this for my premies THANKS for making this available. it sews up cute and quick.ReplyDeleteReplies
Glad you like it! It is especially adorable on newborns! Did you already make it?Delete
Love, Hannah
Really cute hat. I have several projects pending for my little one with only 7 weeks to go. I may save this for after the baby is born. Love it though!ReplyDeleteReplies
There is always so much to do in those last few weeks! Hope you get a chance to make it. Also, I always love to see pictures! :)Delete
<3 Hannah
- AnonymousOctober 8, 2013 at 8:46 PM
I'm not sure exactly why but this site is loading incredibly slowReplyDelete
for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on
my end? I'll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
my blog ... Sara ()Replies
Yes, let me know so I can take steps to fix it if it is really slow!Delete
Hi, I'm planning on doing a similiar hat for my niece (with cat ears though :D), and I have one question, since I'm really new to that sewing stuff... What kind of fabric do I need? :)ReplyDelete
ps. your site is like... a heaven to me :D I can fool myself that I'm going to do all of those things from your tutorials haha. Impossible for me though :pReplies
Hi Anna, so sorry I didn't respond to your comment earlier. Use a Knit fabric, it's super stretchy and allows for a comfortable,adjustable fit. Or if you are looking for warmth, you can use fleece, which is kinda like a fluffy felt. But the fleeces wouldn't have be as stretchy.Delete
Have fun & thanks for your sweet comment! <3