<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789</id><updated>2012-02-17T00:40:44.888-07:00</updated><category term='Christmas Bling'/><category term='&apos;You are Loved&apos;'/><category term='lifetimes'/><category term='Marié Digby'/><category term='Olivia Jordan'/><category term='moon and stars islet'/><category term='intuition'/><category term='Happy New Year'/><category term='Elf'/><category term='Jan Steen'/><category term='Mormon'/><category term='Secret Garden'/><category term='Kevin Baird'/><category term='otherworlds'/><category term='Julie Fowlis'/><category term='dragon'/><category term='&apos;Scared of Heights&apos;'/><category term='Steinar Midtskogen'/><category term='The Martyrdom of St. Lucy'/><category term='astrophotography'/><category term='Arizona'/><category term='Yann Tiersen'/><category term='Dawud Wharnsby'/><category term='O tannenbaum'/><category term='Akiane Kramarik'/><category term='Goddess'/><category term='choice'/><category term='2009 Economic Trend forecast'/><category term='&apos;Ave Maria&apos; Caccini'/><category term='faery'/><category term='peace'/><category term='red rocks'/><category term='Christmas'/><category term='God Whispers'/><category term='Creator'/><category term='waking joy'/><category term='Glory'/><category term='faith'/><category term='Buddhic'/><category term='Wiccan'/><category term='heart'/><category term='Carlos Gutierrez'/><category term='Pagan'/><category term='Furniture'/><category term='aura'/><category term='Spirit Art'/><category term='Wisdom Gathering'/><category term='Norwegian'/><category term='fire'/><category term='St Nicholas'/><category term='&apos;God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen&apos;'/><category term='power'/><category term='Arkansas'/><category term='Sedona'/><category term='Dan Bush'/><category term='chakra'/><category term='painting'/><category term='O Little Town of Bethlehem'/><category term='sun wheel'/><category term='Dance of Sarassvati'/><category term='water elemental'/><category term='now'/><category term='psychic'/><category term='documentary'/><category term='being'/><category term='Chris Haws'/><category term='Allah'/><category term='rainbow'/><category term='Scotland'/><category term='Judaism'/><category term='film short'/><category term='hope'/><category term='Sweden'/><category term='Celestial Apparition'/><category term='O Holy Night'/><category term='water'/><category term='Las Vegas'/><category term='Soul Portrait'/><category term='Creator&apos;s Wheel'/><category term='animation'/><category term='Max and the Fairies'/><category term='soul'/><category term='Heart on Fire'/><category term='NV'/><category term='zen'/><category term='Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'/><category term='Foxknot'/><category term='The Messenger'/><category term='pastel drawing'/><category term='ice age'/><category term='fairies'/><category term='Espen Lind'/><category term='Yael Naim'/><category term='lighthearted'/><category term='Brahma'/><category term='spectral Light'/><category term='diversity'/><category term='Ave Maria paien'/><category term='Bryon Katie'/><category term='rose fairy'/><category term='chenrezig'/><category term='Transformation'/><category term='frozen wave'/><category term='Colorado'/><category term='music'/><category term='computer art'/><category term='It Beats for You'/><category term='compassion'/><category term='azure sky dragon'/><category term='alien'/><category term='Reiki'/><category term='Aurora'/><category term='Christ'/><category term='energy'/><category term='Ryan Ridge'/><category term='Earth'/><category term='Orion'/><category term='emotional'/><category term='Celtic Knot'/><category term='BBC'/><category term='potential'/><category term='dolphins'/><category term='Manatial'/><category term='Lover&apos;s Rock'/><category term='Rassouli'/><category term='live duet'/><category term='France'/><category term='art'/><category term='senses'/><category term='Ecuador'/><category term='Marjorie Reynolds'/><category term='Reiki Ryoho'/><category term='Robert Tiso'/><category term='angel'/><category term='sensing'/><category term='Stephanie Pui-Mun Law'/><category term='Paris'/><category term='sun'/><category term='Africa'/><category term='Krishna'/><category term='Miten'/><category term='breathe'/><category term='Ivar Marthinusen'/><category term='meditative'/><category term='Creator&apos;s Majesty'/><category term='Hannukah'/><category term='Irish'/><category term='sundogs'/><category term='The Prayer'/><category term='Yungchen Lhamo'/><category term='Joy to the World'/><category term='Holy Quran'/><category term='Celtic'/><category term='Pie Jesu'/><category term='Orbs'/><category term='Breath'/><category term='Winter Solstice'/><category term='Mantis Parable'/><category term='Deva Premal'/><category term='celestial'/><category term='fireballs'/><category term='Elfin'/><category term='Jewish'/><category term='Alexander Petrenko'/><category term='W. B. Yeats'/><category term='Debbie Yarra'/><category term='Mariah Carey'/><category term='Deck the Halls'/><category term='Russia'/><category term='Let it Snow'/><category term='Essential Knowing'/><category term='Zain Bhikha'/><category term='Josh Groban'/><category term='My Morning Jacket'/><category term='Jonathon Stone'/><category term='Alaska'/><category term='Nocturne'/><category term='Korea'/><category term='Chava Rachel Saban'/><category term='everlasting'/><category term='stillness'/><category term='indulgences'/><category term='Joy Riders'/><category term='elephants'/><category term='aging'/><category term='Animal Allies'/><category term='Spring Maiden&apos;'/><category term='meditation'/><category term='2012'/><category term='erratic weather'/><category term='wholing'/><category term='watercolor'/><category term='Andy Williams'/><category term='revelation'/><category term='SHeDAISY'/><category term='Chyenne Morning Star'/><category term='happiness'/><category term='Tingstad and Rumbel'/><category term='empathy'/><category term='Heaven'/><category term='Korean'/><category term='Gaelic'/><category term='Muslim'/><category term='musical'/><category term='Céline Dion'/><category term='The Annunciation'/><category term='Paulo Coelho'/><category term='Benjamin Shiff'/><category term='experience'/><category term='gnomes'/><category term='non-duality'/><category term='Mother Mary'/><category term='cristallofono'/><category term='Orion Moonbow'/><category term='Creation'/><category term='Sorten Muld'/><category term='Portal of Light'/><category term='life'/><category term='Brocken Spectre'/><category term='Mayan'/><category term='comet'/><category term='dreams'/><category term='Chang Jing'/><category term='Eddi Reader'/><category term='Tao'/><category term='light pillars'/><category term='poetry'/><category term='William&apos;s Brothers'/><category term='soft darkness'/><category term='mixed media'/><category term='Reiho'/><category term='Tchaikovsky'/><category term='Fionnuala Sherry'/><category term='African American'/><category term='Il Divo'/><category term='Jerusalem'/><category term='Sumi Jo'/><category term='live'/><category term='Light Traveler'/><category term='the other'/><category term='Ding Dong Merrily on High'/><category term='void'/><category term='Life of Buddha'/><category term='self'/><category term='Hubble Telescope'/><category term='Ling'/><category term='Carol Of The Bells'/><category term='shaman'/><category term='Kala'/><category term='fire elemental'/><category term='Michael Orwick'/><category term='Elizabeth Fraser'/><category term='Greg Spalenka'/><category term='video'/><category term='duet'/><category term='thought'/><category term='Elves'/><category term='Taoism'/><category term='Amy Studt'/><category term='Jonathon Earl Bowser'/><category term='Kitaro'/><category term='Libera'/><category term='Spring dawns'/><category term='Trefoil'/><category term='Redoubt'/><category term='Mother of the World'/><category term='global warming'/><category term='salamander'/><category term='Brian Froud'/><category term='Hopi'/><category term='holiday'/><category term='Three Little Birds'/><category term='Howard Edin'/><category term='Emilie-Claire Barlow'/><category term='spiritual pondering'/><category term='fairy'/><category term='Alan Betson'/><category term='belief'/><category term='holidays'/><category term='Spain'/><category term='Thomas O&apos;Brien'/><category term='Længe Siden'/><category term='Manose Singh'/><category term='love'/><category term='American Indian'/><category term='of love'/><category term='Mermaid Song'/><category term='England'/><category term='Rolf Løvland'/><category term='Mohammad'/><category term='Cesária Évora'/><category term='long ago'/><category term='Signs and Wonders'/><category term='pride'/><category term='The Light'/><category term='song'/><category term='Bing Crosby'/><category term='I Surrender'/><category term='Thanksgiving'/><category term='Norway'/><category term='reproduction'/><category term='Christenya'/><category term='becomming'/><category term='Fire and Ice'/><category term='London'/><category term='Whindham Hill'/><category term='sun halo'/><category term='Bhagavad Gita'/><category term='Bodhi Day'/><category term='Brahma Nandam'/><category term='Unfold'/><category term='guan yin'/><category term='Angel Gabriel'/><category term='Regal Bow'/><category term='Virgin Guadalupe'/><category term='Aigar Truhin'/><category term='Mother'/><category term='Pierce Brosnan'/><category term='mid-winter'/><category term='Iridescent clouds'/><category term='The Muppets'/><category term='Celtic Woman'/><category term='Von den Elben'/><category term='bible'/><category term='photography'/><category term='Hawaii'/><category term='Stolen Child'/><category term='John Denver'/><category term='Avalokiteśvara'/><category term='ego'/><category term='Vienna Boys Choir'/><category term='Through the Eyes of an Angel'/><category term='Switzerland'/><category term='tra'/><category term='oneness'/><category term='wonder'/><category term='Winter Wonderland'/><category term='Buddha'/><category term='self-control'/><category term='Harold Leinbach'/><category term='Ha Nerot'/><category term='leatherwork'/><category term='Sissel Kyrkjebø'/><category term='om mani padme hum'/><category term='12 Days of Christmas'/><category term='Ireland'/><category term='full moon'/><category term='circumzenithal arc'/><category term='Apoclypse'/><category term='fish'/><category term='star of wonder'/><category term='ABBA'/><category term='light'/><category term='duality'/><category term='Alex Grey'/><category term='Sarah McLachlan'/><category term='Domenico Veneziano'/><category term='astrology'/><category term='Moonwalker'/><category term='Christ consciousness'/><category term='home'/><category term='present moment'/><category term='World'/><category term='Eckhart Tolle'/><category term='Simple Soul'/><category term='emotion'/><category term='Inspired by Light'/><category term='Native'/><category term='Hinduism'/><category term='Jesus'/><category term='the dove'/><category term='John Tesh'/><category term='pastel'/><category term='silence'/><category term='hymn'/><category term='Yamoré'/><category term='remembrance'/><category term='Salif Keita'/><category term='boddhisativa'/><category term='purification'/><category term='sunrise'/><category term='Nicholas Roerich'/><category term='Salvador Dali'/><category term='mysticism'/><category term='Gerald Celente'/><category term='YHWH the Spirit'/><category term='Chile'/><category term='Sarasvati'/><category term='aspiration'/><category term='Aled Jones'/><category term='Loreena McKennitt'/><category term='Dr. Wayne Dyer'/><category term='Santa Lucia'/><category term='Connie Talbot'/><category term='Patrick Smith Photography'/><category term='Kwanzaa'/><category term='sparkling rays'/><category term='New Soul'/><category term='quilt'/><category term='Light Beam'/><category term='consciousness'/><category term='Denmark'/><category term='fae'/><category term='Dancing Glory'/><category term='Latvia'/><category term='Awareness'/><category term='quan yin'/><category term='Christian'/><category term='White Christmas'/><category term='USA'/><category term='evolution'/><category term='co-creation'/><category term='presence'/><category term='Magic Moon'/><category term='fundamental Beingness'/><category term='Manresa'/><category term='portrait'/><category term='Moilanen arc'/><category term='Jimmy Westlake'/><category term='Amarantine'/><category term='Sophiel'/><category term='German'/><category term='Spring'/><category term='YHWH'/><category term='Notre Dame de Paris'/><category term='prayer'/><category term='Scandinavia'/><category term='maniifestation'/><category term='electro-medieval'/><category term='subsun'/><category term='QNTAL'/><category term='enlightenment'/><category term='Spirit'/><category term='Enya'/><category term='Chirstianity'/><category term='immortal'/><category term='awakening'/><category term='listening'/><category term='Germany'/><category term='Lao Tzu'/><category term='passion'/><category term='country'/><category term='festive trimmings'/><category term='Aquita'/><category term='elemental'/><category term='&apos;Ice Flowers&apos;'/><category term='god'/><category term='religion'/><category term='ink drawing'/><category term='carol'/><category term='snow'/><category term='breathe in'/><category term='ZuTy'/><category term='Water Fairy'/><category term='money'/><title type='text'>Spiritual Pondering</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default?start-index=101&amp;max-results=100'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>141</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-7319512122541851519</id><published>2009-04-01T08:20:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-04-01T08:20:32.740-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Animal Allies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='angel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fish'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Earth'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Alaska'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fire'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Redoubt'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='co-creation'/><title type='text'>Angel of Change</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SdOGPAnRfbI/AAAAAAAAAhU/hUNr_GJTmGY/s1600-h/Redoubt-by-Brentwood-Higman%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="347" alt="Redoubt-photo by-Brentwood-Higman 3-27-09 " src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SdOGP80oEbI/AAAAAAAAAhY/goPhSTlXRKs/Redoubt-by-Brentwood-Higman_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="416" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mt. Redoubt (March 2009)&amp;#160; photo by Brentwood Higman&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Angel of Change'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this spectacular photograph of&amp;#160; &lt;a href="http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php"&gt;Mount Redoubt, Alaska&lt;/a&gt; exploding awake again with fire and lightening early morning March 28, 2009. Awesome!!! Can you see the angel, heart and angel fish? Beloved Creator gives us more messages and indicators. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The angel is a messenger heralding change through the fire of transformation and transmutation who says, 'It moves, ALL IS WELL, you are a Divine Child of God.' The lightening heart emerging from smoke says, 'FEAR NOT beloved... you are Loved, always taken care of and eternal'. It reminds us to Love all and do all through and with Love.' The angel fish says, 'HAVE FAITH things are not what they appear. Fish show us Independence, Potential and Adaptation. When swimming upwards fish indicates Spiritual evolution. The angelfish tells us angels are always around. It guides us to assist others in need... by helping others we help ourselves.&amp;#160; The explosion of Redoubt indicates there will be doubts projected and doubt will intensify. The mountain says, 'HAVE NO DOUBT, hold the visions of the future you wish to collectively create... they are made manifest! &lt;em&gt;The message&lt;/em&gt;: fear nothing, have faith, hold your visions without doubt, love self, others and the process itself, help each other, all is well and in transformation. In the end all will be new, fresh an unlike anything seen to date. Whoo Hoo... might as well let go and enjoy the ride!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/newscenter/topstories/todayinweather.html?from=hp_news2"&gt;Weather.com&lt;/a&gt; featured the photo above with the caption: &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;1:43 pm ET &lt;b&gt;Incredible volcano lightning photos:&lt;/b&gt; These are pictures taken on March 28 of Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcanic eruption. The volcano has been erupting for several days now but has recently evolved into a different eruption pattern.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-7319512122541851519?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/7319512122541851519/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=7319512122541851519' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/7319512122541851519'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/7319512122541851519'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/04/angel-of-change.html' title='Angel of Change'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SdOGP80oEbI/AAAAAAAAAhY/goPhSTlXRKs/s72-c/Redoubt-by-Brentwood-Higman_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6331686175797426611</id><published>2009-03-25T04:46:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-25T04:46:32.147-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='money'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='peace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='becomming'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='life'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='World'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Russia'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stillness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='happiness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Transformation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Awareness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='now'/><title type='text'>A Vision for A New Earth</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ScoZksJWzDI/AAAAAAAAAhM/2XSSHa7Gr-E/s1600-h/1st%20January%20Shugaley%20Pavel%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="211" alt="1st January photograph &amp;#169; 2009  Shugaley Pavel" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ScoZltHPBGI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/lmijjoDO4qs/1st%20January%20Shugaley%20Pavel_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="415" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'1st January' photograph by &lt;a href="http://www.photosight.ru/users/249867/"&gt;Shugaley Pavel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A Vision for A New Earth&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;ul&gt;   &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;An Earth where chaos matures into growth and reality is a soul harmony vibrating to Love in synchronicity.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Knowing through radical trust, silence and stillness that the dark is pierced by the Light, and fear and ignorance transformed into insight, love and wisdom.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;New leaders with spiritual vision unashamedly inspired by a loving connection to all life and a passionate caring for self, humanity and the environment lead the world to an unanimously agreed upon charter of peace.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Religion is no longer fought over, but honored as expressions of divinity. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Borders vanish to form one Circle of Light one earth &amp;#8211; one vision - one garden &amp;#8211; one economy &amp;#8211; one humanity.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Diversity is celebrated within the uniqueness of each individual&amp;#8217;s culture, race and heart.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Generosity and gratitude replace greed, and the desire to accumulate out of fear of scarcity, is replaced by knowing that all is provided for.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spirit is acknowledged in the radiance of each person&amp;#8217;s being beyond all illusions.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;The creative potential of each person&amp;#8217;s abilities unfold into expressions of joyous creations.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;All learning celebrates soul development, character, creativity and imagination.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sound, thought, light, feeling and color are understood as        &lt;br /&gt;palettes of creation to manifest reality.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Love is fostered as the elixir of life and Joy the blueprint for achievement.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Beauty, compassion and forgiveness weave perception and create connection.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Infinity is grasped as an awakening into the ever evolving mystery of the Now moment.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Time is seen as a fractal of Infinity where the Now locates,        &lt;br /&gt;attention focuses and intention directs.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Nature is Light. Light is the interplay of the dance of particles in the known cosmos of Love. Light is the breath of The Divine.       &lt;br /&gt;In Light, are the codes of all life playing a symphony of Love.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Love is all there is. As you are in your heart. In Peace. In Love. Know that you are loved beyond measure.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Know that we are in a New Earth where we all celebrate our magnificence.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Dream it and it will Be. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;~Author Unknown&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Amazing photograph and wisdom... thanks for the visions!!!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6331686175797426611?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6331686175797426611/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6331686175797426611' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6331686175797426611'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6331686175797426611'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/03/vision-for-new-earth.html' title='A Vision for A New Earth'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ScoZltHPBGI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/lmijjoDO4qs/s72-c/1st%20January%20Shugaley%20Pavel_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-4243642703103205636</id><published>2009-03-20T08:48:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-20T08:48:07.991-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Animal Allies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Africa'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Hinduism'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='peace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='elephants'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Buddhic'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='intuition'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='compassion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Buddha'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><title type='text'>Pink Elephant... really???</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ScO6syOoddI/AAAAAAAAAhE/fGGO8uf5Kvg/s1600-h/Pink%20Elephant%20photo%20by%20Mike%20Holding%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="271" alt="Pink Elephant photo by Mike Holding" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ScO6ti_IJuI/AAAAAAAAAhI/zY6tKXDwcEs/Pink%20Elephant%20photo%20by%20Mike%20Holding_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="417" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Rare Pink Elephant Baby' photograph by Mike Holding&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Everywhere... all around... more and more gifts from Creator. Signs we move... we progress. Heart shaped galaxies, pink dolphins, sun halos, comets... more. Now this very rare, sweet, beautiful, albino, pink, baby African elephant. Amazing!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Elephant represents - compassion, loyalty, strength, intelligence, discernment,&amp;#160; commitment, astuteness, memory, longevity, power and peace. Pink is the color of Universal Love, love of self and others, harmony and inner peace; and a developed heart chakra (Anahata). Elephant in Buddhism represents mental strength; the white elephant is a powerful controlled mind that eliminates all obstacles on the path. It is said that Buddha was born as a white elephant in a previous incarnation. Ganesh, the white elephant Hindu god removes obstacles and brings peace and inner knowing. A pink elephant shows us how... eliminate obstacles through love.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A pink elephant is great gift indeed... it shows Creators Love for us and blesses our unfolding. &lt;em&gt;Indicators: keep faith, remember love of self and others, bring peace to all, discern what brings harmony, be strong and clear of mind, develop heart and inner knowing.&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;March 20, 2009&lt;/strong&gt; - &lt;em&gt;A pink elephant caught on camera.&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160; A wildlife cameraman took pictures of the calf when he spotted it among a herd of about 80 elephants in the Okavango Delta (Botswana). Experts believe it is probably an albino, which is an extremely rare phenomenon in African elephants. Read more at &lt;a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7951331.stm"&gt;BBC&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-4243642703103205636?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/4243642703103205636/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=4243642703103205636' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/4243642703103205636'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/4243642703103205636'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/03/pink-elephant-really.html' title='Pink Elephant... really???'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ScO6ti_IJuI/AAAAAAAAAhI/zY6tKXDwcEs/s72-c/Pink%20Elephant%20photo%20by%20Mike%20Holding_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6657762810217470665</id><published>2009-03-18T10:17:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-18T10:17:55.901-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Galactic Love!!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ScEsu8EZ1jI/AAAAAAAAAg8/w3N6BvNyels/s1600-h/NGC62403.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="340" alt="NGC-6240" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ScEswsjkM7I/AAAAAAAAAhA/WAqdhdv9UQE/NGC6240_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="415" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Galactic Love' photo&amp;#160; by &lt;a href="http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2009-06/ssc2009-06a.shtml"&gt;NASA's Telescopes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Galactic Love'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this spectacular capture of two merging galaxies called NGC 6240. It's a great flying heart! What beautiful colors, blues, pink and purple with a core of golden white... painted with streaks of infrared light. WOW awe inspiring! Thank you beloved Creator. Love is everywhere and ever expanding.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;March 16, 2009:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope offers a rare view of an imminent collision between the cores of two merging galaxies, each powered by a black hole with millions of times the mass of the sun. The spectacular image combines visible light from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and infrared light from Spitzer. It catches the two galaxies during a rare, short-lived phase of their evolution, when both cores of the interacting galaxies are still visible but closing in on each other fast. Read more at &lt;a href="http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2009-06/release.shtml"&gt;NASA Newsroom&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6657762810217470665?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6657762810217470665/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6657762810217470665' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6657762810217470665'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6657762810217470665'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/03/galactic-love.html' title='Galactic Love!!!'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ScEswsjkM7I/AAAAAAAAAhA/WAqdhdv9UQE/s72-c/NGC6240_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6923262383053787518</id><published>2009-03-16T05:12:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-16T05:12:02.040-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ecuador'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Manatial'/><title type='text'>Wayraman - Manatial</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:529912c1-319a-43f3-90d1-c641ffb1c69c" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="337"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qf-XcnqwLb4"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qf-XcnqwLb4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="337"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wayraman by Manatial&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Beautiful panpipes and flute telling a story of love. Sweet!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Manatial, The Mystic Sound from the Andes, Song: Wayraman, Album: The Secret of the Dancing Spirits DVD, Video produced by: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.ayllurecords.com/Index.htm" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;AylluRecords&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;. Recorded in Salasaca, Ecuador. Official website: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a title="http://manantial-productions.com/home/index.html" href="http://manantial-productions.com/home/index.html"&gt;manantial-productions.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Manantial &lt;/strong&gt;are Indigenous musicians from the Kichwa-Salasaka community in&amp;#160; Ecuador. They present a magical connection between ancient and present cultures through song and dance. Members include Alberto Jerez, Kjulliar Jerez and Carlos Jerez&amp;#160; from Salasaka-Ecuador.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Bonnee&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6923262383053787518?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6923262383053787518/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6923262383053787518' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6923262383053787518'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6923262383053787518'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/03/wayraman-manatial.html' title='Wayraman - Manatial'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1010152920585949585</id><published>2009-03-11T06:04:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-11T06:04:56.848-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='meditative'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Buddhic'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='breathe'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='zen'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='meditation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Awareness'/><title type='text'>Quiet Respite - Empty Your Mind</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;   &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:0551cfb1-9cf1-4f35-848b-c49cfede702d" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 405px; padding-top: 0px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="405" height="339"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z7QSPemnjsQ"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z7QSPemnjsQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="405" height="339"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Zen Meditation video by &lt;a href="http://thewisdomwarrior.com/"&gt;TheWisdomWarrior.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;When life has over taken and is controlling you, step back... breathe... watch, listen and allow this lovely quieting video to bring a space of quiet respite. A place to regroup, center, quiet and empty the mind. Enjoy the peace.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1010152920585949585?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1010152920585949585/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1010152920585949585' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1010152920585949585'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1010152920585949585'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/03/quiet-respite-empty-your-mind.html' title='Quiet Respite - Empty Your Mind'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5668153770057266686</id><published>2009-03-07T08:39:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-07T08:39:40.584-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Wisdom Gathering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='USA'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='2012'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='peace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Earth'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sedona'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='World'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mayan'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Awareness'/><title type='text'>Return of the Ancestors, Wisdom Gathering</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:0ad60ae0-65c9-4b61-b0d9-ba5ed57e867c" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 0px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="337"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1qn1YMVdIK0&amp;amp;eurl=http://www.instituteforculturalawareness.com/&amp;amp;feature=player_embedded"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1qn1YMVdIK0&amp;amp;eurl=http://www.instituteforculturalawareness.com/&amp;amp;feature=player_embedded" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="337"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Return of the Ancestors, Wisdom Gathering, Sedona, AZ April 18&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; - 28, 2009&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;An important gathering is about to occur. I thought you might find it of interest. &lt;em&gt;'Return of the Ancestors'&lt;/em&gt; is happening April in Northern Arizona. Here is&amp;#160; information about the gathering:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;500 years ago the Mayan Ancestors wrote out on stone prophesies for the upcoming years creating the Mayan Calendar.&amp;#160; With only four years left of the Mayan Calendar, many people fear the end of the world, but it is not predicting the end of the world in 2012, but the start of a new era.&amp;#160; To usher in this new era &lt;em&gt;The&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;Institute for Cultural Awareness &lt;/em&gt;is holding a sacred pilgrimage in Northern Arizona beginning Earth Day Weekend, April 18&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;#8211; 28, 2009.&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Indigenous Elders and Future Wisdom Keepers are coming from every corner of the world to share their wisdom and prophesies.&amp;#160; Will help us heal and follow in their ancestors footsteps as prophesied, creating new guide stone tablets of prophesy for the upcoming 500 years&amp;#8230;the world has awaited a renewed life&amp;#8217;s plan. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;This gathering is fulfilling a great Mayan prophecy, &lt;strong&gt;When the Eagle once again flies with the Condor, a lasting peace will reign in the Americas and will spread throughout the world to unite humanity.&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;To find out more visit &lt;a href="http://www.instituteforculturalawareness.com/"&gt;ICA website&lt;/a&gt;. A Ho!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5668153770057266686?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5668153770057266686/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5668153770057266686' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5668153770057266686'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5668153770057266686'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/03/return-of-ancestors-wisdom-gathering_07.html' title='Return of the Ancestors, Wisdom Gathering'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-8642995158399707711</id><published>2009-03-06T11:02:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-06T11:02:27.348-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='dolphins'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='life'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='energy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Breath'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='USA'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='happiness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='oneness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><title type='text'>Rare Pink Dolphin... more signs!</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SbFlLZGw_aI/AAAAAAAAAg0/wIq24mWWmI0/s1600-h/PINK_DOLPHIN%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="231" alt="PINK_DOLPHIN" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SbFlMA5p70I/AAAAAAAAAg4/qLEZ6LokhVU/PINK_DOLPHIN_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="419" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Rare pink dolphin' photo by Capt. Erik Rue&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;When I lived on Kauai I often would sit alone and watch the dolphins playing just off shore. One day while pondering a particularly difficult life situation a dolphin caught my attention. He jumped out of the water and spun in circles then dove out of sight. He repeated this again and again while making joyful noise. When we touched consciousness I was showered with Love and happiness and received the message 'There is only Love, play dear one, nothing is of import which leaden the heart.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A pink albino dolphin! What a glorious gift from Creator. Dolphins represent manna, breath, play and Oneness. Manna is energy... the essence of Creator which is present in all Creation. Breath is life, taking in and renewing Manna which sustains body; keeps it alive. Through the rhythm of breath we may begin to sense energy and intensify our connection to God. Oneness is our Divine connection with everything... 'all that is'. Pink is the color of Universal Love, love of self and others, harmony and inner peace; and a developed heart chakra (Anahata). Our pink dolphin gives us indicators (a road map) to guide us as we expand spiritually. &lt;em&gt;Indicators...&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;em&gt;link with Creator for answers, commune with nature, remember Love and Oneness, be mindful of bodily energies and breath and spread waves of laughter, joy and love into the world.&lt;/em&gt; Thank you for your glorious indicators beloved Creator. A pink dolphin... indeed!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Pink dolphin photograph taken by Captain Eric Rue on Calcasieu Lake in Louisiana. You can see more of Erik's photos of the pink dolphin at &lt;a href="http://www.calcasieucharters.com/index.cfm/CFID/43972993/CFTOKEN/86515477/MenuItemID/125.htm"&gt;Calcasieu Charter Service&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Kari Pugh, Mad Mariner daily boating magazine writes, &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;Albino dolphins are rare. Only three have been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico since 1994 and there have only been 14 sightings around the world since 1963. But albino dolphins that appear to be pink are unheard of, says &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://biology.louisiana.edu/rosel.html"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Patricia Rosel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;, a&amp;#160; NOAA marine biologist who studies the genetic glitches found in bottlenose dolphins&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;quot; You can read the whole article at &lt;a href="http://madmariner.com/news/story/PINK_DOLPHINS_ALBINO_DOLPHINS_RARE_110507_AP"&gt;Mad Mariner&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-8642995158399707711?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/8642995158399707711/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=8642995158399707711' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8642995158399707711'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8642995158399707711'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/03/rare-pink-dolphin-more-signs.html' title='Rare Pink Dolphin... more signs!'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SbFlMA5p70I/AAAAAAAAAg4/qLEZ6LokhVU/s72-c/PINK_DOLPHIN_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6214335296864466831</id><published>2009-03-04T04:19:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-04T04:19:54.338-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Scotland'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Gaelic'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Julie Fowlis'/><title type='text'>Mo Ghruagach Dhonn - Julie Fowlis</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:1a02d13c-c011-4657-bef6-5575a91b5184" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 401px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="401" height="335"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lUNrtdQUlLs"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lUNrtdQUlLs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="401" height="335"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mo Ghruagach Dhonn sung by Julie Fowlis&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Lovely, clear and sweet, Julie's voice is just beautiful. I enjoy listening to her sing this ancient Gaelic love song about a man's search. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Julie says of the song, &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;This is a North Uist love song which I heard for the first time in the house of Kate-Ann MacLellan in H&amp;#249;na, North Uist (Scotland).&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Julie Fowlis, Song: Mo Ghruagach Dhonn , Album: Cuilidh&amp;#160; (2007), Label: SPIT &amp;amp; POLISH&amp;#160; Official website: &lt;a title="http://www.juliefowlis.com/" href="http://www.juliefowlis.com"&gt;www.juliefowlis.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Mo Ghruagach Dhonn (My Brown-haired Lass) Gaelic lyrics in English:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hi ho ro, my brown-haired lass,      &lt;br /&gt;whose beauty becomes more beguiling.       &lt;br /&gt;The deep love I have for you       &lt;br /&gt;has left me sorely wounded.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Your letter arrived on Tuesday     &lt;br /&gt;Telling of what was to be.      &lt;br /&gt;It told that your ship would arrive       &lt;br /&gt;in Glasgow without delay.      &lt;br /&gt;When I read this,       &lt;br /&gt;I immediately headed for the Broomielaw.       &lt;br /&gt;I saw the ship carrying the jewel,       &lt;br /&gt;the maiden, approach. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;When I held out my hand      &lt;br /&gt;you turned&amp;#160; with a slight smile and       &lt;br /&gt;uttered a couple of words       &lt;br /&gt;which left me sleepless many nights&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You have the loveliest hair,      &lt;br /&gt;neither black, nor red nor fair,       &lt;br /&gt;but the colour of the most beautiful gold,       &lt;br /&gt;yellow, braided and curled.&amp;#160; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I would write for you with a pen.     &lt;br /&gt;I would cultivate&amp;#160; for you with a plough.      &lt;br /&gt;I would captain a ship for you,       &lt;br /&gt;brown haired lass of the deceiving eyes.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You are skilled at working wool      &lt;br /&gt;and at writing on blank paper.       &lt;br /&gt;But if you have gone overseas, to Australia,       &lt;br /&gt;goodbye to you.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I will no longer be in despair.      &lt;br /&gt;I&amp;#8217;ll grab a new one by the hand.       &lt;br /&gt;Solomon, the wisest man who lived,       &lt;br /&gt;had many sweethearts&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Julie Fowlis&lt;/b&gt; born 1979 in North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides Scotland is a folk singer instrumentalist who sings primarily in Gaelic. She won the &lt;i&gt;Horizon&lt;/i&gt; award at the 2006 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and &lt;i&gt;Folk Singer of The Year&lt;/i&gt; at the 2008 awards.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6214335296864466831?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6214335296864466831/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6214335296864466831' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6214335296864466831'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6214335296864466831'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/03/mo-ghruagach-dhonn-julie-fowlis.html' title='Mo Ghruagach Dhonn - Julie Fowlis'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-8340841403299072515</id><published>2009-03-02T11:15:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-02T11:15:33.686-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='France'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='USA'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='becomming'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Germany'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spain'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Il Divo'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Switzerland'/><title type='text'>Regresa a mi - Il Divo</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:b2616583-3d57-488d-a7aa-c07750327754" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 404px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="404" height="338"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3A1zpV8l0F8"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3A1zpV8l0F8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="404" height="338"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Regresa a mi' sung by Il Divo&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A beautiful, sad, moving love song, passionately sung by Il Divo.&amp;#160; Longing for love lost. The line, &lt;em&gt;'My life turns off without you by my side'&lt;/em&gt; touches me. We often merge our lives so completely with another that when other is gone we &lt;em&gt;turn off&lt;/em&gt; or shut down. Sometimes it takes years to come alive again... to become some semblance of what we were before the relationship... forever changed, altered. We may review... as a result grow and become more through love. Life is meant to be poignant... Love is always a Divine gift.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A dear friend once said to me, &lt;em&gt;'I would rather be without love than to accept something ordinary.'&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160; I believe, Love is never ordinary when it comes, treasure it in all its' forms.&amp;#160; No one... nothing is ordinary, nor is anyone or anything special. Everything is sacred and Divine... everyone Perfect as they are... nothing better, nor worse.. just is. Accept what is given and be filled with joy... a choice. The dance of life and love is full of experiences and choices... a smorgasbord of sensations and feelings. Flow with life... appreciate, accept what is and be grateful for breath. We are given what we need in every moment... relationships, family, friends or sacred time to ourselves... discerning what enhances. Searching leads to more searching, an endless quest... a good game like every undertaking. Fun. Play well. What seems mystical to one is simply life unfolding for another. Everything is a blessing from God... life, love, body, home, family, friends, animals, food, nature, breath... everything! Thank you, thank you, thank you for Love, beloved Creator!