http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/genealogy-for-the-rest-of-us-a-writers-guide-to-diving-into-family-history.html http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/genealogy-for-the-rest-of-us-a-writers-guide-to-diving-into-family-history.html Tue, 12 May 2009 10:23:13 -0500
The difference? Well, I'll tell you a story.

In the spring of 2006, I was racing against a loudly-ticking generational clock, trying to find as many living relatives as I possibly could before their advancing age caught up with them. I was hoping that they could shed light on a long-ago family secret, one that my mother had created in the early 1940s and kept throughout her life. She had hidden the existence of a disabled sister who had been institutionalized for 30 years. Mom had died in 1999, her secret more or less intact. I was researching a book on her motivations for keeping the secret, and the consequences to her and those around her.

My working hypothesis: I had relatives I had never met, and I wondered whether their descendants might have some knowledge of my unknown secret aunt. Perhaps a bit of family folklore had traveled down their branch that had never made it down mine.

I had the beginnings of a family tree on my dad's side, courtesy of a cousin who had emailed me a version, but none on my mom's side. So I started to construct one, but got no farther than I had in junior high school, when an enterprising teacher had assigned us to create family trees for a class project. When I had asked Mom back then for the names of my grandmother's parents and siblings, she had just shrugged. That was the old country, she told me, as if that explained everything instead of nothing. Mom, born in the United States, professed no knowledge of my grandparents' early life in Russia or Ukraine or Poland (it was a mystery to me then), or whatever part of Eastern Europe we once called home.

According to a medical record that I had obtained, my grandmother was one of 10 children. I knew none of them. I knew none of their descendants. I just needed one name, and then I could pursue the genealogical trail, perhaps to someone alive, but if not, perhaps to a document, or a photo or some other clue that might lead me deeper into the story of Mom's secret.

Through painstaking work with passenger manifests, I had managed to learn the likely spellings of my grandparents' last names when they left Russia before the first world war. They were born in a small town near the old Austro-Hungarian border, a town that had changed hands several times in the course of the 20th century. Did the town's birth and marriage records still exist? If they did, would they yield the information I needed to trace the living descendants of my grandmother's nine brothers and sisters?

I consulted a genealogist with experience in obtaining records from the archives of Eastern European countries. He gave me a crash course in what I needed to do. The more he explained, the more daunting it sounded -- and the more expensive. He suggested that I purchase every record with any connection to the family names I already knew.

Worried that I would be overwhelmed with information, I asked whether it would be better to start with the smattering of the records that seemed most relevant. "I'm not a genealogist," I told him. "I'm not trying to build a family tree. I'm writing a book, and I'm trying to find out the things that will help me tell the story."

His genealogical ears couldn't believe what I had just said. "How could you not want to know it all?" he said, his voice reflecting his amazement. "How could you pass up the opportunity?"

I felt sheepish. "I'm interested, of course," I finally said. "But right now, the story is what I'm after."

Genealogists and writers are like distant cousins: They resemble each other, but it's easy to tell them apart. I'm in awe of the discipline that genealogists bring to their craft. I admire their dedication to a well-understood (if unwritten) set of rules for pursuing, finding, sifting, confirming and verifying information, before they connect the dotted lines between a ggf (great-grandfather, in genealogist parlance) and a second cousin once removed. As a writer, however, I'm wary of becoming a member of their club.

No need to be daunted, however. Genealogists are a welcoming bunch. They not only love company, they invite anyone to join their growing numbers, and millions have taken trips down the genealogical trail. The sudden accessibility of information online, such as census and immigration records, has made it possible for anyone to make a stab at researching their family origins, often without leaving the comfort of their living room. Amateurs like me vastly outnumber the professionals. Ancestry.com, which calls itself "the No. 1 source for online family history information," claims nearly 1 million paying subscribers and says that online visitors have created more than six million family trees since that feature was introduced three years ago.

You won't find mine there. My tree, with more broken branches than sturdy ones, exists only on paper, two pages taped together to accommodate the bits and pieces I had collected. I constructed it as an aid for interviewing a long-lost cousin, and then kept it on my desk as I wrote my book.

It was a huge help, a reference that I used so often that it became a bit tattered. Some day, I'll go back to it. I'll try to flesh out a few of the bare branches. I might even take a risk, and order some of those records from Eastern Europe. I'm curious, after all.

But not just yet. I have to finish this new story I'm working on.

©2009 Steve Luxenberg, author of Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret

Author Bio
Steve Luxenberg has been a senior editor with the Washington Post for twenty-two years, overseeing reporting that has won numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes for explanatory journalism. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.


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For more information please visit www.steveluxenberg.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/parenting/the-ten-commandments-of-parenting-teenagers.html http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/parenting/the-ten-commandments-of-parenting-teenagers.html Tue, 12 May 2009 09:59:44 -0500
Parenting a teenager is a fulltime job, because being a teenager is also a fulltime job. Sure, they may busy themselves with school, sports, and text-messaging, but their true raison-d'etre is to perpetuate their teenager-ness 24/7. Which means while you are slacking off doing things like breathing and living, your teenagers are doing things like plotting and scheming. (They will throw in some sleeping as well, what with being teenagers and all.) Because their lives are all about them, and yours is all about working, cooking, cleaning, paying the taxes, and still finding time for Dancing With The Stars, they have the upper hand.

Were you ever a lifeguard? Me neither. As Woody Allen once said, I don't tan; I stroke. But as any lifeguard will tell you, the biggest threat to their personal safety is not a riptide or a shark. It's a swimmer in trouble. Yes, the very person they are dedicated to help will, in their own panic and hysteria, threaten to destroy them both. Sound familiar? That's because you're the parent of a teenager.

