Earth- The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas reveals Jesus’ words on the Kingdom of God. You could say that it’s God’s Back to the Future, or perhaps God’s Return of the Beginning. Jesus says: “You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.”

Here is the The Nag Hammadi Library text of The Gospel of Thomas as translated by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer. Keep an open mind and it will change you, and your experience about Heaven and Earth, and your role in the world. You are more powerful than you now believe.

(Source: THE GNOSTIC SOCIETY LIBRARY)  Enjoy!

“These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.

They Will Be Disturbed, and Then They Will Marvel

1. And he said, “Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.” 2. Jesus said, “Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]” 3. Jesus said, “If your leaders say to you, ‘Look, the (Father’s) kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you.

Within You and Outside You

If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father’s) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father.

But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty.” 4. Jesus said, “The person old in days won’t hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live. For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one.” 5. Jesus said, “Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. [And there is nothing buried that will not be raised.]”

All Will Be Revealed

6. His disciples asked him and said to him, “Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?” Jesus said, “Don’t lie, and don’t do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed.”

7. Jesus said, “Lucky is the lion that the human will eat, so that the lion becomes human. And foul is the human that the lion will eat, and the lion still will become human.” 8. And he said, “The person is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!”

9. Jesus said, “Look, the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered (them). Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock, and they didn’t take root in the soil and didn’t produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced a good crop: it yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure.” 10. Jesus said, “I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I’m guarding it until it blazes.”

11. Jesus said, “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. During the days when you ate what is dead, you made it come alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?”

Go to James the Just

12. The disciples said to Jesus, “We know that you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader?” Jesus said to them, “No matter where you are you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.”

Because You Have Drunk

13. Jesus said to his disciples, “Compare me to something and tell me what I am like.” Simon Peter said to him, “You are like a just messenger.” Matthew said to him, “You are like a wise philosopher.” Thomas said to him, “Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say what you are like.” Jesus said, “I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended.”

And he took him, and withdrew, and spoke three sayings to him. When Thomas came back to his friends they asked him, “What did Jesus say to you?” Thomas said to them, “If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and devour you.”

What Comes Out of Your Mouth Defiles You

14. Jesus said to them, “If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned, and if you give to charity, you will harm your spirits. When you go into any region and walk about in the countryside, when people take you in, eat what they serve you and heal the sick among them. After all, what goes into your mouth will not defile you; rather, it’s what comes out of your mouth that will defile you.”

One Who Was Not Born of the Woman

15. Jesus said, “When you see one who was not born of woman, fall on your faces and worship. That one is your Father.”

Fire, Sword and War

16. Jesus said, “Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the world. They do not know that I have come to cast conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war. For there will be five in a house: there’ll be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, and they will stand alone.”

17. Jesus said, “I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart.”

The End Will Be Where The Beginning Is

18. The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us, how will our end come?” Jesus said, “Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.”

19. Jesus said, “Congratulations to the one who came into being before coming into being. If you become my disciples and pay attention to my sayings, these stones will serve you. For there are five trees in Paradise for you; they do not change, summer or winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death.”

20. The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us what Heaven’s kingdom is like.” He said to them, “It’s like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky.”

21. Mary said to Jesus, “What are your disciples like?” He said, “They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, ‘Give us back our field.’ They take off their clothes in front of them in order to give it back to them, and they return their field to them. For this reason I say, if the owners of a house know that a thief is coming, they will be on guard before the thief arrives and will not let the thief break into their house (their domain) and steal their possessions. As for you, then, be on guard against the world. Prepare yourselves with great strength, so the robbers can’t find a way to get to you, for the trouble you expect will come.

Let there be among you a person who understands. When the crop ripened, he came quickly carrying a sickle and harvested it. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!” 22. Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, “These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father’s) kingdom.” They said to him, “Then shall we enter the (Father’s) kingdom as babies?”

Jesus said to them, “When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom].”

23. Jesus said, “I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one.”

24. His disciples said, “Show us the place where you are, for we must seek it.” He said to them, “Anyone here with two ears had better listen! There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark.”

25. Jesus said, “Love your friends like your own soul, protect them like the pupil of your eye.” 26. Jesus said, “You see the sliver in your friend’s eye, but you don’t see the timber in your own eye. When you take the timber out of your own eye, then you will see well enough to remove the sliver from your friend’s eye.”

27. “If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the (Father’s) kingdom. If you do not observe the sabbath as a sabbath you will not see the Father.”

28. Jesus said, “I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty. But meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will change their ways.”

29. Jesus said, “If the flesh came into being because of spirit, that is a marvel, but if spirit came into being because of the body, that is a marvel of marvels. Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty.”

30. Jesus said, “Where there are three deities, they are divine. Where there are two or one, I am with that one.” 31. Jesus said, “No prophet is welcome on his home turf; doctors don’t cure those who know them.” 32.

Jesus said, “A city built on a high hill and fortified cannot fall, nor can it be hidden.” 33. Jesus said, “What you will hear in your ear, in the other ear proclaim from your rooftops. After all, no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, nor does one put it in a hidden place. Rather, one puts it on a lampstand so that all who come and go will see its light.”

34. Jesus said, “If a blind person leads a blind person, both of them will fall into a hole.” 35. Jesus said, “One can’t enter a strong person’s house and take it by force without tying his hands. Then one can loot his house.” 36. Jesus said, “Do not fret, from morning to evening and from evening to morning, [about your food--what you're going to eat, or about your clothing--] what you are going to wear. [You're much better than the lilies, which neither card nor spin. As for you, when you have no garment, what will you put on? Who might add to your stature? That very one will give you your garment.]”

37. His disciples said, “When will you appear to us, and when will we see you?” Jesus said, “When you strip without being ashamed, and you take your clothes and put them under your feet like little children and trample then, then [you] will see the son of the living one and you will not be afraid.”

38. Jesus said, “Often you have desired to hear these sayings that I am speaking to you, and you have no one else from whom to hear them. There will be days when you will seek me and you will not find me.” 39. Jesus said, “The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They have not entered nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so. As for you, be as sly as snakes and as simple as doves.”

40. Jesus said, “A grapevine has been planted apart from the Father. Since it is not strong, it will be pulled up by its root and will perish.” 41. Jesus said, “Whoever has something in hand will be given more, and whoever has nothing will be deprived of even the little they have.”

Be Passersby

42. Jesus said, “Be passersby.”

43. His disciples said to him, “Who are you to say these things to us?” “You don’t understand who I am from what I say to you. Rather, you have become like the Judeans, for they love the tree but hate its fruit, or they love the fruit but hate the tree.” 44. Jesus said, “Whoever blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit will not be forgiven, either on earth or in heaven.”

45. Jesus said, “Grapes are not harvested from thorn trees, nor are figs gathered from thistles, for they yield no fruit. Good persons produce good from what they’ve stored up; bad persons produce evil from the wickedness they’ve stored up in their hearts, and say evil things. For from the overflow of the heart they produce evil.”

46. Jesus said, “From Adam to John the Baptist, among those born of women, no one is so much greater than John the Baptist that his eyes should not be averted. But I have said that whoever among you becomes a child will recognize the (Father’s) kingdom and will become greater than John.”

47. Jesus said, “A person cannot mount two horses or bend two bows. And a slave cannot serve two masters, otherwise that slave will honor the one and offend the other. Nobody drinks aged wine and immediately wants to drink young wine. Young wine is not poured into old wineskins, or they might break, and aged wine is not poured into a new wineskin, or it might spoil. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, since it would create a tear.”

You Will Return There Again

48. Jesus said, “If two make peace with each other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, ‘Move from here!’ and it will move.” 49. Jesus said, “Congratulations to those who are alone and chosen, for you will find the kingdom. For you have come from it, and you will return there again.”

Motion and rest

50. Jesus said, “If they say to you, ‘Where have you come from?’ say to them, ‘We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.’ If they say to you, ‘Is it you?’ say, ‘We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.’ If they ask you, ‘What is the evidence of your Father in you?’ say to them, ‘It is motion and rest.’”

51. His disciples said to him, “When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?” He said to them, “What you are looking forward to has come, but you don’t know it.”

52. His disciples said to him, “Twenty-four prophets have spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you.” He said to them, “You have disregarded the living one who is in your presence, and have spoken of the dead.” 53. His disciples said to him, “Is circumcision useful or not?” He said to them, “If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect.”

54. Jesus said, “Congratulations to the poor, for to you belongs Heaven’s kingdom.” 55. Jesus said, “Whoever does not hate father and mother cannot be my disciple, and whoever does not hate brothers and sisters, and carry the cross as I do, will not be worthy of me.”