&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Il Divo, Song: Regresa a Mi, Album: Il Divo - Il Divo (2004), Label: Sony BMG, Music video: 2006 Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Sony BMG Music UK (c) 2004 Simco Limited exclusively licensed to Sony BMG Music Entertainment (UK) Limited. Official website: &lt;a title="http://www.ildivo.com/" href="http://www.ildivo.com"&gt;www.ildivo.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Regresa a mi (Return to me) lyrics (Spanish) in English (translated by &lt;a href="http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/610086.html"&gt;elmarto-ga&lt;/a&gt;):&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Don't leave me like this      &lt;br /&gt;Speaking only of you       &lt;br /&gt;Come and give the smile that went away back to me       &lt;br /&gt;One more time to touch your skin and deep to sigh       &lt;br /&gt;Let's recover what has been lost       &lt;br /&gt;Return to me&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Love me once again      &lt;br /&gt;Erase the grief I experienced when you left       &lt;br /&gt;when you parted from me       &lt;br /&gt;Tell me yes       &lt;br /&gt;I don't want to cry       &lt;br /&gt;Return to me &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I miss the love that went away      &lt;br /&gt;I miss the happiness as well       &lt;br /&gt;I want you to come to me and love me again       &lt;br /&gt;I can't go on if you're not here; you have to arrive       &lt;br /&gt;My life turns off without you by my side       &lt;br /&gt;Return to me, Return to me&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Il Divo&lt;/strong&gt; (Italian for &lt;em&gt;'star or or celebrity'&lt;/em&gt;) was created by music manager Simon Cowell. They are a multinational operatic pop vocal group. Members of Il Divo are singers: Carlos Mar&amp;#237;n &lt;em&gt;(born October 13, 1968 in R&amp;#252;sselsheim, Germany, raised in Madrid, Spain),&lt;/em&gt; Urs B&amp;#252;hler &lt;em&gt;(born July 19, 1971 in Willisau, Lucerne, Switzerland),&lt;/em&gt; David Miller &lt;em&gt;(born April 14, 1973 in San Diego, California but grew up in Littleton, Colorado),&lt;/em&gt; and S&amp;#233;bastien Izambard (born March 7, 1973 in Paris, France). They sing in English, Italian, Spanish, French and Latin. Il Divo was named the Most Multinational UK No.1 Album Group in the 2006 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-8340841403299072515?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/8340841403299072515/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=8340841403299072515' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8340841403299072515'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8340841403299072515'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/03/regresa-mi-il-divo.html' title='Regresa a mi - Il Divo'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5459692046722363306</id><published>2009-02-28T12:34:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-28T12:34:19.760-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Connie Talbot'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='happiness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='breathe'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='England'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='remembrance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='co-creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Three Little Birds'/><title type='text'>Three Little Birds - Connie Talbot</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;   &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:12dad62a-26da-49a0-a53b-21767ef7caca" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 405px; padding-top: 0px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="405" height="339"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4cmffLlkwxc"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4cmffLlkwxc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="405" height="339"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Three Little Birds' sung by Connie Talbot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Sweet, fun and happy, makes me smile. I love the lines, &lt;em&gt;'Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright&lt;/em&gt;.' How true!&amp;#160; Worry stems from thinking about past/future, usually something which has not yet manifest. Worry is fear-based (FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real or Future Expectations Appearing Real). It's not yet become reality, so is assumed or expected. With our powerful thoughts backed with by feelings we make what we dwell on real. So remembering,&lt;em&gt; 'Don't worry cause everything's gonna be alright'&lt;/em&gt; helps us take a deep breath, step back from 'whatever' and know we are ok. Right now we are ok! Thanks for the happy reminder. I just found Connie today on youtube, what talent!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Connie Talbot, Song: Three Little Birds, Album: Over the rainbow (2008), Label: AAO Rainbow Recording&amp;#160; , Official website: &lt;a title="http://www.connietalbot.com/index.php" href="http://www.connietalbot.com"&gt;www.connietalbot.com&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;#160; 'Three Little Birds' originally made popular by Bob Marley.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;'Three Little Birds' lyrics:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Dont worry about a thing,     &lt;br /&gt;cause every little thing gonna be all right.      &lt;br /&gt;Singin: dont worry about a thing,      &lt;br /&gt;cause every little thing gonna be all right!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rise up this mornin,     &lt;br /&gt;Smiled with the risin sun,      &lt;br /&gt;Three little birds      &lt;br /&gt;Pitch by my doorstep      &lt;br /&gt;Singin sweet songs      &lt;br /&gt;Of melodies pure and true,      &lt;br /&gt;Sayin, (this is my message to you-ou-ou:)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Singin: dont worry bout a thing,     &lt;br /&gt;cause every little thing gonna be all right.      &lt;br /&gt;Singin: dont worry (dont worry) bout a thing,      &lt;br /&gt;cause every little thing gonna be all right!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rise up this mornin,     &lt;br /&gt;Smiled with the risin sun,      &lt;br /&gt;Three little birds      &lt;br /&gt;Pitch by my doorstep      &lt;br /&gt;Singin sweet songs      &lt;br /&gt;Of melodies pure and true,      &lt;br /&gt;Sayin, this is my message to you-ou-ou:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Singin: dont worry about a thing, worry about a thing, oh!     &lt;br /&gt;Every little thing gonna be all right. dont worry!      &lt;br /&gt;Singin: dont worry about a thing - I wont worry!      &lt;br /&gt;cause every little thing gonna be all right.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Connie Talbot &lt;/strong&gt;born November 20, 2000 in Streetly, West Midlands, England is a child singer. She began singing at age 2 and rose to fame in 2007 after her appearance on Britain's Got Talent. She's also in the newest Guinness Book of Records as the youngest artist to ever be in the UK Charts. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5459692046722363306?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5459692046722363306/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5459692046722363306' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5459692046722363306'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5459692046722363306'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/three-little-birds-connie-talbot.html' title='Three Little Birds - Connie Talbot'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-818566860258619800</id><published>2009-02-25T10:19:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-25T10:19:53.206-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='astrophotography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='astrology'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='comet'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='belief'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='celestial'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='energy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='World'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><title type='text'>Glorious Indicators... we move!</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SaV9tbtPb3I/AAAAAAAAAgk/FbCIUBucNiE/s1600-h/comet%20lulin%20by%20John-Nassr%202-24-09%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="434" alt="comet lulin by John-Nassr 2-24-09" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SaV9twkJNjI/AAAAAAAAAgo/FLZH8c_hIAo/comet%20lulin%20by%20John-Nassr%202-24-09_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="392" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Glorious Indicators... we move!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Beautiful green comet Lulin is currently located in the night sky between Saturn and Regulus and is moving backwards (never observed in a comet before). Photo taken by astrophotographer John Nassr in the Philippines.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Astrologically&lt;/strong&gt;... Comets are usually seen as signs of things to come... predictors. On February 23, 2009 Lulin was at its' closest position to earth, on the 24th it made it's first naked eye appearance during New Moon (time for creation) in Pisces (seeing beyond material to other realms). &lt;em&gt;Significance:&lt;/em&gt; Lulin is an awakener... moving backward suggests turning within. The timing suggests motivation to awaken, seeking answers beyond tactile senses. Inner creation, beyond material to other realms. As well on the 24th Lulin conjoins Saturn (time and material reality) which is in opposition to Uranus (technological innovation, energy and radical change). &lt;em&gt;Significance:&lt;/em&gt; Lulin's alignment suggests an awakening.... reexamining our beliefs about time and material reality and urging radical change. The green color of Lulin suggests healing in areas it impacts. Lulin helps us to collectively recognize our material and energetic impact on all that is... then heal, lessen or eliminate that impact.&lt;em&gt; 'The current green movement?'&lt;/em&gt; As well it urges us to look at our beliefs and stretch beyond. Lulin was discovered because of a collaboration between Taiwanese and Chinese astronomers. So it carries the energy of working together. Perhaps it offers a solution to current world crises - heal our differences, turn within for answers and collaborate.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-818566860258619800?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/818566860258619800/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=818566860258619800' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/818566860258619800'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/818566860258619800'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/glorious-indicators-we-move.html' title='Glorious Indicators... we move!'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SaV9twkJNjI/AAAAAAAAAgo/FLZH8c_hIAo/s72-c/comet%20lulin%20by%20John-Nassr%202-24-09_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1110570285653936147</id><published>2009-02-23T10:06:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-23T10:06:46.244-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='compassion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Amy Studt'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spiritual pondering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='England'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='emotional'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='soul'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Furniture'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><title type='text'>Furniture - Amy Studt</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:459629eb-0daa-4041-a933-5ed7362d7b1a" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 410px; padding-top: 0px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="410" height="343"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FoMD6Yvktf0"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FoMD6Yvktf0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="410" height="343"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Furniture' sung by Amy Studt, music video&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Haunting, fragile and intense... touches me to the bone! Makes me wonder... why we cause harm to each other, the earth and all life? Why don't we love each other or ourselves? Will we be able to collectively move beyond these destructive patterns? I know we can! I really like the lines,&lt;em&gt; 'behind the skin, my divinity, behind the skin, my only sanctuary.'&lt;/em&gt; The skin, the bone... a vehicle... a temple. Behind the skin... Soul... our Divinity, our sanctuary... who 'we truly are'. We move toward the ultimate... conscious merging of skin and Soul... self actualization... enlightenment or Divine Union. Works like this song help us see, understand, know... remember right action... awake our compassionate nature.&amp;#160; Thanks Amy for creating a wonderful song and for the reminder. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Amy Studt, Song: Furniture (digital single December 2007), Album: My Paper Made Men (digital May 2008, CD March 2009), Label: 19 Entertainment, Video produced by: Lee Lennox, Official website: &lt;a title="http://www.amystudt.com/" href="http://www.amystudt.com"&gt;www.amystudt.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;'Furniture' lyrics:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I am only flesh and bones, Splintered glass and tattered clothes,      &lt;br /&gt;behind the skin, my fragility, behind the skin, a skeletal impracticality,       &lt;br /&gt;I am only pieces of you, held together with paper glue,       &lt;br /&gt;behind the skin, my divinity, behind the skin, my only sanctuary.       &lt;br /&gt;You can lean on me, have a drink on me, leave your mark all over me, paint the outside 'till it smiles, you can eat off me, rest your head on me, press yourself on top of me, kick the back until its quiet.       &lt;br /&gt;All in all I'm just furniture, Just another piece taking you one step further from the perfect living room set,       &lt;br /&gt;All in all I'm just furniture, In these 4 walls that hold me, keep me safe under sound and bare within its grip.       &lt;br /&gt;My wooden heart it sings no more, This dress I wear becomes the floor, behind the skin, a living, breathing thing, behind the skin, a place you've never been.       &lt;br /&gt;You can lean on me, have a drink on me, leave your mark all over me, paint the outside 'till it smiles, you can eat off me, rest your head on me, press yourself on top of me, kick the back until its quiet.       &lt;br /&gt;All in all I'm just furniture, Just another piece taking you one step further from the perfect living room set,       &lt;br /&gt;All in all I'm just furniture, In these 4 walls that hold me, keep me safe under sound and bare within its grip.       &lt;br /&gt;I am only flesh and bones, Splintered glass and tattered clothes&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amy Studt&lt;/strong&gt; (Amy Jane Studt) born March 22, 1986 in Bournemouth, England is a singer, songwriter and musician. She made her first music demo at 14 which resulted in a contract with Polydor. Her first single &lt;em&gt;'Just a Little Girl'&lt;/em&gt; released in 2002 was an international success.&amp;#160; Amy's Myspace page is &lt;a href="http://www.myspace.com/amystudtofficial" target="_blank"&gt;amystudtofficial&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1110570285653936147?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1110570285653936147/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1110570285653936147' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1110570285653936147'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1110570285653936147'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/furniture-amy-studt.html' title='Furniture - Amy Studt'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-4942081473694591341</id><published>2009-02-21T05:55:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-21T05:55:03.730-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Tibetan Plateau - Vitas</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:87a55679-8f00-41a9-98ca-dfe822343ed5" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 399px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="399" height="334"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4DaOSZKS3Dg"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4DaOSZKS3Dg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="399" height="334"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Tibetan Plateau' sung by Vitas&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Spectacular! Glorious journey through the mountains and minds of Tibet. Beautifully sung by Vitas.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Vitas, Song: Tibetan Plateau (2008 &lt;em&gt;Just released&lt;/em&gt;.), Video created by: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;Dieforsing (China), Song written by: Qianyi Zhang.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; Official website: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.vitas.com.ru"&gt;&lt;em&gt;www.vitas.com.ru&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;#160; &lt;em&gt;Tibetan Plateau is a folk song made popular by Li Na (李娜).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Vitas&lt;/b&gt; (Vitaliy Vladasovich Grachyov) born February 19, 1981 in Daugavpils, Latvia is a Russian singer, composer, actor and fashion designer. Vitas, or Витас in Russian is how he is most well known. He was the only foreign artist to sing at the Olympic starting concert July 2008.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-4942081473694591341?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/4942081473694591341/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=4942081473694591341' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/4942081473694591341'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/4942081473694591341'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/tibetan-plateau-vitas.html' title='Tibetan Plateau - Vitas'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5523712502031931515</id><published>2009-02-19T07:58:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-19T07:58:59.125-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Alexander Petrenko'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Heaven'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Russia'/><title type='text'>'Smokin' Heaven?' - Alexander Petrenko</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SZ1zpYKA0LI/AAAAAAAAAgM/c_zYhBNyj78/s1600-h/ariealviewcloudsaboveMoscowRussiapho%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="374" alt="Arieal view smoke above Moscow, Russia photo &amp;#169;Alexander Petrenko " src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SZ1zqhXI4gI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/W_zhvwc6uJY/ariealviewcloudsaboveMoscowRussiapho.jpg?imgmax=800" width="415" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Smokin' Heaven?' photograph by &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://photoblog.petrenko.cc/category/my-photos/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Alexander Petrenko&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Smokin' Heaven?' &lt;/em&gt;is my name for this interesting, fun and amazing photograph. Is Heaven above us? Alexander saw this group of Heavenly golfers over Moscow, Russia and captured it. How cool is that 'Heavenly Smokin' Golfers'. Don't know if it's truly Heaven, but it's a wonderful reminder. Even in smoke we can see life and Creator's love. It's everywhere... all around we just need to stop, pause, breathe and see. Amazing! Thank you beloved Creator for this wonderful whimsical reminder. Cough, cough!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Alexander's name for the photo is &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;Оказывается, тут тоже есть жизнь&amp;#8230;&amp;#8221; (&amp;quot;It occurs, here also there is life&amp;#8230;&amp;#8221;). &lt;/em&gt;The aerial photograph was taken over Kiev-Moscow, Russia on the approach to Sheremet'yevo Airport. He says, &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;I officially explain this is the photo as it appeared winter 2006, with no editing other then crop and resize.&amp;quot; &lt;/em&gt;You can see more of his wonderful photos on his &lt;a href="http://photoblog.petrenko.cc/category/my-photos/"&gt;photo blog&lt;/a&gt; or read &lt;a href="http://petrenko.com.ua/"&gt;Petrenko blog&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SZ1zryoXJjI/AAAAAAAAAgU/CVg5KEJDeC8/s1600-h/ArchipelagoofSulubyFarl3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="162" alt="Archipelago of Sulu photograph &amp;#169;Farl" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SZ1zsfPdmJI/AAAAAAAAAgY/JGAa1S404lE/ArchipelagoofSulubyFarl_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Another beautiful reminder of Creator's love is this photo of Archipelago of Sulu taken by Farl. It looks like an island with a heart cut out of the center. He calls it &lt;em&gt;Donut Hole&lt;/em&gt;. You can see more lovely photos from &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/colloidfarl/"&gt;Farl at flickr.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;I found both photos while perusing '&lt;a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/21/75-eye-catching-examples-of-aerial-photography/"&gt;The World From Above: The Beauty Of Aerial Photography&lt;/a&gt;'. Enjoy!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5523712502031931515?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5523712502031931515/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5523712502031931515' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5523712502031931515'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5523712502031931515'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/heaven-alexander-petrenko.html' title='&amp;#39;Smokin&amp;#39; Heaven?&amp;#39; - Alexander Petrenko'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SZ1zqhXI4gI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/W_zhvwc6uJY/s72-c/ariealviewcloudsaboveMoscowRussiapho.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-7377281643932705509</id><published>2009-02-17T08:36:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-17T08:36:45.843-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sissel Kyrkjebø'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Norwegian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Norway'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jesus'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Pie Jesu'/><title type='text'>Pie Jesu - Sissel Kyrkjebø</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:af2a6e2a-cd9b-4492-b0c8-653d2a32614f" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 412px; padding-top: 0px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="412" height="346"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DSKnkqAOhpA"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DSKnkqAOhpA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="412" height="346"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pie Jesu performed by&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Sissel Kyrkjeb&amp;#248;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Exquisite! Perfect, clear, heart song. Incredible voice and presentation... wow! Brings tears. A beautiful, compassionate plea to Jesus to end suffering in the world. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sissel Kyrkjeb&amp;#248;, Song: Pie Jesu, Album: My Heart (2004),&amp;#160; Label: Decca. The video is from her PBS concert 'All Good Things' available on DVD. Official website: &lt;a title="http://www.sissel.net/" href="http://www.sissel.net"&gt;www.sissel.net&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Pie Jesu as written by &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Lloyd_Webber" target="_blank"&gt;Andrew Lloyd Webber&lt;/a&gt; (Latin):&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;#176;Pie Jesu      &lt;br /&gt;&amp;#176;Qui tollis peccata mundi&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160; &lt;br /&gt;&amp;#176;Dona eis requiem &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Agnus dei      &lt;br /&gt;Qui tollis peccata mundi       &lt;br /&gt;Dona eis requiem       &lt;br /&gt;Sempiternam &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;English translation:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Kind Jesus      &lt;br /&gt;You, who takes away the sins of the world,       &lt;br /&gt;Grant them rest.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lamb of God      &lt;br /&gt;You, who takes away the sins of the world,       &lt;br /&gt;Grant them rest.       &lt;br /&gt;Eternal.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sissel Kyrkjeb&amp;#248;&lt;/strong&gt; (known as Sissel) born June 24, 1969 in Bergen, Norway is a soprano. She is best known for singing the Olympic Hymn at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Norway. Sissel is one of the world's top crossover sopranos who sings pop, folk, classical and operatic arias. &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sissel-Kyrkjeb/23455462499#" target="_blank"&gt;Sissel on Facebook&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-7377281643932705509?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/7377281643932705509/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=7377281643932705509' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/7377281643932705509'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/7377281643932705509'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/pie-jesu-sissel-kyrkjeb.html' title='Pie Jesu - Sissel Kyrkjebø'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1256268536557075134</id><published>2009-02-15T06:51:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-15T07:06:55.352-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='long ago'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sorten Muld'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Denmark'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Længe Siden'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Elf'/><title type='text'>Længe Siden - Sorten Muld</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:1409e0dc-8c28-491a-9618-70541aba199b" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 411px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="411" height="343"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MEvr1XbrV-U"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MEvr1XbrV-U" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="411" height="343"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;strong&gt;L&amp;#230;nge Siden' by Sorten Muld&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt; Beautiful, body moving, earthy, sexy. Deep in the woods, dancing with the fey... enchanted. Thanks Sorten Muld for the journey... melding past and present. Wonderful!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sorten Muld, Song: L&amp;#230;nge Siden, Album: III (2000), Label: NorthSide, Website: &lt;a href="http://www.sortenmuld.dk"&gt;www.sortenmuld.dk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;'L&amp;#230;nge Siden' &lt;em&gt;'Long Ago'&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160; lyrics:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mild mild sommervind      &lt;br /&gt;l&amp;#230;rker i dit h&amp;#229;r       &lt;br /&gt;hvor er det l&amp;#230;nge l&amp;#230;nge siden       &lt;br /&gt;Men snart er rejsen endebragt       &lt;br /&gt;snart vender du hjem       &lt;br /&gt;til mild mild sommervind alle dage&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;English translation...&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Soft soft summer breeze      &lt;br /&gt;Larks hiding in your hair       &lt;br /&gt;Its such a long long time ago now       &lt;br /&gt;But soon the journey is brought to its end       &lt;br /&gt;Soon you will return       &lt;br /&gt;to soft soft summer breeze all days to come&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sorten Muld&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;'Black Earth'&lt;/em&gt; a Danish electro-folk band, formed in 1995. Band members are: singer Ulla Bendixsen, musician-architect Martin Ottesen and technician Henrik Munch. Their first major release in Denmark was Mark II which went gold and won 2 Danish Grammy awards.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Bonnee&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1256268536557075134?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1256268536557075134/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1256268536557075134' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1256268536557075134'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1256268536557075134'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/lnge-siden-sorten-muld.html' title='Længe Siden - Sorten Muld'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-7454164386431723309</id><published>2009-02-11T07:24:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-11T07:24:07.661-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='France'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Scotland'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Elizabeth Fraser'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Yann Tiersen'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='soul'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Kala'/><title type='text'>Kala - Yann Tiersen</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:563e7553-a65f-493c-adc2-7db0969dae2c" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 408px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="408" height="340"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kWSkkYrsHTg"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kWSkkYrsHTg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="408" height="340"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kala performed by Yann Tiersen, vocals by Liz Fraser&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Lovely, light filled and sweet. Takes you on a journey without end, to places and places and places. Flowing, moving. Feels like the journey of the Soul through lifetimes... ever growing, ever experiencing. Just beautiful, thanks Yann and Liz for the moving journey.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Yann Tiersen, Song Kala, Album: Les Retrouvailles (2005), Label: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.virgin.com/"&gt;Virgin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;. Les Retrouvailles includes a DVD with a short film: &amp;quot;La Travers&amp;#233;e&amp;quot; directed by Aur&amp;#233;lie du Boys. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;Website: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.yanntiersen.com"&gt;&lt;em&gt;www.yanntiersen.com&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. I was unable to find the lyrics to Kala.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yann Tiersen&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;(&lt;/em&gt;Guillaume Yann Tiersen) born June 23, 1970 in Brittany, France is an internationally known musician and composer. He is best known for composing the score to Am&amp;#233;lie a movie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. He most often creatively performs utilizing the piano, violin and accordion but also plays the guitar, melodica, xylophone, toy piano, ondes martenot, harpsichord, typewriter and more. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Elizabeth Fraser&lt;/b&gt; (Elizabeth Davidson Fraser) born August 29, 1963 in Grangemouth, Scotland is best known as the lead singer for Cocteau Twins'. She has also collaborated with numerous artists including Felt, Dif Juz, Orbital, Ian McCulloch and others. Her website is &lt;a title="http://www.elizabethfraser.com/" href="http://www.elizabethfraser.com"&gt;www.elizabethfraser.com&lt;/a&gt; is currently under construction. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-7454164386431723309?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/7454164386431723309/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=7454164386431723309' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/7454164386431723309'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/7454164386431723309'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/kala-yann-tiersen.html' title='Kala - Yann Tiersen'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6949566453792842491</id><published>2009-02-09T06:35:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-09T06:35:59.197-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='USA'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='becomming'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Unfold'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='soul'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='experience'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Marié Digby'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><title type='text'>Unfold by Marié Digby</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:47f4a8a2-3a5f-4597-9265-4ee6eb32315b" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 407px; padding-top: 0px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="407" height="339"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0F3Rm8c3wP0"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0F3Rm8c3wP0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="407" height="339"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Unfold performed by &lt;strong&gt;Mari&amp;#233; Digby&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Beautiful, touching song. Reminds me of a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. She unfolds... comes out... becomes more who she truly is and allows love to permeate... all. I love the line, '&lt;em&gt;My soul it's dying to be free I can't live the rest of my life so guarded. It's up to me to choose.. what kind of life I lead.'&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160; A choice... to live life fully and allow love in. Love is the essence of all! What a wonderful reminder Mari&amp;#233; thanks for sharing your heart and unfolding process with us!&lt;strong&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mari&amp;#233; Digby, Song: Unfold, Album: Unfold (2008), Label:&amp;#160; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.last.fm/label/Hollywood+Records/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Hollywood Records&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;. Her official Youtube channel&amp;#160; is &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/MarieDigby" target="_blank"&gt;MarieDigby&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Marie says about the song, &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;This is a song I wrote recently called 'Unfold'... it's probably the most personal song I've ever written. It came out of my frustration at my tendency to shut people out. Especially in love, I found myself always finding reasons to back away and I couldn't figure out why. This song is literally, my thinking process in trying to understand how I became this person and if I have the power to change it. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Unfold lyrics:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What I can remember is a lot like water trickling down a page of the most beautiful colors. I can't quite put my finger down on the moment that I became like ... this.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You see I'm the bravest girl you will ever come to meet and yet I shrink down to nothing at the thought of someone really seeing me. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I think my heart is wrapped around and tangled up in winding weeds but I don't wanna go on living being so afraid of showing someone else my.. imperfections.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Even though my feet are trembling and every word I say comes stumbling I will bare it all.. watch me unfold... unfold.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;These hands that I hold behind my back are bound and broken by my own doing and I can't feel anything, anymore I need a touch to remind me I'm still real..&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;My soul it's dying to be free I can't live the rest of my life      &lt;br /&gt;so guarded. It's up to me to choose.. what kind of life I lead.       &lt;br /&gt;Cause I don't wanna go on living being so afraid of showing       &lt;br /&gt;someone else my.. imperfections.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Even though my feet are trembling and every word I say comes stumbling I will bare it all.. watch me unfold... unfold.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I will allow someone to love me      &lt;br /&gt;I will allow someone to love me...       &lt;br /&gt;love me.. love me... &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mari&amp;#233; Digby&lt;/strong&gt; (pr. Mahr-ee-ay) born April 16, 1983 in New York is a singer/songwriter/musician from Los Angeles, California. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Today is full moon 14:49 UT (6:49am PST). There is also a penumbral lunar eclipse between 1400 and 1520 UT (6:00am - 7:20am PST). Today's eclipse brings in Love. Many folks around the world are focusing on Love to amplify and strengthen the memory for all that is. Thank you beloved Creator for your blessings of Love and thanks to all who focus on it. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;All you need is Love!&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&amp;#160; &lt;em&gt;John Lennon&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6949566453792842491?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6949566453792842491/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6949566453792842491' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6949566453792842491'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6949566453792842491'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/unfold-by-marie-digby.html' title='Unfold by Marié Digby'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-4861549652996025042</id><published>2009-02-07T07:51:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-07T07:51:50.948-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sweden'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun halo'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ivar Marthinusen'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='alien'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Earth'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='void'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='subsun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='snow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='otherworlds'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='World'/><title type='text'>Alien World?</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SY2f_cZoqmI/AAAAAAAAAgE/TFggx0A0yxE/s1600-h/Ice%20Halo%20in%20Sweden%20photo%20by%20Ivar%20Marthinusen%20Jan%202009%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="277" alt="Ice Halo in Sweden  &amp;#169;2009 Ivar Marthinusen" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SY2gBVXlhFI/AAAAAAAAAgI/ZuRxqwURbc8/Ice%20Halo%20in%20Sweden%20photo%20by%20Ivar%20Marthinusen%20Jan%202009_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="416" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Alien World?' photo by &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:ivar.marthinusen@gmail.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ivar Marthinusen&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Alien World?'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this magnificent photograph . This strangely beautiful flat alien landscape looks like a lake of steaming gas which tumbles into a misty void with rainbow columns and a second sun. Is this a planet near Betelgeuse? Maybe it's in a 2 dimensional universe somewhere other? Or perhaps this is Tolkien's Middle Earth floating, hovering in between? What to you see?&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;It's actually on Earth. The photo was taken at a ski resort in &amp;#197;re, Sweden by &lt;a href="mailto:ivar.marthinusen@gmail.com"&gt;Ivar Marthinusen&lt;/a&gt; on Jan. 27, 2009. A view of the world from above atop a mountain... with sun, clouds, mist, snow, ice halo and a subsun. Thank you, thank you, thank you beloved Creator for this otherworldly, amazing, magnificent creation. WOW, I'm in awe!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?month=02&amp;amp;day=01&amp;amp;year=2009&amp;amp;view=view" target="_blank"&gt;Space Weather&lt;/a&gt; featured one of Ivar's photos on their home page February 1. The photo above was on a page with others taken on the same day. They say of the photos... &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Skiing photographer Ivar Matheson did everything right on Jan. 27th when he took the picture above. &amp;quot;I was at the &amp;#195;re ski resort in Sweden. It was a sunny day and the air was filled with ice crystals. This gave rise to an impressive display of luminous sun halos, sundogs, sub-sundogs, subsuns, upper and lower sun pillars and tangent arcs.&amp;quot; The complete collection is a &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Ivar-Marthinusen-Halo1_1233268384.jpg"&gt;must-see&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-4861549652996025042?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/4861549652996025042/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=4861549652996025042' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/4861549652996025042'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/4861549652996025042'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/alien-world.html' title='Alien World?'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SY2gBVXlhFI/AAAAAAAAAgI/ZuRxqwURbc8/s72-c/Ice%20Halo%20in%20Sweden%20photo%20by%20Ivar%20Marthinusen%20Jan%202009_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1671411183342188982</id><published>2009-02-04T05:26:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-04T05:26:33.456-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Simple Soul'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Scotland'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Eddi Reader'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spiritual pondering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='soul'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><title type='text'>Simple Soul - Eddi Reader</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:65a11412-0743-4a16-a211-cb9e73dcc423" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 409px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="409" height="341"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dgHxqzsIeeE"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dgHxqzsIeeE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="409" height="341"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Simple Soul' sung by Eddi Reader&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Just lovely!&amp;#160; A song that talks about simplicity, living and loving simply and seeing the best in all. I really like the verse, 'But &lt;em&gt;it only takes a child to see, The diamonds in the coal&lt;/em&gt;.' Seeing the beauty, wonder and value in everything... in each other. There is a Sanskrit word '&lt;em&gt;Namaste&lt;/em&gt;' which in essence means 'I &lt;em&gt;recognize, honor and bow to you as Master/Soul'&lt;/em&gt;. At our core we are all Masters or diamonds... clear, beautiful and sparkling. We simply are, know, are connected to everything and are in the present moment. Imagine if everyone lived this... life from Soul or enlightenment. Sweet easy uncomplicated life, living fully with precious love, incredible awe, prosperity and peace.&amp;#160; Thanks for the reminder Eddi!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Eddi Reader, Song: Simple Soul, Album:&amp;#160; Simple Soul (2001), Label: Compass Records. Website: &lt;a title="http://www.eddireader.co.uk/" href="http://www.eddireader.co.uk"&gt;www.eddireader.co.uk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Lyrics to 'Simple Soul'&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I'd lift my head with each sunrise      &lt;br /&gt;If I had a simple soul       &lt;br /&gt;When I was weary I'd close my eyes       &lt;br /&gt;If I had a simple soul       &lt;br /&gt;Not too complicated to shiver when I'm cold       &lt;br /&gt;I'd make my home where I am bound       &lt;br /&gt;If I had a simple soul, simple soul       &lt;br /&gt;I say my prayers and hope to God       &lt;br /&gt;And I know he will know       &lt;br /&gt;I will break my daily bread       &lt;br /&gt;When hunger starts to grow       &lt;br /&gt;It doesn't have to be that hard       &lt;br /&gt;If it hurts you let it go       &lt;br /&gt;What you see is what you are       &lt;br /&gt;If you've got a simple soul, simple soul       &lt;br /&gt;It might take an alchemist       &lt;br /&gt;To turn your dust to gold       &lt;br /&gt;But it only takes a child to see       &lt;br /&gt;The diamonds in the coal       &lt;br /&gt;It's not so easy when a habit takes a hold       &lt;br /&gt;I never knew it would be so hard       &lt;br /&gt;To keep my simple soul, simple soul&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Eddi Reader&lt;/b&gt; was born Sadenia Edna Reader in Glasgow, Scotland August 28, 1959. Eddi is a singer/songwriter who worked with the band Fairground Attraction and now has a successful solo career. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1671411183342188982?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1671411183342188982/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1671411183342188982' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1671411183342188982'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1671411183342188982'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/simple-soul-eddi-reader.html' title='Simple Soul - Eddi Reader'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-265022596093251304</id><published>2009-02-02T05:02:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-02T05:02:47.171-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Olivia Jordan'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Gerald Celente'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Inspired by Light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='belief'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='2009 Economic Trend forecast'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='becomming'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='choice'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='intuition'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spiritual pondering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='co-creation'/><title type='text'>Inspired by Light - 2009 Trend Forcast</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SYbg5Afad5I/AAAAAAAAAf8/okNXzXcWNvM/s1600-h/HoldingthesunbyOliviaJordanfacebook3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="307" alt="Inspired by Light photograph  &amp;#169;Olivia Jordan" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SYbg5vhEHJI/AAAAAAAAAgA/kJfUPiXTHw4/HoldingthesunbyOliviaJordanfacebook_.jpg?imgmax=800" width="408" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Inspired by Light' photograph by &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39640&amp;amp;id=667879263" target="_blank"&gt;Olivia Jordan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Inspired by Light'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this amazing photograph. In awe and wonder, outstretched hands hold Light. Grasping sun. Glistening rays circle. Star burst. The Light which illumines...&amp;#160; us. Magnificent reminder Olivia!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#808000"&gt;Economic Trend forecast for 2009?&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A snippet of the prediction by Gerald Celente, Editor and Publisher, &lt;em&gt;The Trends Journal,&lt;/em&gt; Rhinebeck, New York:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;In 2007, we predicted the Panic of 2008 and that was mostly in the financial areas. Now we're going to see it in the Collapse of 2009 spread beyond financials throughout society. It's underway. It's happening before our eyes. This is a collapse of monumental proportions. Every day the news is filled with one disaster after another. There's nothing, nothing, they can do to stop this - other than a productive capacity and maybe an alternative energy, something along the lines of the discovery of fire or the invention of the wheel! (laughs) But it has to be really monumental. We can't do it by printing money.... you can read the full article at: &lt;a href="http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1521&amp;amp;category=Environment" target="_blank"&gt;earthfiles.com&lt;/a&gt; or see Celente's website &lt;a href="http://www.trendsresearch.com " target="_blank"&gt;Trends Research&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#0080c0"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#0080c0"&gt;My thoughts...