When babies, your children caused you to become sleep deprived, overwhelmed, and drink excessively. Now that they're older, they still cause you to become sleep deprived, overwhelmed, and drink excessively. As you've heard, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and that holds true for parenting as well. So how do you survive? How do you get through each day with the constant screaming, crying and demands (I'm talking about from your teens, not your babies). You follow the rules of course. For as lost as you may feel parenting your teens, there are some guidelines to follow to help you keep your sanity. Or, what's left of your sanity after parenting for so many years.

Therefore, to help you deal with your troublesome teen, keep the following rules in mind:

The Ten Commandments Of Parenting Teenagers

1. You are always right. And if you're not always right, it's because your parents messed you up when you were a kid
2. Praise in public, criticize in private. Most people do the opposite. Don't be like most people.
3. Yes, you do have to tell them a thousand times. Stop counting and get over it. Now tell them again.
4. Your teens are smarter than you think, and stronger than you realize. So don't go acting all superior just because you have wrinkles and credit cards.
5. Remember they are growing up a lot faster than you did. Advantage, you. Growing up fast is way overrated.
6. When they really screw up is when they need you most. If your parents comforted you in those situations, remember how good it felt? And if they didn't, remember how much worse it made you feel?
7. Their defeats are 50% yours, but their victories are 100% theirs. Not exactly sure what that means, it showed up in a fortune cookie. But it feels true.
8. Remind yourself, they won't be teenagers forever. Someday you will look back on these years and laugh. Definitely. Probably. Maybe.
9. Love them enough to let them hate you. Don't be their friend. Be their parent. Friends come and go. You're all-in.
10. Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you bleed internally.
11. (Bonus Commandment) You can do this.

If you keep these commandments in mind, you'll be much better equipped to tread through the dangerous road of teenhood. These rules will enable you to survive the tough times filled with defiance, rebellion, and constant eye-rolling. Like anything else from working a remote control to getting through airport security, familiarizing yourself with the rules will makes things run much smoother (although I still manage to carry-on some forbidden article like one too many ounces of liquid, that sends me straight to the frisking area). Print out this list of commandments and keep it close. Stick it on the fridge for battles at home. Keep it in your wallet to for troubles on-the-go. And remember, if you can manage to get through this difficult stage of raising teenagers, in a few years when they move out, you'll be rewarded with a lovely spare bedroom to convert into your dream room!

Copyright © 2009 Joanne Kimes and R.J. Colleary with Rebecca Rutledge, PhD, authors of Teenagers Suck: What to do when missed curfews, texting, and "Mom can I have the keys?" make you miserable

Author Bios for Teenagers Suck: What to do when missed curfews, texting, and "Mom can I have the keys?" make you miserable
Joanne Kimes has written for a number of children's and comedy television shows. This is her eleventh Sucks book. She lives in Studio City, CA.

For more information please visit http://sucksandthecity.com/

R.J. Colleary attended Emerson College and moved to L.A. to become a writer for shows such as Saved by the Bell, The Golden Girls, and Benson. He teaches writing to graduate students at Chapman University and works steadily as a playwright. He has survived two teenagers and is currently surviving one more at home in Sherman Oaks, CA.

Rebecca Rutledge, PhD is a clinical psychologist who specializes in family therapy and individual therapy for children and adolescents. She writes columns for Your Health, Memphis Women's Journal, and the Shelby Sun Times, and lives in Memphis, TN.

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For more information, please visit http://209.62.39.15/~writtenv/book_display.php?isbn13=9781598698985

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/parenting/daughters-in-danger.html http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/parenting/daughters-in-danger.html Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:35:07 -0500
For various societal and biological reasons, teenage girls run a higher risk of achieving victim status than teenage boys. They are often conflict-avoiding "pleasers" and tend to be more trusting and nurturing in nature, which can put them in potentially hazardous situations. Add in the general physical superiority of boys, as well as a basic lack of life experience, and the combination can be a disaster waiting to happen. And happen it does, every day of the year, in every city in America, in every state of the union. Let's break this down into two separate issues: "Danger From Others," and "Danger From Themselves."

Danger From Others
For teenage girls (and even for grown women), the primary "danger from others" will be from an abusive romantic relationship. This abuse can take many forms: verbal, psychological, physical, and even sexual. As if having this happen to your daughter wouldn't be bad enough, there is an element that makes it even worse: chances are if it IS happening, she won't alert you to it by wailing. In fact, odds are she will do everything in her power to keep you from finding out about it at all.

The reasons girls (and women) "stay" despite this treatment are complex and far-reaching. But in basic terms, once they have transferred their "love feelings" away from you and onto another person, that person then holds a power position in their lives. And with hormones raging, teenage girls often tend to love more than they think. So they stay because they love, and rationalize the abuse: it's not so bad . . . my friends have it worse . . . it's really my fault anyway . . . Odds are you believe this could never happen to YOUR daughter. Keep in mind that's what every parent thinks.

So what can you do about this? For starters, remember the adage: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The best way to avoid a bad situation is to never let it get started. If your daughter becomes interested in a boy, you should become interested in him too. Don't let him be a stranger. Make sure he comes inside the house. Ask him about himself and about his family. Humanize him and he will have no choice but to humanize you -- and your daughter. See what your gut tells you about this boy -- and then follow it.

But let's say it's too late for that. Let's say your daughter is seeing someone and on the surface it all seems okay. How can you tell that it's not? The easy part would be the physical signs. If your daughter seems consistently upset, or unusually quiet, these are warning signs. If you discover bruises, that's more than a warning sign: that's evidence. You really must have zero tolerance for that. Don't be surprised if she explains it all away -- she fell, or got hit with a basketball at school, or walked into a ladder, etc., etc., etc. Under NO circumstances can you take her word for it. Ask her specifics. Where did it happen? How did it happen? Who was there? You want witnesses. And if she gives them to you, call them and ask. If there were no witnesses to call, make her tell her story again and again to see if she changes it at all. That's how the police determine responsibility. It will work for you, too.

