Foods of Life
Food is comforting, nourishing, and healing. Food often replaces currency and continues to be used in many religious rituals. But you already know that! Even the ancient tradition of “breaking bread” with guests indicated friendship and/or truce....Sacred Spices
It’s so sad! Long ago, herbs and spices were sacred. They were used in religious ceremonies and for healing. Now, they have been relegated to the tedious task of seasoning our food and beverages. Their mysterious, spiritual, and supernatural power has been all...Tree of Life
A Summer of Symbolism continues… Will the real Tree of Life please wave your branches! Did you know that almost every culture has its own Tree of Life. Trees are symbolic. They provide food for eating and wood for making life’s necessities ( shelter,...Fruit of the Gods
A Summer of Symbolism continues… Sweet. Delicious. Symbolic? You know it. Whether you’re enjoying a “fun” novel or slogging through a classic, it sure helps to know the symbolism behind the produce! Fruit is laden with sin, sexuality and...Bugs, Insects, & Crawlies
I don’t want them in my house, on the dog, or anywhere near me. Flying, crawling or hopping, I was never much of an amateur Entomologist. However, as one who teaches literary analysis to pay the rent, I do have my students look into the symbolism of any creepy...Attack of the Clutter
Stuff–knick knacks, doodads, duplicates, gadgets, equipment, gear, junk–multiplies like rabbits! Before you know it–BAM–you’ve got clutter! One day you look around the casa and think, Yikes! Working and writing have left no time to manage...Edith Hamilton
This week’s spotlight on Fab Female Friday is a scholar and one of the foremost women Classicists. (That’s one who has studied the Greek/Roman Greats like Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, Ovid, and Homer.) (And you think your thoughts are deep?!) Her...Rainforest Facts
Going…going… Long ago, rainforests covered about 14% of the earth. Now? Only 6% remains 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest More than half of the world’s estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects...Huaorani: Amazonian Tribe
Their name means “the people” and they are a remote tribe of about 3000, their population spread over 28 communities deep in the Ecuadorian jungles. As deforestation continues encroaching upon their home, polluting the rivers and destroying their way of...Ecuador’s Mythological Creatures
Spooks, goblins, and demons! Every culture has them! Creepy and suspicious how the myths of so many counties and cultures are so very similar. Creatures from the Shadow World, Sacred Avatars, Nature Spirits, Hybrid Monsters…they’re out there. Since THE...Mass Psychogenic Illness
AKA, MASS HYSTERIA! What is MPI? It’s a mysterious– and still unknown– psychological illness that mysteriously manifests in a group of people! And it spreads quickly! The most recent case was in 2012 and involved a group of teens at a high school in...Masdigga
Humans are a psychotic bunch! Many of us are stressed and frantic. Oh, lucky and blessed are the rare individuals who possess a Zen-like demeanor and state of being. Have humans always been stressed-out? You know it! Even THOUSANDS of years ago! Yup! There’s...Swimsuit Sorrows
“You got mail from Victoria’s Secret!” I shout to my daughter as I wave a small envelope. She bounds down the stairs and swipes it from my hands. “Oh! It’s my new bikini!” Bikini? I’m holding a small flat envelope in my hands....5th Amendment–Family Style
Taking the 5th! Pleading the 5th amendment is useful if you’re a politico or scapegoat or tipster sitting in the Hot Seat! While driving to work, I listened as the radio broadcast a government employee invoking the 5th and I thought, “Well, that came in...
Review excerpt from SHADE TREE BOOK REVIEWS: recommend Merkabah as a must read, especially for the para-normal, ancient history, thriller seeker, audience, and anyone who wants a novel that seems to turn the pages for you as you dive between the covers and into the thick of the story with Daphne and S.J.
Review excerpt from SHADE TREE BOOK REVIEWS: As with any great first novel in a series, it left me panting and begging for more. The second novel in the series, The Merkabah Deception utilized The Recruit as a diving platform to send me deep into the muck and mire of the ancient gods and demons ongoing battle of the spiritual world.
Review excerpt from SHADE TREE BOOK REVIEWS: The story between Daphne, the introverted doctoral candidate/college professor, and S. J., the demi-god/Nephilim heats to a boil as the “Watchers” seem to become more involved in the love affair between a human and a Watcher. This is only the sideline to the action-filled storyline as Daphne’s powers as a Merkabah continue to increase and she continues to fight the demons that are co-habiting earth with us mere earthlings.