&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;There certainly is much fear in Celente's prediction. I read the 2008 trend forecast in January 2007. At that time he said based on the financial trends he saw, there would be an Economic 911 and it would start with one really big bank failure and go from there. He was right! In other years he predicted a boom and upsurge... he was in all the media from NBC News to The Wall Street Journal with that prediction. He was right then too. No one really wants to hear bad news. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;I think his 2009 prediction is right on based on how it feels right now. There's a boiling undercurrent of frustration and disbelief, moving toward explosive anger. There is massive change in the wind. A revolution of sorts. And it's not about money... none of it ultimately is about the green stuff. The outcome will ultimately be based on what we want... everything is consciousness. So just like we turned the prophesy about Y2K around by shifting our consciousness... we can shift this too. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;One very big factor which hasn't been taken into account in all of this is our Divinity and the power of thought and feeling. We are not helpless victims, nor are we the same peoples we were before the Great Depression. We have grown Spiritually... if you doubt that just look to the movie industry for some examples... we've got Spiritual Cinema Circle, The Secret, Celestine Prophesy, Conversations with God and so many more uplifting mind/spirit altering 'Creator films'. Today we are also more telepathic and more of us clearly see that which is untrue or trying to be hidden.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;This is a global restructuring effecting all life. The questions arise...&amp;#160; do we want to shift? Do we believe we can? What do we want as an outcome? Which path do we WANT to take? What are appropriate actions? What is the highest good for All That Is? Nothing is ever written in stone. Perhaps this is our next collective test or assignment. We are all Masters... either of Divine Expression or Limitation... acting with Love or reacting from Fear. We hold the answers in our hearts and hands... inspired by Light. What do you choose?&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-265022596093251304?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/265022596093251304/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=265022596093251304' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/265022596093251304'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/265022596093251304'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/02/inspired-by-light-2009-trend-forcast.html' title='Inspired by Light - 2009 Trend Forcast'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SYbg5vhEHJI/AAAAAAAAAgA/kJfUPiXTHw4/s72-c/HoldingthesunbyOliviaJordanfacebook_.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-3861380001621006804</id><published>2009-01-31T03:02:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-31T03:02:00.883-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='potential'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='&apos;Scared of Heights&apos;'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Norwegian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Norway'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='belief'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='life'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Espen Lind'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><title type='text'>Scared of Heights, Espen Lind</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:67a395a6-9fc7-42f4-b4b3-d9d16292b6a7" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 408px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="408" height="340"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZakQFS3YWqc"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZakQFS3YWqc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="408" height="340"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Scared of Heights' performed by Espen Lind&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Happy, fun song... listening to it makes me smile. I love the line, &lt;em&gt;'You lift me up into the sky, Felt like I could fly, never gonna die'.&lt;/em&gt; We help each other remember... for a moment...&amp;#160; We fly together, let go and soar. Brain programming kicks in, we say to ourselves 'I can't...' and suddenly we're afraid.&amp;#160; We limit ourselves, stop ourselves from fully experiencing all we desire simply because we think, 'I can't'. This song is a great reminder of our unlimited potential. Thanks for the smile and wonderful song Espen!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Espen Lind, Song: Scared of Heights, album: Army of One (2008),&amp;#160; Label: &lt;a href="http://www.universalmusic.no/"&gt;Universal Music AS&lt;/a&gt;. Scared of Heights is also released as a single. Myspace: &lt;a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&amp;amp;friendID=240213373"&gt;Espen Lind&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;'Scared of Heights' lyrics:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;I have always been the type to think before I speak      &lt;br /&gt;I have always been the type to look before I leap       &lt;br /&gt;And like a bolt out of the blue I was struck and there was you       &lt;br /&gt;For a moment I believed that I could let go       &lt;br /&gt;You lift me up into the sky       &lt;br /&gt;Felt like I could fly       &lt;br /&gt;never gonna die       &lt;br /&gt;n' I almost made it but not quite       &lt;br /&gt;Now you're flying out of sight       &lt;br /&gt;and you know I can't come with you       &lt;br /&gt;I'll always be scared of heights       &lt;br /&gt;always be scared of heights       &lt;br /&gt;I didn't think I'd meet someone who'd make me change my ways       &lt;br /&gt;Never thought I'd find someone who'd brighten up my days       &lt;br /&gt;Someone who made me forget       &lt;br /&gt;my hands were tied       &lt;br /&gt;my wings were clipped       &lt;br /&gt;Someone who made me believe that I could let go       &lt;br /&gt;You lift me up into the sky       &lt;br /&gt;I felt like I could fly       &lt;br /&gt;I was never gonna die       &lt;br /&gt;n' I almost made it but not quite       &lt;br /&gt;you're flying out of sight       &lt;br /&gt;and you know I can't come with you       &lt;br /&gt;'cause I'll always be scared of heights       &lt;br /&gt;scared of heights       &lt;br /&gt;Wish I never knew how great it feels up in the air       &lt;br /&gt;Wish I never got to feel the wind blow through my hair       &lt;br /&gt;Well, in my dreams you'll always be flying high along with me       &lt;br /&gt;and in my dreams I'll always feel that I can let go       &lt;br /&gt;You lift me up into the sky       &lt;br /&gt;I feel like I can fly       &lt;br /&gt;I'm never gonna die       &lt;br /&gt;N' I almost made it but not quite       &lt;br /&gt;now you're flying out of sight       &lt;br /&gt;and now I can't come with you       &lt;br /&gt;'cause I'll always be scared of heights&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Espen Lind, born May 13, 1971 is a singer/songwriter, producer and instrumentalist from Troms&amp;#248;, Norway.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-3861380001621006804?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/3861380001621006804/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=3861380001621006804' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3861380001621006804'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3861380001621006804'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/scared-of-heights-espen-lind.html' title='Scared of Heights, Espen Lind'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-3917869688069002300</id><published>2009-01-29T05:52:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-29T05:52:26.306-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Céline Dion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='live'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='I Surrender'/><title type='text'>I Surrender - Celine Dion, live</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:278b615f-b528-4498-94f8-a3a9a083ab67" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 407px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="407" height="339"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/caaz2d1jtiY"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/caaz2d1jtiY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="407" height="339"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'I Surrender' performed live in Las Vegas by C&amp;#233;line Dion&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;This still takes my breath away every time I hear it I tear up and shiver. First heard it when I was surrendering, letting go, giving all to Creator... learning to totally Trust. Celine's performance of this song touched my heart and Soul to a degree words can't describe. Love poured through me, arms wrapped around my body.. I knew without a doubt I was deeply loved, protected, always taken care of and nurtured. All that was required of me was to surrender to Creator, Be and Love all that is... so easy, yet... so difficult. Every time I listen to it I have the same intense and incredible experience. Thanks C&amp;#233;line for such an inspiring performance... WOW!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;C&amp;#233;line Dion, Song: I Surrender, album: A New Day Has Come (2002), Label: Sony. Official website &lt;a href="http://www.celinedion.com"&gt;www.celinedion.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SYGmgrZ12-I/AAAAAAAAAf0/Ip9yPqxDZmU/s1600-h/celinedion%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="104" alt="celinedion" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SYGmg1f-rrI/AAAAAAAAAf4/EfqcMHOSqrg/celinedion_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="137" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; C&amp;#233;line Marie Claudette Dion born March 30, 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada is a singer/songwriter/actress. She is the youngest of 14 children of a highly musical family. She began singing at age 5 and regularly preformed with her siblings at a nightclub her parents owned. C&amp;#233;line began to receive recognition for her talent in 1982, winning the Gold Medal at the Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo, along with the coveted Musician's Award for Top Performer. In 1983, she became the first Canadian ever to receive a Gold Record in France. In 2004, after becoming the best selling female artist of all time, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-3917869688069002300?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/3917869688069002300/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=3917869688069002300' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3917869688069002300'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3917869688069002300'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-surrender-celine-dion-live.html' title='I Surrender - Celine Dion, live'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SYGmg1f-rrI/AAAAAAAAAf4/EfqcMHOSqrg/s72-c/celinedion_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1945583759279953107</id><published>2009-01-27T10:53:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-27T10:53:02.579-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Breath'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Chang Jing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='breathe'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><title type='text'>The Music of Ink Painting: Breath</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:6a4d5b59-1918-4e92-94f7-b98efd8ca44a" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="336"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CRXt9sXg-aw"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CRXt9sXg-aw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="336"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'The Music of Ink Painting: Breath' by Chang Jing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Stunning! Takes you away to some far off place that says... Quiet... Breathe... just Be. Lovely video, very interesting sound combinations. I love it!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chang Jing, Song: Breath (音樂山水畫：呼吸), album: Open Music &lt;em&gt;Li Xian&lt;/em&gt; 离弦 (2005) &lt;strong&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/strong&gt;Performed and co-composed by Chang Jing. Learn more and &lt;a href="http://music.ownthisblog.com/2008/09/07/chang-jing-open-music-%e5%b8%b8%e9%9d%99-%e3%80%8a%e7%a6%bb%e5%bc%a6%e3%80%8b/"&gt;download the album&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The Chinese zither or guzheng is a traditional musical instrument with a unique ancient sound.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Chang Jing was born in Chengdu, Sichuan, at the age of 8 she began studying the guzheng. She attended Sichuan Conservatory of Music a middle school affiliated with the guzheng. From 1991-1995 she attended China Conservatory of Music and graduated first in her class, then joined China Song and Dance Troupe. I couldn't find an official webpage or additional information.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Bonnee&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1945583759279953107?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1945583759279953107/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1945583759279953107' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1945583759279953107'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1945583759279953107'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/music-of-ink-painting-breath.html' title='The Music of Ink Painting: Breath'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-146334278813615913</id><published>2009-01-25T08:09:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-25T08:09:18.500-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='It Beats for You'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='My Morning Jacket'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='belief'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='live'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><title type='text'>It Beats For You - My Morning Jacket, live</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:5410cb61-0a96-473a-9aa5-cced547d7f20" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="336"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_DEsEHoWC60"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_DEsEHoWC60" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="336"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'It Beats for You' - My Morning Jacket, live&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Haunting, pretty song... about consciousness, love and belief. I love the line &lt;em&gt;'Just Believe and You can Do'&lt;/em&gt;... so true. This live performance is different from others the band has done.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;My Morning Jacket, Song: It Beats for You, Album: Z (2005), Label:&amp;#160; ATO/RCA, Website: &lt;a href="http://www.mymorningjacket.com/"&gt;My Morning Jacket&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;It Beats for You lyrics:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Who Could See And Not Believe? &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;The Heart That Beats The Wavelength.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;And Who Could Say But Never Do. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Things They've Said To Someone Who&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Thru All That's Been And All Will Be - &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;So In Line So Thoughtfully(Lessly)&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;In Tune With You. So In Time For Me. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;New Thoughts Arrive. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;So In Time For Me.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Who Can Count The Time I'm Beatin... With My Hands?&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Who Can Stop The Smoke From Breathin... In My Head?&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Words Will Come And Words Will Go. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Make Believe And Overthrow.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Just Believe And You Can Do.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;You Know My Heart - It Beats For You.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;It Beats4u - So In Time We Beat. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Your Thoughts Align - So In Time With Me.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-146334278813615913?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/146334278813615913/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=146334278813615913' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/146334278813615913'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/146334278813615913'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/it-beats-for-you-my-morning-jacket-live.html' title='It Beats For You - My Morning Jacket, live'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1785047289198354948</id><published>2009-01-23T06:12:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-23T06:12:28.304-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Iridescent clouds'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Earth'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enlightenment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='maniifestation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Signs and Wonders'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='intuition'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Goddess'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Colorado'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Harold Leinbach'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><title type='text'>Opalescent Sky</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXnCOLW-WZI/AAAAAAAAAfs/jhlYBqfX7F4/s1600-h/LeeWaveIridescencebyHaroldLeinbach3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="272" alt="Lee Wave Iridescence by Harold Leinbach" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXnCOxfJ6II/AAAAAAAAAfw/_iZKelhGhrY/LeeWaveIridescencebyHaroldLeinbach_t.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Opalescent Sky' photo by &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:hleinbach@msn.com"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Harold Leinbach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Opalescent Sky'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this exquisite photograph. Again Creator treats us to beautiful displays reminding us that everything is sacred and that we progress. What colors and patterns! Again we are shown colors that aren't 'normally' seen in a rainbow spectrum... pastels... turquoise, pink, lavender, golden pink. And is that an eight or infinity? Perhaps a message of our infinite nature... everything is possible... endless possibilities. Our visualizations of Divine Nature made manifest. This sky is magnificent! Thank you, thank you for this gift, again... thank you Beloved Creator. You continue to awe and amaze with beauty and majesty. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Photo was taken in Boulder, Colorado January 2, 2009 by Harold Leinbach. He says of the sky,&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The pastel colors were lovely and the billowing cloud shapes were quite fascinating.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/droplets/iridim4.htm"&gt;Atmospheric optics&lt;/a&gt; expert Les Cowley explains: &amp;quot;For brightly-colored iridescence you need cloud droplets of all the same size. You get that if all the droplets have formed at the same time and experienced the same history. Dynamic conditions inside a lee cloud are just what the doctor ordered. The clouds look stationary but inside there is a 'factory conveyor' with uniform droplets formed at one end and evaporated at the other. Voila - iridescence.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Lee waves may be found downwind of all mountains--not just the Rockies. If you live in the lee, keep an eye out for pastels in the sky.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1785047289198354948?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1785047289198354948/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1785047289198354948' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1785047289198354948'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1785047289198354948'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/opalescent-sky.html' title='Opalescent Sky'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXnCOxfJ6II/AAAAAAAAAfw/_iZKelhGhrY/s72-c/LeeWaveIridescencebyHaroldLeinbach_t.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6410033323876870838</id><published>2009-01-21T10:09:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-21T10:09:43.861-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christ'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='peace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='being'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='oneness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spiritual pondering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='now'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Howard Edin'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sweden'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='life'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='becomming'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fireballs'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='World'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='USA'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Orion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Buddha'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spirit'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='soul'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Scandinavia'/><title type='text'>Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXdWzl4fIVI/AAAAAAAAAfU/OS_wRSaRwN8/s1600-h/Howard%20Edin.%20He%20captured%20this%20bright%20fireball%20from%20the%20Okie-Tex%20Star%20Party%20on%20September%2030%2C%202008%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="331" alt="&amp;#39;Night Streaker&amp;#39; photo by Howard Edin September 30, 2008" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXdW0I_eyTI/AAAAAAAAAfY/DV0Sx2VImfA/Howard%20Edin.%20He%20captured%20this%20bright%20fireball%20from%20the%20Okie-Tex%20Star%20Party%20on%20September%2030%2C%202008_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="406" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Night Streaker'&lt;/em&gt; photo by Howard Edin&lt;/strong&gt;. Captured from the Okie-Tex Star Party, September 30, 2008&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Night Streaker'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this beautiful... awe filled sight. A fireball streaks by Orion through the night sky. Glorious displays lighting up the skies all over the world. Thank you Beloved Creator, thank you!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireball/fireball_log2009.html"&gt;The American Meteor Society&lt;/a&gt; says it has had 45 separate fireballs reported to them so far in 2009. There were 40 fireballs reported during the month of January in 2008. In the last 90 days there have been sightings in: California, Sweden, New Zealand, Middle East, Canada, Africa, Argentina, Vancouver B.C., Colorado, West Virginia, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Ireland, Brazil, China... more.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;January 19 - Fireball in Southern California&lt;/strong&gt;    &lt;br /&gt;January 19, 2009 5:33pm PST a brilliant fireball was reported by over 24 people from California, Nevada and Arizona. It was reported to be as bright as the full moon magnitude -13.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXdW0xsxHZI/AAAAAAAAAfc/HaiyHaIbua0/s1600-h/Scandinavian%20Fireball%201-17-09%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="126" alt="Scandinavian Fireball 1-17-09" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXdW1W3dhkI/AAAAAAAAAfg/Vco2nq28Zfg/Scandinavian%20Fireball%201-17-09_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="226" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;January 17 - Fireball in Sweden &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;January 17, 2009 19:09 UT,&amp;#160; a beautiful brilliant blue sky was Creator's gift as a fireball lit the night in Scandinavia. It exploded with a rumbling boom. The photo is from a video. You can see videos, read reports and articles at &lt;a href="http://www.tv2east.dk/artikler/meteor-paa-aftenhimlen"&gt;TV2 &amp;#216;ST&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/glossary/fireballreports_17jan09.htm?PHPSESSID=iq3jlo76horlrnhtan2chvus03"&gt;SpaceWeather.com Scandinavian Fireball&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#408080"&gt;My thoughts...&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Are there more fireballs? It seems like there are more sightings... but maybe we are just gazing at the sky more... aware... looking... waiting for something. When we see something we gasp in wonder, point and say, 'oh ah... amazing, glorious!' or 'ah oh... doom and gloom!' Are these sightings apocalyptic? Are they signs of the end? &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;I see them a signs... wonderful signs of change. More of Creator's gifts and blessings. Messages to get our attention... they say, 'Stop for a moment, watch... pause... breathe... Be'. When we are awe filled, in appreciation and wonder we are One... and in that moment we begin to feel and recognize our Oneness. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;All of the glorious blessings Creator showers upon us daily are signs of change. Signs of the ending of old ways which no longer work. Like the snake sloughing off of old skin to be renewed or the phoenix being consumed by fire then reborn from its' own ash. Not end as in death or cataclysm... but end of a cycle. Now we are reborn into our full glory and majesty... as we were originally intended to be. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Now is the cycle or yuga of Light... 2,000 years of Peace. Christ has come...&amp;#160; Buddha is here... it is Us... we are That!&amp;#160; The waiting is over... today is 2012... the time we've been waiting for is NOW. It is not about a timeline or calendar date... it is about raising and changing consciousness. We have fully embraced ourselves, climbed the mountain and are standing on the peak saying, 'Who am I? Where am I? What am I?'. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Now we remake ourselves. From this moment... do all with joy. Remake yourself into what you have always dreamed. Create! This is the Grace of NOW! &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Be the glorious greatness that you are my friend. Love from the depths of your being ... everything... all. Rejoice!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6410033323876870838?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6410033323876870838/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6410033323876870838' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6410033323876870838'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6410033323876870838'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/goodness-gracious-great-balls-of-fire.html' title='Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXdW0I_eyTI/AAAAAAAAAfY/DV0Sx2VImfA/s72-c/Howard%20Edin.%20He%20captured%20this%20bright%20fireball%20from%20the%20Okie-Tex%20Star%20Party%20on%20September%2030%2C%202008_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-8111399569909037327</id><published>2009-01-20T09:23:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-20T09:23:35.643-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Thomas O&apos;Brien'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Colorado'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Light Beam'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='subsun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='snow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><title type='text'>Light Beam in Aspen</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXX6egyaMfI/AAAAAAAAAfE/uZ0P3D6eR60/s1600-h/AlpinesubsunphotoThomas3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="275" alt="&amp;#39;Light beam&amp;#39; photo &amp;#169;Thomas O&amp;#39;Brien, Aspen Colorado 1-3-09" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXX6gJi2bbI/AAAAAAAAAfI/Bam8IO9ZCn4/AlpinesubsunphotoThomas_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="416" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Light beam' photo by &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thomas O'Brien&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;'&lt;em&gt;Light beam'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for these amazing photographs. A second sun floats just above the tree tops beaming Light to earth. It looks like a being of light floating above and behind the trees. An amazing gift and wonderful display. Images taken in Aspen, Colorado January 3, 2009 by &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=thomas-obrien-_MG_2586_1231609023.jpg"&gt;Thomas O'Brien&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Thomas says about the images,&amp;#160; &lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXX6hErlAhI/AAAAAAAAAfM/J3Ia29WW52E/s1600-h/Alpinesubsunphoto2Thomas3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-right-width: 0px" height="220" alt="&amp;#39;Alpine subsun&amp;#39; photo &amp;#169;Thomas O&amp;#39;Brien 1-3-09" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXX6hhFD2MI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/jUQlFGe4TVc/Alpinesubsunphoto2Thomas_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="148" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;'I had been seeing small sun reflections in the ground all day when riding the lifts last Sunday so i decided to hike around on the backside of the mountain to see if i could find a brighter one. it was incredibly hard to photograph, it was like i was shooting directly into 2 suns at once. getting a shot without lens flare was nearly impossible. I had seen much dimmer ones before but this one was incredible. '&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk"&gt;Atmospheric Optics&lt;/a&gt; expert Les Cowley reports, &amp;quot;It is &lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt; like shooting into two suns at once because it is a subsun, a direct reflection of the sun by millions of ice crystals acting as mirrors. The crystals are flat plates drifting in the cold air. Subsuns can be blindingly bright, look for them while skiing or when flying.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Photo was featured on &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?month=01&amp;amp;day=11&amp;amp;year=2009&amp;amp;view=view"&gt;SpaceWeather.com&lt;/a&gt; January 11, 2009.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-8111399569909037327?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/8111399569909037327/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=8111399569909037327' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8111399569909037327'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8111399569909037327'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/light-beam-in-aspen.html' title='Light Beam in Aspen'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXX6gJi2bbI/AAAAAAAAAfI/Bam8IO9ZCn4/s72-c/AlpinesubsunphotoThomas_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1931487175669625246</id><published>2009-01-19T06:15:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-19T06:15:17.670-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Chyenne Morning Star'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='&apos;Ice Flowers&apos;'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Arkansas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><title type='text'>Ice Flowers in Arkansas</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXR84GfvZxI/AAAAAAAAAe8/Nnqqf68lEaI/s1600-h/IceflowersbyChyenneMorningStarEdgemo%5B2%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="279" alt="Ice flowers by Chyenne Morning Star, Edgemont, Arkansas" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXR85AlferI/AAAAAAAAAfA/S3DeUXbyHoo/IceflowersbyChyenneMorningStarEdgemo%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="416" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Ice Flowers' photo by Chyenne Morning Star&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;On January 16, 2009&amp;#160; Chyenne went outside her home in Edgemont, Arkansas and was greeted by these lovely ribbons of luminous ice. One is a heart.&amp;#160; Everywhere... reminders of Creator's Love. Mother and Father Creators showering blessings upon us. It is glorious. Thanks so much Chyenne for sharing this wonderful photo with us. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Chyenne-Morning-Star-resized_1232249836.jpg"&gt;Chyenne&lt;/a&gt; says of the image,&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Every now and then in the midst of Winter when the ground is of one color and the trees are bare, She, Mother Winter will gift us with little luminous beings of ice called Ice Flowers. And particularly when one is shaped as a heart, it is a message. A message from our Mother, the Earth and our Nature sisters and brothers telling us they love us. When I went out to get wood on this January 16, 2009 morning, I noticed these beautiful beings. I have never seen them before - or in our area. They are called Ice Flowers and only form in perfect conditions. It is rare to see them here. They were scattered over the yard. It is one of those gifts in the middle of Winter that really surprises us with another beautiful life form being. These Ice Flowers are sometimes called Rabbit Frost and are formed when the sap freezes and expands in the stem, causing long thin cracks to form along the stem. The water that is drawn through these cracks freezes immediately upon contact with the air. Thin layers of ice are pushed from the stems,causing the formation of ribbons or 'petals.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The photo was featured on the home page of &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/"&gt;SpaceWeather.com&lt;/a&gt; on January 18. They say of the image:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Scientists have been studying the &lt;a href="http://my.ilstu.edu/%7Ejrcarter/ice/"&gt;ice flower phenomenon&lt;/a&gt; for almost two hundred years. Botanists, physicists, geologists--all have puzzled over the &lt;a href="http://www.islandnet.com/%7Esee/weather/almanac/arc2005/alm05feb.htm"&gt;fragile ribbons&lt;/a&gt; of ice that wrap themselves around the stems of some plants during winter. Over time, the following consensus has emerged: Liquid water from deep soil flows up into the stems. Linear cracks in the stems expose the water to freezing air. Water turns to ice, and the ice extrudes from the cracks in thin sheets.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;There is also a wonderful video of &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlXfaOFgkd4"&gt;ice flowers at youtube&lt;/a&gt;. So amazing... another wonderful display. Thank you beloved Creator, thank you.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1931487175669625246?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1931487175669625246/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1931487175669625246' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1931487175669625246'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1931487175669625246'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/ice-flowers-in-arkansas.html' title='Ice Flowers in Arkansas'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXR85AlferI/AAAAAAAAAfA/S3DeUXbyHoo/s72-c/IceflowersbyChyenneMorningStarEdgemo%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-2969551574341670677</id><published>2009-01-18T06:56:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-18T07:28:27.495-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='frozen wave'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='peace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='ice age'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='maniifestation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='emotion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='erratic weather'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='global warming'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='happiness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='oneness'/><title type='text'>Frozen Wave... Strange Weather</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXM1FJ2uOAI/AAAAAAAAAe0/LfozrbyQ9cw/s1600-h/Lake%20Huron%20Mackinaw%20City%2C%20MI%20by%20brenda%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="264" alt="Frozen Wave - Lake Huron, Mackinaw City, MI by brenda" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXM1FnCTkwI/AAAAAAAAAe4/7kuDmL7qcv0/Lake%20Huron%20Mackinaw%20City%2C%20MI%20by%20brenda_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="417" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Frozen wave' by Tony Travouillon, Anarctica&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Frozen wave'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this amazing photo taken by scientist &lt;a href="http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~tonyt/"&gt;Tony Travouillon&lt;/a&gt; in Antarctica.&amp;#160; That little dark speck is a person... what an awesome sight. Thank you again beloved Creator for this awe inspiring sight. Many other images can be seen in a &lt;a href="http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~tonyt/Domec/index.html"&gt;gallery&lt;/a&gt; on Travouillon's website.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The weather certainly has been erratic lately. Has it seemed strange to you too?&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#8080c0"&gt;Here is what the Weather Channel reports:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;January 16, 2009&lt;/strong&gt; -&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;strong&gt;record low temperatures&lt;/strong&gt; were set in 13 states. Plus there's a new record low for the state of Maine - Big Black River -50 degrees F. The&amp;#160; old record low is -48 degrees at Van Buren, Maine, January 19, 1925. For more on this see &lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/newscenter/topstories/todayinweather.html"&gt;weather.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;January 16, 2009 -&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; Jeff Mielcarz, Road Crew Host &lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/"&gt;weather blog&lt;/a&gt;... &amp;quot;&lt;b&gt;Talk about a roller coaster ride!&lt;/b&gt; On Thursday January 15th, the low in Bismarck, ND was minus -44 degrees, while the high in Los Angeles, CA was 85. THAT'S A 129 DEGREE DIFFERENCE over 1,600 miles by car! At 10am eastern on Friday January 16th the temperature in Pensacola, FL is the same as it is in Fairbanks, AK at 31 degrees. Here's the key though, when you factor in the wind ... it FEELS ten degrees colder in Florida this morning. ...In Alaska low temperature LAST Wednesday (January 7) was -46, while their high this PAST Wednesday (January 14) was 44. That's a 90 degree swing in one week!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;January 8, 2009 -&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/tv/personalities/Dr-Greg-Forbes.html"&gt;Dr. Greg Forbes&lt;/a&gt;, Severe Weather Expert &lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/"&gt;weather blog&lt;/a&gt; reports &amp;quot;heavy rains have ended in Western Washington, but &lt;strong&gt;massive river flooding continues&lt;/strong&gt;...&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;January 6, 2009 -&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/aboutus/television/ocms/ostro.html"&gt;Stu Ostro&lt;/a&gt;, Senior Meteorologist &lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/"&gt;weather blog&lt;/a&gt; records broken, &amp;quot;&lt;b&gt;From white to wet -&lt;/b&gt;&amp;#160; The 61.5&amp;quot; total snow accumulation in Spokane in December was a record for any month, and there has been another 16.6&amp;quot; during the first week of January; Seattle had ~14&amp;quot; in December compared with an average of 2.5&amp;quot;; and 22&amp;quot; fell in Portland where the average &lt;em&gt;annual &lt;/em&gt;snowfall is 5.2&amp;quot;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;This is just in the USA. Weather worldwide is strange too.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#8080c0"&gt;My thoughts...&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Weather can't make up it's mind... cold - warm - cold - frigid... humm is this a message? A sign? It is global warming? Or perhaps the next ice age? &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Maybe it is about consciousness... what we focus on becomes our reality. Some folks believe one thing... some another. Now more then ever large groups of people are focusing their thoughts on global warming... or the other extreme massive cooling. Many people are fearful. Fear is simply an emotion... but a powerful one. Take an idea, internalize it and back it by strong emotion... and it manifests.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Law of Manifestation&lt;/strong&gt; states, &amp;quot;Suggestion is the generator behind all operations and manifestations in the material world, and these manifestations cannot happen until suggestion hits the subconscious mind and is 'taken in' by the subconscious mind. An act, objector event, begins with a mental impression of suggestion in the mind, impregnated by emotions until it is exteriorized; a normal function law is used in hypnotherapy, mental telepathic healing, destructive brainwashing cults and visualization.~'The Donning International Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary' by June G. Bletzer, Ph.D.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;We are manifesting our beliefs... thoughts... desires... collectively. So a tug of war of sorts is occurring... as one group manifests global warming and another global cooling. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Imagine what our world could be like with a collective vision...&amp;#160; peace, balance, health, happiness, equality, and prosperity for everyone... all life. Amazing Indeed!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-2969551574341670677?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/2969551574341670677/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=2969551574341670677' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2969551574341670677'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2969551574341670677'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/frozen-wave-strange-weather.html' title='Frozen Wave... Strange Weather'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXM1FnCTkwI/AAAAAAAAAe4/7kuDmL7qcv0/s72-c/Lake%20Huron%20Mackinaw%20City%2C%20MI%20by%20brenda_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5798864283254230838</id><published>2009-01-17T15:00:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-17T15:00:58.298-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sundogs'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun halo'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun wheel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator&apos;s Wheel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Orbs'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='snow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><title type='text'>Sun orb?</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXJU_2nIdlI/AAAAAAAAAec/FRovSyX1T20/s1600-h/sundog%20photo%20by%20West%20Chicago%2C%20IL%20by%20MACGYVER%20on%20Jan%2016%2C%202009%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="314" alt="sundog photo by West Chicago, IL by MACGYVER on Jan 16, 2009" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXJVBBUJHAI/AAAAAAAAAeg/j3rjtvjeaCU/sundog%20photo%20by%20West%20Chicago%2C%20IL%20by%20MACGYVER%20on%20Jan%2016%2C%202009_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="418" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; On January 16, 2009 &lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/outlook/photo/member?member=MACGYVER&amp;amp;from=photo_detail_weather"&gt;MacGyver&lt;/a&gt; took this interesting photo&amp;#160; of sundogs in Chicago, IL. What is that pink ball and arc near the sun? It looks 3 dimensional. Is it a camera flare? Some other mechanical anomaly? &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Or maybe it's an energy orb?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#160; WOW! You can see a larger version at &lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/outlook/photo/read/weather/41CD247F-4277-4BA0-8D15-980B9A9D65E8?from=hp_dwp"&gt;Weather.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#2965ad"&gt;&lt;font color="#0000e1"&gt;So many wonderful gifts from Creator&lt;/font&gt;.&lt;/font&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/"&gt;Space Weather&lt;/a&gt; has photos of diamond dust ice halos and/or sundogs from 6 different photographers today (January 17, 2009). Plus the &lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/"&gt;Weather Channel&lt;/a&gt; featured one on it's home page. &lt;em&gt;Baby it's cold outside! &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXJVBxiM_uI/AAAAAAAAAek/ii4SJgAnhY4/s1600-h/creatorswheelChrisHawesmFaribaultMin%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="174" alt="Creators Wheel photo by Chris Hawes Faribault, Minnesota" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXJVDe2UJ0I/AAAAAAAAAeo/u5eZY6ODP9o/creatorswheelChrisHawesmFaribaultMin.jpg?imgmax=800" width="230" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://chrishaws.net/gallery/sun"&gt;Chris Haws&lt;/a&gt; from Faribault, MN captured another &lt;em&gt;Creator's Wheel &lt;/em&gt;(ice halo and sundogs)&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;January 13, 2009. He says, &amp;quot;It was a very cold morning, -20 degrees F, with a fine mist of ice crystals floating in the air,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;The sundogs were magnificent, truly almost false suns.&amp;quot; Awesome! &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXJVEteZaqI/AAAAAAAAAes/upYPlEzNVpE/s1600-h/frozen%20fauna%20photo%20Mark%20D.%20Marquette%2C%20TN%201-13-09.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="252" alt="frozen florr photo Mark D. Marquette, TN 1-13-09" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXJVFhbEQCI/AAAAAAAAAew/C911o2iVmHQ/frozen%20fauna%20photo%20Mark%20D.%20Marquette%2C%20TN%201-13-09_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="169" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Mark-D.-Marquette-Icy-morning-050---Copy_1231904417.jpg"&gt;Mark D. Marquette&lt;/a&gt; from Boones Creek, TN took the photo left of &lt;em&gt;'Frozen Flora'&lt;/em&gt; on January 13, 2009. He says, &amp;quot;A Tuesday morning fog and 21 degree temperatures caused some of the atmosphere to freeze out, as water vapor took icy form in East Tennessee. The Sun burned off the beautiful scene by 11 am--and I sure am grateful I can set my own work hours! I enjoyed capturing this rare sight in Dixie.&amp;quot; How beautiful! I've never seen frozen fog before.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt; ~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5798864283254230838?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5798864283254230838/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5798864283254230838' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5798864283254230838'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5798864283254230838'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/sun-orb.html' title='Sun orb?'