All the while this is going on, it's vital you do not alienate your daughter. She will not want to "give up" her boyfriend. Keep reassuring her that you love her and this is not about punishing the boy. That they both need some help and that it's okay . . . they will get it. You just need to know the truth. Odds are you will get it!

Danger From Themselves
While it's easier to presume that the greatest dangers to our daughters would be external, the more insidious would be the internal dangers: those brought on by our daughters themselves. While their adolescence may figuratively drive you crazy, keep in mind it may do the same to them -- literally. Chemical imbalances, peer pressure, body image, school trouble, boy trouble, hormones -- these can all lead to some self-destructive behaviors. These include (but are not limited to):

* Drinking
* Marijuana smoking
* "Harder" drugs including amphetamines, cocaine, Ecstasy, opiates, methamphetamine, and the abuse of prescription meds
* Cigarette smoking
* Inhalants for "huffing" (think "glue sniffing")

Keep in mind that if you have any abuse issues in your family, your offspring are at a higher risk.

Again, look for the warning signs. These can include erratic (more erratic than usual, even) behavior, a drop in grades, loss of appetite, weight loss, a change in friends, and more/less sleep. Keep track of your belongings, too, as the prescription drugs she may be abusing could very well be yours. Missing money is another sign since drugs and alcohol are expensive and allowance was never meant to cover those!

Regardless of the challenges facing your daughter (and therefore you) do remember to keep them closer than ever before. Do not blame them for what they are going through. How you deal with them in times of trouble could very well impact your relationship with them for the rest of your lives. So even when it's hard, try to remember the little girl who wailed for you. She's still doing it, just in a different way, and through love (and some patience) you can find a way to make everything all right for her again. Just like the olden days. Yes it's tougher to resolve than a skinned knee. But together you handled that then, and together you can handle this now.

Copyright © 2009 Joanne Kimes and R.J. Colleary with Rebecca Rutledge, PhD, authors of Teenagers Suck: What to do when missed curfews, texting, and "Mom can I have the keys?" make you miserable

Author Bios for Teenagers Suck: What to do when missed curfews, texting, and "Mom can I have the keys?" make you miserable
Joanne Kimes has written for a number of children's and comedy television shows. This is her eleventh Sucks book. She lives in Studio City, CA.

R.J. Colleary attended Emerson College and moved to L.A. to become a writer for shows such as Saved by the Bell, The Golden Girls, and Benson. He teaches writing to graduate students at Chapman University and works steadily as a playwright. He has survived two teenagers and is currently surviving one more at home in Sherman Oaks, CA.

Rebecca Rutledge, PhD is a clinical psychologist who specializes in family therapy and individual therapy for children and adolescents. She writes columns for Your Health, Memphis Women's Journal, and the Shelby Sun Times, and lives in Memphis, TN.

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For more information please visit http://sucksandthecity.com/

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/self-improvement/spirituality/premonitions-making-money-with-the-mind.html http://www.articletrader.com/self-improvement/spirituality/premonitions-making-money-with-the-mind.html Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:17:04 -0500
But what do these highly successful individuals mean by intuition? Most people agree that intuition is a kind of instinctive knowing, without the support of logic, analysis, inference, or actual evidence. When an intuition involves a prediction or a sense of what will happen in the future, the intuition becomes indistinguishable from a premonition, a feeling or belief that something is going to happen.

Evidence suggests that the use of premonitions in business is widespread and is correlated with financial success. The favored term for this ability is not premonitions, however, but "business intuition." There is a growth industry purporting to teach people how to unleash their intuitive powers in the business world. Google specifies over a quarter million Web sites devoted to "business intuition."

Businessmen invoke premonitions routinely. Examples include a sense of which direction business cycles are headed, the future strength of the stock market, what actions the Fed will take, and what the level of consumer confidence will be over the next year. Decisions about acquisitions, sell-offs, layoffs, and investments in capital equipment are often made on hunches and gut feelings, not logical inferences or rational predictions. Investors often speak of "rolling the dice" in making a decision, implying that they're relying on something other than logic. Skeptics often say these kinds of decisions are based on good market research or a deep intellectual understanding of the investment and financial worlds, and of course they frequently are. But something more appears to be involved.

In a classic study at the University of Texas at El Paso in the 1980s, management professor Weston H. Agor tested the intuition of 2,000 managers and found that the top-level leaders scored higher on intuition than those ranking lower in the corporate hierarchy. These executives typically digested all the relevant information first, but when the data was incomplete or confusing they shifted to intuitive approaches in making a decision. Interestingly, they were hesitant to disclose to their colleagues that they relied on intuition, preferring instead to be thought of as cool intellectuals guided solely by reason.

In the mid-1970s, parapsychology researcher Douglas Dean and professor of engineering John Mihalasky of Newark Institute of Technology performed a series of experiments that shed light on this area. They spent ten years studying 385 chief executive officers of U. S. corporations. These CEOs were asked to guess at a 100-digit number that did not exist at the time the guesses were made. Then the number was produced by a computer using random generating techniques. The results were then correlated with the financial reports issued by the executives' corporations. Dean and Mihalasky found that 80 percent of executives whose companies' profits had more than doubled in the past five years had above-average precognitive powers. "It was so definitive," writes remote-viewing researcher Stephan A. Schwartz in his review of these experiments, "that Dean was able to examine financial reports and predict in advance how a given CEO would do in his experiment."

There is no way these CEOs could have used logic or inference in predicting a string of numbers before the computer had even generated them. They were using premonitions.

Since the Dean-Mihalasky number-guessing findings were published over thirty years ago, the test has been administered to people of all ages and in various walks of life. Results indicate that precognitive ability does not correlate with intelligence. In fact, Dean and Mihalasky found that engineering students with higher grade-point averages did slightly worse than students making lower grades.