56. Jesus said, “Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass, of that person the world is not worthy.” 57 Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a person who has [good] seed. His enemy came during the night and sowed weeds among the good seed. The person did not let the workers pull up the weeds, but said to them, ‘No, otherwise you might go to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them.’ For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be conspicuous, and will be pulled up and burned.”

58. Jesus said, “Congratulations to the person who has toiled and has found life.” 59. Jesus said, “Look to the living one as long as you live, otherwise you might die and then try to see the living one, and you will be unable to see.” 60. He saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb and going to Judea. He said to his disciples, “that person … around the lamb.” They said to him, “So that he may kill it and eat it.” He said to them, “He will not eat it while it is alive, but only after he has killed it and it has become a carcass.” They said, “Otherwise he can’t do it.”

He said to them, “So also with you, seek for yourselves a place for rest, or you might become a carcass and be eaten.” 61. Jesus said, “Two will recline on a couch; one will die, one will live.” Salome said, “Who are you mister? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from someone.” Jesus said to her, “I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was granted from the things of my Father.” “I am your disciple.”

“For this reason I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness.” 62. Jesus said, “I disclose my mysteries to those [who are worthy] of [my] mysteries. 63 Jesus said, “There was a rich person who had a great deal of money. He said, ‘I shall invest my money so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouses with produce, that I may lack nothing.’ These were the things he was thinking in his heart, but that very night he died. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!”

64. Jesus said, “A person was receiving guests. When he had prepared the dinner, he sent his slave to invite the guests. The slave went to the first and said to that one, ‘My master invites you.’ That one said, ‘Some merchants owe me money; they are coming to me tonight. I have to go and give them instructions. Please excuse me from dinner.’ The slave went to another and said to that one, ‘My master has invited you.’ That one said to the slave, ‘I have bought a house, and I have been called away for a day. I shall have no time.’ The slave went to another and said to that one, ‘My master invites you.’ That one said to the slave, ‘My friend is to be married, and I am to arrange the banquet. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse me from dinner.’ The slave went to another and said to that one, ‘My master invites you.’ That one said to the slave, ‘I have bought an estate, and I am going to collect the rent. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse me.’ The slave returned and said to his master, ‘Those whom you invited to dinner have asked to be excused.’ The master said to his slave, ‘Go out on the streets and bring back whomever you find to have dinner.’ Buyers and merchants [will] not enter the places of my Father.”

65. He said, “A [...] person owned a vineyard and rented it to some farmers, so they could work it and he could collect its crop from them. He sent his slave so the farmers would give him the vineyard’s crop. They grabbed him, beat him, and almost killed him, and the slave returned and told his master. His master said, ‘Perhaps he didn’t know them.’ He sent another slave, and the farmers beat that one as well. Then the master sent his son and said, ‘Perhaps they’ll show my son some respect.’ Because the farmers knew that he was the heir to the vineyard, they grabbed him and killed him. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!”

66. Jesus said, “Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the keystone.” 67. Jesus said, “Those who know all, but are lacking in themselves, are utterly lacking.” 68. Jesus said, “Congratulations to you when you are hated and persecuted; and no place will be found, wherever you have been persecuted.”

69. Jesus said, “Congratulations to those who have been persecuted in their hearts: they are the ones who have truly come to know the Father. Congratulations to those who go hungry, so the stomach of the one in want may be filled.”

Bring Forth That Which is Within You

70. Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you.” 71. Jesus said, “I will destroy [this] house, and no one will be able to build it [...].”

72. A [person said] to him, “Tell my brothers to divide my father’s possessions with me.” He said to the person, “Mister, who made me a divider?” He turned to his disciples and said to them, “I’m not a divider, am I?” 73. Jesus said, “The crop is huge but the workers are few, so beg the harvest boss to dispatch workers to the fields.”

74. He said, “Lord, there are many around the drinking trough, but there is nothing in the well.” 75. Jesus said, “There are many standing at the door, but those who are alone will enter the bridal suite.” 76. Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a merchant who had a supply of merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself. So also with you, seek his treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys.”

77. Jesus said, “I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”

78. Jesus said, “Why have you come out to the countryside? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a person dressed in soft clothes, [like your] rulers and your powerful ones? They are dressed in soft clothes, and they cannot understand truth.”

79. A woman in the crowd said to him, “Lucky are the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you.” He said to [her], “Lucky are those who have heard the word of the Father and have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say, ‘Lucky are the womb that has not conceived and the breasts that have not given milk.’”

80. Jesus said, “Whoever has come to know the world has discovered the body, and whoever has discovered the body, of that one the world is not worthy.”

Near the Fire

81. Jesus said, “Let one who has become wealthy reign, and let one who has power renounce <it>.” 82. Jesus said, “Whoever is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the (Father’s) kingdom.”

83. Jesus said, “Images are visible to people, but the light within them is hidden in the image of the Father’s light. He will be disclosed, but his image is hidden by his light.”

84. Jesus said, “When you see your likeness, you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before you and that neither die nor become visible, how much you will have to bear!”

85. Jesus said, “Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] death.” 86. Jesus said, “[Foxes have] their dens and birds have their nests, but human beings have no place to lay down and rest.”

87. Jesus said, “How miserable is the body that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on these two.” 88. Jesus said, “The messengers and the prophets will come to you and give you what belongs to you. You, in turn, give them what you have, and say to yourselves, ‘When will they come and take what belongs to them?’”

89. Jesus said, “Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Don’t you understand that the one who made the inside is also the one who made the outside?” 90. Jesus said, “Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves.”

91. They said to him, “Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you.” He said to them, “You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment.”

92. Jesus said, “Seek and you will find. In the past, however, I did not tell you the things about which you asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you are not seeking them.” 93. “Don’t give what is holy to dogs, for they might throw them upon the manure pile. Don’t throw pearls [to] pigs, or they might … it [...].”

94. Jesus [said], “One who seeks will find, and for [one who knocks] it will be opened.” 95. [Jesus said], “If you have money, don’t lend it at interest. Rather, give [it] to someone from whom you won’t get it back.”

96. Jesus [said], “The Father’s kingdom is like [a] woman. She took a little leaven, [hid] it in dough, and made it into large loaves of bread. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!” 97. Jesus said, “The [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She didn’t know it; she hadn’t noticed a problem. When she reached her house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty.”

98. Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful one.”

99. The disciples said to him, “Your brothers and your mother are standing outside.” He said to them, “Those here who do what my Father wants are my brothers and my mother. They are the ones who will enter my Father’s kingdom.”

100. They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, “The Roman emperor’s people demand taxes from us.” He said to them, “Give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine.”

101. “Whoever does not hate [father] and mother as I do cannot be my [disciple], and whoever does [not] love [father and] mother as I do cannot be my [disciple]. For my mother [...], but my true [mother] gave me life.”

102. Jesus said, “Damn the Pharisees! They are like a dog sleeping in the cattle manger: the dog neither eats nor [lets] the cattle eat.”

103. Jesus said, “Congratulations to those who know where the rebels are going to attack. [They] can get going, collect their imperial resources, and be prepared before the rebels arrive.”

104. They said to Jesus, “Come, let us pray today, and let us fast.” Jesus said, “What sin have I committed, or how have I been undone? Rather, when the groom leaves the bridal suite, then let people fast and pray.”

105. Jesus said, “Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a whore.” 106. Jesus said, “When you make the two into one, you will become children of Adam, and when you say, ‘Mountain, move from here!’ it will move.”

I Love You More than the 99

107. Jesus said, “The (Father’s) kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine and looked for the one until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to the sheep, ‘I love you more than the ninety-nine.’”

Whoever Drink From My Mouth…

108. Jesus said, “Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him.”

109. Jesus said, “The (Father’s) kingdom is like a person who had a treasure hidden in his field but did not know it. And [when] he died he left it to his [son]. The son [did] not know about it either. He took over the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, [discovered] the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished.” 110. Jesus said, “Let one who has found the world, and has become wealthy, renounce the world.”

111. Jesus said, “The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence, and whoever is living from the living one will not see death.”

Does not Jesus say, “Those who have found themselves, of them the world is not worthy”? 112. Jesus said, “Damn the flesh that depends on the soul. Damn the soul that depends on the flesh.”

Spread Out Upon the Earth, but not Seen

113. His disciples said to him, “When will the kingdom come?” “It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, ‘Look, here!’ or ‘Look, there!’ Rather, the Father’s kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don’t see it.”