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SXJVBBUJHAI/AAAAAAAAAeg/j3rjtvjeaCU/s72-c/sundog%20photo%20by%20West%20Chicago%2C%20IL%20by%20MACGYVER%20on%20Jan%2016%2C%202009_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5757254406495849065</id><published>2009-01-15T08:06:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-15T08:06:34.606-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='dragon'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Hawaii'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='water'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Patrick Smith Photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creation'/><title type='text'>Hanalei Mist</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SW9Q9GZm3gI/AAAAAAAAAeU/Y9jRw4zg50I/s1600-h/HanalaibayKauaiPatrickSmithPhotograp%5B2%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="279" alt="Hanalei Mist, Kauai, HI photo &amp;#169;Patrick Smith Photography 2009" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SW9Q-FmloqI/AAAAAAAAAeY/jMHVBwaiLG0/HanalaibayKauaiPatrickSmithPhotograp.jpg?imgmax=800" width="416" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Hanalei&amp;#160; Mist' photo by Patrick Smith&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#160; (Nov. 2008)&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Wow words cannot describe how this photo impacts me. I lived on the North Shore of Kauai, gazed at Hanalei Bay often when I walked. The colors, golden clouds, mists, light sparking on sand and crystal blue ocean take my breath away! Thank you beloved Creator for the enchantment of Kauai... I AM in awe. And thanks to Patrick for sharing this magical capture.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The picture evokes images of Puff the Magic Dragon frolicking in the mists...&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Puff the magic dragon lives by the sea and frolics in the autumn mists in a land called Hanalee.&amp;quot; ~From the song 'Puff the Magic Dragon' sung by Peter, Paul and Mary&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Patrick says about 'Hanalei Mist': &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Clear skies would have been nice to walk under, but the mood would have been gone and the light would have been harsh. Hanalei Bay is a 3-mile long perfect crescent of sand surrounded by the world&amp;#8217;s rainiest mountains. Over 500 inches of rain drench nearby Mt. Waialeale every year and about 100 inches fall on this beach. 5 of the 7 famous waterfalls can be seen here.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;You can see more of Patricks beautiful images at his website &lt;a href="http://www.patricksmithphotography.com/"&gt;patricksmithphotography.com&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/3012092526/in/set-72157607183717477/page3/"&gt;flickr&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5757254406495849065?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5757254406495849065/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5757254406495849065' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5757254406495849065'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5757254406495849065'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/hanalei-mist.html' title='Hanalei Mist'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SW9Q-FmloqI/AAAAAAAAAeY/jMHVBwaiLG0/s72-c/HanalaibayKauaiPatrickSmithPhotograp.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-2823793383575481135</id><published>2009-01-14T08:52:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-14T08:52:13.312-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Regal Bow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Dan Bush'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rainbow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><title type='text'>'Regal Bow' Double Rainbow</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SW4KG4HljHI/AAAAAAAAAeE/Egqp6NtvSq0/s1600-h/DoubleRainbowphotobyDanBush20063.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="245" alt="Double Rainbow photo by &amp;#169; Dan Bush 2006" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SW4KI4pWv2I/AAAAAAAAAeI/KcXT98uV0oU/DoubleRainbowphotobyDanBush2006_thum.jpg?imgmax=800" width="417" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; 'Regal Bow' Double Rainbow photograph by Dan Bush&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Regal Bow'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this sublime double rainbow which appeared February 2, 2006 in&amp;#160; Elam Bend. &lt;a href="dan@missouriskies.org"&gt;Dan Bush&lt;/a&gt; of McFall, Missouri took this perfect shot of it. You can see more of his photos and read his photo essay of the event at &lt;a href="http://www.missouriskies.org/rainbow/february_rainbow_2006.html"&gt;missouriskies.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#0000ff"&gt;Regal Bow&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;cloudy gray&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;drenching cold&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;mists abound&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;breaking cloud&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;light rays peek&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;drops burst&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;light struck&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;sparkling colors&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;become bows&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;arching sky&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;magic sparkles&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;colors sing&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;blessing... all&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;regal bow&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Inspired by the photo above.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SW4KJxKlAFI/AAAAAAAAAeM/jagj57Od4h0/s1600-h/DoubleRainbowLexingtonNCbyRickKilian.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="163" alt="Double Rainbow Lexington, NC by RickKilian 1-7-09" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SW4KK9w7OaI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/5bcwcQWaaVc/DoubleRainbowLexingtonNCbyRickKilian%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; We are being blessed with so many rainbows. Left is a double that formed after winter storms in Lexington, NC taken by Rick Kilian January 7, 2009. You can see more rainbows at &lt;a href="http://www.weather.com/outlook/photo/keywords?keywords=Rainbows&amp;amp;pageNo=1"&gt;weather.com&lt;/a&gt;. More blessings from Creator. Thank you, thank you.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-2823793383575481135?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/2823793383575481135/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=2823793383575481135' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2823793383575481135'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2823793383575481135'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/bow-double-rainbow.html' title='&amp;#39;Regal Bow&amp;#39; Double Rainbow'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SW4KI4pWv2I/AAAAAAAAAeI/KcXT98uV0oU/s72-c/DoubleRainbowphotobyDanBush2006_thum.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6680340314965062371</id><published>2009-01-13T08:47:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-13T08:47:34.326-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Earth'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Alaska'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator&apos;s Majesty'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rainbow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><title type='text'>Creator's Majesty</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWy3jwBGJzI/AAAAAAAAAd8/YSe7ha4eR90/s1600-h/rainbowAlaskabyRyanRidge17093.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="278" alt="Creator&amp;#39;s Majesty photograph &amp;#169;Ryan Ridge 2009" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWy3lONID_I/AAAAAAAAAeA/mP2zfLhz9rs/rainbowAlaskabyRyanRidge1709_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="413" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Creator's Majesty' photo by Ryan Ridge&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Creator's Majesty'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this amazing image. Ryan Ridge added this photograph to flickr January 7, 2009. A rainbow from his front porch near Homer, Alaska. Wow!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#ff4a4a"&gt;Creator's Majesty&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Snow covered mountains peek through mists. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Light plays on drifting clouds. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Still waters shimmer, cold.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;While dark pines guard lakes edge.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rainbow streaks across the sky&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The scene so full of wonder&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Body shudders, mind expands&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tears fall on wetted cheek&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Creator's Majesty!&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Words do no justice here&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Simply awe... &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Inspired by the photo above.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;You can read about Ryan's life in the big woods of Alaska on his &lt;a href="http://ryan.bigwoofs.com/"&gt;blog&lt;/a&gt; or see more of his amazing photos at &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigwoofs/"&gt;flickr.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6680340314965062371?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6680340314965062371/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6680340314965062371' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6680340314965062371'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6680340314965062371'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/creator-majesty.html' title='Creator&amp;#39;s Majesty'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWy3lONID_I/AAAAAAAAAeA/mP2zfLhz9rs/s72-c/rainbowAlaskabyRyanRidge1709_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-3684217805517140868</id><published>2009-01-12T05:33:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-12T05:38:15.852-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mother'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='becomming'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Earth'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Carlos Gutierrez'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='energy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fire'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Chile'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Goddess'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Heart on Fire'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><title type='text'>Heart on Fire</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWs4ivmJksI/AAAAAAAAAdk/VVvRxXxPP3I/s1600-h/chilivolcaneeruption13.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="280" alt="Heart on Fire Chile&amp;#39;s Chaiten volcano  photo &amp;#169;2008 Carlos Gutierrez" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWs4jPLB3mI/AAAAAAAAAdo/FzgWVM--MOE/chilivolcaneeruption1_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="415" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Heart on Fire' photograph by Carlos Gutierrez&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Heart on Fire'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this unbelievable photo. One of the series taken May 2, 2008 when Chile's Chaiten volcano awakened after 9,000 years of slumber. The ash cloud looks like a heart on fire, pierced by light and exploding with love. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The earth... everything, is getting more spectacular, more awesome and more majestic. I don't remember ever seeing so much awe, color, depth or events which WOW. 2008 was truly a year of movement. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#e67300"&gt;Heart on fire&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Earth trembles&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Groans, rumbles&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mountain shakes&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bursting crust&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Exploding gasses&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Steam and ashes&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Fire... lightening&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mother stirs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;She awakens&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;From long slumber&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;And remembers&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Glory bright&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Patterns shatter&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Heart on fire&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pierced by Light&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Love pours forth&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;From crackling Earth&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mother wakes&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;with great Delight&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Inspired by the awesome images on this page.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWs4jlaIcII/AAAAAAAAAds/n7l93g2MHEo/s1600-h/chilivolcaneeruption210.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="151" alt="Chile&amp;#39;s Chaiten volcano photo &amp;#169;2008 Carlos Gutierrez for UPI" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWs4j_kkB1I/AAAAAAAAAdw/k2vzVmNutok/chilivolcaneeruption2_thumb6.jpg?imgmax=800" width="233" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Here are two more incredible photographs taken during the eruption by Carlos Gutierrez for UPI. The photo below right is the most famous. It has appeared in National Geographic Magazine and on many webpages. It is considered one of the best photographs taken in 2008. Trying to understand the lightening, the experts &lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWs4kvYFgOI/AAAAAAAAAd0/eJMSnuLiP8k/s1600-h/chilivolcaneeruption5.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 10px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="147" alt="Chile&amp;#39;s Chaiten volcano famos photo &amp;#169;2008 Carlos Gutierrez for UPI" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWs4lVQLoKI/AAAAAAAAAd4/or3BQXeaRE8/chilivolcaneeruption_thumb4.jpg?imgmax=800" width="231" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;say, 'The mingling of lightning and ash as seen above may be a 'dirty thunderstorm'. The little-understood storms may be sparked when rock fragments, ash and ice particles in the plume collide to produce static charges just as ice particles collide to create charge in regular thunderstorms.&amp;quot; You can read the full story at &lt;a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080506-AP-chile-volca.html"&gt;National Geographic&lt;/a&gt; or see more photographs at &lt;a href="http://universoulproductions.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/amazing-photos-from-chaiten-chile/"&gt;UniverSOUL Productions&amp;#8217; Weblog&lt;/a&gt;. I couldn't find any more information about Carlos. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-3684217805517140868?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/3684217805517140868/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=3684217805517140868' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3684217805517140868'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3684217805517140868'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/heart-on-fire.html' title='Heart on Fire'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWs4jPLB3mI/AAAAAAAAAdo/FzgWVM--MOE/s72-c/chilivolcaneeruption1_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1963335641566075143</id><published>2009-01-11T04:46:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-11T04:46:43.679-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Smiling Moon, Sparkling Light... Amazing Walk</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWncGyAsw1I/AAAAAAAAAdU/IszSe2Woptg/s1600-h/LightPillarsmoonhaloPeterPaulHatting%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="618" alt="Light Pillars moon halo Peter Paul Hattinga Verschure 1-10--09" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWncH9PWCxI/AAAAAAAAAdY/NOzcQbeht5Y/LightPillarsmoonhaloPeterPaulHatting.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;strong&gt;'Smiling Moon, Sparkling Light' photograph by Peter Paul Hattinga Verschure&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;'Smiling Moon, Sparkling Light' is my name for this gorgeous photograph. The night sky looks like it is smiling, it's cold and crisp with warming light. Another magical gift from Creator. This beautiful photo was taken January 8 in Deventer, The Netherlands by Peter Paul Hattinga Verschure. You can see more of his work at &lt;a title="http://www.pphv.eu/index.php?menu=21" href="http://www.pphv.eu/index.php?menu=21"&gt;pphv.eu&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWncIbyJBuI/AAAAAAAAAdc/yc-2VWxpMQQ/s1600-h/full%20moon%201-11-2009%5B9%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="175" alt="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA         " src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWncIqalcdI/AAAAAAAAAdg/1qzxs0tv2wk/full%20moon%201-11-2009_thumb%5B5%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="173" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; January 10 was &lt;strong&gt;full moon 10:27pm EST&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/"&gt;Space Weather&lt;/a&gt; reported that this is the biggest moon of the year about 14% wider and 30% brighter. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Went out side at 3:30am 1-11-2009, it was cold 38&amp;#176; F and clear.&amp;#160; I was greeted by a fabulous full moon with a corona around it. Photo above left is my shaky capture, the colors are wonderful, soft and sweet. It is 1-11-11 a day of Opening and Becoming.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#0080c0"&gt;An amazing walk...&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;On Friday January 9, I walked. It was magical. So much depth, color and texture. The clear blue sky was never ending, the sun warm, breeze cool and it was about 60F degrees. Perfect! The sunlight played through branches. Pine needles literally sparkled, as if laughing with joy. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Stopped to look at a tall juniper, the top covered the sun... to my amazement a rainbow ring appeared closely encircling it.&amp;#160; When I moved and looked again it was gone. A flock of ducks flew over head talking... talking... it seemed of the glorious day unfolding. Gathered near a pond on the fairway, 100s in number, were Canadian geese eating, talking and playing. Was it tag? I watched a while. One would run up and tap another on back or side and run away. Seeming to say, &amp;quot;Your it!&amp;quot; Then they'd tag another and another... all the while honking cacophonously. Love was pouring from everything, everywhere. Tears began streaming down my face.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;I walked on. Heard the cawing of ravens. Looked up, 3 were circling. No 4! But there are flashes of white on one. That's not a raven, it's too big. I looked closer. Oh, oh it is an eagle, a bald eagle! First one I've seen here in about 10 years. More tears flowed. Such a blessing and message from Creator. &amp;quot;Spirit moves. The time of initiation is complete. Change occurs... will be seen soon. Trust the process and know all is well.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;The eagle flew above me for about a mile, circling, drifting higher... lower... then winked out. Couldn't spot him again. Wet cheeks, shuttering in awe I lift my arms to the sky and say a prayer of thanks to Creator for all the many blessings in my life. What a magical day.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt; ~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1963335641566075143?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1963335641566075143/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1963335641566075143' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1963335641566075143'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1963335641566075143'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/smiling-moon-sparkling-light-amazing.html' title='Smiling Moon, Sparkling Light... Amazing Walk'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWncH9PWCxI/AAAAAAAAAdY/NOzcQbeht5Y/s72-c/LightPillarsmoonhaloPeterPaulHatting.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6182498410208382863</id><published>2009-01-10T08:09:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-10T08:09:14.229-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sunrise'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Fire and Ice'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Alaska'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='snow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='otherworlds'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fire'/><title type='text'>Fire and Ice</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWi6Equ9GAI/AAAAAAAAAdM/tH_WPxlF5Rw/s1600-h/FireandIcephotobyRyanRidge3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="277" alt="Fire and Ice &amp;#169;Ryan Ridge 2008" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWi6GPZ2yXI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/qy2mkJJaLVQ/FireandIcephotobyRyanRidge_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Fire and Ice' photo by Ryan Ridge&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Fire and Ice'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this magnificent photograph taken in Homer, Alaska. Another magical display... unbelievable beauty and majesty. Thank you beloved Creator... I remain in awe! Beautiful capture Ryan.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff9122"&gt;Fire and Ice&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cold black grays&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;with colorless colors&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;the night fades&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;to in between.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bursting light&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;pierces clouds&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;and sweeping rays&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;brush waters bright.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Dark turns light&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;with fire and ice&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;and golden dawn&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;sets sky alight.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Morning comes&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;with glory bright&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Creator's gift&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;is our delight.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Inspired by the beautiful image above.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Photo originally called &lt;em&gt;'Morning Glory'&lt;/em&gt; uploaded to flickr October 2008. You can read about Ryan's life in the big woods of Alaska on his &lt;a href="http://ryan.bigwoofs.com/"&gt;blog&lt;/a&gt; or see more of his amazing photos at &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigwoofs/"&gt;flickr.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6182498410208382863?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6182498410208382863/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6182498410208382863' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6182498410208382863'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6182498410208382863'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/fire-and-ice.html' title='Fire and Ice'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWi6GPZ2yXI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/qy2mkJJaLVQ/s72-c/FireandIcephotobyRyanRidge_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5743409419585950445</id><published>2009-01-09T08:20:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-09T08:20:02.769-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='USA'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Dancing Glory'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Alaska'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ryan Ridge'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Aurora'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='remembrance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><title type='text'>Dancing Glory</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWdrIAL5C2I/AAAAAAAAAdE/mvuYK0QiXWU/s1600-h/AuroraAlaska%20by%20Ryan%20Ridge%201-8-09%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="279" alt="Dancing Glory photo  &amp;#169;Ryan Ridge 2009" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWdrIallhrI/AAAAAAAAAdI/IopZ54jKO7A/AuroraAlaska%20by%20Ryan%20Ridge%201-8-09_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="417" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Dancing Glory' photograph by Ryan Ridge&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Dancing Glory'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this amazing capture. On January 2, 2009 Ryan photographed a beautiful aurora near Homer, Alaska. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#00bf00"&gt;Dancing Glory&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Dancing glory in the sky&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Aurora undulates. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Alive!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;It dances.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sparkles... shimmers&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;With delight of being. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;As it touches all.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;It whispers,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Remember... m&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;agnificence'. &lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Inspired by the photo above.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Several of Ryan's photos of this display were featured in the January 2009 Aurora gallery at &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/"&gt;Space Weather.com&lt;/a&gt;. You can read about Ryan's life in the big woods of Alaska on his &lt;a href="http://ryan.bigwoofs.com/"&gt;blog&lt;/a&gt; or see more of his amazing photos at &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigwoofs/"&gt;flickr.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5743409419585950445?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5743409419585950445/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5743409419585950445' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5743409419585950445'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5743409419585950445'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/dancing-glory.html' title='Dancing Glory'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWdrIallhrI/AAAAAAAAAdI/IopZ54jKO7A/s72-c/AuroraAlaska%20by%20Ryan%20Ridge%201-8-09_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-2674478565110914977</id><published>2009-01-08T15:52:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-08T15:52:03.228-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='wonder'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Magic Moon'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='soul'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rainbow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spectral Light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='remembrance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jonathon Stone'/><title type='text'>Magic Moon</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWaDjT5rqgI/AAAAAAAAAc8/YDhhw4OaTKs/s1600-h/Lunar%20corona%20Jonathon%20Stone%201-7-09.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="335" alt="Magic Moon &amp;#169;Jonathon Stone 2009" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWaDkOH3qbI/AAAAAAAAAdA/25TI1iz1kgU/Lunar%20corona%20Jonathon%20Stone%201-7-09_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="419" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Magic Moon' photograph by Jonathon Stone&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Magic Moon'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this mystical image. On the night of January 7, 2009 a rainbow appeared around the moon (lunar corona)&amp;#160; in Auburn, Alabama. &lt;a href="mailto:jstone6482@yahoo.com"&gt;Jonathon Stone&lt;/a&gt; photographed it for us all to enjoy.&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;We continue to be given beautiful displays which awe and amaze. &lt;font color="#000000"&gt;Reminders of the sacredness of All That Is! Thank you Beloved Creator, thank you.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#0080c0"&gt;Magic Moon&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spectral colors encircle Light &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;With sparkling sisters at upper right&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A sight inspired to delight &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;And trigger memories of our flight&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The journey back to Self and Might&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;By gazing on this awesome sight&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This Magic Moon in dark of night&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;We remember our own Light!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Inspired by the photo above.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:jstone6482@yahoo.com"&gt;Jonathon Stone&lt;/a&gt; says, &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;It was pretty cool a bright lunar corona appeared as these clouds drifted in front of the Moon. I didn't know the Moon would be so close to the Pleiades--but there they were.&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The photograph was featured on the homepage of &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/"&gt;Space Weather.com&lt;/a&gt; on January 8. I was unable to find more information about &lt;a href="mailto:jstone6482@yahoo.com"&gt;Jonathon Stone&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-2674478565110914977?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/2674478565110914977/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=2674478565110914977' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2674478565110914977'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2674478565110914977'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/magic-moon.html' title='Magic Moon'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWaDkOH3qbI/AAAAAAAAAdA/25TI1iz1kgU/s72-c/Lunar%20corona%20Jonathon%20Stone%201-7-09_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6411072696971128654</id><published>2009-01-07T09:20:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-07T09:20:14.142-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='wonder'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator&apos;s Wheel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Iridescent clouds'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='awakening'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='becomming'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rainbow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sundogs'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Signs and Wonders'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun halo'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun wheel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Goddess'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spiritual pondering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spirit'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='remembrance'/><title type='text'>Signs and Wonders</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWTWMRoNsjI/AAAAAAAAAck/ktRLtWFHowQ/s1600-h/Iridescentcloudsbywilco1900RoundRock%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="308" alt="Iridescent clouds by wilco1900, Round Rock TX Aug, 1 2008" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWTWNVtQL0I/AAAAAAAAAco/dMkLg6ZW668/Iridescentcloudsbywilco1900RoundRock%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="409" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Iridescent clouds' photograph by &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;wilco1900&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Spectacular display! Iridescent, opalescent colors above the clouds. A glimpse beyond... to the new spectrum of Light. Colors unseen... displaying pearlized opals in the sky. Shimmering pink orange of love, sparkling gold-ish of Spirit. We are given many signs and wonders. Visions of our progress... we move... expand... become. Thank you beloved Creator, thank you, I remain in awe!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#6666ff"&gt;Signs and Wonders&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pearlescent... opalesce... exotic &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Colors shimmer in the sky&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;We stretch... we move...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Beyond what was.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Expanded... broadened&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;We see what is&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;All around, everywhere&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Creator's signs and wonders.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Inspired by the beautiful photos on this page.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/droplets/irid1.htm"&gt;Atmospheric Optics&lt;/a&gt; explains, &amp;quot;When parts of clouds are thin and have similar size droplets, diffraction can make them shine with colors like a corona. In fact, the colors are essentially corona fragments. The effect is called cloud iridescence or irisation, terms derived from Iris the Greek personification of the rainbow.     &lt;br /&gt;The usually delicate colors can be in almost random patches or bands at cloud edges. They are only organized into coronal rings when the droplet size is uniform right across the cloud. The bands and colors change or come and go as the cloud evolves. They occur most often in altocumulus, cirrocumulus and especially in &lt;u&gt;lenticular&lt;/u&gt; clouds. Iridescence is seen mostly when part of a cloud is forming because then all the droplets have a similar history and consequently have a similar size. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The lovely photo above taken August 1, 2008 in Round Rock, Texas by wilco1900 is displayed on &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wilco1900/"&gt;flickr.com&lt;/a&gt;. I couldn't find any more information.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWTWNx1f71I/AAAAAAAAAcs/pqDA8xDnJsw/s1600-h/ice%20halo%201-3-09%20Mila%20Zinkova%2C%20San%20Francisco%2C%20Californa%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="175" alt="ice halo 1-3-09 Mila Zinkova, San Francisco, Californa" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWTWOCqgHjI/AAAAAAAAAcw/4hAHNdMSbaY/ice%20halo%201-3-09%20Mila%20Zinkova%2C%20San%20Francisco%2C%20Californa_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Daily it seems we are given new spectacular displays. The photo left of another &lt;em&gt;Creator's Wheel&lt;/em&gt; (a.k.a. diamond dust sun halo) was taken January 3, 2009 by Mila Zinkova in San Francisco, CA. The photo was featured this morning 1-7-09 on the home page of &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/"&gt;SpaceWeather&lt;/a&gt;. Gorgeous display and photo of it.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWTWOx2nfuI/AAAAAAAAAc0/Ge0dV3QJPq4/s1600-h/sun%20dog%2012-24-08%20by%20Andrea%20Tolman%2C%20Basin%20WY%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="159" alt="sun dog 12-24-08 by Andrea Tolman, Basin WY" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWTWPGdCBnI/AAAAAAAAAc4/LlLI3q8b11g/sun%20dog%2012-24-08%20by%20Andrea%20Tolman%2C%20Basin%20WY_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="236" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; On December 24, 2008 a beautiful rainbow sun dog appeared. &lt;a href="mailto:jtolman@tctwest.net"&gt;Andrea Tolman&lt;/a&gt; of Basin, WY capture it saying, &amp;quot;On the morning of Christmas Eve we stepped outside from the hospital/clinic to view two very bright sundogs.&amp;quot; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Wow amazing! Signs and Wonders everywhere. You can see more of the recent displays at &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/"&gt;SpaceWeather.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6411072696971128654?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6411072696971128654/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6411072696971128654' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6411072696971128654'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6411072696971128654'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/signs-and-wonders.html' title='Signs and Wonders'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWTWNVtQL0I/AAAAAAAAAco/dMkLg6ZW668/s72-c/Iridescentcloudsbywilco1900RoundRock%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1549993266440967212</id><published>2009-01-05T06:00:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-05T06:00:30.072-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Korea'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Korean'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spring Maiden&apos;'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spring dawns'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Tingstad and Rumbel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spring'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><title type='text'>Spring Maiden, Tingstad and Rumbel</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:52676189-1aea-4934-a820-8aa0045f5972" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 404px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="404" height="337"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aCka_wGyzKA"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aCka_wGyzKA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="404" height="337"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Spring Maiden' performed by Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Lovely, soft and sweet. Beautiful performance of&amp;#160; a traditional Korean folk song. Mmmm... nice! &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Tingstad and Rumbel, Song: Spring Maiden performed on ocarina, English horn and guitar, Album: Leap of Faith (2008), Label: Cheshire Records, Video production: Aaron Rabin. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff75ba"&gt;Spring dawns&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Grass dances as breeze passes&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Flowers stretch to warming sun&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mist puddles refracting rainbows&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bird sings of &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;season come&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Earthy musty fairy's yawn&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Winter's long sleep finally done&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Joyfully greeted warming sun&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Life's elated... a new spring dawns.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~Inspired by 'Spring Maiden'&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWIEahyBeUI/AAAAAAAAAcc/bHFaCjck5oo/s1600-h/Tingstad%20and%20Rumbel%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="143" alt="Tingstad and Rumbel" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWIEbBvSNXI/AAAAAAAAAcg/XE3xX1C7I58/Tingstad%20and%20Rumbel_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="178" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel are good friends who have been performing together since 1985. They have recorded 19 albums. Their album &lt;em&gt;American Acoustic &lt;/em&gt;was recognized as &lt;em&gt;Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year&lt;/em&gt; in 1998. &lt;em&gt;Acoustic Garden&lt;/em&gt; won the &lt;em&gt;New Age Music GRAMMY Award&lt;/em&gt; in 2003. You can listen to more music, watch videos, read the latest news and purchase music at their website:&amp;#160; &lt;a href="http://tingstadrumbel.com/"&gt;tingstadrumbel.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1549993266440967212?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1549993266440967212/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1549993266440967212' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1549993266440967212'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1549993266440967212'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/spring-maiden-tingstad-and-rumbel.html' title='Spring Maiden, Tingstad and Rumbel'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SWIEbBvSNXI/AAAAAAAAAcg/XE3xX1C7I58/s72-c/Tingstad%20and%20Rumbel_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-3110248565300451003</id><published>2009-01-03T06:07:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-03T06:07:19.277-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christ'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Portal of Light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='home'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Aigar Truhin'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Latvia'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Buddha'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spiritual pondering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='remembrance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light pillars'/><title type='text'>Light Portal, photo by Aigar Truhin</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SV9jAz4pf7I/AAAAAAAAAcU/fKb_XDiP3lc/s1600-h/Light%20Pillar%20photo%20by%20Aigar%20Truhin%5B6%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="586" alt="Light Pillar photo &amp;#169;Aigar Truhin" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SV9jBZkZw6I/AAAAAAAAAcY/FsFokvhMx7k/Light%20Pillar%20photo%20by%20Aigar%20Truhin_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="390" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Light Portal' photograph by Aigar Truhin (Dec. 2008)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Light Portal'&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this amazing photograph taken December 28. A visible portal or columned pathway of White Light in the&amp;#160; night sky above Latvia. And between the columns at the end of the path can you see the face? Is it Christ? Or Buddha? Or God blessing our return?&amp;#160; I am in awe... thank you beloved Creator, thank you for this amazing blessing!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#e17100"&gt;Pathways of Light&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pillars of Light&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;arched walkways&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;the path is formed&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;beckoning, remember...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;come... come, walk... fly&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;we await you... come.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Inspired by the amazing photo above.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The wonderful photo above was taken by Aigar Truhin in Sigulda, Latvia on&amp;#160; Dec. 28, 2008. You can see more of his photos at &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29398716@N00/"&gt;flickr.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Aigar says of the image: &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Last night air in the Sigulda was very cold and filled with small ice crystals, when we see bright Light Pillars in the sky. My son say: I know, The Aliens are coming! &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/"&gt;Space Weather&lt;/a&gt; featured one of Truhin's photos on their home page January 2 &amp;amp; 3, 2009.&amp;#160; With the following explanation...&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MYSTERY PILLARS: &lt;/strong&gt;&amp;quot;Truhin's pillars, however, are not the ordinary kind. Even two leading experts in atmospheric optics can't quite figure them out: &amp;quot;These pillars are mysterious,&amp;quot; say Les Cowley and Marko Riikonen. &amp;quot;They have unexplained curved tops and even curved arcs coming from their base. Arcs in rare displays like these could be from column crystals to give parts of &lt;a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/tanim3.htm"&gt;tangent arcs&lt;/a&gt;, others could be the enigmatic &lt;a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/marc.htm"&gt;Moilanan arc&lt;/a&gt; or even the &lt;a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/fz161.htm"&gt;recently discovered&lt;/a&gt; reflected Parry arc. We do not know &amp;#8211; so take more photos on cold nights!&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-3110248565300451003?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/3110248565300451003/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=3110248565300451003' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3110248565300451003'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3110248565300451003'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/light-portal-photo-by-aigar-truhin.html' title='Light Portal, photo by Aigar Truhin'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SV9jBZkZw6I/AAAAAAAAAcY/FsFokvhMx7k/s72-c/Light%20Pillar%20photo%20by%20Aigar%20Truhin_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5969492698857648716</id><published>2009-01-01T08:31:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-01-01T08:31:41.012-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Celtic'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Norwegian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Fionnuala Sherry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Secret Garden'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Nocturne'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Happy New Year'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ireland'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spiritual pondering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sedona'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Light Traveler'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Lover&apos;s Rock'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Rolf Løvland'/><title type='text'>Nocturne, Secret Garden - Happy New Year!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:15e230c9-f3f2-4640-baf4-6027014472f9" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="336"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fd3a189vcVc"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fd3a189vcVc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="336"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nocturne performed by Secret Garden, music video&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A lovely song and music video filled with magic, love and longing. Simply beautiful! Wonderful music, haunting song, perfect vocals. Fabulous!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Band: Secret Garden, Song: Nocturne, Album: Songs From Secret Garden (1995). Nocturne won the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest. Lyrics in Norwegian by Petter Skavlan.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Secret Garden was formed when Rolf L&amp;#248;vland and Fionnuala Sherry met at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. Their mostly instrumental music is a combination of Celtic and Norwegian impressions. The vocals in 'Nocturne' are sung by Gunnhild Tvinnereim. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Sherry says, &amp;quot;The secret garden refers to a personal intimate musical idea and something natural and organic, something that comes from the heart. It's a place within all of us where we need to go to find balance and peace of mind and listen to the inner voice of our hearts.