An interesting outcome of Dean and Mihalasky's work with CEOs was the high percentage of them -- around 80 percent -- who acknowledged a private belief in ESP. When questioned, they admitted their belief was not based on either a familiarity with the scientific literature or an acquaintance with psychics, but because they'd seen it work in their own lives.

What happens when premonitions, acknowledged as such, are put to the test in a business context?

In 1982 the St. Louis Business Journal pitted nineteen prominent stockbrokers against a St. Louis psychic, Beverly Jaegers. Jaegers was a reluctant psychic -- originally a skeptic and debunker of psi phenomena -- until her own experiences changed her mind. In the experiment, each participant was asked to select five stocks whose value they believed would increase over the next six months. Although Jaegers had no training in corporate analysis, she outperformed eighteen of the nineteen financial experts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell eight percent over the six-month period, but the stocks picked by Jaegers increased in value by 17.2 percent. A single stockbroker did better -- barely -- at 17.4 percent.

Jaegers had attracted national attention in the 1970s when Pete Dixon, a commodities broker, decided to put her psychic skills to the test. He came to her with a sealed envelope containing a prediction that coffee prices would increase, and asked her to elaborate on its contents. In reporting the incident in a retrospective of Jaegers's career, journalist Stefene Russell says, "[She] saw heavy rain and people carrying baskets with a few shriveled red berries in the bottom of each." Dixon was excited. He promised to buy Jaegers a new house if what she said proved true. "He bought voluminous shares in coffee, just in time to watch the price shoot up after a freeze in Brazil decimated the crop. He made millions and made good on his promise, giving Jaegers a check . . . which she used to buy a new house . . . "

If the situation with premonitions were as straightforward as it seems in the Jaegers case, all psychics would be wealthy and on the boards of large corporations commanding huge salaries. The fact that they are not attests to the imprecise, capricious, and often invalid nature of premonitions. Other factors may limit the effectiveness of premonitions in the business world, such as greed and purity of purpose.

The experiments I've mentioned, and many more that I discuss in The Power of Premonitions, strongly suggest that premonitions are extremely common and are perhaps present to some degree in everyone. Yet they are often ignored, and they can be overridden and swamped by the lesser angels of our nature, such as unbridled greed and avarice. Some experiments employing precognition to make money also suggest that there may be an internal calculus whereby profits are linked to a "spiritual focus," as physicist Targ suggests. No one ever accused Wall Street of being spiritually focused. Is this one reason for its current calamity?

Many who inhabit the financial world are uncomfortable, of course, with anything resembling a "spiritual focus." They need not be. "Spirituality" is simply a sense of connectedness with something greater than the individual self or ego. Spirituality also involves a sense of how one fits into the overall patterns of the greater world, and therefore brings with it a sense harmony and connectedness. When we ignore our premonitions and those nudges from within, these patterns may remain obscure or they may break -- as we and Wall Street have unfortunately seen.

Can premonitions be cultivated? Are there guidelines for their use? Are there cautions about following premonitions? I believe the answer to all these questions is yes, as I discuss in The Power of Premonitions. We have every reason to engage these questions, because they can lead us to honor one of the most ancient and precious abilities we humans posses -- the ability to sense the future.

©2009 Larry Dossey, M.D., author of The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives

Author Bio
Larry Dossey, M.D., author of The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives, is a leader in bringing scientific understanding to spirituality, and rigorous proof to alternative medicine. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Healing Words, the first serious look at how prayer affects healing. He has been featured several times by Oprah -- her TV show, radio show, and magazine -- and is an international advocate for the role of the mind in health and the role of spirituality in healthcare. He lives in New Mexico.

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Please visit http://www.amazon.com/Power-Premonitions-Knowing-Future-Shape/dp/0525951164/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240930916&sr=8-1 for more information on The Power of Premonitions.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/religion/premonitions-and-spirituality.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/religion/premonitions-and-spirituality.html Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:03:31 -0500
Individuals often find that their power of sensing and knowing expands as they mature spiritually. These expanded capacities often involve the capacity to know yet-to-be events that lie in the future, as the unbroken stream of prophets, visionaries, seers, and shamans throughout history attests. A modern analog of this ancient ability to know the future is premonitions, sometimes called intuition, gut feelings, or sixth sense.

Premonitions are often regarded as unrelated to spirituality, but there are profound connections. The most obvious involves love, as in the following example.

Amanda, a young mother living in Washington State, awoke one night at 2:30 A.M. from a nightmare. She dreamed that a large chandelier that hung above their baby's bed in the next room fell into the crib and crushed the infant. In the dream, as she and her husband stood amid the wreckage, she saw that a clock on the baby's dresser read 4:35 A.M. The weather in the dream was violent; rain hammered the window and the wind was blowing a gale. The dream was so terrifying she roused her husband and told him about it. He laughed, told her the dream was silly, and urged her to go back to sleep, which he promptly did. But the dream was so frightening that Amanda went to the baby's room and brought the child back to bed with her. She noted that the weather was calm, not stormy as in the dream. Amanda felt foolish -- until around two hours later, when she and her husband were awakened by a loud crash. They dashed into the nursery and found the crib demolished by the chandelier, which had fallen directly into it. Amanda noted that the clock on the dresser read 4:35 A.M. and that the weather had changed. Now there was howling wind and rain. This time, her husband was not laughing.

Amanda's dream was a snapshot of the future -- down to the specific event, the precise time it would happen, and a change in the weather.

Love appears dramatically as a mediator of premonitions in sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS, the abrupt, unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby between one and twelve months of age. Premonitions are a recurring feature in the experiences of SIDS parents. An example is Don, a physician in a large metropolitan area. During the first trimester of his wife's pregnancy, he sensed the happiness his son's birth would bring would not be lasting. A few months before the birth, he would occasionally find himself contemplating a nearby cemetery, where his son would eventually be buried. The day he was born and Don first held him in his arms, he felt, for no obvious reason that the newborn was not supposed to be with them. Beginning around two to three weeks before his death, Don would be awakened from his sleep with thoughts of SIDS. The day before his son died, he heard a voice very similar to his own say repeatedly, "Take a good look. This is the last time you will see him."

