Who would think of this...From the Daily Mail:

"Essential work on planned reservoirs in Zimbabwe has stopped because mermaids have been hounding workers away, according to the country's Water Resources Minister.

Samuel Sipepa Nkomo told a Zimbabwean parliamentary committee that terrified workers are refusing to return to the sites, near the towns of Gokwe and Mutare.

Minister Nkomo said the only way to solve the problem was to brew traditional beer and carry out any rites to appease the spirits.

'All the officers I have sent have vowed not to go back there', Minister Nkomo was reported as saying in Zimbabwe's state-approved Herald newspaper.

Mermaids are mythological water creatures with a female body twinned with the tail of a fish.
Opinion about the existence of mermaids varies throughout Zimbabwe - some people are skeptical, but some firmly believe that mermaids exist in Zimbabwe.

Dating back centuries, many mermaid stories continue to make their rounds in Zimbabwe.

One tale says mermaids carry humans underwater, but if there is a public outcry their relatives might never see them again.

But another tale suggests victims can return as spirit mediums if their disappearance is not mourned.

The senior politician said that mermaids were also present in other reservoirs.
'We even hired whites thinking that our boys did not want to work but they also returned saying they would not return to work there again,' he added.

The two, long overdue reservoirs are considered essential if Zimbabwe is provide adequate water to its population and to boost its agricultural production.

Having once been the 'bread basket' of Southern Africa, the country's farms have been laid low by lack of faith in government policy.

From 2000, President Robert Mugabe expropriated some 4,000 white owned farms and gave them to politically connected blacks.Partly as a result, agricultural production is this year forecast to be at its second lowest level since Zimbabwe achieved independence from Britain in 1980.

The belief in mermaids and other mythical creatures is widespread in the country, where many people combine a Christian faith with traditional beliefs.

Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo said the government wants to give the population the water it needs, but cannot do so until the rituals are performed and necessary repairs can be carried out.
Three quarters of Zimbabwe's population live on less than one US dollar a day." - dailymail

Based on his communications, he's found certain commonalities when people crossover-- there's no pain when a spirit leaves the body, they are aware of being outside the body, and are greeted by loved ones who have already passed over. The deceased appear solid, but are vibrating in a higher frequency dimension, and often choose to represent themselves at a younger age than when they died, he continued.
\When spirits first pass over they enter the astral world, where they encounter lakes, gardens, and houses, said Van Praagh, adding that colors are more vivid, there's no nighttime, and everything a person could want is there. However, this rean, and eventually spirits move on to a higher level, he explained. Many of the communications he's received from spirits have to do with love and fear, and regrets over choices they made while alive. "I should have told my family I loved them; I shouldn't have done that; I should have believed in myself more," are typical of spirits' laments.

He also addressed why the scientific community continues to dismiss evidence for life after death. Science has been unable to measure phenomena outside the physical realm, yet quantum physics is getting closer to quantifying consciousness and what was previously unseen, and Van Praagh believes scientific views are beginning to change. To communicate with the deceased, he suggested developing a meditation practice, which can make the mind more receptive, and also being open to receiving messages in the dream state

 Independent researcher Pat Chouinard presented information and theories about an ancient race of giants, as well as lost civilizations and their artifacts. There are numerous cross-cultural references to giants, as well as creation myths that involved them. "I think they were a highly advanced race," and they were said to have a lifespan of hundreds of years, he noted. Mesopotamia and Atlantis were not the first civilizations, "I believe there were hundreds, thousands of civilizations going back to a very very remote and early time in our history," he said. Sanskrit writings of India refer to civilizations that existed hundreds of thousands of years ago, "and I think the giants go back to this time," he continued

One of the mysteries he's explored concerns the finding of ancient out-of-place Caucasians in such countries as New Guinea, China, and Japan, as well as in North America, far before the Europeans had arrived. Some of these were described as "red haired giants," and the Native Americans have myths about light-skinned giants, called the 'Bright White God,' and Quetzalcoatl, he detailed. Chouinard suspects that this race, which might have been as tall as 15-18 ft., gradually died out from epidemics or other factors.

