Combination of poet, magus, teacher, and scientist December 22, 2008
Posted by egabriel in History of Magic.Tags: ancient, combination, educations, gifts, humanity, individuals, influence, knowledge, literature, magicians, magus, marvelous, poet, powers, practitioners, prophecy, scientist, stories, Supernatural, teacher, weather
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Empedocles too has ascribed to him marvelous powers associated with later magicians. This guy was definitely touched by gods, if you know what I mean. In ancient Greek stories we learn that is, he is able to heal the sick, rejuvenate the old, to influence the weather and summon the dead. Empedocles was a combination of poet, magus, teacher, and scientist. Since much of the acquired knowledge of individuals like Pythagoras or Empedocles was somewhat mysterious even to those with a rudimentary educations, so such might be associated with magic or at least with the learning of a Magus.
After Empedocles, the scale of magical gifts in exceptional individuals shrinks in the literature. Individuals might have the gift of healing, or the gift of prophecy, but are not usually credited with a wide range of supernatural powers that Orpheus, Pythagoras and Empedocles have. Plato even tells us that he takes healers, prophets and sorcerers for granted. He mentions that these practitioners existed in Athens, and they had to be reckoned with and controlled by laws, but one should not be afraid of them, their powers are real, but they themselves represent a rather low order of humanity.
Americans believe in the existence of ghosts September 3, 2008
Posted by egabriel in Supernatural.Tags: anomalous, apparitions, cultures, existence, folktales, ghost, ghosts, literature, murderer, nations, phenomenon, popular, revenge, shade, stories, various, works
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Ghosts are a controversial anomalous phenomenon. Gallup organization claimed in 2005, that more than one third of Americans believe in the existence of ghosts. Ghosts are prominent in the popular cultures of various nations. The ghost story is ubiquitous across all cultures from oral folktales to works of literature.
Perhaps the most recognizable ghost in English literature is the shade of Hamlet’s father in a famous Shakespeare play. In Hamlet, it is the ghost that encourages the title character to investigate his “murder most foul” and seek revenge upon King Claudius, the suspected murderer of Hamlet’s father.
The next most famous apparitions, in my opinion, are the Dickens’s ghosts of A Christmas Carol, where the ghost of Jacob Marley, The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come help Ebeneezer Scrooge see the error of his ways.
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What do you know about Soul September 3, 2008
Posted by egabriel in Supernatural.Tags: activities, apparition, apparitions, deatg, facts, footsteps, ghost, ghosts, mysterious, paranormal, phenomenon, poltergeist, soul, sounds, spirit, spirits, stories, voices
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What do you know about Soul, about Death, about mysterious spirits? What do you know about Ghosts? When you watch movies, read books or have a job in a place like mortuary or any other funeral parlor, or even funeral home directory know many horrible stories about …
By the way, my friend from funeral home directory shared some interesting facts about ghosts with me. A ghost is defined as the apparition of a deceased person, frequently similar in appearance to that person, and usually encountered in places she or he frequented, or in association with the person’s former belongings. The word “ghost” may also refer to the spirit or soul of a deceased person, or to any spirit or demon.
Ghosts are often associated with hauntings, which is regular occurrence of paranormal phenomena associated with a particular locality, especially a building, and usually attributed to the activities of a discarnate entity. The the phenomena may include apparitions, poltergeist disturbances, cold drafts, and sounds of footsteps and voices.
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