Don's apprehensions increased when his wife planned a flight with the baby to visit her parents, who lived in another state. Although they disagreed about whether the baby should go, Don didn't make his fears clear to his wife. As he was driving them to the airport, negative feelings came flooding in. At the airport, walking to security, he heard a clear warning that he'd never see his son again. He knew his baby would die during the trip. While walking back to the parking lot, the voice told him to go back and get his son. Finally the voice softened and stopped, as Don ignored it and kept walking. Early the next morning his wife called, hysterically relating that their son had died. He later would find that his aunt had similar apprehensions about the baby.

Looking back, Don said, "The process has been a shock to me since I knew before-hand this [death] was going to happen. The only thing I didn't know was when and where . . . I have no idea of its meaning. The only thing I can say is that perhaps if I would have listened to 'my heart' many mishaps could have been prevented . . . I think people have the ability to perceive things and give it a purposeful meaning which can be used for any future event."

Many of the SIDS parents experienced dreams, visions, or feelings of being in contact with their infants following death. They felt uniformly positive about these experiences, and were left with a sense that their baby was being cared for and was in a better place.

There are other benefits that are profoundly spiritual. Premonitions open us up to each other and to the greater world. As mentioned, they show that we are part of something larger than the individual self, that we are an element in the great "pattern that connects," as ecologist-philosopher Gregory Bateson put it. Premonitions suggest that we are linked with every consciousness that has ever existed, or that will ever exist.

Many outstanding scientists have realized this. The renowned physicist David Bohm said, "Each person enfolds something of the spirit of the other in his consciousness." Nobel physicist Erwin Schrödinger also believed that minds are in some sense united and one. He said, "To divide or multiply consciousness is something meaningless. There is obviously only one alternative, namely the unification of minds or consciousness . . . [I]n truth there is only one mind."

By linking minds across space and time, premonitions reveal the oneness of which these scientists -- and many spiritual traditions -- speak. Premonitions therefore imply that we are not isolated individuals, but beings whose consciousness operates outside the present and beyond our physical body. They suggest that in some sense we are nonlocal or infinite in space in time. When we deeply sense this, we may become "transparent to the transcendent," as mythologist Joseph Campbell put it.

Through love, premonitions link human beings across space and time. There is no more fundamental aspect of spirituality than love. Premonitions are a window through which we glimpse our connection not only with one another, but with the Infinite as well.

©2009 Larry Dossey, M.D., author of The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives

Author Bio
Larry Dossey, M.D., author of The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives, is a leader in bringing scientific understanding to spirituality, and rigorous proof to alternative medicine. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Healing Words, the first serious look at how prayer affects healing. He has been featured several times by Oprah -- her TV show, radio show, and magazine -- and is an international advocate for the role of the mind in health and the role of spirituality in healthcare. He lives in New Mexico.




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Please visit http://www.amazon.com/Power-Premonitions-Knowing-Future-Shape/dp/0525951164/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240930916&sr=8-1 for more information on The Power of Premonitions.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/science/environment/may-vinegar-month.html http://www.articletrader.com/science/environment/may-vinegar-month.html Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:14:22 -0500 --E. Cobham Brewer

Although the fine folks in Roslyn, South Dakota hold an International Vinegar Festival in June, May is actually National Vinegar Month. However, if you do make it to Roslyn in time, you'll see a mighty fine small-town parade consisting of the Roslyn marching band, children dressed as pickles, the Roslyn Firefighters (in my opinion -- the best part), the guy who mows all of the municipal lawns (okay, he's pretty swell too), horse drawn carriages, tractors, tractors and yet even more tractors and the Day County Veterans being pulled by -- yes -- a John Deere tractor. The festivities also include the crowning of the Royal Vinegar Court (a sour looking lot), cooking demonstrations and food at the nation's only Vinegar Museum.

Vinegar, from the French translation meaning "sour wine," can be produced from all kinds fruits, berries, melons, coconut, honey, beer, maple syrup, potatoes, beets, malt, grains and whey. But the fundamental process remains unchanged no matter what the initial ingredients may be -- first a fermentation of sugar to alcohol, and then a second go-round to vinegar. Viola! Acetic acid (aka vinegar) is born.

Whether rice, red wine, distilled white, aged balsamic or apple cider, the overwhelming essence of vinegar, to most of us, is always the same -- sharp, tart and biting. But compared one to another, the subtle and not-so-subtle flavors are very different and are as varied as fine and not-so-fine wines are.

Vinegar has been around for millennia, and every faith, it seems, parables references to it, whether it be Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism or Christianity. When and how their deity or followers responded to the tangy flavor of vinegar was then metaphorically used as a symbolic view of life and its situations.

The ancients stumbled upon the versatility of vinegar probably 10,000 years ago. The Babylonians used it as medicine, and also mixed it with herbs to flavor their meals. The Romans drank it as a beverage. Cleopatra dissolved pearls in it to prove she could devour a fortune in a single meal. (Ladies, please do not try this at home!) Biblical references show how it was used for its soothing and healing properties and yet as recent as World War I, vinegar was still being used to treat wounds in the battlefields.

