40 websites that will make you cleverer right now The indexed web contains an incredible 14 billion pages. But only a tiny fraction help you improve your brain power. Here are 40 of the best. whizzpast.com – Learn about our awe inspiring past all in one wonderful place. khanacademy.org – Watch thousands of micro-lectures on topics ranging from history and medicine to chemistry and computer science. freerice.com – Help end world hunger by correctly answering multiple-choice quizzes on a wide variety of subjects. artofmanliness.com – Blog/site dedicated to all things manly, great for learning life skills and good insights. unplugthetv.com – Randomly selects an educational video for you to watch. coursera.org – An educational site that works with universities to get their courses on the Internet, free for you to use. mentalfloss.com – Interesting articles guaranteed to make you smile and get you thinking. feelgoodwardrobe.com – Find out how the world of fashion really works and what you can do to combat it. lifehacker.com – Learn to hack life!
The Murder of Mary Magdalene and the Hidden Encryption in Art The Murder of Mary Magdalene and the Hidden Encryption in Art by Dan Green The mysterious biblical figure of Mary Magdalene received a high profile boost to the uninitiated courtesy of Dan Brown’s blockbuster ‘The Da Vinci Code’, elevating her status even higher than when in 1969 the Catholic Church decided to pronounce her a Saint – quite an improvement from their previous character assassination that had assured her image for the previous centuries as being that of a harlot. In Brown’s book and movie Mary was the partner of the biblical Jesus and bore him a child, Sarah, thus the dawning of a royal bloodline. Now cast into the role of a Hercule Poirot style forensic detective, I will try to explain how the evidence began to unfold. A portrayal of Mary Magdalene Mourners at the tomb of the assassinated Benazir Bhutto However I remained troubled by one piece of evidence that had unexpectedly presented itself along the way, originally noticed by an ex-BBC correspondent. Click to enlarge
Early Christianity Early Christianity is the period of Christianity preceding the First Council of Nicaea in 325. It is typically divided into the Apostolic Age and the Ante-Nicene Period (from the Apostolic Age until Nicea). History[edit] During the Ante-Nicene period following the Apostolic Age, a great diversity of views emerged simultaneously with strong unifying characteristics lacking in the apostolic period. According to Will Durant, the Christian Church prevailed over Paganism because it offered a much more attractive doctrine and because the church leaders addressed human needs better than their rivals.[8] Practices[edit] From the writings of early Christians, historians have tried to piece together an understanding of various early Christian practices including worship services, customs and observances. Baptism[edit] Early Christian beliefs regarding baptism probably predate the New Testament writings. The 3rd century evidence is clearer, with both Origen[14] and Cyprian advocating the practice.
Early Christian Writings: New Testament, Apocrypha, Gnostics, Ch Maya Once considered an unsolvable enigma, recent advances in the decipherment of the Maya writing system has not only shed light on the mechanics of the script, but also on the socio-political, artistic, and historical aspects of Maya civilization. As a whole, the Maya people created the longest lasting civilization of the New World. It became distinguishable from other early farming cultures of Mesoamerica in the middle of the first millenium BCE, when the first great Maya cities were constructed. Their culture endured through changes, wars, and disasters until it was suppressed by the Spanish conquest in the 16th and 17th centuries. General Overview The Maya hieroglypic writing is arguably one of the most visually striking writing systems of the world. While we're on the subject of what the Maya could "say", let's talk about Maya languages. The visual construction of Maya glyphs is very interesting. The order to read Maya glyphs is also not as straightforward as it would seem. Syllabary
The Gnostic World View: A Brief Summary of Gnosticism Gnosis Archive | Library | Bookstore | Index | Web Lectures | Ecclesia Gnostica | Gnostic Society GNOSTICISM IS THE TEACHING based on Gnosis, the knowledge of transcendence arrived at by way of interior, intuitive means. Although Gnosticism thus rests on personal religious experience, it is a mistake to assume all such experience results in Gnostic recognitions. It is nearer the truth to say that Gnosticism expresses a specific religious experience, an experience that does not lend itself to the language of theology or philosophy, but which is instead closely affinitized to, and expresses itself through, the medium of myth. Indeed, one finds that most Gnostic scriptures take the forms of myths. In the following summary, we will attempt to encapsulate in prose what the Gnostic myths express in their distinctively poetic and imaginative language. The Cosmos All religious traditions acknowledge that the world is imperfect. Deity The Human Being Salvation Conduct Destiny Conclusion + Stephan A.