Every Female Who Makes Herself Male

114. Simon Peter said to them, “Make Mary leave us, for females don’t deserve life.” Jesus said, “Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

Selection from Robert J. Miller, ed., The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version. (Polebridge Press, 1992, 1994).

Read more on Busted Halo about what Jesus meant when he said, “I thirst.”

A friend sent to to me and I want to pass it along:

In the 13th century, a Portugese woman who’d been demonically oppressed resolved to do the unthinkable by taking her own life by drowning herself in the Tagus River. On her way to the river, she passed a shrine erected in honor of the great orator and miracle-worker, St. Anthony of Padua.

She stopped to pray, one last time. As she prayed, she saw St. Anthony standing before her, saying, “‘Arise woman, and take this paper, which will free you from the molestations of the Evil One.” Then he gave her a parchment inscribed with what is now known as the “Brief (i.e., “Letter”) of St. Anthony,” 1 and she was now free from demonic oppression and the desire to do away with herself.

News of this miracle spread, even to the King who asked the woman for the Brief. He placed it with the Crown Jewels of Portugal, which was fine for the King, but bad for the woman. After the Brief was no longer with her, she began to weaken and lapse, so the King made a copy for her that restored her to her healed state. Other copies of the Brief were spread to help the faithful fight the Evil One and remind them that Christ has conquered.

The Brief consists of a depiction of a Cross, and words which, forming a rhyme in the Latin, hearken back to Apocalypse 5:5, “And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not: behold the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof.”

The words of St. Anthony’s Brief are: Ecce Crucem Domini, Fugite, partes adversae, Vicit Leo de Tribu Juda, Radix David, alleluia. English version: Behold the Cross of the Lord! Flee ye adversaries! The Lion of the Tribe of Juda, The Root of David has conquered, alleluia!

The exorcizing proclamation is carried on the person or placed in homes. It is also used in more specific situations, such as that encountered by the French seamen who found their ship tossed by an angry sea during a storm off Brittany’s coast in 1708.

One of the men wrote the words of St. Anthony’s Brief, and threw it into the sea with a prayer to the Saint. Immediately, the seas calmed and the sailors were saved. The words of this Brief are good ones to use when feeling tempted by evil, oppressed by demons, and in general spiritual warfare.

As an aside, part of these words from the Apocalypse are also inscribed at the top of the obelisk that sits in St. Peter’s Square. The obelisk had been in Rome since A.D. 37, set up in what is believed by many to have been the site of the divisional wall (spina) of Caligula’s Circus, where Nero’s massacre of Christians took place in A.D. 67. Pope Sixtus V moved the obelisk to its present position in a move that …celebrated the triumph of the Faith of Christ, St Peter and the apostles over pagan superstition.

The proximity of the obelisk to the old basilica had always been resented as something of a provocation, almost as a slight to the Christian religion. It had stood there like a false idol, as it were vaingloriously, on what was believed to be the center of the accursed circus where the early Christians and St Peter had been put to death. Its sides, then as now, were graven with dedications to Augustus and Tiberius. On its summit was a bronze sphere believed to contain the ashes of Julius Caesar.

When taken down, the sphere proved to be solid. Nevertheless, Sixtus had a bronze cross put in its place (in 1740, after repairs, a piece of the True Cross was inserted in one of the arms). Solemnly the pope had the heathen spirit of the obelisk exorcised. ‘Impio cultu dicatum’ he carved upon the base as a reminder of what the needle once represented, and ‘Ecce Crux Domini fugite partes adverase’ in proud defiance of Luther and the reformed Churches. 2

Footnotes:

1 Other accounts say that she fell asleep, dreamed of St. Anthony, and awakened to find the Brief. I don’t know which is accurate.

2 “Saint Peter’s”, by James Lees-Milne, 1967

P.S. Did you Know? The word “lived,” as in the past, is “devil” reversed.

P.S.S. The paradox: Fear is real in the mind. Spiritual warfare (of powers and principalities) is what we face on Earth. Yet God is one. All is one. “Where there is love, fear cannot exist… He that is still afraid has not perfect love … Love your neighbor as your self.”

“Fear not,” is the most repeated exhortation in the Bible.

This was reported on July 9, 2010 by Adrianne Appel of Inter Press Service Report:

“Boston – Times are tough for workers in the U.S. where a recession has a stranglehold on much of the economy, but life is perfectly rosy for those at the top.

The riches of the wealthiest North Americans grew by double digits in 2009, primarily from interest their money earned when it was invested in the stock market and elsewhere, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group.

Millionaires in the U.S. and Canada saw their wealth increase 15 percent in 2009, to a total of 4.6 trillion dollars, the report found.

Worldwide, 11 million – or less than 1 percent of all households – were millionaires in 2009. They owned about 38 percent of the world’s wealth or 111 trillion dollars, up from about 36 percent in 2008, according to Boston Consulting Group.

About 4.7 million millionaires live in the U.S., four percent of the population and more than anywhere else in the world. Japan, China, Britain and Germany followed the U.S. in the number of millionaires.

Their fortune is a stark contrast to the lives of more than 15 million people in the U.S. who are unemployed and searching for work, and the eight million more who are just getting by with a part-time job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than two million more people were working prior to the recession but have now dropped out of the labour force.

Apart from the newly unemployed, about 39 million people in the U.S. are chronically poor and do not have enough food to eat, according to the U.S. Census and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“The nation’s jobs crisis is so catastrophic that, unless Congress acts on the scale of the New Deal, millions of Americans will experience extremely long periods of unemployment for many years ahead,” Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, told a panel of the Committee on Ways and Means recently.

Not so for millionaires and the uber-rich.

The uber-rich, those with more than 30 million dollars, are on the rebound. They spent more money in 2009 on fancy cars, yachts and jets compared to 2008, according to a study by Merrill Lynch-Capgemini. They bought fine art, expensive jewelry, gems and antiques, items that are likely to increase in value over time, so they can sell them later and make more money.

The recession isn’t hitting those at the top as it has workers. In fact, many wealthy people benefited from the stock market’s ups and downs, said Mike Lapham, director of the Responsible Wealth Project at United for a Fair Economy, an NGO in Boston.

“Folks at the top have a cushion, a disposable income to fall back on. Maybe their portfolios took a hit but they didn’t lose their jobs and their homes. If they had losses, they can deduct them from their taxes,” Lapham told IPS.

“Some people bet successfully on the financial system going under,” he said. “The stock market went from 10,000 to 6,000 and back to 11,000. That’s a big jump for people with significant portfolios.”

“The people at bottom who’ve lost work, it’ll be years before they get back to where they were before the crash,” Lapham said.

The U.S. average national unemployment rate is 9.7 percent. Only those who are actively looking for work are included in this statistic. Among Black Americans, the rate is 15.5 percent and Latinos, 12.4 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Congressional Budget Office predicts that unemployment will remain almost unchanged in 2011, about 9.5 percent.

Many families have been surviving on small, weekly unemployment checks provided for 26 weeks by their state government, and an additional 73 weeks by the federal government. The first group of unemployed to run through both benefits hit that point Jul. 1, and today about a million people are receiving no assistance at all. About nine million more are still receiving unemployment payments.

Congress is considering extending federal assistance for another 20 weeks. The House approved the legislation, but the Senate did not. Congress left town for its holiday break until mid-July without passing the legislation.

In the Senate the issue fell almost precisely along party lines, with all but one Democrat for extending the benefit, and all but two Republicans against it, saying the 34- billion-dollar cost was not worth adding to the federal deficit.

Without the vote of Democratic Senator Ben Nelson, of Nebraska, the bill was one vote short of the 60 needed for passage.

“I think we’re going to see a new wave of heartache here in Rhode Island,” with the end of the federal assistance, Kate Brewster, executive director of the Poverty Institute, a Rhode Island NGO, told IPS.

The small, northeastern U.S. state, a former manufacturing centre whose jobs moved offshore, has struggled with higher unemployment and low-wage jobs for years. Most recently, it was hard hit by the foreclosure crisis and the downturn in the construction industry.

The ongoing unemployment and low jobs creation nationwide is helping to fuel the millions of foreclosures sweeping across the nation, according to a report by the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The nation’s anemic jobs creation, high foreclosures and weak consumer spending has convinced Mishel and many economists that the U.S. is in for an extended downturn. Just 83,000 jobs were created in June, instead of the 150,000 needed for robust employment, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

“The United States is undergoing the worst economic downturn in 70 years, and the damage and suffering it is causing will last many years beyond the official end of the recession,” Mishel said.

Rhode Island’s future is uncertain.