Susan B. Anthony, referred to as the "vinegar" of the Female Suffrage movement was aggressive, ebullient, frisky, spunky, a fighter, and a no-nonsense kinda woman, who displayed all the classic traits of being full of "piss and vinegar." The earliest citation of that term, however, is from 1938 in John Steinbeck's, The Grapes of Wrath:

Vinegar? Why am I writing about vinegar? Well . . . not because it's new-fangled, or is in any way ultra-modern. And it can't be confused for something that's state-of-the-art, or attempts to be up-to-the-minute or high-tech. But what it is, is a highly affordable and super-safe eco-cleaning staple we should all get familiar with. Distilled white vinegar easily neutralizes alkaline soaps, effortlessly breaks down stubborn urine odors, quickly polishes patent leather, instantly removes static cling from clothing, flawlessly cleans mirrors and glass, simply deodorizes the air, effortlessly polishes chrome, carefully removes soap scum and hard water spots, dependably cleans your automatic drip coffee maker and, in a pinch, even lifts accidentally spilled white glue. This 10,000 year-old elixir is a modern-day cleaning miracle!

It's said, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." So be a sweetie and just simply clean with the sour stuff. Store it in a sealed container full strength, dilute it 50/50 with water in a recycled spray bottle for everyday use, or mix 1 tablespoon in 1 quart of water in another recycled sprayer for a great window cleaner. There is never a need for refrigeration. Vinegar's shelf life is eternal.

Don't find yourself in a pickle by letting Vinegar Month pass you by. There are 1,001 uses for it other than dressing a salad -- so why not invent the 1,002nd eco-friendly way to celebrate vinegar for yourself.
©2009 Michael DeJong, author of Clean Body:The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing Yourself

Author Bio
Michael DeJong, author of Clean Body:The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing Yourself, is an environmentalist and eco-activist.

DeJong and Joost Elffers are generously donating all of the royalties from each of the books in the Clean Series to the OneCleanWorld Foundation. a philanthropic, not-for-profit organization that supports environmental projects worldwide with grants, technical assistance and/or microfinancing.






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For more information about the foundation, visit www.onecleanworld.org

For more eco-Clean tips by Michael DeJong (aka Ask Mr. Green) go to www.MyKindofClean.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/parenting/motherhood-brings-meaning-but-maybe-not-how-you-thought-it-would.html http://www.articletrader.com/home-and-family/parenting/motherhood-brings-meaning-but-maybe-not-how-you-thought-it-would.html Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:59:58 -0500
Being a parent is a very hard job no matter how you slice it, but to further the true blessing that children are is to work equally hard on being conscious and mindful of the growth our kids call forth in us. Perhaps your patience needs work or your critical side needs to be quieted or you need to learn compassion or you could stand to give up some perfectionism. Parenting in a kind and loving way can only come if we face these issues in ourselves. Maybe this is the true meaning behind being in relationship with these souls.

There is no greater hot button for me than feeling rendered irrelevant or ineffective. Not being able to calm and fussy baby or now, a pre-teen who is convinced they are unpopular and therefore unworthy of living are circumstances that can set me off into an irrational frustration that usually results in an ugly scene. I might yell or let something come out of my mouth that is less than constructive. Shame follows instantly but it has taken years to massage this issue into a submissive state where I can stay reasonably conscious and restrain from acting out of a lower consciousness. (i.e. dysfunctional behavior)

I know better. I teach people how to communicate more effectively, I teach spiritual concepts, I have practiced yoga and meditation. Why is this still hard? Because this is the real work. These children (I have a total of three) make me face my own demons, my own feelings of helplessness or unworthiness. It is only as I work through them that I can really be free and present for them. It is only through their presence refining me, the grain sand in the oyster, that a pearl will emerge. A pearl that brightens things for everyone once the work is done.

Don't get me wrong, it's not about mom being perfect before she can parent. It's about the path that dishes out its bumps and makes us better because of them. Our children are part of those bumps. Their problems are our problems, their personalities hand picked to iron out the wrinkles in our being, their triumphs ours to hope we had something to do with.

Each of my children shines a spotlight on the places where my capacity for love can stand to grow. Of course, they are all talented and beautiful and I love them more than anything, but they also grow me. And growth is often painful or at least uncomfortable. They are here FOR us -- to grow us -- they don't come to us to just be lovely adornments to our life who exist to make us happy.

My fussy baby/pre-teen is very sensitive and TLC from mom is often not effective. I am still working on the patience and bandwidth needed to find an entry to his psyche that allows comfort and connection. It comes often but it's an unpredictable series of attempts through the maze of his wiring to open him back to breathing at ease with the flow of life. It's work and it's a testament to love that we hang in there together to get back to it.

My middle child can be petulant and needs to be right at all costs. ARGH! Despite being beautiful, caring and talented in many creative ways, her resistance is a common stumbling block to discipline, cooperation and negotiation. Our relationship causes me to be confronted with my own need to be right. It took me a couple of years to learn that a power struggle was not going to be the answer.

I had to give up the fight to be right and learn not to be hooked by the pull of that game. I found a way to stay above the fray like a mature adult should (if they didn't have their own wounds) and guide her to her own answers that often show her how very mistaken her logic is! Of course, I don't gloat but I have finally learned to unhook from the drama that she is so good at creating.

My youngest has introduced me to the world of having a child with special needs. He's had a seizure disorder and we've entered the world of special education. After four years, we have suddenly gone into remission and are hoping to be pronounced cured soon. The growth being asked of me through this child has been about trusting my judgment before that of experts and advocating for my child medically and education-wise. He has grown me into a warrior. Not a barbaric warrior, but rather a force to reckoned with who will draw on whatever strength I may not have even known I had to do right by him. Despite doubt, worry and sleepless nights, the challenge has been to remain mentally strong enough to keep looking for solutions and believe in my son's ability to heal. Trying to stay in love instead of in fear. This has been part of my personal journey and what I work with clients on and here, it has been tested more and more.

Meaningful connections as mothers? Certainly! Always a sunny, easy ride? Hardly ever! Our children are in reality ministers to our soul's growth. They have a higher calling then whatever their careers turn out to be. We have to let our little ministers to their very big work. Even if we, their mothers, are the greatest work they came to transform.