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#c44000"&gt;God's Lovers&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Standing, ever embracing&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The lovers watch as sun sets.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Seasons pass... years... millennia...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;And yet, there's only Now&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For the lovers love, eternal.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;~&lt;/em&gt;Inspired by this beautiful image&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVzh0GoZefI/AAAAAAAAAb8/u7yyjjTSRmk/s1600-h/Lovers-Rock%2C-Sedona-AZ-by-L%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="307" alt="Lovers Rock, Sedona AZ &amp;#169;Light Traveler" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVzh0qOPDuI/AAAAAAAAAcA/BLJvjjgwke4/Lovers-Rock%2C-Sedona-AZ-by-L_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="408" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;The lovely photo above of Lover's Rock Sunset, Sedona, AZ was taken&amp;#160; by Light. As we drove down the mountain from Flagstaff on I-17 I would always comment about the lovers watching the setting sun. One day he pulled over and took this amazing photo for me. Thanks Light!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font&gt;Happy New Year, may all good things come to you!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVzh1REfRkI/AAAAAAAAAcE/TAJJLFlBJ3U/s1600-h/secretgarden4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="120" alt="secretgarden" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVzh1kbkOjI/AAAAAAAAAcI/fASp1GRiZlI/secretgarden_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="138" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Secret Garden&lt;/strong&gt; - Rolf L&amp;#248;vland composer, producer, keyboardist was born April 19, 1955 in Kristiansand, Norway.&amp;#160; He studied at the Music Conservatory in Kristiansand and at the Norwegian Institute of Music in Oslo. Fionnuala Sherry violinist, born in Naas, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. She graduated with honors from Trinity College in Dublin, and the College of Music. You can read news, listen to more music and buy CDs at their website &lt;a href="http://www.secretgarden.no"&gt;www.secretgarden.no&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVzh2DaOmPI/AAAAAAAAAcM/5ZXn0d6PHOw/s1600-h/light%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="116" alt="light" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVzh2qkaAXI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/C9Vqsiuo-yU/light_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="102" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Light Traveler&lt;/strong&gt; (August 1946 - July 2003)&amp;#160; photographer, Reiki Master/Teacher, spiritual seeker and beautiful loving Spirit. You can see more and purchase his beautiful photography at &lt;a href="http://LightTraveler.imagekind.com/ "&gt;Light Traveler's gallery&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5969492698857648716?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5969492698857648716/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5969492698857648716' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5969492698857648716'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5969492698857648716'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2009/01/nocturne-secret-garden-happy-new-year.html' title='Nocturne, Secret Garden - Happy New Year!'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVzh0qOPDuI/AAAAAAAAAcA/BLJvjjgwke4/s72-c/Lovers-Rock%2C-Sedona-AZ-by-L_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-2852756310678751226</id><published>2008-12-31T08:16:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-31T08:23:21.654-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sweden'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='peace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='ABBA'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Aurora'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='oneness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Happy New Year'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sparkling rays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='live'/><title type='text'>12/31 Happy New Year, ABBA</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:0f1035d9-3e57-444d-8212-eb6dacd28a3e" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 404px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="404" height="337"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dcLMH8pwusw"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dcLMH8pwusw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="404" height="337"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Happy New Year' sung by ABBA&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Ringing in the New Year! May we hold thoughts of Peace, Love, Happiness and Prosperity for all in 2009 and always. We are One... one family, one society, one world... beloved Humanity. Beautiful diversity... perfect symmetry!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;ABBA, Song: Happy New Year, Album: Super Trouper (1980) Label: Epic, TV performance: &lt;a href="http://www.abbaontv.com/index.html"&gt;Stockholm, Sweden 31st December 1980&lt;/a&gt; and every year at midnight in Sweden.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#8000ff"&gt;Sparkling rays&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The sky's alight. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;With dancing colors to delight. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;And sparkling rays in dark of night.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Thank you God for this awesome sight.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A gift of magic for new years bright...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~ inspired by this beautiful image.&amp;#160; &lt;em&gt;I am in awe!!!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVuMr-FgIYI/AAAAAAAAAbs/7KGHtGNI0ZA/s1600-h/Aurora%20colors%20www.studiotunturi-lappi.fi%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="322" alt="Aurora &amp;#169; Sauli Koski" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVuMtAycsYI/AAAAAAAAAbw/66_OIz_cUgw/Aurora%20colors%20www.studiotunturi-lappi.fi_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="408" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The beautiful photo above I call, &lt;em&gt;'Sparkling Rays' &lt;/em&gt;is by &lt;a href="mailto:sauli.koski@co.inet.fi"&gt;Sauli Koski&lt;/a&gt; from Kittila, Finland. You can see more of his wonderful photos at &lt;a href="http://www.studiotunturi-lappi.fi/"&gt;studiotunturi-lappi.fi&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Have a delightful, safe and joyous New Year's eve!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVuMtok3PiI/AAAAAAAAAb0/WvLqFseGxt4/s1600-h/ABBA%20%C2%A9%20Polar%20Music%20International%20AB%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="119" alt="ABBA &amp;#169; Polar Music International AB" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVuMuNNQz5I/AAAAAAAAAb4/skDcWBgyKnU/ABBA%20%C2%A9%20Polar%20Music%20International%20AB_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="145" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; ABBA a Swedish band formed in 1971 and officially named in1973. ABBA is an acronym for the given names of the band members - &lt;b&gt;A&lt;/b&gt;gnetha, &lt;b&gt;B&lt;/b&gt;j&amp;#246;rn, &lt;b&gt;B&lt;/b&gt;enny, &lt;b&gt;A&lt;/b&gt;nni-Frid. The band members were Benny Andersson (born December 16, 1946 in Stockholm, Sweden), Bj&amp;#246;rn Ulvaeus (born April 25, 1945 in Gothenburg, Sweden), Anni-Frid Lyngstad (born November 15, 1945 in Ballangen, Norway), Agnetha F&amp;#228;ltskog (born April 5, 1950 in J&amp;#246;nk&amp;#246;ping, Sweden). From 1976 - 1981 they achieved superstardom. ABBA's last public performance together was December 11, 1982 on the TV show &lt;i&gt;The Late, Late Breakfast Show&lt;/i&gt; (live from Stockholm). The official website for ABBA owned by Universal is &lt;a href="http://www.abbasite.com/start/"&gt;abbasite.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-2852756310678751226?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/2852756310678751226/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=2852756310678751226' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2852756310678751226'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2852756310678751226'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1231-happy-new-year-abba.html' title='12/31 Happy New Year, ABBA'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVuMtAycsYI/AAAAAAAAAbw/66_OIz_cUgw/s72-c/Aurora%20colors%20www.studiotunturi-lappi.fi_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5283385865227980455</id><published>2008-12-30T04:16:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-30T04:16:56.595-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='life'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Josh Groban'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='faith'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='&apos;You are Loved&apos;'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='happiness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><title type='text'>12/30 You are Loved (Don't Give Up)</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:8e4e916e-c26e-465e-bb14-5f013d1e0a23" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="336"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KK9dyJpO2Cw"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KK9dyJpO2Cw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="336"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'You are Loved' performed live by Josh Groban&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Lovely song of hope. I posted this today for all of those who are struggling. The Holidays often are a stretch, this year perhaps more. Know 'you are loved'. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Josh Groban, Song: You are Loved (Don't Give Up), Album: Awake (2006), Label: Reprise / WEA.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#008000"&gt;Love, love... loved!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Heart... again. There it is.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Reminders everywhere. Stones, trees, lakes, forests, clouds... Everywhere... God's gift of love. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Remember. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You are Loved beloved... deeply, fully... always!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVoDIDRKbBI/AAAAAAAAAbc/i0-NLKk6Qas/s1600-h/HeartinVohphotobyYannAthusBertrand3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="297" alt="Heart in Voh photo by Yann Athus-Bertrand" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVoDJB1jscI/AAAAAAAAAbg/37gtRiUsN3k/HeartinVohphotobyYannAthusBertrand_t.jpg?imgmax=800" width="406" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The wonderful photo above of a naturally occurring heart in a mangrove swamp is called &lt;em&gt;'Heart in Voh'&lt;/em&gt;. It was taken by Yann Athus-Bertrand as he flew over Voh, New Caledoniea. You can see more of his amazing work at &lt;a href="http://www.yannarthusbertrand2.org/"&gt;yannarthusbertrand2.org&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;May the New Year bring you Love, Hope, Faith and Happiness on the wings of angels.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVoDJSm2fxI/AAAAAAAAAbk/vGtcb6vYBfI/s1600-h/JoshGroban3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="126" alt="Josh Groban" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVoDJ0MCIrI/AAAAAAAAAbo/sBQjTrMFSYI/JoshGroban_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="101" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Josh Groban&lt;/strong&gt; singer/songwriter was born February 27, 1981 in Los Angeles, California. In 1997 and 1998 he attended Interlochen Arts Camp, majoring in musical theater and voice. He graduated in 1999 with a major in theater from Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Soon after graduation he was offered a recording contract at Warner Brothers Records. His recording debut was singing &amp;quot;For Always&amp;quot; with Lara Fabian on the soundtrack to &lt;i&gt;A.I.: Artificial Intelligence&lt;/i&gt; (2001). Read news, listen his wonderful music, watch videos, see photos and read his blog at &lt;a href="http://www.joshgroban.com"&gt;www.joshgroban.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5283385865227980455?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5283385865227980455/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5283385865227980455' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5283385865227980455'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5283385865227980455'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1230-you-are-loved-don-give-up.html' title='12/30 You are Loved (Don&amp;#39;t Give Up)'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVoDJB1jscI/AAAAAAAAAbg/37gtRiUsN3k/s72-c/HeartinVohphotobyYannAthusBertrand_t.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6484321400404319858</id><published>2008-12-29T06:03:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-29T06:03:18.453-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Dawud Wharnsby'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Zain Bhikha'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Muslim'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mixed media'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Allah'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='hymn'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='moon and stars islet'/><title type='text'>12/29 Allah Knows, Zain Bhikha</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:b7598e21-273e-4882-aecc-07caa46e0a10" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 405px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="405" height="338"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xIEoWSB63hI"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xIEoWSB63hI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="405" height="338"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Allah Knows' by Zain Bhikha with Dawud Wharnsby&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Beautiful, sweet and heartfelt. Brought tears, I feel a reaching out and God moving through words, voices, music and harmony... wow! Lovely! &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Zain Bhikha with Dawud Wharnsby, Song: Allah Knows, Album: &lt;a href="http://www.jamalrecords.com/allahknows/index.html"&gt;Allah Knows&lt;/a&gt; (2006), Label: &lt;a href="www.jamalstore.com"&gt;Jamal Records&lt;/a&gt;, Video: Jamal &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;Records.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Today is &lt;em&gt;Al-Hijra&lt;/em&gt;, Islamic New Year the first day of &lt;a href="http://www.islam.com/MFMuharam.htm"&gt;Muharram&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#0080ff"&gt;What is... is not?&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Imagine, create, stretch... become! What is... is not? &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;T&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;he eye fooled, the mind awed. Sweet believing. Breathless becoming. Why not? &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Let's fly...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~ inspired by this beautiful image.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVjKjSkcWcI/AAAAAAAAAbM/Sew-ixMoxVY/s1600-h/starmoonsea7.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="295" alt="The Moon and Star on Earth photoshop image creator unknown" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVjKkKdBcrI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/N12c2iurUXE/starmoonsea_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; The image above is a digital compilation of an existing volcanic crescent moon islet called Molokini off the coast of Maui, HI and a star island which was created.&amp;#160; The moon alone is amazing, the star adds another dimension which stretches beyond. Awesome... I love it. It is not known who created this image you can find out more about it at &lt;a href="http://neddy.blogsome.com/2006/01/13/crescent-star-island/"&gt;Neddy's Palaver&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;May your Holidays be filled with Awe and Wonder!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVjKkkti3YI/AAAAAAAAAbU/08hy5-Xmvdo/s1600-h/ZainBhikha4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="125" alt="Zain Bhikha" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVjKlKAfX9I/AAAAAAAAAbY/DQ_Vdg7yuTE/ZainBhikha_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="109" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Zain Bhikha born August 9, 1974 in Pretoria, South Africa is a singer/songwriter. At a young age he often would entertain his family and friends with songs. In 1994 he won a singing competition sponsored by the local station Radio 702. He recorded his first album called 'A Way of Life' in 1994. You can find out more, read news, watch videos and listen to and buy music at Zain's official website &lt;a href="http://www.zainbhikha.com/"&gt;zainbhikha.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6484321400404319858?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6484321400404319858/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6484321400404319858' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6484321400404319858'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6484321400404319858'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1229-allah-knows-zain-bhikha.html' title='12/29 Allah Knows, Zain Bhikha'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVjKkKdBcrI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/N12c2iurUXE/s72-c/starmoonsea_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5313133213394755239</id><published>2008-12-28T05:46:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-28T05:46:26.701-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Korea'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Norway'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='happiness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='&apos;Ave Maria&apos; Caccini'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sumi Jo'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Chirstianity'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='live'/><title type='text'>12/28 Ave Maria - Sumi Jo</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:f2f623d0-8fd9-4082-8bd7-10239cce5800" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 409px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="409" height="342"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fjZ8fBGtMaI"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fjZ8fBGtMaI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="409" height="342"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Ave Maria' Caccini sung by Sumi Jo&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Sweet, clear, magnificent performance. I can feel her heart as she sings praise and worship to Divine Mother - Mary... Ave Maria. Glorious!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sumi Jo, Song: Ave Maria, Album: Prayers (2001), Label: Erato (Warner Classic), Video: Warner. Composed by: Giulio Caccini. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Giulio Caccini&lt;/strong&gt; born Oct 8, 1551 in Tivoli, Italy died Dec 10, 1618 in Florence, Italy composed the music for Ave Maria around the end of the 16th century. You can read more about him at &lt;a href="http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&amp;amp;sql=41:7129~T1"&gt;allmusic.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Today is the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Family"&gt;Feast of the Holy Family&lt;/a&gt;, a Roman Catholic celebration dedicated to the family of Jesus Christ and love they had for one another.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#8080ff"&gt;&lt;em&gt;A Gift...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;God painted pearlized rainbows in the sky. They danced with fire and with light. And although dark, they lit the night with this beautiful delight.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;thank you Beloved God!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVd1GpZkQUI/AAAAAAAAAao/7BcSGM5RMZw/s1600-h/NacreouscloudsJamesGuy20085.jpg"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVd1GpZkQUI/AAAAAAAAAao/7BcSGM5RMZw/s1600-h/NacreouscloudsJamesGuy20085.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="273" alt="Nacreous clouds  &amp;#169;2008 James Guy " src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVd1Hmvo3sI/AAAAAAAAAas/pu5FT2KrcqQ/NacreouscloudsJamesGuy2008_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="405" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The stunning photo above of &lt;a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/nacr1.htm"&gt;nacreous clouds&lt;/a&gt; was taken by James Guy, Oslo, Norway in Vigelands park (January 2008). You can see more of his beautiful photos at &lt;a href="http://flickr.com/photos/15923358@N02/"&gt;flickr.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Have a delightful day and a great New Year!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="139" alt="sumi jo" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVd1IMehp7I/AAAAAAAAAaw/q8rgEj1-Wt8/sumijo_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800" width="97" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Sumi Jo&lt;/strong&gt; born November 22, 1962 in Seoul, Korea is a lyric coloratura soprano. She started her studies of music at the age of 4 with piano lessons; adding voice at 6. Often she would spend eight hours a day practicing. In 1971 she enrolled at Sun Hwa Arts School majoring in piano and voice. Upon graduation she continued her musical studies at Seoul National University. While attending SNU she made her professional debut in several concerts at Korean Broadcasting System. Sumi Jo has 42 albums and many awards you can learn more at her official website &lt;a href="http://www.josumi.com/"&gt;josumi.com&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5313133213394755239?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5313133213394755239/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5313133213394755239' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5313133213394755239'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5313133213394755239'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1228-ave-maria-sumi-jo.html' title='12/28 Ave Maria - Sumi Jo'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVd1Hmvo3sI/AAAAAAAAAas/pu5FT2KrcqQ/s72-c/NacreouscloudsJamesGuy2008_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1745105872024457411</id><published>2008-12-27T08:15:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-27T08:15:51.995-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Celtic'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Celtic Woman'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='carol'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Irish'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ding Dong Merrily on High'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ireland'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='snow'/><title type='text'>12/27 Ding Dong Merrily On High</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:eb7aad27-2107-4d75-b4ad-e82a22181953" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 404px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="404" height="337"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dlbJToqI3nU"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dlbJToqI3nU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="404" height="337"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Ding Dong Merrily On High' performed by Celtic Woman&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Happy, joyous and celebratory. A wonderful rendition with a Celtic feel. Glorious!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Celtic Woman, Song: Ding Dong Merrily On High, Album: A Christmas Celebration (2006), Label: Manhattan Records. Performed live at A Christmas Celebration 2007 in Helix Center in Dublin, Ireland aired on PBS. Words: &lt;/em&gt;George Ratcliffe Woodward, 1848-1934, Music: &lt;i&gt;Brane de l'Official,&lt;/i&gt; from Thoinot Arbeau's &lt;i&gt;Orchesographie,&lt;/i&gt; (1588).&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Today at 7:23 am EST is New Moon&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVZGm4-f3oI/AAAAAAAAAaU/X7NloBP2VtI/s1600-h/OrionthehunterbyRagnarEinarJohnsks4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-right-width: 0px" height="179" alt="Orion the hunter by Ragnar &amp;amp; Einar Johnsk&amp;#229;s" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVZGoUUkgMI/AAAAAAAAAaY/kEofqjhcz_A/OrionthehunterbyRagnarEinarJohnsks_t.jpg?imgmax=800" width="266" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Ding Dong Merrily On High&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; was originally a dance tune that evolved to a carol. The the sixteenth century music was found in &lt;em&gt;Piae Cantiones&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160; a collection of Finnish tunes. Woodward rehabilitated the tune with 'Victorian era' words in Latin and English. You can read more at &lt;a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/ding_dong_merrily_on_high.htm"&gt;Hymns and Carols of Christmas&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The photo above right I call &lt;em&gt;'God's Holiday Decorations'&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The cold night sky, dotted with stars... snow covered evergreen... illuminated.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Majestic. Thank you again beloved Creator for your beauty...&amp;#160; de-light-full. The photograph was taken by Ragnar &amp;amp; Einar Johnsk&amp;#229;s. You can see more of their great work at &lt;a href="http://auroraborealis.vika.no/"&gt;auroraborealis.vika.no&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Have a delightful Holiday. May you ring in the New Year with Joy, Peace and Wonder.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVZGpTJ-y8I/AAAAAAAAAac/e9Df6DRzyBI/s1600-h/CelticWoman4.jpg"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="120" alt="Celtic Woman" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVZGpgBtXKI/AAAAAAAAAag/w7Rk9ZHR3yc/CelticWoman_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="173" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Celtic Woman&lt;/strong&gt; was created by David Downes and Dave Kavanagh in 2004 and is composed of vocalists Chlo&amp;#235; Agnew, Lynn Hilary, Lisa Kelly, Alex Sharpe and fiddler M&amp;#225;ir&amp;#233;ad Nesbitt. Since their formation the group has enjoyed overwhelming success. They have released 4 albums to date, toured worldwide and done numerous TV specials. Their CD&amp;#160; &lt;em&gt;'A New Journey'&lt;/em&gt; was number 1 on the world Music Charts for 95 consecutive weeks. You can read more about them at their official website &lt;a href="http://www.celticwoman.com/"&gt;celticwoman.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1745105872024457411?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1745105872024457411/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1745105872024457411' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1745105872024457411'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1745105872024457411'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1227-ding-dong-merrily-on-high.html' title='12/27 Ding Dong Merrily On High'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVZGoUUkgMI/AAAAAAAAAaY/kEofqjhcz_A/s72-c/OrionthehunterbyRagnarEinarJohnsks_t.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-4799498439857606277</id><published>2008-12-26T08:14:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-26T08:32:23.389-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='quilt'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Africa'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Kwanzaa'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Yamoré'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Cesária Évora'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='African American'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Salif Keita'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><title type='text'>12/26 Yamoré, Happy Kwanzaa</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:4ab4759f-1b36-49e4-8de6-10e075df1f80" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="337"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UkUUaxjQCfI"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UkUUaxjQCfI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="337"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Yamor&amp;#233;' - Salif Keita with Ces&amp;#225;ria &amp;#201;vora, music video&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Powerful, moving, sultry and poignant. Song about love and life by two African greats... wow... I love it. Magic!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Salif Keita with Ces&amp;#225;ria &amp;#201;vora, Song: Yamor&amp;#233;, Album: Moffou (2002), Recorded at Les Studios De La Seine, Paris, France between July 15 &amp;amp; December 14, 2001. Label: Decca. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Moffou' was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best World Music Album. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVT0xivkeII/AAAAAAAAAZ8/_3Z3w6m_KYM/s1600-h/Kwanzaa%20Glow%20sacred%20threads%5B6%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="196" alt="Kwanzaa Glow &amp;#169;Kit Tossmann Louisville, KY" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVT0yDnHz0I/AAAAAAAAAaA/W-ObcBDaTK0/Kwanzaa%20Glow%20sacred%20threads_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="241" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kwanzaa,&lt;/strong&gt; founded in 1966 by Dr Maulana Karenga is held December 26th thru January 1st.&amp;#160; It is an African American celebration of family, community, commerce, responsibility,&amp;#160; and self-improvement. Kwanzaa is not religious or political, nor a replacement for Christmas; rather it honors roots and culture. It is celebrated by more then 18 million people worldwide. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The word &lt;em&gt;Kwanzaa&lt;/em&gt; means, &lt;em&gt;'first fruits of the harvest'&lt;/em&gt; in Kiswahili (an African language). The celebration is based on &lt;em&gt;Nguzo Saba&lt;/em&gt; (seven guiding principles) which are: &lt;em&gt;Umoja&lt;/em&gt; (Unity), &lt;em&gt;Kujichagulia&lt;/em&gt; (Self-Determination), &lt;em&gt;Ujima &lt;/em&gt;(Collective Work and Responsibility), &lt;em&gt;Ujamaa&lt;/em&gt; (Cooperative Economics), &lt;em&gt;Nia&lt;/em&gt; (Purpose), &lt;em&gt;Kuumba &lt;/em&gt;(Creativity) and &lt;em&gt;Imani&lt;/em&gt; (Faith).&amp;#160; On December 31st the community cooporative &lt;strong&gt;Kwanzaa Karamu&lt;/strong&gt; or Feast is held. To learn more visit &lt;a href="http://www.tike.com/celeb-kw.htm"&gt;tike.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.theblackcandle.com/"&gt;'The Black Candle'&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; is a movie about Kwanzaa. In the movie it says, &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Kwanzaa means access to your soul, to your people. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The beautiful, striking image above right of the Kwanzaa candles is a quilt by Kit Tossmann of Louisville, KY. It is featured in the &lt;a href="http://www.sacredthreadsquilts.com/html/gallery2007.html"&gt;2007 Sacred Threads Gallery&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Happy Kwanzaa! Have a wonderful celebration.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVT0ygNeQCI/AAAAAAAAAaE/RiNCMCIxeFw/s1600-h/Salif%20Keita%5B5%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="145" alt="Salif Keita" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVT0zVqyHiI/AAAAAAAAAaI/FxQIT-6aT48/Salif%20Keita_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="143" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Salif Keita&lt;/strong&gt; born August 25, 1949 in Djoliba, Mali, Africa is a singer and songwriter. He is considered the &lt;em&gt;Golden voice of Africa&lt;/em&gt;. He began his career in 1967 in the government sponsored Super Rail Band de Bamako. Then joined the group, &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Ambassadeurs"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Les Ambassadeurs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in 1973 and fled Mali in the mid 70s because of political unrest. The name was changed to &lt;i&gt;Les Ambassadeurs Internationales&lt;/i&gt; and they gained international acclaim. In 1977 Keita received a &lt;i&gt;National Order&lt;/i&gt; award. He moved to Paris for a while then back to Mali in 2000 where he was inspired to create Moffou. You can learn more about Salif Keita at his official site at &lt;a href="http://salifkeita.artistes.universalmusic.fr/"&gt;universalmusic.fr&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVT00DzasGI/AAAAAAAAAaM/QrjEJOXdriw/s1600-h/Ces%C3%A1ria%20%C3%89vora%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="145" alt="Ces&amp;#225;ria &amp;#201;vora" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVT00xtICfI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/DkTaY4EilgU/Ces%C3%A1ria%20%C3%89vora_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="122" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Ces&amp;#225;ria &amp;#201;vora&lt;/b&gt; born August 27, 1941 in Mindelo, S&amp;#227;o Vicente Island, Cape Verde is a singer. Her nickname is the 'barefoot diva' because she prefers performing without shoes. She is known internationally for &lt;em&gt;morna &lt;/em&gt;(music and dance from Cape Verde) songs of sadness, sorrow and yearning. She met Eduardo (a sailor) at 16, who taught her the traditional Cape Verdean music &lt;i&gt;c&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coladeira"&gt;oladeiras&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;mornas&lt;/i&gt;.&amp;#160; She recorded her first album in Paris called &lt;i&gt;La Diva Aux Pieds Nus&lt;/i&gt; (The Barefoot Diva) (1988). '&lt;em&gt;Sodade&lt;/em&gt;' was her first international hit single. At age 47 she became an international star with the release of her album &lt;em&gt;Perfumado.&lt;/em&gt; You can read more about her at &lt;a href="http://www.cesaria-evora.com/"&gt;cesaria-evora.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-4799498439857606277?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/4799498439857606277/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=4799498439857606277' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/4799498439857606277'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/4799498439857606277'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1226-yamor-happy-kwanzaa.html' title='12/26 Yamoré, Happy Kwanzaa'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVT0yDnHz0I/AAAAAAAAAaA/W-ObcBDaTK0/s72-c/Kwanzaa%20Glow%20sacred%20threads_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-2371120314820425579</id><published>2008-12-25T05:12:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-25T05:12:11.677-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='&apos;God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen&apos;'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christ'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Libera'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Salvador Dali'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='faith'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='carol'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enlightenment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christ consciousness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='compassion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jesus'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='painting'/><title type='text'>12/25 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:0f0180bc-800a-4c53-9a7d-cd2e56122222" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 406px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="406" height="340"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DVcOBjzFuwk"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DVcOBjzFuwk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="406" height="340"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' sung by Libera&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Wonderful, sweet and full of light. Loved hearing these singing angels. Beautiful!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Libera, song: 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen', album: Angel Voices 3 (1997), label: Music Club, distributor: Sony, video: TV morning show (I could find nothing else about the source of the video). Words and music: Traditional English, 18&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; Century carol. More about the carol at &lt;a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/god_rest_you_merry_gentlemen.htm"&gt;Hymns and Carols of Christmas&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVN4jr0Js8I/AAAAAAAAAZk/7KLUPA02sH8/s1600-h/DaliSacredHeartofJesus.jpg"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="326" alt="Dali-Sacred-HeartofJesus" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVN4kn0J12I/AAAAAAAAAZo/tAqJpl1P47w/DaliSacredHeartofJesus_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="232" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Christmas day is a great day to feature this spectacular painting of Jesus Christ called &lt;em&gt;'&lt;strong&gt;El Sagrado Coraz&amp;#243;n de Jes&amp;#250;s&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;'&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;by Salvador Dal&amp;#237; (1962), &lt;em&gt;Oil on canvas 86.5 x 61 cm, Private collection. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;El Sagrado Coraz&amp;#243;n de Jes&amp;#250;s&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160; means The Sacred Heart of Jesus. I feel power and passion emanating from this exquisite painting. It communicates ethereal yet tangible, ascending and transcending, compassion and light. Dali has always been one of my favorite painters. But I wasn't aware of this beautiful work. Wow!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Merry Christmas! May this Holy day bless you with abundant Hope, Joy and Faith. All is well,&amp;#160; God's Divine Plan unfolds with perfection.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVN4k3owkKI/AAAAAAAAAZs/Dbtchpj_60Q/s1600-h/Libera4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="117" alt="Libera" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVN4lG5YhRI/AAAAAAAAAZw/C1OABaggKnY/Libera_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="174" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Libera&lt;/strong&gt; is a group of boys directed by Robert Prizeman who sing like angels and often appear in white robes. They have been on TV, radio and in films. There are about 30 boys from South London, England aged seven to sixteen who make up the group. They think of themselves as an alternative boy band rather then a boy's choir. You can read more about them see photos and video at their official website &lt;a title="http://www.libera.org.uk/" href="http://libera.org.uk/"&gt;libera.org.uk&lt;/a&gt;&amp;#160; or visit this site with everything Libera &lt;a href="http://www.boysoloist.com/artist.asp?VID=167"&gt;boysoloist.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVN4luy_xkI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/_bY-kXaePCs/s1600-h/daliandwife5.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="129" alt="daliandwife" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVN4mc8wdcI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/EJggrg2svSc/daliandwife_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="99" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Dali's full name is &lt;strong&gt;Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dal&amp;#237; i Dom&amp;#232;nech 1st Marquis of P&amp;#250;bol&lt;/strong&gt; (May 11, 1904 &amp;#8211; January 23, 1989), born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain was a surrealist painter. He attended drawing school in 1916 and 3 years later had his first exhibition. His extensive artistic endeavors include painting, film, sculpture, and photography. You can find out more and see many of Dali's wonderful works at &lt;a href="http://www.virtualdali.com/"&gt;virtualdali.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-2371120314820425579?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/2371120314820425579/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=2371120314820425579' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2371120314820425579'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2371120314820425579'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1225-god-rest-ye-merry-gentlemen.html' title='12/25 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVN4kn0J12I/AAAAAAAAAZo/tAqJpl1P47w/s72-c/DaliSacredHeartofJesus_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-8671441859582666937</id><published>2008-12-24T06:10:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-24T06:10:52.956-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='O Holy Night'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Aurora'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mariah Carey'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='carol'/><title type='text'>12/24 O Holy Night, Merry Christmas</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:b4e98f1e-b9a5-4624-a345-936c9381a5af" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="338"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rt0VfiFxtHo"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rt0VfiFxtHo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="338"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'O Holy Night' sung by Mariah Carey&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Amazing, inspired, WOW! I can feel Spirit moving through Mariah and all her back up singers and the room. Whew! I love this rendition... it gives me chills and brings tears.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mariah Carey, Song: O Holy Night, album: Merry Christmas (1994), label: Sony, Official Music Video by: Columbia/Sony (2008). Words: Placide Cappeau (1847), music:Adolphe-Charles Adam (1847)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVI005Fj7hI/AAAAAAAAAZU/OHuc8MoH4Is/s1600-h/Aurorasnowwww.studiotunturilappi.fi3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="244" alt="&amp;#39;Christmas Aurora&amp;#39; photograph by &amp;#169; Sauli Koski" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVI01q7gOXI/AAAAAAAAAZY/0lQo6olF_VI/Aurorasnowwww.studiotunturilappi.fi_.jpg?imgmax=800" width="164" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'O Holy Night' &lt;/strong&gt;was written in 1847 by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877) as &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;Cantique de Noel'.&lt;/em&gt; He was a wine merchant in Roquemaure, France who wrote poetry for enjoyment.&amp;#160; The music was written by his friend Adolphe-Charles Adam (1803-1856) who is best known for the ballet &lt;i&gt;Giselle&lt;/i&gt; (1841). &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;'Cantique de Noel'&lt;/em&gt; premiered Christmas Eve 1847 at the midnight mass in Roquemaure. It wasn't popular, in fact one bishop said it had a &amp;quot;lack of musical taste and total absence of the spirit of religion'. Here is an English translation of the first verse of the original &lt;font size="2"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cantique de No&amp;#235;l&lt;/em&gt; (&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Minuit Chr&amp;#233;tiens). &lt;/em&gt;You can read more about the song &lt;a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/NonEnglish/minuit_chretiens.htm"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Midnight, Christians, it is the solemn hour     &lt;br /&gt;When God as man descended among us      &lt;br /&gt;To expunge the stain of original sin      &lt;br /&gt;And to put an end to the wrath of his father.      &lt;br /&gt;The entire world thrills with hope      &lt;br /&gt;On this night which gives us a savior.      &lt;br /&gt;People, on your knees, attend your deliverance.      &lt;br /&gt;Christmas! Christmas! Here is the Redeemer!      &lt;br /&gt;Christmas! Christmas! Here is the Redeemer!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cantique de No&amp;#235;l&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt; was first translated to English as &lt;em&gt;'O Holy Night'&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160; in 1855 by John Sullivan Dwight (1813-1893) a Unitarian minister and music critic from Brook Farm, MA. '&lt;em&gt;O Holy Night'&lt;/em&gt; has been said to be one of the most beautiful Christmas carols of all time. The first verse of 'O Holy Night' as translated by John Dwight follows... you can read more about it &lt;a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/o_holy_night.htm"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,     &lt;br /&gt;It is the night of the dear Savior&amp;#8217;s birth;      &lt;br /&gt;Long lay the world in sin and error pining,      &lt;br /&gt;Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.      &lt;br /&gt;A thrill of hope the weary world&lt;sup&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/#Note01"&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; rejoices,      &lt;br /&gt;For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;i&gt;     &lt;p&gt;Chorus       &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices!      &lt;br /&gt;O night divine, O night when Christ was born!      &lt;br /&gt;O night, O holy night, O night divine.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;   &lt;br /&gt;The beautiful photo above left I call, &lt;em&gt;'Christmas Aurora' &lt;/em&gt;is by &lt;a href="mailto:sauli.koski@co.inet.fi"&gt;Sauli Koski&lt;/a&gt; from Kittila, Finland. You can see more of his beautiful photographs at &lt;a href="http://www.studiotunturi-lappi.fi/"&gt;studiotunturi-lappi.fi&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Another beautiful gift from Creator. Thank you, thank you, thank you Beloved God for all of your Glory and Wonders.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Have a wonderful, inspired and happy Christmas Eve.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVI02FVtSzI/AAAAAAAAAZc/u0x_5gwltXA/s1600-h/Mariah%20Carey%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="137" alt="Mariah Carey" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVI02jHfkxI/AAAAAAAAAZg/CtrEwsac7gU/Mariah%20Carey_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="137" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Mariah Carey&lt;/strong&gt; born March 27, 1970 Long Island, NY is a singer and actress. She moved to the City one day after high school graduation in 1987. In 1990 Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola took her under his wing and the rest is history. Mariah married Tommey in 1993. In 2000 she was named the best-selling female pop artist of the millennium at the World Music Awards. You can read her bio at &lt;a href=" http://myplay.com/artists/mariah-carey/bio"&gt;myplay.com&lt;/a&gt; or see the latest news and more at her website &lt;a href="http://www.mariahcarey.com/"&gt;mariahcarey.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-8671441859582666937?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/8671441859582666937/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=8671441859582666937' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8671441859582666937'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8671441859582666937'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1224-o-holy-night-merry-christmas.html' title='12/24 O Holy Night, Merry Christmas'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVI01q7gOXI/AAAAAAAAAZY/0lQo6olF_VI/s72-c/Aurorasnowwww.studiotunturilappi.fi_.