The Three Love Mantras that Open Your Heart By Marci Shimoff The first time I fell in love I couldn’t believe what happened to the world. The sky had never been that blue before! We’ve all been there, haven’t we? That was the question I set out to answer in my latest book, Love for No Reason. Three Love Mantras that Open Your Heart Love Mantras – #1: Love is Who We Are. Instead of walking around with a little cup, begging for a few drops of love from others, recognize that you’re the huge ocean of love. Ten Mysterious Undeciphered Codes and Inscriptions From Neolithic tablets containing the oldest known system of writing, to a series of letters scrawled on the back of a dead man’s book, some of the most legendary undeciphered codes and texts remain a challenge for even the world’s best cryptographers, code breakers, and linguists. Yet unravelling these mysterious puzzles remains as important as ever, since many of these enigmatic inscriptions could hold the keys to understanding civilizations that have long since faded into the pages of history. Here we feature ten of the most fascinating undeciphered codes and inscriptions throughout history. The enigma of the Shugborough Inscription In the grounds of Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire, England, sits an 18th-Century monument known as the Shepherd’s Monument, which was commissioned by Thomas Anson, a member of the British Parliament, and crafted sometime between 1748 and 1763 by Flemish sculptor Peter Schee. The Mysteries Trapped Within Mayan Hieroglyphs The indecipherable Rohonc Codex
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa Life[edit] Agrippa was born in Cologne on 15 September 1486. In 1512, he taught at the University of Dole in the Free County of Burgundy, lecturing on Johann Reuchlin's De verbo mirifico; as a result, Agrippa was denounced, behind his back, as a "Judaizing heretic". Agrippa's vitriolic response many months later did not endear him to the University. In 1510, Agrippa studied briefly with Johannes Trithemius, and Agrippa sent him an early draft of his masterpiece, De occulta philosophia libri tres, a kind of summa of early modern occult thought. During his wandering life in Germany, France, and Italy, Agrippa worked as a theologian, physician, legal expert, and soldier. No evidence exists that Agrippa was seriously accused, much less persecuted, for his interest in or practice of magical or occult arts during his lifetime, apart from losing several positions. In the Third Book of Occult Philosophy, Agrippa concludes with:[2] Works[edit] Woodcut print portrait of Agrippa See also[edit]
How To: Change Your Karma We hear people talking about having good or bad Karma all the time but what really is Karma? Does it affect my soul? How can I change my Karma? First things first, What is Karma? kar·ma noun (in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.informal destiny or fate, following as effect from cause. Check out this awesome video by Shunyamurti from the Sat Yoga Institute about Karma and how we change our Karma. Karma is attached to our EGO. When we are in a deep state of meditation you can access these higher levels of consciousness and change your Karma if you wanted to. How can we change it from our current state of consciousness? There are two main ways to change our Karma here on earth. 1. When you are in meditation focus on sending love to everyone and everything in existence. 2. What do you think about Karma? Thank you for reading, Kirsten Team Spirit
Ancient Symbols, meanings of symbols from Ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Greek, etc. Religious symbolism This article is about symbolism in religion. See religious symbols for graphical symbols. See United States Department of Veterans Affairs emblems for headstones and markers for such symbols as used by that organization. Religious symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork, events, or natural phenomena, by a religion.[citation needed] Religions[who?] view religious texts, rituals, and works of art as symbols of compelling ideas or ideals. See also[edit] References[edit] External links[edit] United States Veteran's Administration approved religious symbols for graves
How to be Anything and Everything in Existence It’s not as hard as you might think to see yourself as everyone and everything all around you. In truth, there is no separation. The appearance of individuality and isolated-ness comes from the filters we’ve set up inside the left hemispheres of our brains, as i’m sure if you’ve seen Jill Taylor describe it, when that part of the brain goes away, those laws of separation goes away with it. It’s actually quite remarkable, as the awareness of the interconnectedness flows through you to the depth and core of who You really are, you begin to see and recognize the Truth in it, and the old ideas of the way things are begin to break down. So its really working in both directions. The deeper you go into each other, the more the programs break down. You are a part of everything, you are One with everything, and everything you observe and experience in your external reality is a reflection and a part of what is inside you.