Subjects in the Labels List (Labels Which Begin with the Letter A, range aa to al)

             This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letter A. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by using the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

            a capella, A Contract with God, AAR, Aaron, abandonment of position, abba, abduction, ability, Abingdon Press, abjad, Abner, abortion, Abraham, Abraham Lincoln, Abram, Absalom Jones, absolute truth, abuse of power, academics, Academy Awards, acoustics, acrobatics, acrostics, acting, action figures, activism, actor, actress, Acts, Acts of the Apostles, AD, Adam and Eve, addiction to pornography, adolescents, Adolf Hitler, Adonai, Adoniram Judson, adoption, adoptionism, Adrian Peterson, Adrienne Barbeau, adultery, adults, advertisements, advice, aeronautics, affective disorders, Affirmation Declaration, Africa, African American, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Afrikaans, afterlife, age, aging, agnostic, agnosticism, Agrippa, Ahab, Ahaz, Ahaziah, Ahmadinejad, AI, AIDS, Air Force, airline, airplane, Akiane, Akira Kurosawa, Akkadia, Al Sharpton, al- Qaida, Alabama, Alabama A&M University, Alabama football, Alabama State University, Alabaster Box, Alaric, Alaska, Albania, Albanian, Albert Einstein, Albert Pujols, alcohol, Alcoholics Anonymous, Aldous Huxley, Aleister Crowley, alternate spiritualities, Alexander, Alexander Campbell, Alexander Kazembek, Alexander the Great, Alexandria, Alfred the Great, Algeria, Algonquian, Alice Cooper, alienation, Alistair Crowley, Allah, allegory, alligator, Alon Nil, and alphabet.

Find a Penny

 

Find a penny and pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck. I heard this chant many times as a child in the southern portion of the United States but it is not restricted to the American South.

            The “lucky Penny” superstition has been known for thousands of years. Ancient peoples, just like many moderns, often believed in the power inherent in coins. Finding a coin was considered to be a sign of good luck, or of coming prosperity, because metals were considered to represent wealth and protection.

            Making a wish after throwing a coin into a fountain may have originated as giving a valuable offering to water deities.

            “A penny for your thoughts” carries the idea that your thoughts are valuable because the coin has value.

            After a coin flip, a coin landing with its head-side up (obverse) is considered to be a positive sign. A coin with the tails-side up (reverse) is considered to be negative. Some people will not pick up a coin from the street if the coin is in the tails up position. In American football, the referee determines first possession of the ball by the use of a coin flip.

            This may seem like a trivial and harmless holdover of an ancient superstition. Most people would view it in this way and, for the most part, it is. The children gleefully throwing coins into the fountain outside a restaurant and making a wish are totally innocent. Most adults have no idea of the origins of the superstition and have not given it a single thought, and probably never will. In its origins it is a demonstration of the use of Magick.

            Magick, as opposed to harmless stage magic (where you do not actually see what you think you see) is an ancient concept. The actual modern word, Magick, seems to have been originated by Aleister Crowley, an utterly evil and awful man who described himself as The Great Beast. His most famous quotation is “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”

            Magick is the intentional attempt to control reality by performing certain actions or saying certain words. It is an attempt to impose one’s will on the universe. It is an assertion of self as the master. If you gave them a coin, the water deities were obligated to grant you a wish. If you rubbed the lamp, the genie was your slave. If you said the correct words in the correct sequence, a demon could be forced to obey you.

            Simony is the practice of buying or selling objects held to be religiously sacred. It does not include the selling of modern Christian merchandise which, of itself, is not inherently holy or sacred.  Simony would be the selling, for personal profit, of materials or items or powers used in the official functions of the church. The word originates from Acts 8:18-24, where a magician, Simon Magus, offered money to Peter in an attempt to purchase the power to perform miracles. Peter angrily rejected Simon’s offer of money.

            The Bible clearly says that we are to avoid the intentional use of magic and the occult. Deuteronomy 18:10-11, 18:2; Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31, 20:6,27; Isaiah 19:1-4; Ezekiel 13:20-21; 2 Kings 21:6; Revelation 21:8.

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            Your innocent child can probably still enjoy throwing a few coins into a fountain.

Who is Ricardo Montalban?

In1993, actor Ricardo Montalban received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild.  Here is part of what he said about the progression of an actor’s career.

“Who is Ricardo Montalban?
Get me Ricardo Montalban,
Get me a Ricardo Montalban type.
Get me a young Ricardo Montalban.
Who is Ricardo Montalban?”

First class actor that Montalban was, he will be remembered in two hundred years only by film academics.  Film greats such as John Barrymore,  Louise Brooks, and Claude Rains are now almost entirely forgotten.  The memory of other celebrities such as Ceelo Green, Kim Kardashian, and even Honey Boo Boo will be even shorter.

Being politically and historically important are no guarantee of being remembered.  How many know the stories of Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni tribe, or of the Trung Sisters?

Important religious leaders, even the founders of religions, fare no better.  How many non-Bahais can name the founder of that religion?   Who was Father Divine, or Anton Sandor LaVey, or Sidney Rigdon, or George Gurdjieff, or Elizabeth Claire Prophet, or Adoniram Judson, or Aleister Crowley, or Aimee Semple McPherson?

Entire cultures have been forgotten.  Until the ruins of their capital city were discovered in Turkey in 1871, no one believed that the Hittite Empire mentioned in the Bible really existed.

Jesus of Nazareth was a simple carpenter from a dusty little backwater town.  If you say His name almost anywhere in the world you may not find any of His followers, but you can be sure that someone will at least have heard His name.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Edward Crowley: (b. ca. 1830, England – d. 1887) Brewer.  Originally a Quaker, he became a traveling Exclusive Brethren preacher.  His son, Aleister, became the Thelemite occultist known as “The Great Beast 666,” and “the wickedest man in the world.”

Theodore of Tarsus: (b. 602, Turkey – d. 690; aka: Theodore of Canterbury)  8^th Archbishop of Canterbury.

Fulbert  Youlou: (b. 1917, Congo – d. 1972) Congolese Roman Catholic priest, nationalist leader, and politician.  1^st President of the Republic of the Congo.  He lost power after three days of street riots in 1963.

Elpidio Rivera Quirino: (b. 1890, Philippines –d. 1956)  President of the Philippines 1948-1953.  Roman Catholic.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson: (b. 1830, Massachusetts, USA – d. 1886) Reclusive American poet who wrote over 1800 poems.

Book Comment: New Religions

     An extremely interesting book you may wish to check out from your local library is New Religions. A Guide, edited by Christopher Partridge.  This is a knowledgeable guide to the new 

religious philosophies which sprung up in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.  You may never have heard of George Gurdjieff, Anton LaVey, Helena Blavatsky, or Alistair Crowley, but each of them had a profound influence upon the development of Twentieth Century history.  These and many other religious figures are profiled.

Partridge, Christopher, ed., New Religions. A Guide.  New Religions, Movements, Sects, and Alternative Spiritualities (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).