©2009 Laura Berman Fortgang, author of The Little Book on Meaning

Author Bio
Laura Berman Fortgang, author of The Little Book on Meaning: Why We Crave It, How We Create It, is a nationally renowned speaker and life coach, helping individuals, small businesses, and corporations forge new directions and weather change. Recently ordained as an interfaith minister, she lives in Montclair, New Jersey.


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Learn more about The Little Book on Meaning at http://www.thelittlebookonmeaning.com/

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/religion/the-secrets-unfold-with-riddles-and-rhymes.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/religion/the-secrets-unfold-with-riddles-and-rhymes.html Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:43:22 -0500
Many life experiences help to take us out of our everyday thoughts and pave the way toward more spiritual realms. I can sit and weep watching the Disney movie Pocahontas. I can cry tears of joy watching Pooh's Heffalump Movie. These movies are for kids, but are we not all kids at heart? And if we become too sophisticated to enjoy a beautiful children's story, have we lost something? My daughter Jennifer is forty-two years old and a dedicated Disney fan: check out www.brokehoedown.com. She and our grandson have visited Disney parks around the world, and I am not sure if these trips are mostly for my grandson or my adult daughter. As a woman in my sixties, a trip to Walt Disney World takes me outside of myself and away from ordinary, everyday thoughts. Disney creates an environment where we can let our imaginations run free. Obviously Walt Disney World is not a spiritual site, but when I think about what it takes in order for most of us to let go of our structured thinking and our reasoning minds, the theme park is a great place to go to relax the mind. When I am at Walt Disney World, I get in touch with feelings of love and beauty. I feel empowered and feel that anything one can imagine is possible. It is odd, but Walt Disney's Tinkerbell may take me closer to the truth than many scientific theories can.

It is in letting go that we can receive from the world of the spirit. And that is why we receive many messages in riddles and rhymes: because these messages require us to venture outside our ordinary, everyday thoughts in order to understand them. Riddles and rhymes, stories and songs are great teachers.

It is in letting go that we can receive from the world of the spirit. And that is why we receive many messages in riddles and rhymes: because these messages require us to venture outside our ordinary, everyday thoughts in order to understand them. Riddles and rhymes, stories and songs are great teachers.

The above is an excerpt from the book Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World by Carole Lynne. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Copyright © 2009 Carole Lynne, author of Book Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World

Reprinted with permission from Red Wheel/Weiser LLC., Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World by Carole Lynne is available wherever books are sold or directly from the publisher at 1-800-423-7087 or www.weiserbooks.com

Author Bio
Carole Lynne is the author of Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World. She is also the author of the award winning book Consult Your Inner Psychic, and How to Get a Good Reading From a Psychic Medium.


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To learn more about Carole Lynne visit www.carolelynnecosmicconnection.com or www.carolelynne.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/religion/spiritual-experience-is-for-everyone-communicate-comfortably-with-the-god-of-your-understanding.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/religion/spiritual-experience-is-for-everyone-communicate-comfortably-with-the-god-of-your-understanding.html Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:29:22 -0500
Why do so many people doubt their direct spiritual experiences with the God of their understanding? As you become more comfortable with your relationship to the Divine, you will be of more service to yourself and others. You will also stop giving your imagination credit for your Divine communications!

Let's take a look at how to know when God is speaking to us and how to benefit from our communications.

* Whatever the Name the Light is the Same

We all have different names for the power greater than ourselves: we use the names God, The Divine, Lord, Beloved, Spirit, Great Spirit, Creator, Infinite Intelligence and Infinite Spirit. No matter what name we use, the power of light that we are communicating with does not change. The God of our understanding is there for each and every one of us no matter what our race, religion, creed, financial status, gender or sexual preference may be. Have you ever been in a family where Grandma was called Granny, Nana or Judy by different members of the family? No matter what name you knew her by, she was the same person and she loved all of you.

As you will see, I am using many names of the power greater than ourselves.

Whatever the Name: Know that God is there for you, no matter who you are.

* Divine Communication is Positive

Know that as you talk to the God of your understanding, your experiences should be positive. As you open up to the inner voice that is the birthright of every person, you will receive guidance that will help you in everything you do. Some people are afraid that if they open up to the spiritual realms, they will come into contact with so called “evil spirits.” But it often turns out that people who imagine they are seeing evil spirits are looking for the kind of sensationalism associated with so called “haunted houses” and dark spooky places. They may complain about the negative emotions they are feeling and refusing to acknowledge that they are looking for these negative experiences. If you focus on positive living, your experiences with spiritual realms will be positive and will enrich your life. Always remember that "Like Attracts Like.” Send out positive energy and you will receive positive energy.

* Let Your Visions Speak to You

Spirit speaks to us in many ways: through dreams, visions while we are awake, and through gut feelings that we have about what to do and what not to do. We often do not realize we are having Divine communications and instead give our imaginations the credit (or perhaps the blame) for creating such incredible visions of truth.

A woman named Heidi was in deep grief after her mother passed into eternal life. A few days after the funeral, Heidi was sitting at the breakfast table, and the spirit of her mother appeared to her. Heidi was fortunate, because she did not dismiss her experience as imaginary. She received incredible healing from the vision of her mother. This was a Divine gift Heidi received and she gave thanks.

We can all have incredible spiritual experiences if we remain open and realize that the God of our understanding can communicate in many ways. In this case, God sent Heidi a communication from the spirit of her mother.

* If They Doubt, It's Their Problem

When we have spiritual experiences we want to jump for joy and tell all our friends and relatives. Sometimes they do not understand and we feel defeated. In some cases, those who doubt us can make us doubt ourselves. If you want to walk the spiritual path, let the doubters have their opinions without letting them spoil your wonderful and evolving relationship to the Divine.