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5636277919740992394</id><published>2008-12-23T04:50:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-23T04:50:19.071-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='festive trimmings'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='England'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Andy Williams'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Winter Wonderland'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='William&apos;s Brothers'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='London'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='carol'/><title type='text'>12/23 Winter Wonderland, Andy Williams</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:bd496acf-60f0-4dab-847e-be0927dffd30" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 405px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="405" height="339"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8hkUpW9ZCBQ"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8hkUpW9ZCBQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="405" height="339"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Winter Wonderland' performed by Andy Williams and his brothers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Wonderful, happy and joyful. I remember watching Andy William's Christmas Shows when I was a child. It was part of our Christmas tradition for years. Loved finding and sharing this jewel with you.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Andy Williams and the Williams' Brothers, Song: Winter Wonderland, DVD TV Special re-release: Happy Holidays: The Best of The Andy Williams Christmas Shows. Recently aired November 28 - December 13, 2008 on PBS. The quartet performs holiday classics including, 'Winter Wonderland', 'Jingle Bells' and 'I&amp;#8217;ll Be Home for Christmas' as well as many other songs. A DVD of the show is available at &lt;a href="http://andywilliams.com/andy_williams_branson_011.htm" target="_blank"&gt;andywilliams.com&lt;/a&gt;. 'Winter Wonderland' words and music by Dick Smith &amp;amp; Felix Bernard, copyright 1934.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Winter Wonderland'&lt;/strong&gt; lyrics by Richard B. Smith (1901-1935) born in Pennsylvania. Music composed by Felix Bernard (1897-1944) born in Brooklyn, NY.&amp;#160; The song first sung by Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians (1934) was an instant &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVDQdG_3d3I/AAAAAAAAAZE/YwWuKNBuRrU/s1600-h/HydeParkWinterWonderlandornament4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 5px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="154" alt="HydeParkWinterWonderland ornament" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVDQdvyrqSI/AAAAAAAAAZI/yx_H7_InTkY/HydeParkWinterWonderlandornament_thu.jpg?imgmax=800" width="154" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;success. The song has become a Holiday tradition. You can read more about the it at &lt;a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/winter_wonderland.htm"&gt;Hymns and Carols&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;London, England is having a &lt;strong&gt;'Winter Wonderland'&lt;/strong&gt; event in Hyde Park, November 22, 2008 through January 4, 2009. A festive celebration of the Holidays you can find out more at &lt;a title="http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/" href="http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/"&gt;Hyde Park Winter Wonderland&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Have a wonderful winter and a joyous Holiday!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVDQeLQPL8I/AAAAAAAAAZM/Jh7jWPR2bUc/s1600-h/AndyWilliams9.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="150" alt="Andy Williams" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVDQeulG64I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/pfX3bpv4GSA/AndyWilliams_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800" width="121" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Andy Williams&lt;/strong&gt; given name, &lt;b&gt;Howard Andrew &amp;quot;Andy&amp;quot; Williams,&lt;/b&gt; born December 3, 1927, in Wall Lake, Iowa is a music icon. His first singing performance was in a children's choir at the local Presbyterian Church. In the late 1930's he formed a quartet with his three older brothers Bob, Don and Dick. They sang together until Andy went solo in 1952. The rest is history. You can read more at &lt;a title="http://andywilliams.com/andy_williams_branson_011.htm" href="http://andywilliams.com"&gt;andywilliams.com&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Williams"&gt;wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Photo of the ornament is from &lt;a title="http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/" href="http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/"&gt;Hyde Park Winter Wonderland&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5636277919740992394?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5636277919740992394/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5636277919740992394' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5636277919740992394'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5636277919740992394'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1223-winter-wonderland-andy-williams.html' title='12/23 Winter Wonderland, Andy Williams'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SVDQdvyrqSI/AAAAAAAAAZI/yx_H7_InTkY/s72-c/HydeParkWinterWonderlandornament_thu.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-3422056529464323059</id><published>2008-12-22T05:23:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-22T05:23:03.556-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jewish'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Chava Rachel Saban'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='faith'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Hannukah'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Judaism'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ha Nerot'/><title type='text'>12/22 Ha Nerot, Happy Hannukah</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:a339e14f-8f1d-4e07-9e7d-b20b826f1fea" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 399px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="399" height="334"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bEmOIX2AuJ8"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bEmOIX2AuJ8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="399" height="334"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ha Nerot sung by Chava Rachel Saban&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Happy and filled with Light, a wonderful tribute to Hannukah.&amp;#160; Enjoy the Holy Lights of the menhora dancing to this joyful song!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chava Rachel Saban, Song:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;Ha Nerot, album: Don't Give Up (2008), video by: &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/danieljacobpearson" target="_blank"&gt;Daniel Jacob Pearson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU-Go6WTY8I/AAAAAAAAAY8/1H1qPF5fL0M/s1600-h/hanukkah%20lites%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="131" alt="hanukkah lites" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU-GpsNJ0aI/AAAAAAAAAZA/tR-S5FGnEyA/hanukkah%20lites_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="269" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Ha-nerot hallalu&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#160; is an ancient chant mentioned in the Talmud (Soferim 20:6), which is a reminder of the sacred nature of the Hannukah lights. It is said after the candles are lit. &lt;em&gt;Photo from &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.history.com/minisites/hanukkah/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;history.com&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hannukah &lt;/strong&gt;(Heb. Judaism, &lt;em&gt;Dedication&lt;/em&gt;) is the Jewish Festival of Lights. It honors the victory of Judah the Maccabee, religious freedom and the 'miracle of holy oil' and celebrates the power of God. Hannukah begins at sundown the previous day and lasts for 8 days. This year it is celebrated 12/22 to 12/29. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Happy Hannukah! May your life be filled with miracles everyday.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.chavasmusic.com" target="_blank"&gt;Chava Rachel Saban&lt;/a&gt; says about herself, &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I was a junior in Yale college, pursuing a literature degree along with a musical career as a classical violinist, when a wheel flew off the car i was driving. the car flipped, i was knocked unconscious, and had my first spiritual awakening. i clearly experienced the next world, and felt the presence of a friend who had passed away. i heard a heavenly sound; the sound of myself playing the violin. it was the sweetest sound in the world. i began to realize that this sound was inside of me, the song of my soul. i began to realize that i had a soul. I began to sing in order to heal myself.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;I wasn't able to find much about Chava Rachel Saban. Her webpage wasn't loading this morning 12/22. I linked her name to it in hopes it works again soon.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-3422056529464323059?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/3422056529464323059/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=3422056529464323059' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3422056529464323059'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3422056529464323059'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1222-ha-nerot-happy-hannukah.html' title='12/22 Ha Nerot, Happy Hannukah'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU-GpsNJ0aI/AAAAAAAAAZA/tR-S5FGnEyA/s72-c/hanukkah%20lites_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5994224663158470084</id><published>2008-12-21T04:35:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-21T04:35:43.205-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Alan Betson'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jewish'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Hinduism'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='life'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='void'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Winter Solstice'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='The Light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Hopi'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sunrise'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Irish'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Wiccan'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ireland'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spirit'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Pagan'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='American Indian'/><title type='text'>12/21 'The Light', Winter Solstice</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4p9T7b23I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/bHq8hCyWgp0/s1600-h/wintersolstice20037.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="553" alt="winter-solstice-2003" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4p-qfRkhI/AAAAAAAAAYU/9_HzRWG-Lcg/wintersolstice2003_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800" width="403" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'The Light', Winter Solstice at New Grange, County Meath, Ireland photograph by &lt;strong&gt;Alan Betson&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Only on Winter Solstice each year will the sunrise create this beautiful warm glow in the depths of the chamber at New Grange. In complete darkness (the womb or void) one sits in quiet contemplation until the sun's first rays bring the renewal of sweet light and life.&amp;#160; A reminder of the all the blessing it brings for another season. The photo looks a bit like 'light at the end of a tunnel', or 'a star at the top of an evergreen tree'. Spectacular! &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Message&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;... the Light increases multifold this day. Open to receive the blessings which are pouring forth. Come to me I await you. Let us dance in joy and celebrate the Glory and Majesty of God. Be of good cheer for it comes. Rejoice!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Celebration abounds...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;12/21 -&lt;/b&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Winter begins,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; the shortest day and longest night of the year. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Winter Solstice&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (12:04 am UTC). &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4p_K4PUVI/AAAAAAAAAYY/Kejb5SHWewo/s1600-h/WinterSolsticeFireLordStevenLucas4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="310" alt="Winter Solstice Fire Lord - Steven Lucas" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4p__4apcI/AAAAAAAAAYc/XH41Od2G72M/WinterSolsticeFireLordStevenLucas_th.jpg?imgmax=800" width="226" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/b&gt;Yule,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Pagan and Wiccan holiday which ushers in the return of Light. It celebrates the return of the Sun God. It is a time of enlightenment, when light is reborn in the womb of darkness to begin another cycle.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The lighting of the &lt;em&gt;Yule log&lt;/em&gt; (usually oak or pine), is a traditional custom for the Holiday. It symbolizes and honors the Sun God. Some of the log is kept to begin next years yule fire.     &lt;br /&gt;During Yule homes are decorated with fresh evergreens, holly, ivy and mistletoe commemorating the coming of light and life. Fresh greenery in winter is seen as a magical tool of growth. Yule is a reminder that the ultimate product of death is rebirth. The celebrations include much laughter, singing, dancing and feasting.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The painting above left is called '&lt;em&gt;Winter Solstice Fire Lord'&lt;/em&gt; by Steven Lucas (2008). Amazing, powerful image. I hear him say &amp;quot;Come within, warm self and dance with me... renew.&amp;quot; Magnificent! You can read Steven's blog or see more of his works at &lt;a title="http://stephen-lucas.fineartamerica.com/" href="http://stephen-lucas.fineartamerica.com/"&gt;fineartamerica.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4qAUvdkoI/AAAAAAAAAYk/jUroe6FhhVs/s1600-h/Ganesha_Panchamukha4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-right-width: 0px" height="142" alt="Ganesha_Panchamukha" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4qA8EHxkI/AAAAAAAAAYo/Ht_Odt4Qmpc/Ganesha_Panchamukha_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="146" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; 12/21 &lt;/strong&gt;to&lt;strong&gt; 12/25 -&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pancha Ganapati&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, Hindu festival celebrating Lord &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha"&gt;Ganesha&lt;/a&gt; the Five-Faced Maha Ganapati - Lord of Categories. The celebration is five days of festivities, feasts charity and gift-giving.&amp;#160; Daily chants, songs and bhajanas are sung and trays of sweets, fruits and incense are offered. After the daily puja, sweets are shared. Gifts are given to the children each day, who put them before Pancha Ganapati, all are saved to open on the the last day. The festival is centered on restoring peace, love, harmony and bringing joy and happiness. Image is Lord Ganesha. &lt;a href="http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/2004/10-12/13_panchaganapati.shtml"&gt;More at hinduismtoday.com.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4qBJLTFJI/AAAAAAAAAYs/TfUHrDkVcu4/s1600-h/menorahfromKaboose4.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="135" alt="menorah from Kaboose" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4qBo6KcmI/AAAAAAAAAYw/ecp3reukpFA/menorahfromKaboose_thumb2.gif?imgmax=800" width="165" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;12/21 &lt;/strong&gt;t&lt;strong&gt;o 12/29 -&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chanukah the Festival of Lights, &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;eight-day Jewish festival that begins on the eve of Kislev 25, celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality. The menorha (a nine-branched candelabra) is lit nightly, starting with a single flame plus the &lt;i&gt;shamash&lt;/i&gt; on the first night. Two on the second and so on until all eight lights plus the &lt;i&gt;shamash&lt;/i&gt; are kindled. The holiday traditions include eating foods fried in oil, such as&amp;#160; latkes (potato pancakes), dreidel games and &amp;quot;gelt,&amp;quot; gifts of money. Image is a menorha. &lt;a href="http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm"&gt;More at chabad.org.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4qCOrAiqI/AAAAAAAAAY0/3yEqRhN2USM/s1600-h/soyalkachina4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-right-width: 0px" height="201" alt="soyal kachina" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4qDOGUVgI/AAAAAAAAAY4/lHK5db-lgZ0/soyalkachina_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="134" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; 12/21 to 1/9 - &lt;/b&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Soyala New Year Festival&lt;/em&gt;,&lt;/strong&gt; Hopi, Pueblo and Zuni American Indian tribes consider this a time of purification and renewal. The Soyala symbolizes the second phase of Creation at the dawn of life. One of the most sacred celebrations which honors the beginning of a new cycle. Activities take place in the kiva and include reverent silence, fasting, humility and eating of sacred foods to achieve spiritual focus.&amp;#160; Prayer feathers are prepared and placed in homes, villages and in shrine sites around the ancestral homeland. Picture is of the Hopi Soyal Kachina who comes in December. &lt;a href="http://www.brownielocks.com/soyaluna.html"&gt;More brownielocks.com.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;May the Light renew you and yours on this sacred day. Happy Holidays!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The photo of the 2003 &lt;a href="http://www.knowth.eu/winter-solstice.htm" target="_blank"&gt;Winter Solstice sunrise&lt;/a&gt; at New Grange, Ireland is by Alan Betson, from Dunboyne, Co. Meath, Ireland. The photo was printed on the front page of &lt;a href="http://www.irishtimes.com"&gt;The Irish Times&lt;/a&gt; newspaper on the 22nd December 2003. You can find out more about Alan at &lt;a href="http://www.gaelicweb.com/irishampost/year2005/03march/featured/featured01b.html"&gt;gaelicweb.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;There is a webcast of the 2007 Winter Solstice sunrise at New Grange, Ireland available at &lt;a href="http://www.newgrange.com/webcast.htm"&gt;newgrange.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  ~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5994224663158470084?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5994224663158470084/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5994224663158470084' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5994224663158470084'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5994224663158470084'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1221-light-winter-solstice.html' title='12/21 &amp;#39;The Light&amp;#39;, Winter Solstice'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SU4p-qfRkhI/AAAAAAAAAYU/9_HzRWG-Lcg/s72-c/wintersolstice2003_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-8815563424222371104</id><published>2008-12-20T03:51:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-20T03:51:49.964-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Emilie-Claire Barlow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='NV'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='prayer'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Las Vegas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='snow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Let it Snow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><title type='text'>12/20 Let it Snow, Emilie-Claire Barlow</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:84ccb1fa-8fa9-4e33-896b-f936b5656a86" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 407px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="407" height="340"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MWEVrNuY6lE"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MWEVrNuY6lE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="407" height="340"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Let it Snow' performed by Emilie-Claire Barlow&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Jazzy, swinging and fun. Wonderful! Found this jewel yesterday on Youtube. Right now many places are covered in snow, ice or cold rain... the weather outside is indeed frightful. So let's stay inside... happy, warm and dry. Make some hot chocolate or mulled cider, wrap up in a blanket, surrounded by family and friends or alone with a wonderful book. Or even better, in quiet communion with God... giving thanks for all the blessings showered upon us in every moment. Thank you beloved Creator for your blessing of snow. It's sooooo beautiful!!!!!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Emilie-Claire Barlow, song: Let it Snow, Album: Winter Wonderland (2006), Label: Empress Music Group Inc, Video: Clip from Canada AM (CTV).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Let it Snow'&lt;/strong&gt; also known as '&lt;b&gt;Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow&lt;/b&gt;!&lt;strong&gt;' &lt;/strong&gt;was written by Sammy Cahn and composed by Jule Styne in 1945. It is one of the most popular songs of all-time . Was first recorded by Vaughn Monroe in 1946 and went to number one the following year.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUzOP4g3x7I/AAAAAAAAAYA/d7KpRsX6D4Q/s1600-h/LuxorLasVegassnow121708byEthanMiller.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="170" alt="Luxor Las Vegas snow 12-17-08 by Ethan Miller" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUzOQE4ruuI/AAAAAAAAAYE/8tenXWgYVEA/LuxorLasVegassnow121708byEthanMiller%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;12/17/08&lt;/strong&gt; Let it Snow... in Las Vegas, Nevada? The Luxor is covered with snow in a rare storm which blanketed the city with 3.6&amp;quot;. Photo by Ethan Miller/ Getty Images North America. You can see more photos of the Vegas snow by Ethan at &lt;a href="http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/QP5mZimf9aD/Winter+Storm+Dumps+Snow+Las+Vegas/u1PbshJjjDu"&gt;zimbo.com&lt;/a&gt;. A lovely gift for the Holidays. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Have a warm, dry, happy day and a Blessed Holiday!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUzOQsA1p3I/AAAAAAAAAYI/RAINQtA_0co/s1600-h/EmilieClaireBarlow4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="114" alt="Emilie-Claire Barlow" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUzORPSrn7I/AAAAAAAAAYM/CZ2ZNE5AQAk/EmilieClaireBarlow_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="151" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Emilie-Claire Barlow&lt;/strong&gt; born June 6, 1976 in Canada is a jazz singer and actress. She began singing at age seven, spent 5 years at Etobicoke School of the Arts, then continued her studies at Humber College. While at Humber she formed a jazz quartet and performed around Toronto. In 1998 she released her first CD: Emilie-Claire Barlow - SINGS. You can read her &lt;a href="http://emilieclaire.blogspot.com/"&gt;blog&lt;/a&gt; or learn more at &lt;a title="http://www.emilieclairebarlow.com/index.php" href="http://www.emilieclairebarlow.com/index.php"&gt;emilieclairebarlow.com&lt;/a&gt; or myspace &lt;a href="http://www.myspace.com/emilieclairebarlow"&gt;emilieclairebarlow&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-8815563424222371104?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/8815563424222371104/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=8815563424222371104' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8815563424222371104'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8815563424222371104'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1220-let-it-snow-emilie-claire-barlow.html' title='12/20 Let it Snow, Emilie-Claire Barlow'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUzOQE4ruuI/AAAAAAAAAYE/8tenXWgYVEA/s72-c/LuxorLasVegassnow121708byEthanMiller%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-3965459477603924206</id><published>2008-12-19T07:39:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-19T07:39:11.408-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='angel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='being'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Brocken Spectre'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun halo'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='aura'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Glory'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spirit'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='soul'/><title type='text'>12/19 Forrest Illumination</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUuyATWm7hI/AAAAAAAAAXo/0MUryzWw1cU/s1600-h/Glory%20and%20Specter%20of%20the%20Brocken-Credner-%20Kohle%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="505" alt="Glory and Specter of the Brocken &amp;#169;Credner &amp;amp; Kohle" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUuyA8-3U7I/AAAAAAAAAXs/9h4AqKF1MnQ/Glory%20and%20Specter%20of%20the%20Brocken-Credner-%20Kohle_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="409" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Forest Illumination' photo by &lt;a href="http://www.allthesky.com/"&gt;T. Credner &amp;amp; S. Kohle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Forest Illumination &lt;/em&gt;is my name for this incredible photo of a being of light illuminating the forest. A bright aura and halo &lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUuyC6xRSnI/AAAAAAAAAXw/oXpoUc2Q3yk/s1600-h/angel%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="171" alt="angel" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUuyDEQAy5I/AAAAAAAAAX0/pNN7vzuL2F8/angel_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="134" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; surround the head with light radiating from the crown. A masterful being indeed. Is this a fairy, elf, angel or other being of light? Or perhaps it's Creator's way of displaying the light of one's own energy field? What ever it is... it is amazing and magical!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Enjoy the Glory and Wonder of the Holidays all year!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Glory and Specter of the Brocken'&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; is the name Credner and Kohle called this photo. They say about it:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The above image was taken in a foggy forest on Tenerife island, May 2000. With the sun in the back the own shadow could be seen in the fog, the so called Specter of the Brocken. The surrounding bright ring is a Glory, an effect of back scattered light from small water droplets. You can see more of their wonderful photos at &lt;a href="http://www.allthesky.com/"&gt;allthesky.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUuyDffB3JI/AAAAAAAAAX4/ecQ18E8GOGI/s1600-h/Broken%20Spectre%20Vincent%20Lowe%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="151" alt="Broken Spectre &amp;#169; Vincent Lowe" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUuyDgvPl9I/AAAAAAAAAX8/SWuS0sT445g/Broken%20Spectre%20Vincent%20Lowe_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="144" align="left" border="0" /&gt; Atmospheric Optics&lt;/a&gt; gives this scientific explanation:&amp;#160; &amp;quot;The &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Brocken Spectre&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; appears when a low sun is behind a climber who is looking downwards into mist from a ridge or peak. The &amp;quot;spectre&amp;quot; is the shadowy figure - the glow and rings are a glory centered directly opposite the sun at the antisolar point. The &amp;quot;&lt;em&gt;Spectre of the Brocken&lt;/em&gt;&amp;quot; is named because of sightings on the Brocken, the highest peak of Germany's Harz Mountains.&amp;#160; The spectre sometimes appears to be huge. This is probably caused by the presence of the glory and the mist obscuring more familiar reference points with which to judge its size. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Forest glory&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; can appear provided there is a mist of fairly uniform sized droplets, glories can be found in many places. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Photo above left is a &lt;a href="http://www.lowefoto.co.uk/lakes/lakes31.html"&gt;Brocken Spectre and Glory&lt;/a&gt; taken by &lt;a href="http://www.lowefoto.co.uk/"&gt;Vincent Lowe&lt;/a&gt; at Hopegill Head, Lake District National Park, England.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-3965459477603924206?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/3965459477603924206/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=3965459477603924206' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3965459477603924206'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3965459477603924206'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1219-forrest-illumination.html' title='12/19 Forrest Illumination'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUuyA8-3U7I/AAAAAAAAAXs/9h4AqKF1MnQ/s72-c/Glory%20and%20Specter%20of%20the%20Brocken-Credner-%20Kohle_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-9090764692786786326</id><published>2008-12-18T06:22:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-18T06:22:17.641-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='leatherwork'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='The Muppets'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christmas Bling'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='carol'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='12 Days of Christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='John Denver'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='indulgences'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Light Traveler'/><title type='text'>12/18 The 12 Days Of Christmas, John Denver</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:3f8c70ba-f34b-4a33-a94a-67f3ef78aded" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 405px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="405" height="339"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/I1szT-GOvug"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/I1szT-GOvug" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="405" height="339"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;'The 12 Days Of Christmas'&lt;/em&gt; John Denver &amp;amp; The Muppets &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Wonderful, happy and fun! I love this clever rendition, makes me laugh and smile. Used to watch the Muppets' Christmas specials every year, so is a walk down memory lane for me. Hope you enjoy it.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;John Denver, Song: The 12 Days of Christmas, TV special: A Christmas Together with John Denver and The Muppets (1979). Nominated for an Emmy and winner of the Director's Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety. If you'd like to own a copy on DVD you can buy it at &lt;a href="http://missedmovies.com/order/product_info.php?products_id=161"&gt;missedmovies.com&lt;/a&gt;. Words: vary widely, Music: Traditional English, 18th Century carol.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUpOfc-oEDI/AAAAAAAAAXI/HxEuffAxMM0/s1600-h/Photo%20%20%204%5B2%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="179" alt="Christmas Bling photo by Light. &amp;#169;Bonnee Klein Gilligan. All rights reserved. " src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUpOf5hPAZI/AAAAAAAAAXM/esX490-7wTo/Photo%20%20%204_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="237" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'The 12 Days of Christmas'&lt;/strong&gt; is traditionally attributed to England but may have a French origin. Date of first performance is unknown, however it was sung as early as 16th century in Europe and Scandinavia. The chant&amp;#160; may have had it's origins as a 'memory and forfeits' game where the person who forgets the verse has to pay penalty of a kiss or sweet.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The actual 12 days of Christmas are usually December 26 through January 6 in England. Sometimes Christmas Day is included as one of the 12 days, sometimes not.&amp;#160; Most often the 12 days are attributed to the twelve days from the birth of Christ (Christmas, December 25) to the coming of the Magi (Epiphany, January 6, or the Twelfth Day). You can learn more about the song at &lt;a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/twelve_days_of_christmas.htm"&gt;Hymns and Carols of Christmas&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)"&gt;wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUpOgY0S5uI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/WtYExhExsBE/s1600-h/Leatherbagsm8.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="244" alt="Leather bag by Bonnee Klein Gilligan       " src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUpOgzwmsRI/AAAAAAAAAXU/RbBvxzs6XQw/Leatherbagsm_thumb4.jpg?imgmax=800" width="128" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font color="#00b300"&gt;My 12 Days of Christmas&lt;/font&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;- This year the Holidays are very tight financially so I decided to make all my gifts and pamper myself while I'm at it. Went to a local art gallery, saw a lovely leather bag I would have loved to buy. Its' cost $1,500. Rather then grumbling about the price, it inspired me to create my own and one for a friend too. Mine is still in the works, photo right is the other one. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;This year my Christmas will be filled with wonderful treats, songs, love and things which make me smile. Just for fun, wrote about my inexpensive indulgences to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas. It goes something like this...&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;ul&gt;   &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the first day of Christmas, I made this gift for me, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the second day of Christmas, I whipped this up for me, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;two pecan pies and &lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the third day of Christmas, I'll do this just for me, &lt;/em&gt;three pedicures, &lt;em&gt;two pecan pies and &lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160; &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the fourth day of Christmas, I'll do this just for me, &lt;/em&gt;four manicures, three pedicures, &lt;em&gt;two pecan pies and &lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160; &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the fifth day of Christmas, I bought a gift for me, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;five chocolate bars, four manicures, three pedicures, &lt;em&gt;two pecan pies and &lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the sixth day of Christmas, I'll make this just for me, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;six gourmet dinners, &lt;em&gt;five chocolate bars, four manicures, three pedicures, &lt;em&gt;two pecan pies and &lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the seventh day of Christmas, I gave this gift to me, seven candles burning, six gourmet dinners, five chocolate bars, four manicures, three pedicures, two pecan pies and a handmade leather satchel&amp;#160; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the eighth day of Christmas, I promised this to me, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;eight fragrant baths, seven candles burning, &lt;em&gt;six gourmet dinners, &lt;em&gt;five chocolate bars, four manicures, three pedicures, &lt;em&gt;two pecan pies and &lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the ninth day of Christmas I made a treat for me, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;nine hot spiced ciders, &lt;em&gt;eight fragrant baths, seven candles burning, &lt;em&gt;six gourmet dinners, &lt;em&gt;five chocolate bars, four manicures, three pedicures, &lt;em&gt;two pecan pies and &lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the tenth day of Christmas, I whipped this up for me, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;ten oatmeal cookies, &lt;em&gt;nine hot spiced ciders, &lt;em&gt;eight fragrant baths, seven candles burning, &lt;em&gt;six gourmet dinners, &lt;em&gt;five chocolate bars, four manicures, three pedicures, &lt;em&gt;two pecan pies and &lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the eleventh day of Christmas, I promised this to me, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;eleven crackling fires, &lt;em&gt;ten oatmeal cookies, &lt;em&gt;nine hot spiced ciders, &lt;em&gt;eight fragrant baths, seven candles burning, &lt;em&gt;six gourmet dinners, &lt;em&gt;five chocolate bars, four manicures, three pedicures, &lt;em&gt;two pecan pies and &lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the twelfth day of Christmas, I bought a gift for me, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;twelve &lt;em&gt;lovely flowers, &lt;em&gt;eleven crackling fires, &lt;em&gt;ten oatmeal cookies, &lt;em&gt;nine hot spiced ciders, &lt;em&gt;eight fragrant baths, seven candles burning, &lt;em&gt;six gourmet dinners, &lt;em&gt;five chocolate bars, four manicures, three pedicures, &lt;em&gt;two pecan pies and &lt;em&gt;a handmade leather satchel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Have a wonderful Holiday! May your days be filled with treasures!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUpOhcTq9kI/AAAAAAAAAXY/97iEJ8LBNyw/s1600-h/John%20Denver%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="167" alt="John Denver" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUpOhzQKTLI/AAAAAAAAAXc/NeJAj8jNOx0/John%20Denver_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="108" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; John Denver &lt;/strong&gt;given name &lt;b&gt;Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;#160; (December 31, 1943 &amp;#8211; October 12, 1997), born in Roswell, New Mexico was a singer, songwriter, performer, actor, environmentalist and humanitarian.&amp;#160; At eleven he was given his grandmother's guitar, took guitar lessons and joined the boy's choir. At twenty he pursued his dream career and the rest is history. You can read more about him at: &lt;a href="http://www.johndenver.com/"&gt;johndenver.com&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Denver"&gt;wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;The photo above left of Christmas Bling is by Light. &lt;strong&gt;Light Traveler&lt;/strong&gt; (August 1946 - July 2003)&amp;#160; photographer, Reiki Master/Teacher, spiritual seeker and beautiful loving Spirit. You can see more and purchase his beautiful photography at &lt;a href="http://LightTraveler.imagekind.com/ "&gt;Light Traveler's gallery&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-9090764692786786326?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/9090764692786786326/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=9090764692786786326' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/9090764692786786326'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/9090764692786786326'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1218-12-days-of-christmas-john-denver.html' title='12/18 The 12 Days Of Christmas, John Denver'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUpOf5hPAZI/AAAAAAAAAXM/esX490-7wTo/s72-c/Photo%20%20%204_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5498175829729231353</id><published>2008-12-17T04:31:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-17T05:55:29.717-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator&apos;s Wheel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Moilanen arc'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Chris Haws'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sundogs'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='circumzenithal arc'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun halo'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Steinar Midtskogen'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun wheel'/><title type='text'>12/17 Creator's Wheel</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUji8GAkCNI/AAAAAAAAAWo/oh08CQgH09g/s1600-h/MoilanenarcSteinarMidtskogen3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="294" alt="Moilanen arc -photo by Steinar Midtskogen" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUji9ExKdFI/AAAAAAAAAWs/oUqoUtLXkbw/MoilanenarcSteinarMidtskogen_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="411" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Creator's Wheel&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;photograph by &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:steinar@latinitas.org"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Steinar Midtskogen&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Creator's Wheel&lt;/em&gt; is my name for the beautiful display of Light in this photo. The scientific name is Moilanen arc, diamond dust ice crystals refract light into a wheel around the sun. Magnificent winter display of Light dancing through Creation. A magical gift, thank you beloved Creator!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Creator's Wheel&lt;/em&gt; is seen as a written symbol in many ancient traditions and known by many names. The image of a circle with a cross may be called a sunwheel, solar cross, ring cross, Celtic cross, Nordic cross, Odin's cross, medicine wheel or something other. By what ever name, I believe it was originally inspired by a similar glorious display... a Solar Cross indeed.&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;In the American Indian tradition the Medicine Wheel is the wheel of life, it represents harmony and connection. It is a symbol of peaceful interaction between all living beings. When the four directions are in balance all is well with the world.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUji9bL_qZI/AAAAAAAAAWw/_IIFPu3Otf4/s1600-h/sunwheel%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="110" alt="sunwheel" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUji9qJV7DI/AAAAAAAAAW0/6es2Uhzhc5k/sunwheel_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="110" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Symbolically the equal armed cross represents the physical realm or Earth. It also represents masculine. The four arms of the cross are sometimes said to represent the elements (earth, air, fire and water) or the directions (north, south, east and west). The circle represents the ethers or Heaven, the moon and feminine. So when drawn together the circle and cross represents the Union of Heaven and Earth or the Divine Marriage.&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUj2vevddjI/AAAAAAAAAXA/4F0-hYdjEYs/s1600-h/Chris-Haws%20sundog%20halo%20and%20circumzenithal%20arc%2012-15-08%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="244" alt="Chris-Haws sundog halo and circumzenithal arc 12-15-08" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUj2v0vP2AI/AAAAAAAAAXE/ZhXUVCtYvfM/Chris-Haws%20sundog%20halo%20and%20circumzenithal%20arc%2012-15-08_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="168" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; On &lt;strong&gt;12/15/08&lt;/strong&gt; Creator gave us another display of a beautiful sun wheel in Faribault, MN. The photo left was taken by &lt;a href="mailto:chris1@chrishaws.net"&gt;Chris Haws&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Chris says... &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;This was the longest lasting sun halo/sundogs I have ever seen. Started in the early morning and continued until early afternoon. Air temp was down to -8 at one point with wind chills ranging from -20 to -30. I couldn't help myself to stand outside (and from inside) and take in the glory of the sun halo, sundogs and the circumzenithal arc. Cold days like these manage to sneak in a reward here and there.&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Thank you beloved Creator so many wonders!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#00a854"&gt;Creator's Wheel is a reminder of the Sacredness of all...&amp;#160; every breath, every word, every step, every feeling, every thought... everything is Sacred.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Happy Holy-day!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Photograph by &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:steinar@latinitas.org"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Steinar Midtskogen&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; Oslo, Norway December 2007.&lt;/em&gt; You can learn more about the Moilanen arc at &lt;a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/marc.htm"&gt;Atmospheric Optics&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5498175829729231353?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5498175829729231353/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5498175829729231353' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5498175829729231353'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5498175829729231353'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1217-creator-wheel.html' title='12/17 Creator&amp;#39;s Wheel'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUji9ExKdFI/AAAAAAAAAWs/oUqoUtLXkbw/s72-c/MoilanenarcSteinarMidtskogen_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-3968822350467380458</id><published>2008-12-16T05:58:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-16T05:58:44.879-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christ'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='John Tesh'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Joy to the World'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='hymn'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><title type='text'>12/16 Joy to the World, John Tesh</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:b4034923-3f24-4dd8-9aaa-b547aaee5a03" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 404px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="404" height="338"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/o08WjPx0sHU"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/o08WjPx0sHU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="404" height="338"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Joy to the World' preformed by John Tesh&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Upbeat, rockin' and fun Christmas song. Brings more joy to the world. Great instrumental performance!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;John Tesh, song: 'Joy to the World', album: Christmas Worship (2003),&amp;#160; label: Garden City Music. Video: 2005 PBS TV special Christmas in Positano, Italy. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUel_XymW9I/AAAAAAAAAWE/pIijYgOEm2I/s1600-h/Joy%20to%20the%20world%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="174" alt="Joy to the world" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUemAU7lX8I/AAAAAAAAAWI/H_CmuXRQ6rE/Joy%20to%20the%20world_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="259" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;The original &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Joy to the World'&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; hymn was written in 1692 by Isaac Watts at age 18. He wanted to add some depth to the Anglican hymns of the day. The hymn was published in 1719. One hundred years later in 1848 the words were set to music by Lowell Mason. He called the song &lt;em&gt;'Antioch'&lt;/em&gt; after Antioch, Syria the first place the term Christian was utilized. It is said he was inspired by Handel's '&lt;em&gt;Messiah'.&lt;/em&gt; You can find out more about '&lt;em&gt;Joy to the World'&lt;/em&gt; at: &lt;a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/joy_to_the_world-1.htm" target="_blank"&gt;Hymns and Carols of Christmas&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Have a Happy Joy Filled day and Holiday Season.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;a title="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/joy_to_the_world-1.htm" href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/joy_to_the_world-1.htm"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;b&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="163" alt="John-Tesh" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUemA1NfsGI/AAAAAAAAAWM/FvSrUj7jW5I/John-Tesh_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="152" align="left" border="0" /&gt; John Frank Tesh&lt;/b&gt; born July 9, 1952 in Garden City, New York. At age 6 he began playing piano and trumpet and studied with teachers from the Juilliard School of music. He was named to the New York State Symphonic Orchestra in high school. In 1970 he graduated from North Carolina State University where he studied communications and music. John is a pianist, composer and national radio and television personality. He was a long time host of &lt;em&gt;Entertainment Tonight&lt;/em&gt;. He also plays guitar, sax, keyboard and sings.&amp;#160; You can read more at his websites: &lt;a href="http://www.tesh.com" target="_blank"&gt;www.tesh.com&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.myspace.com/thejohnteshradioshow" target="_blank"&gt;www.myspace.com/thejohnteshradioshow&lt;/a&gt; and&amp;#160; &lt;a href="http://www.myspace.com/johnteshalive" target="_blank"&gt;www.myspace.com/johnteshalive&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;I found the spectacular image called &lt;em&gt;'Joy to the World'&lt;/em&gt; at: &lt;a href="http://www.centralcoastconservatorium.com.au/eventscalendar/index.htm" target="_blank"&gt;Central Coast Conservatorium&lt;/a&gt; there are no credits given. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.geocities.com/bonneekleingilligan/" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-3968822350467380458?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/3968822350467380458/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=3968822350467380458' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3968822350467380458'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3968822350467380458'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1216-joy-to-world-john-tesh.html' title='12/16 Joy to the World, John Tesh'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUemAU7lX8I/AAAAAAAAAWI/H_CmuXRQ6rE/s72-c/Joy%20to%20the%20world_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-3077558425905667786</id><published>2008-12-15T05:32:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-15T05:32:18.604-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mid-winter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='country'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Deck the Halls'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='SHeDAISY'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='carol'/><title type='text'>12/15 Deck the Halls, SHeDAISY</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:88a8cd8e-ffb6-41a4-ba4d-409ab6b3f7d2" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="337"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3gM3t4ZkSl4"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3gM3t4ZkSl4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="337"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Deck the Halls' sung by SHeDAISY, music video&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A Christmas video filled with fun, sparkles and magic. Country singers SHeDAISY give decking your halls a new flavor. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;SHeDAISY, song: Deck the Halls, album: Brand New Year (2000), label: Lyric Street Records, music video producer: David Hogan. Featured in the 2003 movie: &lt;a href="http://disneydvd.disney.go.com/mickeys-once-upon-a-christmas.html"&gt;Disney's Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas&lt;/a&gt;. Video includes scenes from the movie. Single released November 1999. Original words: Unknown, 19th century American, original music: Old Welsh Air.&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUZOQkT_y6I/AAAAAAAAAVY/OazPR0fQh00/s1600-h/holly-leaves-5%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="217" alt="holly-leaves-5" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUZORlPXwCI/AAAAAAAAAVc/7TJDPQt3UAw/holly-leaves-5_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="205" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; The song &lt;strong&gt;&amp;quot;Deck the Halls&amp;quot;&lt;/strong&gt; (original title: &lt;i&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;i&gt;Deck The Hall With Holly&lt;/i&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;/i&gt;) is a very old traditional Yuletide carol. It is very likely that the 'fa la la la la' was played on the harp. Mozart utilized the tune to 'Deck the Halls' for a duet with violin and piano.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The custom of '&lt;strong&gt;decking the halls with holly&lt;/strong&gt;' is very old and may date back several thousand years. It is known that ancient Romans, Greeks and Druids utilized sacred evergreen holly to decorate their homes during mid-winter. You can read more about this custom in the article by Dr. Leonard Perry &lt;a href=" http://www.uvm.edu/pss/ppp/articles/holly.htm" target="_blank"&gt;Decking the Halls with Holly&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Have a glorious, magical Holiday!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUZOSFLgw-I/AAAAAAAAAVk/emQErkdfdkI/s1600-h/shedaisy%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUZOSFLgw-I/AAAAAAAAAVk/emQErkdfdkI/s1600-h/shedaisy%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="109" alt="shedaisy" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUZOTYbjczI/AAAAAAAAAVo/t2iLMClVpg8/shedaisy_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; SHeDAISY&lt;/strong&gt; is a female vocal trio founded in the late 1990's. Originally known as the Osborn Sisters, it is comprised of sisters Kristyn (b. 8/24/70), Kelsi (b. 11/21/74) and Kassidy (b. 10/30/76) from Magna, Utah. The word SHeDAISY is Navajo for my little sister. Kristyn Osborn writes or co-writes the groups songs. They are a multi-platinum Country group who have sold over 3 million albums. You can read more about them at &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHeDAISY" target="_blank"&gt;SHeDaisy, Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt; or visit their Myspace page &lt;a href=" http://www.myspace.com/shedaisy" target="_blank"&gt;shedaisy&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-3077558425905667786?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/3077558425905667786/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=3077558425905667786' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3077558425905667786'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3077558425905667786'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1215-deck-halls-shedaisy.html' title='12/15 Deck the Halls, SHeDAISY'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUZORlPXwCI/AAAAAAAAAVc/7TJDPQt3UAw/s72-c/holly-leaves-5_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1998475086095052495</id><published>2008-12-14T07:46:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-14T07:46:04.648-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='full moon'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='astrophotography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Orion Moonbow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='peace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='life'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='consciousness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enlightenment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jimmy Westlake'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='oneness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Goddess'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='soul'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='snow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='co-creation'/><title type='text'>12/14 Orion Moonbow</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUUcJPsCv5I/AAAAAAAAAVA/IJHgRFHw8GU/s1600-h/JimmyWestlakeMoonHalo11211083.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="321" alt="Orion Moonbow by Jimmy Westlake. &amp;#169;2008 Jimmy Westlake. All rights reserved." src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUUcJoEcB8I/AAAAAAAAAVE/fYIjfBTd_7Q/JimmyWestlakeMoonHalo1121108_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="406" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Orion Moonbow' photograph by &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:jwestlake@coloradomtn.edu"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jimmy Westlake&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Was looking at pictures of the full moon at &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/" target="_blank"&gt;SpaceWeather.com&lt;/a&gt; and came across an image of a moon halo taken 12/11/08 by Jimmy Westlake, Stagecoach, Colorado. As I was gazing at it I noticed not only a beautiful rainbow halo and Orion, but also a faint red cross. How cool! Wanted to see what was there so saturated it in Photoshop. The image above is the result. Wow, wow, wow! Thank you beloved Creator for your beauty and magnificence. I am humbly in awe. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The night this photo was shot was the beginning of the celebration of the Mother, &lt;em&gt;Virgin Guadalupe in Mexico&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A message&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;... &lt;em&gt;all is perfect, balanced and complete. Divine Union is now... embrace... oneness. A cycle has ended, renewal begun. Goddess and God embrace, merge. Love pours forth with great abundance. Open heart and receive.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;As I write Raven called 3 times 3, flying by the window. Raven is the sacred bringer of magic who ushers in consciousness change. 9 is completion. Has been a day of much communication.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Jimmy Westlake says about his photo, &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Wow! This was one of the most vivid lunar halos I've ever seen! Seeing Orion with a colorful rainbow arching through him was surreal.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Surreal indeed! You can see the original photo and a couple more at &lt;a href="http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Jimmy-Westlake-Moon-Halo-1-121108sm_1229066080.jpg"&gt;SpaceWeather.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The scientific explanation from &lt;a href="http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=79" target="_blank"&gt;Curious About Astronomy&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Halos are caused by the light of the sun or moon passing through a very thin layer of cirruform (ice-crystal) clouds in the upper atmosphere. The ice crystals refract the light of the moon, similar to the way water droplets in the lower atmosphere can refract sunlight to produce a rainbow. Just like a rainbow, strong halos can have bands of color in them, due to slightly different refractive properties of the ice crystals for different colors. Essentially, halos ARE rainbows caused by primary refraction in ice crystals.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Symbolism contained in the photo -&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt; (from An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;ul&gt;   &lt;li&gt;A&lt;strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;circle with a dot&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - in the center depicts a complete cycle and cyclic perfection. The resolution of all possibilities in existence. In Astrology it portrays the sun. In Alchemy it is the sun and gold. It is also a symbol of all sun gods. In Taoism A circle with a point at the center represents the supreme power, the Tao. &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;A &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;circle enclosing a cross&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - is the Cosmic Solar Wheel 'the vivifying principle that animates the universe'. The solar wheel is always a symbol of good fortune and of change. Cross in a circle - Solar mobility, the wheel of change. The wheel of fortune. &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Equal arm cross&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - a universal symbol, the cosmic symbol par excellence. It is a world center and therefor a point of communication between heaven and earth, a cosmic axis. It is dualism in nature and the union of opposites. It represents Spiritual Union and the integration of man's soul in all aspects necessary to full life. &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Color&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - Symbolizes the differentiated, the manifest. Diversity. The affirmation of Light. Light and dark colors used in contrast symbolize the materialization of light. God, as light, is the source of color. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Color Red -&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; The zenith of color. Represents the sun and all war gods. It is the masculine, active principle, fire, the sun, royalty, love, joy festivity, passion, energy, health, strength.&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Red denotes supernatural powers, sacredness or solar power. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rainbow &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;- Transfiguration. Heavenly glory. Different states of consciousness. The meeting of Heaven and &lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUUcJ0myPWI/AAAAAAAAAVI/JtJBcQgxgW4/s1600-h/xmaswreath6.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-right-width: 0px" height="141" alt="xmaswreath" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUUcKfWfEnI/AAAAAAAAAVM/BIjQGvO09To/xmaswreath_thumb4.jpg?imgmax=800" width="118" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Earth. Paradise.&amp;#160; &lt;/li&gt;    &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Moon&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; - Usually represents the feminine power, the Mother Goddess, Queen of Heaven. Symbolic of the rhythm of cyclic time, universal becoming. Full moon is enlightenment. Light in darkness. Inner Knowledge. The moon is the abode of&amp;#160; Archangel Gabriel. &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Hope your day is amazing and awe filled. Happy Holidays!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUUcKo3vl3I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/P-JCK59a134/s1600-h/jimmy_westlake3.jpg"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="104" alt="jimmy_westlake" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUUcK1XSrzI/AAAAAAAAAVU/OJZhZrMkTdw/jimmy_westlake_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="138" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Jimmy Westlake,&lt;/strong&gt; M.S. Astronomy, Louisiana State University; B.S., Astronomy and Physics, Valdosta State University; BS, Psychology, University of Alaska Anchorage; 15 years instructor and director of Rollins Planetarium at Young Harris College; award winning astro-photographer.You can see more of J.R. Westlake's Astrophotos at &lt;a href="http://shop.jwestlake.com/main.sc;jsessionid=49F0D2F37EEF7B302E0BF84983DEFF38.qscstrfrnt04" target="_blank"&gt;jrwestlake.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org" target="_blank"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1998475086095052495?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1998475086095052495/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1998475086095052495' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1998475086095052495'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1998475086095052495'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1214-orion-moonbow.html' title='12/14 Orion Moonbow'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUUcJoEcB8I/AAAAAAAAAVE/fYIjfBTd_7Q/s72-c/JimmyWestlakeMoonHalo1121108_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5976417699996162454</id><published>2008-12-13T03:46:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-13T03:54:36.114-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Domenico Veneziano'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='White Christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Santa Lucia'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Marjorie Reynolds'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Bing Crosby'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='The Martyrdom of St. Lucy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christenya'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Scandinavia'/><title type='text'>12/13 White Christmas, Crosby and Reynolds</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:0744d264-d65b-4aee-ab21-c0d45cd9e614" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="337"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y1GPxcxrBkI"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y1GPxcxrBkI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="337"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'White Christmas' Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Lovely, sweet and beautiful song. A walk down memory lane, when winter included horse-drawn sleigh rides and Christmas Holidays were filled with singing carols by the fire. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Artists: Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds, song:' White Christmas', movie: Holiday Inn (1942) Paramount Pictures, Songwriter: Irving Berlin.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUOUZg0UfdI/AAAAAAAAAU8/nzSD1EqsXNo/s1600-h/DomenicoVeneziano.TheMartyrdomofSt.L%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUOUZg0UfdI/AAAAAAAAAU8/nzSD1EqsXNo/s1600-h/DomenicoVeneziano.TheMartyrdomofSt.L%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 10px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="204" alt="Domenico Veneziano. The Martyrdom of St. Lucy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUOSjIYwt4I/AAAAAAAAAUs/Vuw9wNLSx7g/DomenicoVeneziano.TheMartyrdomofSt.L%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="228" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Saint Lucia &lt;/strong&gt;or Saint Lucy of Syracuse, (Spanish: &lt;i&gt;Santa Lucia&lt;/i&gt;) was a young Roman Christian woman who refused to marry because she wanted to dedicate her life to God. Her rejected bridegroom betrayed her and she was put to death by the Roman Emperor, Diocletian.&amp;#160; She is the patron saint of the blind. The root of &lt;em&gt;Lucia&lt;/em&gt; is &lt;i&gt;luc or lux,&lt;/i&gt; Latin for light. You can find out more about Saint Lucy at &lt;a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=75"&gt;Saints &amp;amp; Angels&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Christian Missionaries traveled to Scandinavia telling stories of Saint Lucy's courage; she became known as &lt;em&gt;Lucia Bride&lt;/em&gt;. The elders often tell stories of how &lt;em&gt;Lucia Bride,&lt;/em&gt; dressed in white with a crown of 'light' ,would bring food and drink to the poor. She is seen as the 'Light bearer' in times of darkness.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUOSj_LL2kI/AAAAAAAAAUw/y1QVEUgATRA/s1600-h/santalucia2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-right-width: 0px" height="160" alt="santalucia" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUOSkDwvKmI/AAAAAAAAAU0/XZ3od6j9wWs/santalucia_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="103" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Santa Lucia Day&lt;/strong&gt; or &lt;em&gt;Luciadagen&lt;/em&gt; is celebrated December 13 in Scandinavia. The story of Saint Lucia is reenacted in many Swedish homes with the eldest daughter becoming &lt;em&gt;Lucia Bride&lt;/em&gt; dressing in white with a crown of candles. Early in the morning she will bring her parents sweet saffron buns and coffee. Lucia celebrations are often held at the workplace and school. They have a procession with a Lucia, attendants, and starmen with pointed hats, caroling and sharing of saffron cake, ginger biscuits and drinks. One of the popular carols sung is 'White Christmas'.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Saint Lucia is also honored in Italy where many Christians celebrate with bonfires and torchlight parades.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Happy Santa Lucia Day! Have a wonderful day filled with Light. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The lovely painting above left is called &lt;em&gt;The Martyrdom of St. Lucy&lt;/em&gt; by Domenico Veneziano (circa 1445-48)&lt;em&gt;. &lt;/em&gt;It is one of the predelas (side panels) of &lt;em&gt;Santa Lucia del Magnoli Altarpiece &lt;/em&gt;in Berlin, Germany that was split into separate panels.&lt;em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt;Domenico, de Bartolomeo di Venezia (c. 1405/10 &amp;#8211; 1461) born in Venice, lived most of his life in Florence, Italy. An early Renaissance painter who studied with Gentile da Fabriano in 1422-23. He was one of the founders of the 15th-century Florentine school of painting. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The photo above right 'a young girl dressed as Saint Lucia' is from the short film 'Santa Lucia' by Elsa Entertainment. You can see more at &lt;a href="http://www.elsaentertainment.com/lucia/lucia.html"&gt;elsaentertainment.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5976417699996162454?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5976417699996162454/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5976417699996162454' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5976417699996162454'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5976417699996162454'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1213-white-christmas-crosby-and.html' title='12/13 White Christmas, Crosby and Reynolds'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUOSjIYwt4I/AAAAAAAAAUs/Vuw9wNLSx7g/s72-c/DomenicoVeneziano.TheMartyrdomofSt.L%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-9140235247040370415</id><published>2008-12-12T04:31:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-12T04:31:13.288-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='musical'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Virgin Guadalupe'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='full moon'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Salvador Dali'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Notre Dame de Paris'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='astrology'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christian'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mother Mary'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ave Maria paien'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Chirstianity'/><title type='text'>12/12 Ave Maria païen, Notre Dame de Paris</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:c7ee27df-11f6-49c3-af5f-6c555d2a868d" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 405px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="405" height="339"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UY30Qgj6LJM"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UY30Qgj6LJM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="405" height="339"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ave Maria pa&amp;#239;en, Notre Dame de Paris&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;What a moving song! I feel her plea, her heart and her Soul reaching out to Mother Mary and Spirit moves. Wow! Brought tears and chills. Incredibly touching... Ave Maria indeed.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The musical &lt;strong&gt;Notre Dame de Paris&lt;/strong&gt; debuted September 1998 in Paris. Song: Ave Maria pa&amp;#239;en (the 21st song). Musical: based on &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunchback_of_Notre_Dame"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Notre Dame de Paris&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; by Victor Hugo. Music: Riccardo Cocciante, Lyrics: Luc Plamondon. Has played worldwide, been translated to many languages and&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; had the most successful first year of any &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;m&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;usical. As of 2007 the score has been recorded 7 times .&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;It's Full Moon today (&lt;em&gt;Snow Moon&lt;/em&gt; 11:37am EST, 4:37pm GMT) and a Grand Mutable Cross is in the heavens ushering in a time of choices and changes. There are many new possibilities, forks in the road with lots of potential for positive change. We are being guided to strive for our highest ideals, spiritual Truths and wisdom. To find out more about the Grand Mutable Cross see &lt;a href="http://www.aquariuspapers.com/astrology/2008/12/the-december-2008-grand-mutable-cross-full-moon-in-gemini-sagittarius.html"&gt;The Aquarius Papers&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUJLeKAWdUI/AAAAAAAAAUU/PeZT0N4gOCs/s1600-h/guadelupedali.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="300" alt="La Virgen de Guadalupe by Salvador Dali (1959). " src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUJLe5wT8ZI/AAAAAAAAAUY/g35K6V1_8Gs/guadelupedali_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="193" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;It's also &lt;strong&gt;Guadalupe Day &lt;/strong&gt;Mexico&amp;#8217;s most important religious holiday. Today people from all over Mexico travel to the chapel on Tepayac Hill in Mexico City to worship and celebrate. In 1531 at the the former shrine of the Aztec Mother Goddess &lt;i&gt;Coatlicue &lt;/i&gt;on Tepayac Hill&lt;i&gt;, &lt;/i&gt;the &lt;em&gt;Virgin Guadalupe&lt;/em&gt; (mother of Jesus) appeared to Juan Diego. She asked him to build a chapel on this sacred ground. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Large fiestas are held in Mexico and Central America honoring &lt;em&gt;Our Lady of Guadalupe&lt;/em&gt;. All day people visit the church and pray. As an offering of thanks, some people pin small objects shaped like hearts, arms, or legs&amp;#160; (&lt;em&gt;milagros&lt;/em&gt;) on or near the statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;May your holidays be blessed and safe. Happy Guadalupe Day!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUJLfvpKOMI/AAAAAAAAAUc/TZO3wwcjKNY/s1600-h/daliandwife%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 20px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="109" alt="daliandwife" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUJLf86WBhI/AAAAAAAAAUg/mk1rwueZZ4I/daliandwife_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="84" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; The incredible painting above left is called &lt;em&gt;La Virgen de Guadalupe &lt;/em&gt;by Salvador Dali &lt;em&gt;(&lt;/em&gt;1959). Dali's full name is Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dal&amp;#237; i Dom&amp;#232;nech 1st Marquis of P&amp;#250;bol (May 11, 1904 &amp;#8211; January 23, 1989), born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain was a surrealist painter. He attended drawing school in 1916 and 3 years later had his first exhibition. His extensive artistic endeavors include painting, film, sculpture, and photography. You can find out more and see many of Dali's wonderful works at &lt;a href="http://www.virtualdali.com/"&gt;virtualdali.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.geocities.com/bonneekleingilligan"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-9140235247040370415?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/9140235247040370415/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=9140235247040370415' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/9140235247040370415'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/9140235247040370415'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1212-ave-maria-paen-notre-dame-de-paris.html' title='12/12 Ave Maria païen, Notre Dame de Paris'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUJLe5wT8ZI/AAAAAAAAAUY/g35K6V1_8Gs/s72-c/guadelupedali_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-946118836501033116</id><published>2008-12-11T05:44:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-11T05:58:46.313-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sarah McLachlan'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jesus'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Spirit'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Debbie Yarra'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='hymn'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='O Little Town of Bethlehem'/><title type='text'>12/11 O Little Town Of Bethlehem, McLachlan</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:2eb2a407-8085-4988-aa28-e6a08502de63" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 408px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="408" height="340"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jyPMDD8fGeA"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jyPMDD8fGeA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="408" height="340"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'O Little Town Of Bethlehem' sung by Sarah McLachlan&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A truly beautiful rendition of the song. Sweet, soft and loving. I could feel Spirit moving through Sarah as she sang. Ahhh, nice!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Artist: Sarah McLachlan, Song: O Little Town of Bethlehem, Album: Wintersong (2006), Arista Records, LLC, a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;Words: Bishop Phillips Brooks, Music: Lewis Henry Redner.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUELCYy3IMI/AAAAAAAAAT8/av9no58JZUY/s1600-h/TheChristmasStarYarra3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="244" alt="The-Christmas-Star, Yarra" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUELDVJW13I/AAAAAAAAAUA/wHdXiyV_ZOQ/TheChristmasStarYarra_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="164" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;After a pilgrimage to Bethlehem in 1868 Bishop Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) wrote &lt;em&gt;O Little Town of Bethlehem&lt;/em&gt;. The beautiful evening view of the Holy city from the hills of Palestine inspired him. Lewis Redner (1831-1908) Brooks' church organist set the words to music for the children's choir. You can find out more about this Christmas classic at: &lt;a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/o_little_town_of_bethlehem.htm"&gt;hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The photograph right called&lt;em&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.yarraimages.com/gardengods/christmasstar.html"&gt;'The Christmas Star'&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; by Debbie Yarra is a wonderful compliment to the song. It was taken 3 days before Christmas 1999 in The Garden of the Gods, Colorado. Spectacular! &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;May your Holidays be filled with inspiration and love. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUELDy00xJI/AAAAAAAAAUE/DvN_DyHfFmo/s1600-h/SarahMcLachlan4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="131" alt="SarahMcLachlan" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUELEAOjuCI/AAAAAAAAAUI/63JiZHIQIDo/SarahMcLachlan_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="161" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Sarah McLachlan singer/songwriter was born January 28, 1968 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Growing up she took voice lessons, and studied classical piano and guitar. At 17 she fronted for the band The October Game, following their first concert she was offered a recording contract by Nettwerk. She is a 3-time Grammy and 8-time Juno Award-winning multi-platinum recording artist. Listen to her amazing music, read news, buy CDs and learn more at &lt;a href="http://www.sarahmclachlan.com"&gt;www.sarahmclachlan.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUELE7mOVfI/AAAAAAAAAUM/jL5G5_FQ2-8/s1600-h/DebbieYarra4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-right-width: 0px" height="160" alt="Debbie Yarra" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUELFMqil-I/AAAAAAAAAUQ/nQLUxKKapOg/DebbieYarra_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="108" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Debbie Yarra is a self-taught photographer who took her first photograph in 1980. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Debbie says,&lt;em&gt; &amp;#8220;I want to capture the beauty and emotion of light, for that is the essence of God.&amp;#8221;&lt;/em&gt;You can see more of Debbie's beautiful images at &lt;a title="http://www.yarraimages.com/index.html" href="http://www.yarraimages.com"&gt;www.yarraimages.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.geocities.com/bonneekleingilligan/"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-946118836501033116?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/946118836501033116/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=946118836501033116' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/946118836501033116'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/946118836501033116'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1211-o-little-town-of-bethlehem.html' title='12/11 O Little Town Of Bethlehem, McLachlan'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SUELDVJW13I/AAAAAAAAAUA/wHdXiyV_ZOQ/s72-c/TheChristmasStarYarra_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-976993742284924854</id><published>2008-12-10T06:54:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-10T06:54:42.754-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Stephanie Pui-Mun Law'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='angel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='celestial'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Angel Gabriel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='painting'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='The Messenger'/><title type='text'>12/10 The Messenger</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST_KGJkmuEI/AAAAAAAAATs/qzf0qIT4ogk/s1600-h/StephaniePuiMunLawgabriel4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="569" alt="Stephanie Pui-Mun Law-gabriel" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST_KHWaKg5I/AAAAAAAAATw/5DmeFnAB5BA/StephaniePuiMunLawgabriel_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="407" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Messenger by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;em&gt;watercolor, 20&amp;quot;x28&amp;quot; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Ancient structure, light, movement, sweetness, peace and love, the Dove, inspiration... Gabriel. This is a beautiful and interesting&amp;#160; feminine depiction of Archangel Gabriel.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gabriel&lt;/strong&gt; translation 'man of God'; literally 'Master, or of God'. &lt;em&gt;Gabr&lt;/em&gt; is man or masculine, &lt;em&gt;El&lt;/em&gt; is a supreme Deity or God.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Description of Gabriel from various sources:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Gabriel is the planetary archangel in charge of the moon's oversoul; a genius of mysteries who has worked psychically through the great masters during their earthly incarnations. Some include: Muhammad, (Jibra'il)&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;dictated the Qur'an; Heron (a Greek scientist) received inspiration to write 'The Recitation'; and Daniel (Bible) came as the Holy Spirit and gave him wisdom and understanding; &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h"&gt;Bah&amp;#225;'u'll&amp;#225;h&lt;/a&gt; received inspiration for his mystical work &lt;em&gt;Seven Valleys; &lt;/em&gt;Joan of Arc was inspired to look to the King of France for help. Gabriel is a messenger of God, the spirit of truth and bringer of prophesy. He is the prince of justice who destroys sin and evil. One of the 2 highest ranking angels. He sits on the left side of God and presides over paradise. Is also said to have had a mortal life as Noah.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST_KH4NV-eI/AAAAAAAAAT0/UI1VTERoJx0/s1600-h/xmasangel5.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="137" alt="xmasangel" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST_KIZQ3uTI/AAAAAAAAAT4/Y34xF5p5O-Q/xmasangel_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="156" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Gabriel was the angel that came to Mary announcing that Christ would be born through her. And angels appeared to many to announce the birth of Christ. Today angels have an important place during most Holiday celebrations.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;May Angels watch over you always. Happy Holidays!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stephanie Pui-Mun Law&lt;/strong&gt; is a 31 year old artist/programmer. She began painting otherworlds in early childhood.&amp;#160; Graduated from a program of Computer Science in 1998. After working in programming for three years, She left the world logic for the world of fae; painting full time.&amp;#160; You can read news, learn about watercolor painting, browse her galleries and purchase paintings at &lt;a href="http://www.shadowscapes.com"&gt;www.shadowscapes.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-976993742284924854?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/976993742284924854/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=976993742284924854' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/976993742284924854'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/976993742284924854'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/1210-messenger.html' title='12/10 The Messenger'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST_KHWaKg5I/AAAAAAAAATw/5DmeFnAB5BA/s72-c/StephaniePuiMunLawgabriel_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5237613653398787543</id><published>2008-12-09T03:33:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-09T03:33:41.295-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Holy Quran'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><title type='text'>12/9 Hideaway</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST5Jd4s1kwI/AAAAAAAAATc/PvbJFyf0Nk8/s1600-h/hideaway13.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="308" alt="Hideaway by Inga Nielsen. &amp;#169; 2002 - 2008, Inga Nielsen " src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST5JeVbYnOI/AAAAAAAAATg/np11je2rBI8/hideaway1_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="410" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hideaway by Inga Nielsen,&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;digital art&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A spectacular digitally created image of the sunset/moonrise reflected in still waters. Darkness/Light, Sun/Moon Creator's beautiful dance of dualities. Birth of the waters of night, the stillness, quiet, cool and calm. Beautiful art!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST5JfvyPS_I/AAAAAAAAATk/RZh4Dn_RqOY/s1600-h/happyeidgraphic4.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-right-width: 0px" height="156" alt="happy-eid" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST5Jg-4hBjI/AAAAAAAAATo/VvcTroaRSeU/happyeidgraphic4_thumb.gif?imgmax=800" width="142" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eid ul-Adha&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Eid ul-Adha&lt;/em&gt; is a celebration of God's love for the whole of mankind. It is celebrated around the world by Muslims and Druze. Eid commemorates &lt;em&gt;Ibrahim&lt;/em&gt; (Abraham) willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. Charity (sacrifice) called &lt;em&gt;Zakat al Fitr&lt;/em&gt; is required from everyone. A special offering is given in thanks for one's own prosperity and dedication to the practices. Eid can be a 1 to 7 day celebration including prayer, offerings, dance, traditional music, gift giving and feasts. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;In Islam... God is the Ultimate Reality. All things in visible creation emanate from Him and are manifestations of His Divine Names or Attributes (Sifat). He created the cosmos, both what is known to man and what is unknown. He is the Sustainer of all things, with everything turning to Him and centered upon Him. This is evident in the structure of atoms .&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Happy Eid! Peace and Blessings of the Season.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;You can learn more about &lt;a href="http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/"&gt;Islam&lt;/a&gt; and read the &lt;a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/index.htm"&gt;sacred texts&lt;/a&gt; at the links. View more of Inga Nielsen's wonderful images at &lt;a href="http://nielsen.sp01.ab-webspace.de/"&gt;Gate to Nowhere Gallery&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5237613653398787543?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5237613653398787543/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5237613653398787543' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5237613653398787543'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5237613653398787543'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/129-hideaway.html' title='12/9 Hideaway'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST5JeVbYnOI/AAAAAAAAATg/np11je2rBI8/s72-c/hideaway1_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-7988319481103088348</id><published>2008-12-08T05:03:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-08T05:03:21.443-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sun'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Buddha'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Bodhi Day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Kevin Baird'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enlightenment'/><title type='text'>12/8 Buddha Sun</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST0NAJOkAhI/AAAAAAAAATM/WyxR_yBLC3w/s1600-h/BuddhasunKevinBaird3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="392" alt="photo &amp;#169;Kevin Baird. All rights reserved." src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST0NAoKo-AI/AAAAAAAAATQ/XlUZRhxZWH4/BuddhasunKevinBaird_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="411" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Buddha Sun' photograph by &lt;a href="mailto:greendesert@mac.com"&gt;Kevin Baird&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Buddha Sun&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this spectacular photo which was featured on &lt;a href="http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&amp;amp;day=22&amp;amp;month=10&amp;amp;year=2005"&gt;SpaceWeather.com&lt;/a&gt;. The sun became Buddha one October evening in Southern California to radiate blessings to the world. A magical sunset photo!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Kevin says: &amp;quot;At first the cloudless sky suggested a 'boring' sunset;. Instead, it was unforgettable.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The scientific explanation from &lt;a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/"&gt;Atmospheric Optics&lt;/a&gt;: Multiple inversion layers produced the complex mirage. The cold California Ocean Current had cooled the air next to the ocean surface. Above that there were layers of warm dry air driven from inland by high pressure over Utah and Nevada. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST0NBsBaw0I/AAAAAAAAATU/Eq7mklhovew/s1600-h/gautamabuddha7.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="158" alt="gautama-buddha" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST0NCALv-rI/AAAAAAAAATY/vxC6ZKIkxjM/gautamabuddha_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800" width="188" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; The day of enlightenment&lt;/strong&gt;. December 8, 596 BC Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. &lt;em&gt;Image shows enlightened Gautama Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;It is said that on the morning of his enlightenment he looked up and saw the morning star (Venus) and cried in wonder:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;That's it! That's it! That's it. That's me! That's me that's shining so brilliantly! How wondrous, how wondrous! All beings are endowed with this pure nature! What a wondrous, astonishing thing has been realized! All the ten thousand things, all the flowers, all the trees, all the rocks, all things everywhere are shining brilliantly!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;For Buddhists today is a day of remembrance and meditation. It is a reminder that with right effort and understanding anyone can become enlightened. Zen Buddhists begin an intensive &lt;em&gt;sesshin&lt;/em&gt; (meditation practice) on December 1 which, lasts until through the 8th. They often stay up all night in meditation to bring in &lt;em&gt;Rohatsu&lt;/em&gt; (the morning of Buddha's realization).&amp;#160; Colored lights symbolizing the many pathways to enlightenment are strung and turned on each evening and candles honoring the path of enlightenment are lit for 30 days. Fiscus trees (&lt;em&gt;ficus religiousa&lt;/em&gt;) are decorated with colored lights, stings of beads symbolizing the unity and shiny ornaments representing the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha). Children make cookies in the shape of a tree (Bodhi tree) or a heart shaped leaf.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Happy Bodhi Day! May all sentient beings attain perfect, complete, precious Enlightenment.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Photograph by Kevin Baird October 13, 2005 near Palomar Airport, San Diego CA.&amp;#160; Kevin is a freelance editor at &lt;a href="http://homepage.mac.com/greendesert"&gt;Green Desert Productions&lt;/a&gt;. You can see more of Kevin's wonderful photography at &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevlar/"&gt;kbaird on Flickr.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-7988319481103088348?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/7988319481103088348/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=7988319481103088348' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/7988319481103088348'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/7988319481103088348'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/128-buddha-sun.html' title='12/8 Buddha Sun'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/ST0NAoKo-AI/AAAAAAAAATQ/XlUZRhxZWH4/s72-c/BuddhasunKevinBaird_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6315361288311921261</id><published>2008-12-07T04:33:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-07T04:33:55.353-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Carol Of The Bells'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Whindham Hill'/><title type='text'>12/7 Carol Of The Bells, Windham Hill</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:e62a0473-1de1-4c3d-ab61-b9c48adfb68c" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 404px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="404" height="338"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fJfgBcg0ons&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fJfgBcg0ons&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="404" height="338"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Carol Of The Bells&amp;#160; performed by Windham Hill Artists&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A lovely, uplifting music video. Makes me smile. Hope you enjoy this instrumental version of &lt;em&gt;Carol of the Bells&lt;/em&gt; as much as I do.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Classic Windham Hill Artists, song: Carol of The Bells, album: A Winter's Solstice IV, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;Windham Hill Records&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; (1993), music video directed by: Wayne Miller.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STu0msbUkSI/AAAAAAAAATE/HlIHaoUzRxY/s1600-h/Carol_of_the_bells_by_blessedchild2.jpg"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STu0msbUkSI/AAAAAAAAATE/HlIHaoUzRxY/s1600-h/Carol_of_the_bells_by_blessedchild2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="253" alt="Carol_of_the_bells_by_blessedchild" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STu0oJJ9QSI/AAAAAAAAATI/apd5hM-L5QA/Carol_of_the_bells_by_blessedchild_t.jpg?imgmax=800" width="206" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;Carol of the Bells &lt;/em&gt;is&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;based on &lt;em&gt;Shchedryk&lt;/em&gt; (or &lt;em&gt;bountiful&lt;/em&gt;)composed in 1916 by Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych (1877-1921), a Ukrainian orthodox priest. It is said &lt;em&gt;Shchedryk&lt;/em&gt; was&amp;#160; inspired by a magical ancient pagan chant to bring in the new year (in April). Your can read the lyrics to &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shchedryk"&gt;Shchedryk at wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The first lyrics to &lt;em&gt;Carol of the Bells&lt;/em&gt; were written in the 1930s by Peter Wilhousky. They were believed to have been influenced by a Slavic legend which says, &lt;em&gt;'every bell in the world rang when Jesus was born&lt;/em&gt;'. You can read more about Carol of The Bells at &lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/carol_of_the_bells_notes.htm"&gt;Hymns and Carols of Christmas&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The magical photo above left called &lt;em&gt;Carol of the Bells&lt;/em&gt; is by Julia from Slovakia. You can see more of her photos at &lt;a href="http://blessedchild.deviantart.com/"&gt;blessedchild&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;May you ring in the Holidays with Good Cheer!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6315361288311921261?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6315361288311921261/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6315361288311921261' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6315361288311921261'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6315361288311921261'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/127-carol-of-bells-windham-hill.html' title='12/7 Carol Of The Bells, Windham Hill'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STu0oJJ9QSI/AAAAAAAAATI/apd5hM-L5QA/s72-c/Carol_of_the_bells_by_blessedchild_t.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-5430503281439147459</id><published>2008-12-06T06:24:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-06T06:51:48.285-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='St Nicholas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Vienna Boys Choir'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jan Steen'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='O tannenbaum'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='painting'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='live'/><title type='text'>12/6 O Tannenbaum - Vienna Boys Choir, live</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:56b3fd7a-180c-41cb-b8ca-1def95386adf" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 392px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="392" height="328"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8LcKKZucaig&amp;amp;feature=player_embedded"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8LcKKZucaig&amp;amp;feature=player_embedded" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="392" height="328"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;O Tannenbaum performed by Vienna Boys Choir&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Beautiful voices blending together for a glorious salute to the Christmas tree. &lt;em&gt;O Tannenbaum&lt;/em&gt; is German for &lt;em&gt;Oh Christmas Tree&lt;/em&gt;, where it is said the decorating of a Holiday tree began. The song is often sung round the tree on Feast of St. Nicholas and throughout the Holiday Season. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Vienna Boys Choir, Song: O Tannenbaum (a traditional Christmas carol), Album: Christmas Angels, Hans Gillesberger, 1978, RCA Gold Seal. Re-released in 1995.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STp7vvcseqI/AAAAAAAAAS4/4B3bimzSMv0/s1600-h/TheFeastofSt.NicholasbyJanSteen1.png"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="244" alt="The Feast of St. Nicholas by Jan Steen" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STp7xUvkysI/AAAAAAAAAS8/up2Q3InNVE4/TheFeastofSt.NicholasbyJanSteen_thum.png?imgmax=800" width="206" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; The Feast of St. Nicholas&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Saint Nicholas or Nicholas of Myra born c. 270, Patara, Lycia, died 6 December 343, Myra, Lycia is considered the patron Saint of sailors in Greece, of lawyers in France, and of children and travelers in Belgium. There are thousands of churches dedicated to St. Nicholas. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;In the 12th century an official church holiday &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas_Day"&gt;'The Feast of St. Nicholas'&lt;/a&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/em&gt;celebrated December 6, was created in his honor. Traditionally this is a day of gift-giving and charity. St. Nicholas is one who may bring toys, nuts and gifts to children. On the eve of the feast some children leave their shoes by the hearth or outside. During the night they're filled with goodies or switches (for nice or naughty children).&amp;#160; Who fills the shoes varies from country to country from the 3 wise men to St. Nicolas to baby Jesus to angels or the elder males of the family. A glorious happy day of celebration. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;May your shoes be filled with your heart desires!&amp;#160; Happy &lt;strong&gt;St. Nicholas&lt;/strong&gt; Day.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Vienna Boys' Choir (German &lt;i&gt;Wiener S&amp;#228;ngerknaben&lt;/i&gt;) was formally created by Maximilian I of Habsburg in 1498. It&amp;#160; is one of the best known boys' choirs performing worldwide. The Choir is divided into four touring choirs of equal standing; tours, appearances in Vienna and recording projects are shared among them. The touring choirs are named after famous Austrian composers Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert. You can read more, see schedules and music at their website &lt;a href="http://www.wsk.at/jart/prj3/wsk_website/main.jart?rel=en"&gt;Wiener S&amp;#228;ngerknaben&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The painting above left is &lt;em&gt;The Feast of St. Nicholas&lt;/em&gt; by Jan Steen &lt;em&gt;c. 1660-65. Oil on canvas, 82 x 70.5 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160; You can see more painting by Jan Steen at &lt;a href="http://www.abcgallery.com/S/steen/steen.html"&gt;Olga's Gallery&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-5430503281439147459?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/5430503281439147459/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=5430503281439147459' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5430503281439147459'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/5430503281439147459'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/11/126-o-tannenbaum-vienna-boys-choir-live.html' title='12/6 O Tannenbaum - Vienna Boys Choir, live'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STp7xUvkysI/AAAAAAAAAS8/up2Q3InNVE4/s72-c/TheFeastofSt.NicholasbyJanSteen_thum.png?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-2622439122084960218</id><published>2008-12-05T06:08:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-05T06:08:33.317-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='star of wonder'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christ'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mormon'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Light Traveler'/><title type='text'>12/5 Star of Wonder</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STknvIw8dRI/AAAAAAAAASY/YUb7OWtvDE4/s1600-h/xmastree2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="506" alt="Manger Scene photograph by Light. &amp;#169;Bonnee Klein Gilligan. All rights reserved." src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STknx2Fer3I/AAAAAAAAASc/E3H2EtgqnDw/MangerScene_sm_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="402" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'Star of Wonder' photograph by Light&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A beautiful manger and a star in lights at the Mormon Temple in Phoenix, Arizona during the Christmas Season. The temple has displays of hundreds of thousands of lights, a manger scene and choir singing nightly. A lovely celebration of Christmas and a wonderful outing. I always enjoy our journeys South to see the lights.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The Church of Christ (the original name for the Mormon Church now officially called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith their first prophet.&amp;#160; He translated the &lt;em&gt;Book of Mormon, &lt;/em&gt;a record of an ancient people on the American continents. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A quote from The Book of Mormon:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The spirit and the body shall be united again in its perfect form.&amp;quot; ~Alma 11:43&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STknyp44w8I/AAAAAAAAASg/1rdKoZt7iLQ/s1600-h/christmas_candle%5B4%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="170" alt="christmas_candle" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STknzBrC6sI/AAAAAAAAASk/8vIQ7Y46ft0/christmas_candle_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="228" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Mormon's believe that Christ's birth occurred on April 6 but they celebrate Christmas in December with a tree, lights, gifts, and Santa Claus. The Christmas Holidays are a time for family, neighbors, friendship, thoughtfulness, acts of love, giving and celebration.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Have a twinkling, joy filled day!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STknzm7mqVI/AAAAAAAAASo/1tOuTcFjoBE/s1600-h/light1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="113" alt="light" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STknz_YO0CI/AAAAAAAAASs/o3vxrepHSDk/light_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="99" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Light Traveler&lt;/strong&gt; (August 1946 - July 2003)&amp;#160; photographer, Reiki Master/Teacher, spiritual seeker and beautiful loving Spirit. He filled my life with awe and wonder. Here&amp;#8217;s to you Light!!! You can see more and purchase his beautiful photography at &lt;a href="http://LightTraveler.imagekind.com/"&gt;Light Traveler&amp;#8217;s gallery&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-2622439122084960218?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/2622439122084960218/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=2622439122084960218' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2622439122084960218'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2622439122084960218'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/125-star-of-wonder.html' title='12/5 Star of Wonder'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STknx2Fer3I/AAAAAAAAASc/E3H2EtgqnDw/s72-c/MangerScene_sm_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-8774121460417230736</id><published>2008-12-04T04:53:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-06T06:10:31.365-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='angel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='The Annunciation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Angel Gabriel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='religion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='painting'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='live'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Aled Jones'/><title type='text'>12/4 The Angel Gabriel, Aled Jones live</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:6d8bc05a-77e1-449b-a0eb-7902abaa0c94" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 404px; padding-top: 0px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="404" height="338"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6fOfIpTDskU"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6fOfIpTDskU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="404" height="338"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'The Angel Gabriel' performed by Aled Jones, live&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Absolutely beautiful and inspiring performance. I felt Spirit moving as Aled sang this lovely hymn. Enjoy &lt;em&gt;The Angel Gabriel&lt;/em&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Artist: Aled Jones, album: The Christmas Album (2005), song: The Angel Gabriel, words: Basque carol, paraphrased by &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sabine Baring-Gould&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; (1834-1924). Originally based on &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;Angelus Ad Virginem&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;, Anonymous 13th or 14th Century Latin. Alternate titles: &lt;i&gt;Gabriel's Message&lt;/i&gt;, The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;strong&gt;Lyrics:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STp5wYdgZTI/AAAAAAAAAS0/O0OJI4s2bPc/s1600-h/EcceAncillaDominiDanteGabrielRossett.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STp5wYdgZTI/AAAAAAAAAS0/O0OJI4s2bPc/s1600-h/EcceAncillaDominiDanteGabrielRossett.jpg"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 0px 10px; border-right-width: 0px" height="263" alt="Ecce Ancilla Domini, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1850" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STfExtTSMCI/AAAAAAAAASM/Aw_3MmOuOZE/EcceAncillaDominiDanteGabrielRossett%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="153" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Angel Gabriel from heaven came      &lt;br /&gt;his wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame, &amp;quot;All hail&amp;quot; said he &amp;quot;thou lowly maiden Mary, most highly favored lady,&amp;quot; Gloria! &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;For know a blessed mother thou shalt be, all generations laud and honor thee, thy Son shall be Emmanuel, by seers foretold most highly favored lady,&amp;quot; Gloria! &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head &amp;quot;To me be as it pleaseth God,&amp;quot; she said, &amp;quot;My soul shall laud and magnify his holy name.&amp;quot; most highly favored lady. Gloria! &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ was born in Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn and Christian folk throughout the world will ever say &amp;quot;Most high&lt;/em&gt;ly &lt;em&gt;favored lady,&amp;quot; Gloria!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;May angels bless and keep you safe throughout the Holidays!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STfEyBJ5gGI/AAAAAAAAASQ/_Ja9196fylg/s1600-h/AledJones4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="142" alt="Aled Jones" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STfEzOwayjI/AAAAAAAAASU/IFCyQsSxTLA/AledJones_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="119" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Aled Jones born December 29, 1970 in Bangor, Wales is a Welsh singer, actor and television/radio personality. He first gained recognition as a boy soprano in the choir of Bangor Cathedral at age nine and was Lead Soloist within two years. In 1982 he won the Cerdd Dant solo competitions for age 12 at the Urdd Eisteddfod. By age 16 he sold more than six million albums. He has performed private recitals for Pope John Paul II, the Queen of England and the Prince and Princess of Wales. To date he has recorded twenty-four albums many reaching gold or platinum in the UK and Australia. You can read new, find out more and listen and buy his music at his website &lt;a href=" http://www.aledjones.co.uk/"&gt;aledjones.co.uk&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The painting above right is a perfect compliment to the beautiful hymn. It is called &lt;em&gt;Ecce Ancilla Domini &lt;/em&gt;(&amp;quot;The Annunciation&amp;quot;) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.&lt;em&gt; 1850. Oil on canvas. Tate Gallery, London, UK&lt;/em&gt;. You can view more paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti at &lt;a href="http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rossetti/rossetti.html"&gt;Olga's Gallery&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-8774121460417230736?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/8774121460417230736/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=8774121460417230736' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8774121460417230736'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8774121460417230736'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/124-angel-gabriel-aled-jones-live.html' title='12/4 The Angel Gabriel, Aled Jones live'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STfExtTSMCI/AAAAAAAAASM/Aw_3MmOuOZE/s72-c/EcceAncillaDominiDanteGabrielRossett%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-3248056029725744654</id><published>2008-12-03T06:45:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-03T06:45:50.056-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cristallofono'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fairy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fairies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Tchaikovsky'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Robert Tiso'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='faery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'/><title type='text'>12/3 Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:00377ee2-1447-4e14-bb49-cb39f8ec32cd" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 403px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="403" height="336"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ULiNR-k4m70"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ULiNR-k4m70" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="403" height="336"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tchaikovsky's 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'&amp;#160; performed on Glass harp by Robert Tiso&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Amazing sound, absolutely beautiful! Tiso plays &lt;em&gt;'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'&lt;/em&gt; on wine glasses filled with water. The instrument is called a &lt;em&gt;cristallofono&lt;/em&gt; or crystal glass harp and is played with the fingers. Wow! Enjoy some Holiday magic!&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STaNgPhNYSI/AAAAAAAAAR0/7jKHJJV4Nr0/s1600-h/sugarplumfairies_johnaardema10.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-right-width: 0px" height="168" alt="sugarplumfairies_johnaardema" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STaNg7WJsEI/AAAAAAAAAR4/wRjxsbgZKHA/sugarplumfairies_johnaardema_thumb6.jpg?imgmax=800" width="168" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy &lt;/em&gt;comes from the Holiday classic ballet called &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker"&gt;The Nutcracker&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;em&gt;The Nutcracker&lt;/em&gt; was written in 1892 by the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. You can read more about Tchaikovsky at the &lt;a href="http://www.classicalarchives.com/bios/tchaikovsky_bio.html"&gt;Classical Archives&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;The sweet illustration of Sugar Plum Fairies dancing (right) is by John Aardema of Woodridge, IL a children's book illustrator. You can see more of his works at &lt;a href="http://inkyboy.com/"&gt;inkyboy.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Have a sweet day filled with Delight!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STaNhCBlB8I/AAAAAAAAAR8/XVwYFVA-WF4/s1600-h/roberttiso2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="175" alt="robert tiso" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STaNiOFLFZI/AAAAAAAAASA/JknS2KYwGsE/roberttiso_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="119" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Robert Tiso, born 1968 in London, England is a master of the &lt;em&gt;cristallofono&lt;/em&gt; (crystal glasses in played with the fingers). He currently resides in Bologna, Italy and travels worldwide giving concerts. The &lt;em&gt;cristallofono&lt;/em&gt; was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. Few know how to play the it, but through perseverance Robert learned and eventually mastered the art. You can listen to more music videos on youtube &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/roberttiso"&gt;roberttiso&lt;/a&gt; or myspace &lt;a href="http://www.myspace.com/cristallofonia "&gt;cristallofonia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-3248056029725744654?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/3248056029725744654/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=3248056029725744654' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3248056029725744654'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3248056029725744654'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/123-dance-of-sugar-plum-fairy.html' title='12/3 Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STaNg7WJsEI/AAAAAAAAAR4/wRjxsbgZKHA/s72-c/sugarplumfairies_johnaardema_thumb6.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-2604937248574692213</id><published>2008-12-02T05:59:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-02T05:59:02.511-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='god'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='angel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='celestial'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Creator'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Hubble Telescope'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fairy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='elemental'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fairies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Goddess'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='co-creation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='faery'/><title type='text'>12/2 Glorious Creation</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STUxCmm6ZTI/AAAAAAAAARk/BsX9Am2JlGs/s1600-h/Hubblepixfaeriesandbeingssm13.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="909" alt="Hubble pix faeries and beings sm" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STUxD9UUQzI/AAAAAAAAARo/93QX9BKcZgg/Hubblepixfaeriesandbeingssm_thumb11.jpg?imgmax=800" width="408" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Glorious Creation - Hubble Telescope photo &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;What an amazing photo captured by Hubble Space Telescope! &lt;em&gt;Glorious Creation&lt;/em&gt; is my name for this beautiful, magical image filled with angels, faeries and otherworldly beings. Every time I look, I see more and more of them. Can you see them happily dancing energetic worlds into being? &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A wonder filled way to begin the sacred month of December with this glorious gift - photographic evidence of Creation in process. WOW!!! Thank you beloved Creator! &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;The image shows a pair of colossal stars, WR 25 and Tr16-244, located within the open cluster Trumpler 16. This cluster is embedded within the Carina Nebula, an immense cauldron of gas and dust that lies approximately 7500 light-years from Earth. The Carina Nebula contains several ultra-hot stars, including these two star systems and the famous blue star Eta Carinae, which has the highest luminosity yet confirmed.&amp;#160; You can read more at &lt;a href="http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMWHR5DHNF_index_0.html"&gt;ESA Portal&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Image: &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://hubblesite.org/gallery/"&gt;NASA&lt;/a&gt;, ESA and Jes&amp;#250;s Ma&amp;#237;z Apell&amp;#225;niz (Instituto de &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STUxE9QXY3I/AAAAAAAAARs/znS5tjuxPS0/s1600-h/xmasholy7.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 5px; border-right-width: 0px" height="117" alt="xmasholy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STUxFNsiO5I/AAAAAAAAARw/v5jOvBt-ti4/xmasholy_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800" width="147" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Astrof&amp;#237;sica de Andaluc&amp;#237;a, Spain)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;Greetings of the Season. May it be filled with wonder!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-2604937248574692213?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/2604937248574692213/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=2604937248574692213' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2604937248574692213'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/2604937248574692213'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/122-glorious-creation.html' title='12/2 Glorious Creation'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STUxD9UUQzI/AAAAAAAAARo/93QX9BKcZgg/s72-c/Hubblepixfaeriesandbeingssm_thumb11.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-1234105582859034744</id><published>2008-12-01T03:28:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-01T03:40:50.906-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='festive trimmings'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sedona'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='red rocks'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Arizona'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='snow'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Light Traveler'/><title type='text'>12/1 Kissed by Snow</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STO8P_dlKiI/AAAAAAAAARA/Vh0EmO3Dxe0/s1600-h/Photo1312.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="310" alt="Kissed by Snow (Sedona, AZ) by Light. &amp;#169; 2000-2009 Bonnee Klein Gilligan. All rights reserved.       " src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STO8Q3kX9tI/AAAAAAAAARE/IK138pyi1i0/Photo13_thumb8.jpg?imgmax=800" width="411" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kissed by Snow (Sedona, Arizona, 2000) photo by Light&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Kissed by Snow &lt;/em&gt;is a moment of magnificent Creation seen through the eyes of Light Traveler. Majestic red rocks, caressed by clouds and kissed by snow with dancing light and soft dark shadows. Sedona is a beautiful pallet, a visual feast and an energetic hotspot. Wonderland....&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STO_K_2ryDI/AAAAAAAAARg/i3g-lrVEjHk/s1600-h/Photo%20%2012%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STO_K_2ryDI/AAAAAAAAARg/i3g-lrVEjHk/s1600-h/Photo%20%2012%5B3%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="184" alt="Holiday sparkle by Light. &amp;#169; 2002-2008 Bonnee Klein Gilligan. All rights reserved. " src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STO8VV3HQcI/AAAAAAAAARQ/StfHeJ0SGIA/Photo%20%2012_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="245" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Lovely photos of Sedona and festive trimmings by Light to begin December's Holiday Season. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Everyday throughout December I will post a new inspirational blog dedicated to Spirit and the Holidays... music, art, photos, videos and customs from many traditions. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Come by for a visit everyday if you like and fill your cup with some Holiday Cheer.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#ff0000"&gt;HAPPY HOLIDAYS! &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STO8V-LyNII/AAAAAAAAARU/Qz6sdnceOiI/s1600-h/light%5B1%5D.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 10px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="113" alt="light" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STO8WRKiJRI/AAAAAAAAARY/TVUlnIpx46o/light_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="100" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Light Traveler&lt;/strong&gt; (August 1946 - July 2003)&amp;#160; photographer, Reiki Master/Teacher, spiritual seeker and beautiful loving Spirit. He filled my life with awe and wonder. Here's to you Light!!! You can see more and purchase his beautiful photography at &lt;a href="http://LightTraveler.imagekind.com/ "&gt;Light Traveler's gallery&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-1234105582859034744?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/1234105582859034744/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=1234105582859034744' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1234105582859034744'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/1234105582859034744'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/12/121-kissed-by-snow.html' title='12/1 Kissed by Snow'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STO8Q3kX9tI/AAAAAAAAARE/IK138pyi1i0/s72-c/Photo13_thumb8.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-766470645857886865</id><published>2008-11-29T07:16:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-29T07:22:40.031-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Animal Allies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Stephanie Pui-Mun Law'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='watercolor'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Celtic'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='painting'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Celtic Knot'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='otherworlds'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Foxknot'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='faery'/><title type='text'>Foxknot</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STFOp2e4t1I/AAAAAAAAAQo/ElzdIWUQ_WU/Stephanie%20Pui-Mun%20Law-foxknot%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800"&gt;&lt;img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="413" alt="Foxknot &amp;#169;Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. All rights reserved" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STFOtB6i7iI/AAAAAAAAAQs/Gbe1_uedWqY/Stephanie%20Pui-Mun%20Law-foxknot_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Foxknot by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law&lt;/strong&gt; (2002) &lt;em&gt;watercolor 16 x 18&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Movement, strength, mystery, nature, earth and a little whimsy too. Could this be an Animal Ally knot with Fox-faeries? As such the knot would impart wisdom of fox with a fae influence. The circular knot is a symbol of interconnection, unity and eternity. Fox imparts the ability to watch the motivations and movements of others while remaining unobserved. Faery is otherworldly, magical and mysterious; not of this world, nor influenced by it. This knot would be a spiritual tool to help the person become a silent watcher who moves easily between worlds. I love this wonderful, whimsical interpretation of a Celtic Knot. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;A deeper understanding of Celtic knots and Animal Allies:&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/Celtic/art.html"&gt;The Celtic knot&lt;/a&gt; symbolizes the Thread of Life. To the Celts, the human soul was thought to be a fragment of the divine, which will ultimately return to its divine source. Through successive rebirths the soul rids itself of its accumulated, inherited impurities until it finally achieves the goal of perfection.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;The interlaced, or latticed, knotwork patterns, with their unbroken lines, symbolize the process of humankind's eternal spiritual evolution. When the cord is unravelled, it leads us on. A knot lattice can be used as an aid to concentration by occupying the conscious mind with a demanding repetitive task. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Our Animal Allies or helpers choose us to help us with our growth and understanding.&amp;#160; A detailed description of &lt;a href="http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/Celtic/animalallies.html"&gt;Celtic Animal Allies&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Stephanie Pui-Mun Law is a 31 year old artist/programmer. She began painting otherworlds in early childhood.&amp;#160; Graduated from a program of Computer Science in 1998. After working in programming for three years, She left the world logic for the world of fae; painting full time.&amp;#160; You can read news, learn about watercolor painting, browse her galleries and purchase paintings at &lt;a href="http://www.shadowscapes.com"&gt;www.shadowscapes.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-766470645857886865?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/766470645857886865/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=766470645857886865' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/766470645857886865'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/766470645857886865'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/11/foxknot.html' title='Foxknot'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/STFOtB6i7iI/AAAAAAAAAQs/Gbe1_uedWqY/s72-c/Stephanie%20Pui-Mun%20Law-foxknot_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-6071155015521603520</id><published>2008-11-27T03:31:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-27T03:31:35.617-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='The Prayer'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Céline Dion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Josh Groban'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='live duet'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Thanksgiving'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><title type='text'>The Prayer - Dion and Groban, live duet</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:a6467ace-36ea-49b3-9182-36f72de76b92" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 404px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="404" height="338"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WK9nt1NF7Nw"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WK9nt1NF7Nw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="404" height="338"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;'The Prayer' - live duet by C&amp;#233;line Dion and Josh Groban&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HAPPY THANKSGIVING!&lt;/strong&gt; A wondrous remembrance of thankfulness for this day and everyday. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;An amazing, moving performance. Beautiful voices coming together in perfect harmony. Could feel Spirit moving through them both. Gave me chills and brought tears. Very touching! &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Live duet by &lt;em&gt;C&amp;#233;line&lt;/em&gt; Dion and Josh Groban at Concert for World Children's Day in 2000&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; singing The Prayer. First included on the album: &lt;i&gt;These Are Special Times&lt;/i&gt; 1997 (promo), won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song 1999; Soundtrack from the movie &lt;i&gt;Quest for Camelot&lt;/i&gt; 1998. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;C&amp;#233;line Dion and Josh Groban also preformed 'The Prayer' live during her CBS TV special, aired&amp;#160; February 15, 2008. This live duet was released as a digital single.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SS53AZ7WAUI/AAAAAAAAAQY/9QgTql9tuH4/s1600-h/celinedion3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="104" alt="celinedion" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SS53AlzTw7I/AAAAAAAAAQc/V2bh2wrjdyk/celinedion_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="137" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; C&amp;#233;line Marie Claudette Dion born March 30, 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada is a singer/songwriter/actress. She is the youngest of 14 children of a highly musical family. She began singing at age 5 and regularly preformed with her siblings at a nightclub her parents owned. C&amp;#233;line began to receive recognition for her talent in 1982, winning the Gold Medal at the Yamaha World Song Festival in Tokyo, along with the coveted Musician's Award for Top Performer. In 1983, she became the first Canadian ever to receive a Gold Record in France. In 2004, after becoming the best selling female artist of all time, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards. You can read news, listen to music, and watch videos at her website &lt;a title="http://www.celinedion.com/celinedion/english/" href="http://www.celinedion.com"&gt;www.celinedion.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SS53BDUrn9I/AAAAAAAAAQg/2ePTXA4jc7Q/s1600-h/JoshGroban3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="126" alt="Josh Groban" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SS53BUVixYI/AAAAAAAAAQk/5bOio2UiTTM/JoshGroban_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="101" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Josh Groban singer/songwriter was born February 27, 1981 in Los Angeles, California. In 1997 and 1998 he attended Interlochen Arts Camp, majoring in musical theater and voice. He graduated in 1999 with a major in theater from Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Soon after graduation he was offered a recording contract at Warner Brothers Records. His recording debut was singing &amp;quot;For Always&amp;quot; with Lara Fabian on the soundtrack to &lt;i&gt;A.I.: Artificial Intelligence&lt;/i&gt; (2001). Read news, listen his wonderful music, watch videos, see photos and read his blog at &lt;a href="http://www.joshgroban.com"&gt;www.joshgroban.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-6071155015521603520?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/6071155015521603520/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=6071155015521603520' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6071155015521603520'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/6071155015521603520'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/11/prayer-dion-and-groban-live-duet.html' title='The Prayer - Dion and Groban, live duet'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SS53AlzTw7I/AAAAAAAAAQc/V2bh2wrjdyk/s72-c/celinedion_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-8613722970192141315</id><published>2008-11-25T05:14:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-25T05:14:33.705-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fae'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='light'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='pastel drawing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fairy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fairies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='pastel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spiritual pondering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='faery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rose fairy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='immortal'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Manresa'/><title type='text'>Manresa - Rose Faerie</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SSvsJItjD5I/AAAAAAAAAQQ/rxg80h6SSaQ/s1600-h/Manresasm1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="532" alt="Manresa by Bonnee Klein Gilligan. &amp;#169; Bonnee Klein Gilligan. All rights reserved." src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SSvsKBM2NSI/AAAAAAAAAQU/0CRgVNfr1cA/Manresasm_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="413" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Manresa - Rose Faerie by Bonnee Klein Gilligan&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;em&gt;(1998) pastel drawing 9&amp;quot; x 12&amp;quot; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Manresa is of and responsible for the red rose. She can help in all aspects of love and fertility. She is luminescent with a rainbow-like shimmer on the surface of her being. She has wings like a dragonfly and hair of white light. Often she appears like a ball of bluish-white light. If you enjoy Manresa and would like to own a copy you can purchase prints at my &lt;a href="http://BonneeKleinGilligan.imagekind.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Spirit Art Gallery&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Definition of Fairies from one of my favorite metaphysical reference books: &lt;em&gt;'The Donning International Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary'&lt;/em&gt; by June G. Bletzer, Ph.D. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Faerie&lt;/strong&gt; (Latin &lt;em&gt;fata&lt;/em&gt;; Archaic &lt;em&gt;fay&lt;/em&gt;, means &amp;quot;enchanted&amp;quot;) a small, ethereal replica of a human in appearance and mannerisms. Desires a rapport with humans but lives in its own invisible culture. A collective word used to mean the whole lower-half of the angel being kingdom of over 1,000 varieties. Work with and have charge of the four elements of air, fire, water and earth under the supervision of the angels. Pure elemental vortexes of energy. Light energy field capable of forming an etheric body of substance drawn from the etheric double of earth to carry out its function. Live in the rhythm of nature. Synchronizes its heartbeat to that of the work at hand. Concerned with the process of nature's evolution and its service to humanity. At times fairy gives off a luminous reflection and at times it takes on the shape of a human form, altered in size. Human form changes with locale. Appears in either gender but most often prefers male gender. Body appears loosely knit and felt to have a dense body inside the light body. Can be perceived clairvoyantly and seen with physical eyes. Cannot be touched. Materializes and dematerializes itself going from dimension to dimension very quickly. An energetic vapor-like ethereal substance using the same material that feelings are made of; responds quickly to human emotions. Has a sensation consciousness similar to the plant kingdom. Posesses the ability of sending an electric charge to stimulate the human intellect and emotions in order to communicate with them. Actions and thoughts influence mankind's ethereal bodies. Neither an angel nor a devil put mediate space between mankind and angels. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.geocities.com/bonneekleingilligan/"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-8613722970192141315?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/8613722970192141315/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=8613722970192141315' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8613722970192141315'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/8613722970192141315'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/11/manresa-rose-faerie.html' title='Manresa - Rose Faerie'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SSvsKBM2NSI/AAAAAAAAAQU/0CRgVNfr1cA/s72-c/Manresasm_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-3348156884678837359</id><published>2008-11-23T05:45:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-23T05:45:07.252-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Von den Elben'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Elves'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Elfin'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='QNTAL'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='song'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Elf'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='electro-medieval'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='German'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fairies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spiritual pondering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Germany'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Brian Froud'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='faery'/><title type='text'>Von den Elben - QNTAL</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:13b7cc4a-143f-4522-9df4-4f1e8deaa3ff" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0px; width: 398px; padding-top: 5px"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;object width="398" height="333"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fYWK6GElo44"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fYWK6GElo44" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="398" height="333"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Von den Elben - QNTAL, music video by Brian Froud&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Von den Elben means &lt;em&gt;From the Elfin&lt;/em&gt;. A haunting magical video about Elfs and Faerie. The images are otherworldly, captivating and mysterious. They speak of things unknown, places in-between visited only by a few. Von den Elben is an intensely moving work of art! &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Band: QNTAL, Song: Von Den Elben, Album: Silver Swan (2006). &lt;em&gt;Music video created by Brian and Toby Froud. First seen at the 2006 Faerieworlds Festival.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;blockquote&gt;   &lt;p&gt;Brian Froud says, &amp;quot;How do you see Faeries? You can't see them with your eyes, you see them with your heart.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SSlQS16zgyI/AAAAAAAAAQA/c5ZH5J-dQu4/s1600-h/qntal_20065.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="165" alt="qntal_2006" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SSlQTfA-rWI/AAAAAAAAAQE/MLDnaJlw_60/qntal_2006_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="124" align="left" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;QNTAL is a German &amp;quot;electro-medieval&amp;quot; band founded in 1991 by Michael Popp. Band members: Syrah vocals; Michael Popp vocals, Fidel, Saz, Shalmei, Ud, Tar; and Fil Keyboards, Vocals, Guitars, Programming; plus Markus K&amp;#246;stner (live) Drums, Percussion.&amp;#160; You can listen to more of their music, read latest news and find out more at &lt;a href="http://www.qntal.net/english/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;www.qntal.net&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SSlQTuUcOqI/AAAAAAAAAQI/M3_NST52AKo/s1600-h/brianfroud8.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-right-width: 0px" height="127" alt="brianfroud" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SSlQUauUXdI/AAAAAAAAAQM/EXsfanNXzbI/brianfroud_thumb6.jpg?imgmax=800" width="121" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Brian Froud born 1947 in Winchester, England is a world renown fantasy artist who was the conceptual designer on the fantasy-film-classics 'The Dark Crystal' and 'The Labyrinth'. His wife Wendy Froud also a fantasy artist is credited with the design of the characters The Gelflings, Jen and Kira in the Dark Crystal and Yoda in Star Wars. You can see more of Brian and Wendy's art, watch videos, and read news at the &lt;a href="http://www.worldoffroud.com" target="_blank"&gt;World of Froud&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;~&lt;a href="http://www.reiho.org"&gt;Bonnee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/919276388408013789-3348156884678837359?l=spiritualpondering.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/feeds/3348156884678837359/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=919276388408013789&amp;postID=3348156884678837359' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3348156884678837359'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/919276388408013789/posts/default/3348156884678837359'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://spiritualpondering.blogspot.com/2008/11/von-den-elben-qntal.html' title='Von den Elben - QNTAL'/><author><name>Bonnee Klein Gilligan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03066847619881682939</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='24' height='32' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SC7vndFHUoI/AAAAAAAAAAY/LKSdGpMUG_M/S220/Adonea5-9-08.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SSlQTfA-rWI/AAAAAAAAAQE/MLDnaJlw_60/s72-c/qntal_2006_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919276388408013789.post-9065683944153763979</id><published>2008-11-21T06:53:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-21T07:08:27.677-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='art'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fairy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fairies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Michael Orwick'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Max and the Fairies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spiritual pondering'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='painting'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='faery'/><title type='text'>Max and the Fairies</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SSa9JcSGazI/AAAAAAAAAPo/6JTUjSQsmR8/s1600-h/MichaelOrwickmaxandthefairies5.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="border-top-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; border-right-width: 0px" height="280" alt="Michael Orwick-max and the fairies" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NgClXC3qHaA/SSa9Kiv1uLI/AAAAAAAAAPs/PmOSiv3kaf0/MichaelOrwickmaxandthefairies_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="406" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Max and the Fairies by Michael Orwick -&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;em&gt;Oil on Canvas, 16&amp;quot; x 20&amp;quot; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Whimsical, sweet and beautiful. I really relate to this painting. Poor Max is being tormented and cajoled by the fairies. The