“We’ve consistently had one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country,” Brewster said. Today, in the midst of the recession, more people are showing up at soup kitchens for free meals and dialing in to a toll-free, crisis phone service for families in dire circumstances, she said.

“They’ve had an enormous influx of calls in the past 18 to 21 months,” she said. Fewer services are available to help them.

“Within last five years the state cut back work support programmes like child care assistance and funded health insurance,” Brewster said. “The cruel irony is that when families really need help, less is available.”

Earth, Milky Way Galaxy – The International Center for Reiki Training has announced the next  World Peace Card Meditations Day – for  Wednesday, July 14, 2010, at 7:30.m. (based on local time in your time zone)

A New Era

The organizers write: “You are invited to take part in the next World Peace Card Meditations. Please mark your calendar and forward this email to all your friends.

Because so many of you forwarded this email to your friends, there have been almost 180,000 downloads of the World Peace Cards. This is a tremendous increase in the number of people using the cards. So far, the total number of World Peace Card sets downloaded, received from our free offer and from our magazine has been nearly 195,000.  We  hope you have been using your peace cards as their use brings blessings to the world as well as to you.”

Wave of peace energy getting stronger and stronger

The  World Peace Card group meditation has been chosen because of the special effect it produces. As people meditate in each successive time zone the energy builds like a wave which gets stronger and stronger as it circles the planet. Because of the higher dimensional nature of consciousness, the energy of peace will be transmitted for a full 24 hours and continue long after this.

Reports from those who took part in the previous meditations indicate many had powerful spiritual experiences. As they united with those taking part in the meditation a feeling of peace developed within that stayed with each for a long time. Some saw beautiful golden light surrounding the planet and others felt that a web of fear was dissipating and being replaced with trust in others and for our future.

All those who have received the cards are being asked to meditate on world peace at this time. By taking part in this group meditation, you’ll be joining thousands of people who will be using the cards to bring peace to the world. By joining together, the affect we have will be greatly multiplied. This powerful experience and will help shift the vibration of our wonderful planet into a higher state of consciousness. As you use the cards to meditate on world peace, you will be a beacon through which peace will spread around the planet which will have a positive uplifting effect on all people.

Please set aside this time to meditate with the cards. The suggested meditation period is 15 minutes, but of course you can meditate longer if you’d like to. The technique I’d like you to use is based on allowing yourself to be a beacon of peace.

World Peace Grids

The World Peace Cards hold the vibration of the World Peace Grids which have been placed at spiritually significant locations and are relay stations for higher consciousness. By simply opening to their energy, you’ll become a channel for their love and peace which will flow through you to all the people on Earth. To do this, hold the cards in your hands or place them in front of you. Then simply meditate on peace.

Trust is replacing fear

We are entering a new era. Our entire planet including all the people and living things are moving into a place where it will be much easier to solve our problems and to create peace, prosperity and happiness for everyone. The World Peace Card meditation will quicken this process, making it easier for people to experience this new quality of higher consciousness and will provide great benefit for all people. Since this benefit will be flowing through you out to everyone on the planet, you’ll be blessed by this experience as well.

To download World Peace Cards

Technical Notes: This is a larger file and it may take several minutes for it to open, so please be patient. When printing the cards from this file, print page 2 first, then place this page in your printer and print the image of the peace grids on the back.

Personal Note:  Trusting God – One can train him/herself to refrain from dwelling in fear. Once being conscious of  its onslaught, one can replace fear with trust just as soon as possible. This is discipline in action – and oftentimes quite challenging.

Gulf of Mexico – For centuries, dolphins and human beings have enjoyed a fruitful interaction; two of the most intelligent creatures still left on Earth do indeed share a unique bond.

The pictures and statistics about how many of our dolphin friends are succumbing to BP’s continuing assault against all that’s living in the Gulf is growing more dire. The situation is be getting worse, not better.

We encourage all of our dolphin friends to keep on swimming. Go further South this year, pass the Gulf of Mexico. Save yourselves.

“We’re going to lose a lot of them,” said Dr. Denise Herzing, research director for the Wild Dolphin Research Project in Jupiter, Florida. “It is unconscionable and it is criminal. It is akin to a nuclear power plant explosion underwater.”

As of the end of June 2010, there were about 51 confirmed reports of marine mammal strandings: one sperm whale, 3 spinner and 47 bottlenose dolphins collected in the Gulf — dead or alive — since the Deepwater Horizon spill on April 20, 2010.

A Palm Beach (FL) news source reports:

“While dolphins are among the smartest animals on the planet, researchers do not know if their intelligence will protect them from the oil.

“I think they are smart enough to realize they are in bad water and they need to get out,” said Beth Smart, founder of the Dolphin and Marine Medical Research Foundation in West Palm Beach.

Dolphins travel in “pods” and stick together, and take care of each other – a great “buddy system” reminder for all living animals in the coming days.

If one dolphin get sick, other dolphins often hold him at the surface to breathe.  Perhaps, the biggest threat to dolphins and other larger fish may come from them eating smaller fish that have been contaminated.

So please, keep swimming.

Louisiana, USA – Clean up crews across the Gulf of Mexico are working at night now that it’s so hot … and still the oil is flowing.  Each barrel of oil emptied into the Gulf, demonstrates over and over again the immense corporate greed that has been building for years. Now, we’re seeing the manifestation of this greed right in front of our eyes. For all the world to witness.

A number of Gulf residents I’ve spoken with are just trying to keep busy. “I just try not to think about it,” they say. “I haven’t even walked over on the beach … but I hear there is oil there. No smell yet.” Often, it’s just too much to consider the devastation to the beautiful beaches – and the loss of marine life, jobs and property values. Likewise, many citizens across the United States feel helpless as they watch this unbelievable, sad spectacle.

There is one thing that we can all do – anytime, anywhere – to help. State senators in Louisiana have declared today as a day for citizens to ask for God’s help in dealing with the oil disaster.

“Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail,” state Sen. Robert Adley said in a statement released after last week’s unanimous vote for the day of prayer. “It is clearly time for a miracle for us.”

The legislative resolution named today as a Statewide Day of Prayer in Louisiana and are calling on people of all religions throughout the Gulf Coast – and the world – “to pray for an end to this environmental emergency, sparing us all from the destruction of both culture and livelihood.”

Let’s pray today … and continue praying.

*****

Prayer: Dear Lord, shine your light on this situation for what it is, and help bring enlightenment to those who seek solutions to halting the gushing oil and the destruction of your Creation. Help all on Earth to seek you and your Kingdom first – instead of monetary gain. You indeed are our Hope.

U.S.A .- For all you survivalists out there (is that all of us?), here’s a very thorough list I found of the first 100 items that are mostly likely to “disappear” if some type of emergency happens in the United States. Many citizens of other countries across the world have been operating like this for years. We  are perhaps the slow and the “fat” ones. Regardless, it’s good to be prepared to take care of your family, and your clan (tribe) – the people close by in your “inner circle.”

And, it’s good to make alliances and trading arrangements with others you trust.

This list was placed under the heading of “Survivalism and Gardening,” and definitely points out that basics – like clean water, water containers, firewood, non-electric lighting devices, lots of matches, toilet paper, garbage bags, food staples, baby supplies – will be in high demand.

It was posted by Greg on May 31, 2010 on this web site.

Consider collecting these items now:

1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy…target of thieves; maintenance etc.)
2. Water Filters/Purifiers
3. Portable Toilets
4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 – 12 months to become dried, for home uses.
5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce,
stockpile ANY!)
6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much.
7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots.
8. Hand-can openers, & hand egg beaters, whisks.
9. Honey/Syrups/white, brown sugar
10. Rice – Beans – Wheat
11. Vegetable Oil (for cooking) Without it food burns/must be boiled etc.,)
12. Charcoal, Lighter Fluid (Will become scarce suddenly)
13. Water Containers (Urgent Item to obtain.) Any size. Small: HARD CLEAR PLASTIC ONLY – note – food grade if for drinking.
14. Mini Heater head (Propane) (Without this item, propane won’t heat a room.)
15. Grain Grinder (Non-electric)
16. Propane Cylinders (Urgent: Definite shortages will occur.
17. Survival Guide Book.
18. Mantles: Aladdin, Coleman, etc. (Without this item, longer-term lighting is difficult.)
19. Baby Supplies: Diapers/formula. ointments/aspirin, etc.
20. Washboards, Mop Bucket w/wringer (for Laundry)
21. Cookstoves (Propane, Coleman & Kerosene)
22. Vitamins
23. Propane Cylinder Handle-Holder (Urgent: Small canister use is dangerous
without this item)24. Feminine Hygiene/Haircare/Skin products.
25. Thermal underwear (Tops & Bottoms)
26. Bow saws, axes and hatchets, Wedges (also, honing oil)
27. Aluminum Foil Reg. & Heavy Duty (Great Cooking and Barter Item)
28. Gasoline Containers (Plastic & Metal)
29. Garbage Bags (Impossible To Have Too Many).
30. Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Paper Towels
31. Milk – Powdered & Condensed (Shake Liquid every 3 to 4 months)
32. Garden Seeds (Non-Hybrid) (A MUST)
33. Clothes pins/line/hangers (A MUST)
34. Coleman’s Pump Repair Kit
35. Tuna Fish (in oil)
36. Fire Extinguishers (or..large box of Baking Soda in every room)
37. First aid kits
38. Batteries (all sizes…buy furthest-out for Expiration Dates)
39. Garlic, spices & vinegar, baking supplies
40. Big Dogs (and plenty of dog food)
41. Flour, yeast & salt
42. Matches. {“Strike Anywhere” preferred.) Boxed, wooden matches will go
first
43. Writing paper/pads/pencils, solar calculators
44. Insulated ice chests (good for keeping items from freezing in
Wintertime.)
45. Work Boots, belts, Levis & durable shirts
46. Flashlights/LIGHTSTICKS & torches, “No. 76 Dietz” Lanterns
47. Journals, Diaries & Scrapbooks (jot down ideas, feelings,
experience; Historic Times)
48. Garbage cans Plastic (great for storage, water, transporting – if with wheels)
49. Men’s Hygiene: Shampoo, Toothbrush/paste, Mouthwash/floss, nail clippers, etc
50. Cast iron cookware (sturdy, efficient)
51. Fishing supplies/tools
52. Mosquito coils/repellent, sprays/creams
53. Duct Tape
54. Tarps/stakes/twine/nails/rope/spikes
55. Candles
56. Laundry Detergent (liquid)
57. Backpacks, Duffel Bags
58. Garden tools & supplies
59. Scissors, fabrics & sewing supplies
60. Canned Fruits, Veggies, Soups, stews, etc.
61. Bleach (plain, NOT scented: 4 to 6% sodium hypochlorite)
62. Canning supplies, (Jars/lids/wax)
63. Knives & Sharpening tools: files, stones, steel
64. Bicycles…Tires/tubes/pumps/chains, etc
65. Sleeping Bags & blankets/pillows/mats
66. Carbon Monoxide Alarm (battery powered)
67. Board Games, Cards, Dice
68. d-con Rat poison, MOUSE PRUFE II, Roach Killer
69. Mousetraps, Ant traps & cockroach magnets
70. Paper plates/cups/utensils (stock up, folks)
71. Baby wipes, oils, waterless & Antibacterial soap (saves a lot of water)
72. Rain gear, rubberized boots, etc.
73. Shaving supplies (razors & creams, talc, after shave)
74. Hand pumps & siphons (for water and for fuels)
75. Soy Sauce, vinegar, bullion’s/gravy/soup base
76. Reading glasses
77. Chocolate/Cocoa/Tang/Punch (water enhancers)
78. “Survival-in-a-Can”
79. Woolen clothing, scarves/ear-muffs/mittens
80. Boy Scout Handbook, / also Leaders Catalog
81. Roll-on Window Insulation Kit (MANCO)
82. Graham crackers, saltines, pretzels, Trail mix/Jerky
83. Popcorn, Peanut Butter, Nuts
84. Socks, Underwear, T-shirts, etc. (extras)
85. Lumber (all types)
86. Wagons & carts (for transport to and from)
87. Cots & Inflatable mattress’s
88. Gloves: Work/warming/gardening, etc.
89. Lantern Hangers
90. Screen Patches, glue, nails, screws,, nuts & bolts
91. Teas
92. Coffee
93. Cigarettes
94. Wine/Liquors (for bribes, medicinal, etc,)
95. Paraffin wax
96. Glue, nails, nuts, bolts, screws, etc.
97. Chewing gum/candies
98. Atomizers (for cooling/bathing)
99. Hats & cotton neckerchiefs
100. Goats/chickens

Some First-Hand Observations/ General Tips

1. Stockpiling helps. but you never no how long trouble will last, so
locate near renewable food sources.

2. Living near a well with a manual pump is like being in Eden.

3. After awhile, even gold can lose its luster. But there is no luxury in war quite like toilet paper. Its surplus value is greater than gold’s.

4. If you had to go without one utility, lose electricity – it’s the easiest to do without (unless you’re in a very nice climate with no need for heat.)

5. Canned foods are awesome, especially if their contents are tasty without
heating. One of the best things to stockpile is canned gravy – it makes
a lot of the dry unappetizing things you find to eat in war somewhat
edible. Only needs enough heat to “warm”, not to cook. It’s cheap too,
especially if you buy it in bulk.

6. Bring some books – escapist ones like romance or mysteries become more valuable as the war continues. Sure, it’s great to have a lot of survival guides, but you’ll figure most of that out on your own anyway – trust me, you’ll have a lot of time on your hands.

7. The feeling that you’re human can fade pretty fast. I can’t tell you how many people I knew who would have traded a much needed meal for just a little bit of toothpaste, rouge, soap or cologne. Not much point in fighting if you have to lose your humanity. These things are morale-builders like nothing else.

8. Slow burning candles and matches, matches, matches!

U.S.A. – The 7Bends.com Blog is pleased to now offer a daily space weather report. Check often to get the latest on planetary changes, sun storms, solar wind storms, and more.

The 7Bends.com Blog is your Galactic Communications hub – designed to spread the news about our galaxy out to all the beings in our galaxy.

The Daily Space Weather Forecast data comes from NOAA, SIDC, and NASA.It is compiled by Tomas David Hood. (It appears in the far right column of the  7Bends.com Blog)

Chapter One – Slippery Slope – Return of the Forgotten One (Sci Fi)

For years now, thousands of people had been coming into the country illegally from Zoor’s neighboring border, Bartonia.  The Government had laws against it, but they had not been enforcing them. Now, the situation was dire, and the provinces closest to the border were beginning to take things into their own hands.

If the Newcomers wanted to come into Zoor so badly, then it is only right that their movements should be tracked. So some thought. The Newcomers should be issued an electronic surveillance bracelet. They should be counted. They should be controlled. Their access to education and health care should be decided upon by the Government. It was a slippery slope.

Usually, the people of Zoor would have thought that barbaric, but in the tough times that had hit the planet over the last 50 years – basically non-stop war and greed – many people in Zoor saw jobs being taken by the Newcomers, and services their tax dollars were paying for being given free to these “border-crashers.”

The Government already had practice in this regard. Already, the Government had begun issuing the surveillance bracelets (“tags”) to prisoners of war, and to war contractors and to soldiers. Over 10 million people in Zoor had been catalogued and “tagged” – and now for Zoor citizens to go into or out of their own country, required being tagged, as well. It was a slippery slope.

These tags contained everything needed for one to operate in modern Zoor. All of this was done, of course, to keep the people of Zoor safe from terrorists. Though small, the bracelet contained birth and family information, tax and employment records, financial records, law enforcement records, health records, an iris scan, 12 rolled fingerprints, numerous pictures of his/her face, and any  identifying marks, and the most critical element – the unique DNA of that individual. The bracelets were different colors, though no one knew for certain if the colors meant something or not.

Through a newer technology, called RFID, an area could be scanned and a list of all of the people tagged in that area could come up on a computer screen (showing their whereabouts and their identifying data.) You know, like items are managed and monitored in large retail stores. It was a slippery slope.

Many people across Zoor had become sick – some from known causes, others from hidden causes. Mining was everywhere. Each province seemed to be mining for their own survival, regardless of the health and environmental fall out.

Costs were soaring. Money was devalued. Many people  did not have basic care. Many could not find natural foods, only synthetic nano-foods, and clean water was scarce. Part of the food supply – the seafood – had been wiped out by massive oil spills. Not a good situation.

So, the Government had come to the rescue and developed a brand new Plan to take care of the populace: From the time each baby was born in Zoor until the time they died, the Government would furnish their health care and food. What a deal. And, of course, a surveillance bracelet would be required to “participate”. It was a slippery slope.

Zoor was buzzing… Who would monitor all of the bracelets? And, would the leaders of Zoor and those who monitored the populace also be tagged? Those were unspoken questions as many were sometimes afraid to speak out. Perhaps, eventually, computers could monitor some of the bracelets – to save money, of course.