* Free to Change Your Mind

Divine Consciousness does not care if you change your mind. Your conversations with God are an ongoing relationship. As you evolve you may first perceive of God as an old man who sits up in heaven and directs your every move. At another time you may see God in the form of angels or spiritual guides. You may receive God's message through channeling the ascended masters. God is God, no matter how you are receiving Divine love.

You are free to change your mind about your life: what you want to do and who you want to be with. God does not mind because as you evolve and learn you are going to change. And as God helps you grow, you also give back. Have you ever considered that as you come up with new ideas, perhaps God learns from you? We all need to ponder the possibility that as we evolve as human beings, God also evolves.

* Fear is not the answer, Worry is not the answer. Love is the answer.

Let us pray together for love. Let us banish fear and worry from our lives. As we live in love and gratitude each day, our lives will improve. As we become more humble, and less ego-centered, life will take on a radiance never known before. Love will pour from our hearts and others will benefit. We will be able to solve the problems of our troubled world and bring messages of love, hope and peace.

This has been said before over and over again, because it is worth saying. The truth is the truth is the truth and like the Divine, truth does not change.

©2009 Carole Lynne, author of Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World

Author Bio
Carole Lynne is the author of Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World. She is also the author of the award winning book Consult Your Inner Psychic, and How to Get a Good Reading From a Psychic Medium.

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To learn more about Carole Lynne visit www.carolelynnecosmicconnection.com or www.carolelynne.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/religion/chapter-7-a-little-girl-makes-a-deal-with-god.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/religion/chapter-7-a-little-girl-makes-a-deal-with-god.html Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:08:59 -0500
While, as a child, I could feel the love of God and Jesus in my heart, I had a bit of a problem with the teaching that those who were not Christians would go to hell at the end of their human lives. My father was Jewish, as were my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins on my father's side. I found it hard to believe that my mother's Christian side of the family had a chance to go to heaven, but my father's family did not. This was not a problem that I felt comfortable discussing with either of my parents, so I took this problem to God. After all, he should know, as these were supposedly his rules.

God and I got along just fine, and I felt protected and loved. I knelt by my bed often and talked to God about all that went on. The beauty of this relationship sustained me through many family challenges, and I treasured my time with God. However, I did not resolve my confusion about heaven and hell. I received no answers or explanations and continued to wonder how God, whose presence I felt, could ever do anything but help people when they died -- no matter who they were.

When it came time for my Christian confirmation, I stood before the pastor of our church and the congregation to repeat my vows. As I did so, I had my fingers crossed behind my back. As I repeated the vows out loud, I had my own inner and silent conversation with God. I said, "While I am repeating these vows, I need you to know that I do not believe all that I am saying. I believe in you, God, but I do not believe in all that I have been taught. I feel that somehow those around me do not have the real story about who you are. I am committing myself to you, God, as I am being confirmed today, but I am not confirming to you or to myself that I believe all of the words I am repeating and ways of thinking about you that I have been taught."

Looking back on this early childhood spiritual experience, I am aware of how important it was for me, a child of about thirteen, to be truthful to God. I didn't mind repeating these vows, but I did not want to lie to God, because I knew that it was God who was supreme and not the church. I was not angry at the church. I just felt that the leaders of the Presbyterian churches were very well-meaning people who had not gotten it right as far as God and heaven were concerned. I kept these views to myself for a very long time.

A Deal Is Made
One day, on a beautiful spring morning in church, I made an important deal with God. While sitting on the choir bench waiting to sing with the choir, I saw a sphere of light flood the church -- light that I felt others did not see and that was directed right at me. It was as if I left my physical body and my spirit merged with that sphere of light for a conversation with God. I was told that I was being called to help others during my life on earth. As a young teenage musician and actress, I protested and told God that I wanted to be on the stage. I wanted to go into show business. God listened in the calm manner that I had come to expect and then told me, "OK, Carole, for the first half of your adult life you will be a performer and do all the things you want to do. Then in the second half of your adult life you will work for me." That sounded extremely reasonable, and so after thinking about it for a few minutes, I agreed, and a spiritual deal was made.

A Middle-Aged Woman Keeps the Bargain
God kept his part of the deal and paved the way for my work as a musician during my twenties, thirties, and forties. I had a great time working as a singer/dancer on TV shows produced in Manhattan, being part of Equity summer stock companies, working as a singer on TV and radio commercials, and working as a singer/guitarist in many clubs in New York, California, and Massachusetts. I also had a busy practice coaching singers and public speakers.

It was during my forties and early fifties that I began to have clear visions of Spirit, started channeling, and joined a Spiritualist church. My ability to see those who have passed over came on very quickly, and before I knew it, I was working on Spiritualist platforms, doing demonstrations of spirit communication. My professional life began to change; I needed to stop performing in concerts and stop coaching musicians and public speakers in order to have time to do readings and demonstrations. I kept my bargain with God.

As I look back, I wonder if I would have had visions of Spirit earlier in my life if I had not made that bargain with God. As a child, I had agreed that while I was willing to work for God in whatever way God had in mind, I wanted to be a performer first. Perhaps God actually kept visions of spirits from me until I had the opportunity to work as a musician and was ready to take on the responsibility of being a psychic medium. As I realized I was a psychic medium, I knew it was going to be a huge responsibility -- a spiritual path, quite frankly -- that I would not have been mature enough to cope with when I was younger.

The above is an excerpt from the book Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World by Carole Lynne. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Copyright © 2009 Carole Lynne, author of Book Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World

Reprinted with permission from Red Wheel/Weiser LLC., Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World by Carole Lynne is available wherever books are sold or directly from the publisher at 1-800-423-7087 or www.weiserbooks.com
Author Bio
Carole Lynne is the author of Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World. She is also the author of the award winning book Consult Your Inner Psychic, and How to Get a Good Reading From a Psychic Medium.

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To learn more about Carole Lynne visit www.carolelynnecosmicconnection.com or www.carolelynne.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>