He talked about the demise of the Atlantean civilization, suggesting that primitive groups that co-exis
as it was fading, picked up some remnants of their advancements, and eventually rose up to become the historic civilizations that we know from ancient history. Chouinard also spoke about ancient megalithic structures like Gobekli Tepe and Baalbek, as well as the anomalous discovery of the " X Woman of Siberia," in which a finger bone was found that came from a separate, unknown evolutionary line that dated back some 50,000 years.
Picture of Giants Playground from Dreamtimes.com

A fortune teller who uses asparagus to predict the future has revealed her top tips for 2012 - including two Royal births and British glory at the Olympics.

Mystic Jemima Packington, 56, claims to be the world’s only 'Asparamancer' and sees the future by tossing the spears into the air and interpreting how they land.

She has made dozens of accurate predictions in recent years, including the demise of Gordon Brown, the credit crunch, and Oscar glory for British film The King’s Speech.

Today she made her predictions for 2012, which include two Royal pregnancies, a change of leadership for one of the UK’s main political parties, the collapse of the Euro and the death of a high-profile British figure.

Jemima, who is originally from Pershore, Worcestershire, but now lives in Bath, Somerset, said: 'It might sound silly to some people but my readings are very accurate

.'I have been doing readings using asparagus since I was eight years old. My great aunt read tea leaves and I have inherited her gift.'

Jemima only uses fresh Worcestershire asparagus grown in the Vale of Evesham - the UK’s main supplier of the vegetable.

She picks a handful of tips, tosses them into the air and 'reads' the shapes they form when they land.
Excitingly, her reading for Royal announcements hinted at babies for newlywed couples Kate and William and Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall.

Jemima said: 'I took another casting for my reading for Royal announcements and the spears fell in the shape of a crown.

'Two smaller spears were pointing towards the crown indicating two visitors - therefore two babies or pregnancies.

'I can only do readings for individuals when they select the asparagus tips so I was not able to read whether one of the pregnancies would be Kate Middleton.'

When she asked the spears to show her what would happen with the Euro financial crisis one of the vegetables ominously broke in half.


Interesting! Picture is from Dreamtime,com.

Psychic Twins (Terry and Linda Jamison)

Terry and Linda Jamison, otherwise known as the Psychic Twins, claim to be the world's most documented psychics. They are most famous for their predictions of the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attacks, the Pentagon attacks, and the May 2000 stock market crash, all made on Art Bell's Coast to Coast AM radio show on November 2,1999.

    Terrorist attack planned for New York, Washington, Boston, Texas and Florida, but most of them will be thwarted.
    Home-grown terrorists target schools.
    Economic growth; no recession; unemployment stays about the same. Major stock correction in Summer.
    Letting go a negative patterns; more acceptance of positive patterns and choices.
    Earthquakes in Mexico, eastern and western China, and in Los Angeles in April.
    More college sex abuse and scandal in the headlines.

Recently noted by Stephen Wagner in About Paranormal:"George Lucas is the creator of the blockbuster movie, Star Wars. Lucas is not conscious of having a near-death experience, yet he behaves as if he'd had one. As a youngster, Lucas was considered a punk-a non-achiever, romantic, unathletic, unassertive, and not studious. According to his father, he was good at only two things: cruising and hanging out. Wanting to race cars seemed to be his only ambition. Then, three days before he was to graduate from high school, without warning or advance-behavior cues, Lucas was involved in a spectacular car crash. For three days he hung between life and death and was hospitalized for two weeks more. About the crash, Lucas stated, "You can't have that kind of experience and not feel that there must be a reason why you're here. I realized I should be spending my time trying to figure out what that reason is and trying to fulfill it."Rock star Ozzy Osbourne "died twice" after a bike accident which left him in a coma for eight days. The accident happened when he hit a pothole which was covered in leaves. It catapulted him over the handlebars and he tumbled down a hill with the bike landing on top of him, crushing his chest. His bodyguard rushed to hisaid and gave him mouth to mouth when he twice stopped breathing. "If it wasn't for Sam I probably wouldn't be here. He had to bring me back to life twice." Ozzy said. He described his confusion he had felt on gradually coming round from his coma. "I didn't know where I was or how long I'd been there. I would drift in and out of consciousness. Other times there would be a white light shining through the darkness, but no f---king angels, no one blowing trumpets and no man in a white beard." Ozzy, who has battled addictions to drink and drugs, said the crash finally made him "grow up.". Ozzy stated, "You are bopping along through life and have your ups and downs, but it is amazing how two or three seconds can totally change your life."

How about this...From Coast to Coast AM.. "Late last month, Iran put on display what it insisted was a captured American stealth drone. At the time, Tehran claimed it brought down the RQ-170 with a sophisticated electronic attack. Nonsense, says one Iranian engineer who claims to have inside knowledge of the drone-nab. The Islamic Republic used force fields and flying saucers to subdue and capture the unmanned aircraft.Meet Mehran Tavakoli Keshe, who purports to be the father of the RQ-170 abduction. In a recent post to his eponymous foundation’s online forums, Keshe claims the Iranians used “advanced space technology” that he pioneered. “The craft has been air-picked-up and been put down on its belly through the use of field forces,” Keshe writes — by which he means force fields. It’s feeling a lot like Tinfoil Tuesday‘The Defense Secretary would like his lightsaber back.’The U.S. has yet to confirm that the drone Iran claims to have is actually the stealthy “Beast of Kandahar,” and the yellow model that Iran has peddled out looks like it’s made out of fondant, like a drone-shaped cake constructed for an episode of Food Network Challenge. Keshe claims that the drone looks as smooth and clean as it does in Iran’s propaganda photos because his force fields intercepted the RQ-170, like a tractor beam would, and deposited it gently to Iranian soil. As summarized by Pure Energy Systems News, Keshe’s technology, part of an “Iranian [flying] saucer program,” harnesses “a fusion reaction that manipulates dark matter, regular matter, and antimatter.”, our weekly round-up of the planet’s most insane conspiracy theories."

An interesting development re Steve Jobs. Most folks know that he postponed treatment for the Cancer but this is an add on. The biography goes on to describe how Jobs tried to combat the cancer using a number of "alternative" treatments. These included a vegan diet, acupuncture, herbal remedies and even, most bizarrely, consulting a psychic. According to the biography after having the surgery in July 2004, Jobs regretted his decision to wait so long."'I really didn't want them to open up my body, so I tried to see if a few other things would work,' he told me years later with a hint of regret," Isaacson writes.... In her eulogy for her brother Steve Jobs, writer Mona Simpson closes with the technology guru's final words: Steve’s final words, hours earlier, were monosyllables, repeated three times..." Before embarking, he’d looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life’s partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them. Steve’s final words were: OH WOW. OH When I quickly read through the eulogy yesterday, I assumed that Jobs was referring to his family (and how much he was in awe of them). But Steve Volk pointed out to me that Simpson says he looked at his family and then "over their shoulders past them". Which made me think - did Steve Jobs experience a death-bed vision? This would not actually be all that surprising - in the 2009 paper "Comfort for the Dying" (Fenwick et al), researchers found that almost two thirds of doctors, nurses and hospice carers that they surveyed reported witnessing transpersonal end-of-life experiences such as deathbed-visions. And one of the features of these visions is often looking past 'real' people in the room at 'intrusions' from another realm. For example: [O]ne lady, about an hour before she died said, "they’re all in the room; they’re all in the room". The room was full of people she knewWOW. OH WOW. said, "they’re all in the room; they’re all in the room". The room was full of people she knew and I can remember feeling quite spooked really and looking over my shoulder and not seeing a thing but she could definitely see the room full of people that she knew.I'm also reminded of an account found in Sir William Barrett's Death-Bed Visions - The Psychical Experiences of the Dying (post-humously published in 1926): A matron was also present, and reported: “Her husband was leaning over her and speaking to her, when pushing him aside she said, "Oh don’t hide it; it’s so beautiful."...

I thought this was interesting...CSI has never been the same since he left! William Petersen, the star of the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, had a near-death experience which he described in an interview for Playboy magazine (March 2004, page 139)."Years ago, doing a play in Chicago, I cut my finger in half onstage. We obviously had to stop because, well, I didn't have a finger. By the time they got me to the ER I had lost a lot of blood and passed out. I could hear the doctors working on me, saying that they had lost my vital signs. I was on the "All That Jazz" escalator with a long tunnel and a lot of white light. Then I specifically remember a dominant male voice saying, "It's not your time. Get off the escalator. You've got shit to do." I came to, and got sewed up. Something in me changed, a sort of knowledge that somewhere on the other side, its good. For weeks, the more I talked about it, the more freaked out people got. Some of them were like, "Okay, whatever: You took too many drugs.

End the year on this unusual idea. " Author and researcher Jan Irvin discussed the earliest known forms of religion and nature worship and their connections to our modern religions and holidays; and how special plants used in shamanic rituals, including the Amanita muscaria mushroom, were ingested by those seeking higher consciousness. According to some academics & Cabalists, in the story of Adam & Eve, the Tree of Knowledge was actually the magic mushrooms, he noted, adding that in the ancient Vedic (India) tradition, "soma" is described as a plant or fruit that brings spiritual enlightenment. Scholars today suspect that soma was a mushroom or similar substance. Irvin connected the origins of Christmas and Santa Claus to the use of psychedelic mushrooms and shamanism. Santa Claus evolved from Herne, the ancient shamanic god of Europe and Siberia, to Pan the licentious Roman god who imbibed mushrooms, to Krampus, St. Nicholas's devilish helper who dealt out punishment to naughty children, he detailed. Even Santa's red and white garb mirrors the look of the Amanita mushroom, he continued. Regarding current religious uses of mushrooms, James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney of the Oklevueha Native American Church told Irvin that Native Americans still very much respect the Amanitas and the mushrooms, even though their church is more recognized for their use of peyote. Interestingly, Mooney and his associates are working on research that shows that the Mormon religion was originally founded on both the use of peyote and the Amanita "muscaria, Irvin r

" Lawyer and medium Mark Anthony discusses on his psychic abilities and work with spirits. Anthony revealed that he was born into a family with psychic abilities, and could see spirits from a very young age—an ability also shared by his parents. Anthony said he eventually embraced his mediumship and went on to study the topic of evidential mediumship at a formal educational institution. He defended his practice against those who would use the Bible to condemn it, noting that several biblical characters, including Joseph and Elijah in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament, demonstrated what appears to be psychic medium powers. "We are all instruments of the will of God," he added.Anthony spoke about the esoteric elements behind various Christmas traditions, such as the Star of Bethlehem. Two thousand years ago, adept astrologers known as Magi observed and tracked a unique alignment of planets in the constellation of Aeries, he explained. This astrologically significant event occurred on April 17, 6 B.C., will never happen again, and signaled the birth of a divine king in the region of Judea, Anthony noted. In 350 A.D., Pope Julius I declared that the birth welcomedof Christ would be celebrated in the month of December to supplant Roman pagan festivals, he added. Anthony also discussed the significance of the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh given to the Christ child, as well as how holly wreaths are symbols of eternal life. It represents the crown of thorns worn by Jesus at his crucifixion, with the red berries signifying his blood, so in a mystical sense the holly wreath is the gateway to eternal life, he said."

"Were the gifts of the magi meant to save Jesus from the pain of arthritis? It's possible, according to researchers at Cardiff University in Wales who have been studying the medicinal uses of frankincense.Since the early days of Christianity, Biblical scholars have offered varying interpretations of the meaning and significance of the gold, frankincense and myrrh that the magi presented to Jesus (Matthew 2:11). These valuable items were standard gifts to honor a king or deity in the ancient world: gold as a precious metal, frankincense as perfume or incense, and myrrh as anointing oil.But it is also possible that the gifts of the magi were a bit more practical--even medicinal in nature. Researchers at Cardiff University have demonstrated that frankincense (pictured) has an active ingredient that can help relieve arthritis by inhibiting the inflammation that breaks down cartilage tissue and causes arthritis pain. The new study validates traditional uses of frankincense as an herbal remedy to treat arthritis in communities of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, where the trees that produce this aromatic resin grow.Did the Magi “from the East” know of frankincense’s healing properties when they presented it to young Jesus?