*****

In the midst of it all, there sat Noelte, 29, a young mother.  She had a dilemma. She had lived near the River near a chemical plant for years and knew she had developed another tumor in her leg; she could feel it, the knot protruding from her thin, tanned shin. But, she had already had three removed. The pain was bad. She tried to move through it, rather than dwell on it. But, the possible repercussions from getting an appointment to see a medic could be even more daunting.

Noelte had heard that on the fourth tumor, you would be labeled “incurable” and a “marker” would go on your bracelet. She wasn’t sure what the marker was, or what it meant. It just didn’t sound good. Noelte looked down at her little girl, Rombley, resting on the bed and smiled. Now, there was a beautiful girl! Vibrant eyes, full of hope. After all, why not? Rombley had seen God a lot more recently than Noelte had, and still had visions of flying at night… visions of hope.

To be continued…

USA, Earth – One of my favorite web sites is Gimundo because the news they publish is purposely uplifting. I am on their email mailing list and the information I receive is well worth it.

Take for example, the headline story for today. It’s about Doc Compton, a Texas businessman, and an action he takes that keeps generosity flowing. It’s simple, and oh so powerful!.

Place a single dollar bill in an envelope and pass it along to a stranger, asking them to “pay it forward.”

A  little note inside reads something like this: “If you need it, keep it. Otherwise, simply pass it on to someone else who could use the money – and, if you’re able to, add a dollar of your own to the envelope.”

Once again, this is one person making a big difference – where they are, with what they have. All of us can do this.

This is “viral communication” at its best.

When interviewed by The Dallas Morning News, the Doc remarked:  “It’s not about the money; it’s not about whose hands the money ultimately lands in. It’s about the hands along the way that get to experience the gift of giving.”

Compton came up with the idea when he gave $10 to a couple who couldn’t afford to buy their lunch.

No Strings Attached

I have heard people say “whatever goes around,comes around” and “if I give to others, then that will come back to me.” While there is nothing wrong with giving in this manner, perhaps taking it to the next level sounds like: “I will give, regardless of whether anything ever comes back to me or not.. Just because it’s kind and decent and right.”  Unconditional giving.

You know, after a number of years of working at a soup kitchen and serving the homeless, and seeing what they gave back to the servers, I had the “opportunity” of being on the other end of the giving this past Spring when I went to a soup kitchen for food when I was between paychecks.

I found out that there is no difference in the “side” of the soup table you are on. One gives food, the other receives food. And, we each give the opportunity to be a servant to each other.

I have witnessed, too, when a group of homeless folks who regularly attend a soup kitchen will get together and pray for, and get a card for one of the “servers” who is sick. Now…who is it that’s giving there?

In closing, Gimundo reports that Compton himself  had lost his job as an investment banker, and that Christmas an acquaintance came to his house with a car full of presents for his children, and a gift for him – $2,500. Then and there, “Compton vowed to pay that kindness on to others.”

So, buy some envelopes at the Dollar Store, make up a little note, and pass on those dollar bills! Then, get ready to change lives more than you ever know, including your own!

To read the whole Gimundo story and check out the site for yourself, click here.

Here are some inspirations to ponder and consider adopting:

Hoping against hope is for winners.

To be and not to be is the question; duality is not the answer.

You alone determine if you’ll become all that the world needs of you.

You are not alone. Hold on to that because it’s true whether you believe it or not.

Be aware every second and you’ll be one of the first to know the Truth.

You’re an inner space traveler: Everything’s changing except that still point that you operate from within.

Tired? Stressed? Get up. Stand up for your life, and keep moving forward.

You are onederful. Never forget it.

See your glory in every person you meet, and you’ll soon recognize yourself for who you really are. Powerful.

Understanding another is getting over your self.

To make another laugh is the mark of a gentle god.

Set yourself free from the prison of your making; you are the key to your happiness.

True well being has nothing to do with doing.

The world need your unique contribution; conform, and you’ll forget how to create.

Peace is in the making; be a part of the move afoot.

The eyes that look deep within your heart bring forth great news of a world at peace.

Shower others with the flowers of a your smile. It will grow on you.

One is never a fool who envisions good for all.

With Enthusiasm!

A Science Fiction Tale:

Prelude: The Return of the Forgotten One

In an instant, in one space/time snapshot, a wonder-full story began and then spun out across time and space – toward the past and toward the future.  Many snapshots later (or earlier, if you prefer) a crucial time in history arose – when time and space literally seem to converge on each other, at first not sure if they will make love or war. The Figure 8 had transversed its course and both ends were meeting in that middle land once more.

It was shaky going. Just as soon as one felt like he/she knew what was real anymore, it changed again. And, that was okay, even though it often felt the opposite. “It’s all good” would be the modern saying for the hope that comes from just giving all one has each day, and praying for the best outcome of all concerned. After all, we see and move forward by faith, not sight.

It was a time of great upheaval, of suffering. But, oh, a time for hope, as well. The people had been living on the planet for ages. So long, in fact, that memories of entire generations of people on the planet – and their children – had been forgotten….or erased.

Details about their Source, their purpose, and their true identity and nature and life fuel seem to have evaporated.  Some people sought to remember these threads, others to forget…while perhaps the majority, these days, simply had forgotten that there was anything to remember or forget. They were numb, raw, overexposed to images and information and stimuli. They were used to being afraid.

Sometimes, this “forgetting” was due to catastrophic events on the planet – threats from underneath, from the surface, and above.  And, some times, the threats seemed to come from the ethers, invisible threats. Who knows if these type exist apart from the minds of the inhabitants – apart from the echoes they can hear across the land – or not?

Both threats and opportunities had come too from others “worlds” – from people unknown to the planet’s inhabitants. Aliens. For, if the people would know that others existed beyond their planet, they could, if  in dire trouble, call on these “others” to help. Across time, and across space,  and across dimensions. Nothing was impossible.

Such is the time of our telling. This time, human DNA had triumphed. Humans had rose to the top of the food chain and maintained their position – above dogs, and cats, and reptiles, on down to amoebas. The humans were multiplying rapidly, using up their resources and minerals and organs, experiencing dis-ease, further imprisoning each other, polluting the planet, and beginning to fight for food and water. One place or another on the planet was at war, constantly.

For, you know, the ancient story goes that once the First War began, it never has ended, whether above or below, or in that gray bridge between. The planet’s people were bidding time against catastrophe – in one form or another. On their own, in their own minds,  they had succeeded in making great technological advances.  In fact, so superior were their advances that they had done what they had not intended; they had created ways to eliminate themselves, to wipe out their entire race.

Greed, too, had swept the planet – to the extent that some would eliminate others just as easily as they strip a $20 bill from their money roll to pay a black-suited valet. The Little People – who knew no better,  would be better off with the educated and powerful in control, anyway, right?

So, what The Little People were told, and how they were molded was very important. And, it was most important that the strings that tweaked them would be so subtle and so cunning that the People would not even know that they were being herded for profit – and had been for years. It would be better still if what they were told actually looked like it was a way to help them in their suffering.

There were governments. Some had celebrated their people; some had eventually slaughtered their people. None had lasted very long, for varied reasons. But, without question, nearly all the people kept falling farther away from one important truth: that peace was their legacy.

There were temples and churches. Some on the planet believed in good and evil. Some believed that all is One.  And still others believed in nothing (or is it, no-thing?) For, it  is often true that if  a situation or experience is a paradox, the more real it actually is. That’s as reliable of a barometer for discernment as any other.

There were sprites and elementals, and there were the clouds, and the shadows. There was the Sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all sorts of space debris surrounding the planet. There was activity going on in space beyond ones wildest imagination, sometimes obscured.

And, then… There were the leaders, strong leaders, who had led the people to new heights at each new juncture along the planet’s own journey… and some men and women, who had caught the planet in addictive downward spirals, with each recovery a bit harder than the last. Pull and tug. Pull and tug. Pull and tug.

Legend has it that strong leaders need to be peacemakers – speaking and negotiating with anyone, looking for commonalities first – to get the ball moving. Strong  leaders have been around the block, and above all, have sought and discovered truth from his/her own experience and mistakes – rather than just through the images and limitations presented to them. As Martin Luther once said, they “sin boldly”. To these men and women, richness is in relationship and depth and wisdom and nature, not necessarily blood line or “authority”.

Never forget, we still are writing history and herstory one blink, one experience, one tear, one kiss at a time.

Rest assured, Love will prevail.

*****

Check back on the site later for Chapter One of  “The Return of the Forgotten Ones” – coming soon.

(Note: The photo is of an Analemma – a trace of the annual movement of the Sun on the sky – is well known among experts of sun-dials and old Earth’s globes as a diagram of change of seasons and an equation of time.)

