Library cat...May;

The Serpent and the Staff

by

Barbara wood

Review

With a story that’s vividly told with rich historical details, Barbara Wood brings Ugarit to life. For readers who enjoy delving into the deep past of civilization, this is a recommended read

The plot and pacing are masterful, skilfully envisions a society set in biblical times, with people-trading, marrying and scheming in a thriving coastal town at the centre of ancient trade routes, rendered in soft focus but with marvellous clarity and complexity.

Her fiction come alive with authentic detailing and highly memorable characters, vivid sketches of women who triumph over destiny. 

Set in the tumultuous era when Egypt is on the brink of becoming the dominant world power, The Serpent and the Staff tells the powerful story of a Canaanite family's struggle for survival in a climate of violent change, when cherished beliefs and traditions are threatened.

Ugarit Syria, 1450 B.C.E.

Page 208; He thought of the moral decay of the Brotherhood, because the scribes had become to powerful. They have a monopoly on reading and writing.  Even Doctors and lawyers rely on them.  Such power has corrupted them. 

(Nobody could read and write, everybody had to employ or go to a scribe to have anything written down or read to them.. It was a complicated cunei form of writing with thousands of  pictographs.)

Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known systems of writing distinguished by its wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets, made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus. The name cuneiform itself simply means "wedge shaped", from the Latin cuneus "wedge" and forma "shape," and came into English usage probably from Old French cunéiforme.

The cuneiform writing system was in use for a span of more than three millennia, through several stages of development, from the 34th century BC down to the 2nd century AD. Ultimately, it was completely replaced by alphabetic writing (in the general sense) in the course of the Roman era and there are no Cuneiform systems in current use. It had to be deciphered as a completely unknown writing system in 19th-century Assyriology. Successful completion of its decipherment is dated to 1857.

My 2 cents; interesting history details, a great narrative, in between , on certain pages  it became a bit  ponderous. All in all enjoyable.

Sunrise;

Ballina NSW 18/08/2012   18:01 AM

The Conscious Army

Love is the new religion of the 21st century 

"On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark. But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening underground. An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are being called to a new light. 

A silent revolution. From the inside out. From the ground up. This is a Global operation. A Spiritual Conspiracy. There are sleeper cells in every nation, every city, every town, every village on the planet. You won't see us on TV. You won't read about us in newspaper. You won't hear about us on the radio. We don't seek any glory. We don't wear any uniform. We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles. Most of us work anonymously. We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world. In every city, on mountains and in valleys, on farms and in villages, no tribes nor remote islands are left out.. You could pass by one of us on the street and not even notice. We go undercover. We remain behind the scenes. It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit but simply that the work gets done. Occasionally we spot each other in the street. We give a quiet nod and continue on our way. 

During the day we have normal jobs, but behind the false store front  is where the real work takes place. Some call us the Conscious Army. We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts. We follow, with passion and joy our orders come from the Central Spiritual Intelligence. We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking, Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Movies ~ Kind words ~ Smiles ~ 

Meditation ~ Dance ~ Social activism ~ Websites - Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness... 

We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents. Be the change you want to see in the world. That is the motto that fills our hearts. We know it is the only way real transformation takes place. We know that quietly and humbly we have the Power of all the oceans combined. Our work is slow and meticulous like the formation of mountains. It is not even visible at first glance. And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come. Love is the new religion of the 21st century.  

You do not need any exceptional knowledge to understand it. It comes from the intelligence of the heart embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings. Be the change you want to see in the world. Nobody else can do it for you. 

 Perhaps you will join this silent power or you already have. All are welcome.

© Photo Ts/ Text Author unknown

People try to find a way out of their predicament, as  Governments around the world get harsher and ,  corrupter,punishing the population and making them pay for failures and debts created by greed of the banking fraternity. Leaning heavily towards oligarchy, while spreading the meaningless mantra of  Democracy which they are  undermining at any occasion to benefit  plutocrats and oligarchs. Creating lies, and falseness to protect the chaos  bankers and  Corporations in their  never ending greed  create. 

Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else

by Chrystia Freeland  (Author)

There has always been some gap between rich and poor, but recently what it means to be rich has changed dramatically. Forget the 1 percent—Plutocrats proves that it is the wealthiest 0.1 percent who are outpacing the rest of us at breakneck speed. Most of these new fortunes are not inherited, Amassed instead by perceptive businesspeople who see themselves as deserving victors in a cut throat international competition. With empathy and intelligence, Plutocrats reveals the consequences of concentrating the world’s wealth into fewer and fewer hands., Plutocrats is a tour de force of social and economic history, the definitive examination of inequality in our time.

1. Plutocracy or plutarchy, defines a society or a system ruled and dominated by the small minority of the wealthiest citizens. The first known use of the term is 1652.