Dallas, TX – The controversy continues. Read one media source they say one thing. Read another media source they say the opposite. Then, there are some stories that get little or no attention from the major networks. Case in point…

The Dallas Morning News reported this story on May 5, 2010.

Article Title: “Theft of safe at Sixth Floor JFK Assassination Museum visitors center thwarted” (Source)
Published: 07:02 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 5, 2010

“Dallas Metro Police say two men abandoned this Dodge pickup after trying to steal the safe. Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said the thieves took some hidden or hard-to-find surveillance equipment, which he said suggests they had help from someone who may have worked for the museum.

A pair of thieves apparently disabled surveillance equipment early Tuesday at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza before using a winch on a pickup in an aborted attempt to steal a safe from the visitors center, county officials said.

Dallas Metro Police say two men abandoned this Dodge pickup after trying to steal the safe. View larger Photography Photo store Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said the thieves took some hidden or hard-to-find surveillance equipment, which he said suggests they had help from someone who may have worked for the museum.

“Someone had good knowledge,” Price said. “You had to know the safe was there … and what’s in the safe. It’s not in public view.”

The visitors center is in the county administration building, where the commissioners meet every Tuesday morning.

Investigators declined to comment on whether the botched theft – the thieves ran off, leaving the safe behind – was an inside job at the world-famous museum, which is dedicated to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

There did not appear to be broken glass or other evidence of forced entry. Officials would not say how the thieves entered the museum. The only damage was to the concrete stairs at the visitors center’s south entrance, where the thieves apparently dragged the heavy safe out.

About 4 a.m., a Dallas County security officer noticed two suspicious men standing near a white Chevrolet pickup backed up to the outside of the museum at Houston and Elm streets in downtown Dallas. The truck had been reported stolen overnight in Pleasant Grove, officials later determined.

The officer shouted for the men to stop, but they jumped into an older Dodge pickup with a safe hoisted up on a winch in the back.

The officer “feared for his life, fired shots, and they swerved and wrecked out,” said Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Kim Leach.

The beat-up Dodge, which had paper tags and a yellow taxicab door in the bed, ran up on a nearby curb on Elm, where the men abandoned it.

The scuffed but apparently unopened gray safe was still dangling from the rear of the Dodge as police cars filled the street responding to the incident.

By that time, the two men – both described as black males in their 20s – had fled. They remain at large. It’s not known if they were injured.

In addition to not talking about the surveillance equipment or the method of entry, museum officials would not divulge what the safe contained.

A museum spokeswoman released a statement Tuesday saying that the “museum collections and historic materials are safe and secure.”

Well… back track about 15 months ago – In February 2008, guardian.co.uk, reported this about the Dallas safe:

Monday 18 February 2008 12.38 GMT

“JFK assassination plot’ papers found in Dallas safe”
Lee Harvey Oswald is shot by Jack Ruby JFK (Source)

Lee Harvey Oswald, accused of assassinating President Kennedy, is shot by Jack Ruby in the garage of the Dallas police headquarters in November 1963 (Photo) – “A transcript claiming to detail Lee Harvey Oswald’s plot to assassinate President John F Kennedy has been discovered in an old courtroom safe.

“The record – described as reading like a conspiracy theorist’s dream – appears to minute talks between Oswald and Jack Ruby, who killed Oswald after Kennedy’s assassination.

Today, the Dallas County district attorney’s office said other documents found included letters from former district attorney Henry Wade, the prosecuting lawyer in Ruby’s trial.

But the apparent record of the conversation between Oswald and Ruby was probably fake, said the district attorney, Craig Watkins, and was instead likely to be long-forgotten material for a proposed film.

Oswald says in the transcript: “I can still do it, all I need is my rifle and a tall building; but it will take time, maybe six months to find the right place; but I’ll have to have some money to live on while I do the planning.”

The Dallas Morning News reported the transcript and other material were found in a safe on the 10th floor of the county courthouse.

The memorabilia – the rest of which was believed to be genuine – also included letters from Wade to Ruby, a gun holster and clothing that probably belonged to Ruby and Oswald, Watkins said.

The transcript suggests Ruby and Oswald met at Ruby’s nightclub on October 4 1963, less than two months before the assassination on November 22 that year.

In it, they talked of killing the president because the mafia wanted to “get rid” of his brother, the then attorney general, Robert Kennedy.

Today, Gary Mack, the curator of the Sixth Floor Museum, which chronicles Kennedy’s life, said he doubted the transcript was genuine.

He added it was well documented Oswald was in Irving, Texas, on the evening of October 4, and therefore could not have been in Ruby’s nightclub.

“The fact that it’s sitting in Henry Wade’s file, and he didn’t do anything, indicates he thought it wasn’t worth anything,” Mack said. “He probably kept it because it was funny. It’s hilarious. It’s like a bad B movie.”

Terri Moore, an assistant to Watkins, today said she believed the transcript was part of a movie Wade was working on with producers.

The former prosecutor had discussed making the film, Countdown in Dallas, in letters found in the safe. “It’s not real. Crooks don’t talk like that,” Moore said.

Watkins said the items were still being processed and would eventually be made available to the public.”

*****

And on the same day, msnbc.com – Nightly News ran this report:

Updated 8:26 p.m. ET, Mon., Feb. 18, 2008 (Source)

Dallas DA unveils tantalizing JFK-related items
Boxes of forgotten memorabilia surface in old safe in Dallas

Article entitled: “JFK assassination documents revealed”

“More than four decades after former Pres. John F. Kennedy was assassinated, a vault of hidden files has finally been cracked open. Take a tour with NBC’s Don Teague …

DALLAS – “Long-hidden items and documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy were revealed for the first time Monday, after spending nearly two decades locked inside a courthouse safe.

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins presented the articles at a U.S. Presidents’ Day holiday news conference while standing next to brown and white file boxes stacked in a pyramid.

The items include a purported transcript between Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and Oswald’s killer, nightclub owner Jack Ruby; a leather gun holster that held the weapon Ruby used to shoot Oswald; brass knuckles found on Ruby when he was arrested; and a movie contract signed by then-Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade.”

What’s your assessment?

Here is the link to the Museum’s web site, including details about their JFK collection.

By the way… Word is that Tom Hanks is planning to produce a movie to debunk the JFK assassination conspiracy for his next project. Read more here from Associated Content. (Note: Rare photo by Scott Hale.)

*****

History buffs will also enjoy this find:

President Eisenhower briefed on ET presence says former New Hampshire legislator – May 12, 11:37 AMDenver – from the UFO Examiner

“Henry W. McElroy, Jr, retiring State Representative to New Hampshire, declared this week that former U.S. President (and General) Dwight D. Eisenhower was briefed about the presence of extraterrestrial intelligent beings on Earth. McElroy also said that the document he viewed while at the State Legislature made reference to the opportunity for Eisenhower to meet the alien visitors.

This new revelation could result in timely support for the August 2010 election on the Denver ballot initiative to create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission. The proposed commission would collect credible evidence and whistle-blower testimony regarding UFOs and visitors to Earth of extraterrestrial origin. It would then share such evidence with the public through the Denver city government web site at no cost to the city budget. The aim of the commission is to brief the public with information previously viewed only by a privileged few.

Following is the transcript of his speech made on May 8, 2010, at Fort Monroe, Virginia. The Gateway to Freedom video of McElroy’s speech can also be viewed on YouTube.

Transcript:

“Hello, I’m speaking with you from Fort Monroe, Virginia. We’re also known as The Gateway to Freedom.

We sit right next to a little town called Phoebus, Virginia. Interestingly, they call themselves The Gateway to the New World.

Phoebus sits inside of Hampton, Virginia whose motto is First from the Sea, First to the Stars.

My name is Henry McElroy, Jr. a retiring, former State Representative from New Hampshire. Thank you for your attention to this brief message concerning the world’s interaction with both earth-based, and off-world astronauts.

The reason I am making this announcement is in the hopes of encouraging better perspective to all who explore the universe. Therefore, as a result, making a more valuable contribution to humanity, for the benefit of all faiths, all races and all nations.

Another reason I am here today is because I believe in the foundational wisdom of our nation, which was laid down by our founding fathers and because we know that highly advanced knowledge and information can assist human beings in solving various problems both in current times, and in our future.

When I was in the New Hampshire State Legislature, I served on the State Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs committee. It was, apparently, important that as a Representative of the Sovereign People who had elected me to this Honorable Office, that I be updated on a large number of topics related to the affairs of our People, and our Nation.

As I understood it, some of those ongoing topics had been examined and categorized as Federal, State, Local development, and security matters. These documents related to various topics some of which spanned decades of our nation’s history. One of those recurring topics is the reason I am addressing you this evening.

I would like to submit to our nation my personal testimony of one document related to one of these ongoing topics which I saw while in office, serving on the State Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee.

The document I saw was an official brief to President Eisenhower. To the best of my memory this brief was pervaded with a sense of hope, and it informed President Eisenhower of the continued presence of extraterrestrial beings (aliens) here in the United States of America.

The brief seemed to indicate that a meeting between the President and some of these visitors could be arranged as appropriate if desired.

The tone of the brief indicated to me that there was no need for concern, since these visitors were in no way, causing any harm, or had any intentions, whatsoever, of causing any disruption then, or in the future.

While I can’t verify the times or places or that any meeting or meetings occurred directly between Eisenhower and these visitors – because of his optimism in his farewell address in 1961, I personally believe that Eisenhower did, indeed, meet with these extraterrestrial, off world astronauts.

I hope my personal testimony will aid the nation in its quest for continued enlightenment. I am honored to follow in the footsteps of those who have come forward with their personal testimonies – those who deserve the admiration of the American people for sharing their accounts publicly, in an effort to elevate our knowledge to a higher understanding of our existence.

People such as:

Former Astronauts John Glenn, Edgar Mitchell, Gordon Cooper, and Buzz Aldrin

Former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter

Captain Bill Uhouse of the United States Marine Corps

Lt. Col John Williams of the United States Air Force

Co Phillip Corso Sr. of the United States Army

Commander Graham Bethune of the United States Navy

Along with:

David Hamilton of the Department of Energy, Donna Hare of NASA, and James Kopf of the National Security Agency

I would also like to thank the countries of France, Brazil, Britain, Russia, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, our neighbor to the North – Canada, Uruguay, and Australia, for also opening their files to the citizens of their countries, and allowing them access to information that is so very important to the evolution of humanity.

I thank you for allowing me this opportunity to have a small part in doing the same, by sharing the information I have given you today.

Thank you very much and I’d like to thank our communications crew for helping us make this happen today.

And, I’d also like to authorize distribution of this video (above) for anyone who wants to use it for educational purposes.

Thank you.”

Usually Wikipedia isn’t the most well-trusted source for information on the web, however found this current description of “private space flight” to be quite interesting.

Article entitled: “Emerging personal spaceflight: SpaceShipOne has a 5-meter wingspan and a 3-person cabin”

*****

“Before 2004, no privately operated manned spaceflight had ever occurred. The only private individuals to journey to space went as space tourists in the Space Shuttle or on Russian Soyuz flights to Mir or the International Space Station.

All private individuals who flew to space before Dennis Tito’s self-financed International Space Station visit in 2001 had been sponsored by their home governments. Those trips include US Congressman Bill Nelson’s January 1986 flight on the Space Shuttle Columbia and Japanese television reporter Toyohiro Akiyama’s 1990 flight to the Mir Space Station.

The Ansari X PRIZE was intended to stimulate private investment in the development of spaceflight technologies. The June 21, 2004 test flight of SpaceShipOne, a contender for the X PRIZE, was the first human spaceflight in a privately developed and operated vehicle.

On September 27, 2004, following the success of SpaceShipOne, Richard Branson, owner of Virgin and Burt Rutan, SpaceShipOne’s designer, announced that Virgin Galactic had licensed the craft’s technology, and were planning commercial space flights in 2.5 to 3 years.

A fleet of five craft (SpaceShipTwo, launched from the WhiteKnightTwo carrier airplane) is to be constructed, and flights will be offered at around $200,000 each, although Branson has said he plans to use this money to make flights more affordable in the long term.

XCOR Aerospace also plans to initiate a suborbital commercial spaceflight service with the Lynx rocketplane in 2012. First test flights are planned for 2010.

In December 2004, United States President George W. Bush signed in to law the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act.[17] The Act resolved the regulatory ambiguity surrounding private spaceflights and is designed to promote the development of the emerging U.S. commercial human space flight industry.

On July 12, 2006, Bigelow Aerospace launched the Genesis I, a subscale pathfinder of an orbital space station module. Genesis II was launched on June 28, 2007, and there are plans for additional prototypes to be launched in preparation for the production model BA 330 spacecraft.

On September 28, 2006, Jim Benson, SpaceDev founder, announced he was founding Benson Space Company with the intention of being first to market with the safest and lowest cost suborbital personal spaceflight launches, using the vertical takeoff and horizontal landing Dream Chaser vehicle based on the NASA HL-20 Personnel Launch System vehicle.

Some have speculated on the profitability of mining metal from asteroids. According to some estimates, a one kilometer-diameter asteroid would contain 30 million tons of nickel, 1.5 million tons of metal cobalt and 7,500 tons of platinum; the platinum alone would have a value of more than $500 billion at current prices.[25]

While the potential rewards from asteroid mining are indeed huge, the technical challenges are equally large and it seems likely that the private sector will wait for the publicly funded space program to solve them (e.g. by establishing experimental mines on the Moon).”

I wanted to pass along this recent (03/25/2010) article entitled, “Is X-woman”really a new species?” – Quite interesting…

The discovery of the creature nicknamed “X-woman” has to rank as one of the most exciting science stories of the year so far. She -  if X-woman is indeed a “she” -  is known only from a little finger bone, found in a Siberian cave and dated to between 48,000 and 30,000 years ago. But according to a research team led by Johannes Krause and Svante Pääbo, of the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, she may represent an entirely new human species.

At the time X-woman lived, the only hominins known in Eurasia were modern humans and Neanderthals (Homo floresiensis, the “Hobbits”, were also around in Indonesia). Yet analysis of mitochondrial DNA from the bone has suggested that X-woman belongs to neither species (the nickname, incidentally, was chosen because mitochondrial DNA is passed down the female line — there is no indication of sex just yet).

Krause and Pääbo believe that this suggests the creature belongs to a new lineage of humans, and perhaps to a new species. As Pääbo put it:

“Whatever carried this DNA out of Africa is some new creature that has not been on our radar screens. It suggests there were perhaps three different families of humans in this area about 40,000 years ago, and also the hobbits in Indonesia.”

Not everybody, however, is convinced by this interpretation. In an interesting and illuminating blog post, the anthropologist John Hawks points out that nowhere in the Nature paper do the scientists use the word “species”, and that there is another explanation that fits the currently-known facts just as well.

Hawks’s point is that it is dangerous to infer that a new species has been discovered from mitochondrial DNA alone. It is also perfectly possible that the unusual mitochondrial DNA sequence represents previously unappreciated but normal variation among Neanderthals.

The Neanderthal DNA that is known to date comes from populations situated far to the west of the Siberian site, and X-woman’s sequence may be nothing more than a matter of geography. He calls for caution, and more evidence:

“It is unnecessary to posit the existence of an unknown species of hominins in southern Siberia, based on the mitochondrial evidence alone. Whether we’re talking about an unexpected diversity of forms — well, I want to see something other than a pinky bone.”

He’s right that Pääbo and Krause don’t use the term “species” in their paper, but the pair were pretty bullish about their interpretation in a conference call with the world’s press on Tuesday. Their comments clearly indicated that they thought it likely that X-woman is a new species, and most reports of their work (including my own) have taken this line.

Hawks also suggests a possible explanation for their confidence:

“In the back of my mind I’m thinking this: if Krause’s team has done enough sequencing to do the entire mitochondrial genome, they surely already know something about what the nuclear genome looks like… So maybe there are already hints that the autosomal comparison will fall in the same direction as the mitochondrial comparison with Neandertals: different from them, different from us.”

I think hunch has a lot going for it. As John Timmer, of Ars Technica, pointed out to me today, it will have been several months since the Max Planck team started preparing this paper. They will certainly have some results from their nuclear DNA analysis by now, and it’s hard to believe they would have given the media the impression that this was a new species if those preliminary data suggested otherwise.

The Nature paper doesn’t prove that X-woman is a new species, and Hawks is right that reporters like me probably ought to have been a little more cautious. But I’d also be surprised (though not astonished) if this take on the story doesn’t hold up in the longer term.

Carl Zimmer, at The Loom, has another good post on this subject, which takes up another potential explanation for X-woman’s bizarre mitochondrial DNA. As I alluded to in my story, it’s also possible that the fossil was the result of interbreeding between Neanderthals (or Homo sapiens) and a more archaic hominin.

Note: This article was posted by Mark Henderson on March 25, 2010 in the Evolution, Genetics category.

Also refer to this recent BBC article on the subject: