Alumni Affairs and Development leadership transition
Alumni Affairs and Development leadership transition
May 31, 2024
Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:
I am writing to share the bittersweet news that Lisa Boudreau plans to step down from her role as dean for alumni affairs and development (AAD) at HMS. She has accepted the role of chief development officer for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Her last day will be June 27.
Lisa has spent her entire career raising critical funds to advance the mission and work of educational institutions, punctuated by 24 years of service to Harvard. Following roles in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1995 to 1999 and 2001 to 2005, she migrated across the Charles River to join HMS as senior director of development in 2008. Lisa was named interim dean for AAD in 2015 and — in one of my first and best decisions as the new dean of HMS in 2017 — I offered her the permanent role, which she graciously accepted.
Under Lisa’s leadership, AAD has attracted gifts from philanthropists who have boosted financial aid for MD and MD-PhD students and enabled the launch of key institutional priorities, including the Bertarelli Rare Cancers Fund, Blavatnik Harvard Life Lab Longwood, Center for Computational Biomedicine, Paul Farmer Collaborative with the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda, Paul Farmer Professorship and Chair, REACH scholarship program, Tan-Yang Center for Autism Research, and Therapeutics Initiative, as well as plans for a major addition to Building C thanks to a $75 million gift from Ernesto Bertarelli, MBA ’93. In recognition of this extraordinary commitment and following completion of the construction, Building C — the last to be named of the five original marble buildings that form HMS’ iconic Quadrangle — will be named the Bertarelli Building.
Lisa has professionalized our alumni reunion program, increased reunion class giving totals, and raised HMS’ profile within the broader Harvard alumni community to help attract future major gifts. Remarkably, the AAD team surpassed $300 million in gifts and pledges in both FY19 and FY23, more than doubling any prior single year of fundraising.
I cannot thank Lisa enough for her dedication, energy, patience, positivity, vision, and wise counsel. She has been among my closest partners, and her legacy and impact will endure for years to come. Please join me in thanking Lisa for her service to HMS and the University and in wishing her the very best in her new role.
We will soon begin the search process for our next dean for AAD. In the meantime, I am pleased to announce that Matt Durno, currently executive director of development for principal and major gifts and grants, has agreed to serve as interim dean during the transition. Matt has been a leader on the AAD team for 15 years, and I have the utmost confidence in him and the entire team.
Sincerely,
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University
https://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/office-dean/messages/alumni-affairs-development-leadership-transition
Lisa is a diminutive of the Russian word lisa, which means "fox".
https://www.google.com/search?q=lisa+etymology&oq=lisa+etymology
Lisa Boudreau
Chief Development Officer
Lisa Boudreau Chief Development Officer
Lisa Boudreau joined The Michael J. Fox Foundation in July 2024 as its Chief Development Officer. She is an accomplished fundraising executive with a track record of building high-performing teams toward increased philanthropic revenue. She has spent her career raising critical funds to advance the mission and work of educational institutions, including more than 25 years of service at Harvard University.
Most recently, Lisa served as dean for alumni affairs and development at Harvard Medical School (HMS). In that role, she worked with university leaders to garner major philanthropy for biomedical research, the pursuit of health equity, and the discovery of preventions, treatments and cures for disease. Notably, Lisa contributed, from start to finish, to a highly successful campaign, The World Is Waiting: The Campaign for Harvard Medicine, which raised $789 million, and led the Harvard Medical School Office of Alumni Affairs and Development office to finalize the campaign in its last 18 months.
Lisa began her career as an annual fund professional at Connecticut College in New London. After nearly four years, she initiated a 10-year commitment to Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences as associate director of the Harvard College Fund. Successively, she served as major gift officer, director of development and corporate relations for the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and managing director of the Harvard College Fund. During a one-year hiatus from Harvard, Lisa lived in London and served as head of individual giving at the London School of Economics. Before joining HMS in 2008, she was a fundraising consultant at Jaques & Company for two years.
Lisa has a BA from Bucknell University.
https://www.michaeljfox.org/bio/lisa-boudreau
The surname Boudreau is of French origin and is derived from the personal name Boudier. Boudier comes from the ancient Germanic name Bodhari, which is made up of the words bod meaning "messenger" and hari meaning "army".
https://www.google.com/search?q=boudreau+etymology
Published: 10 October 1996
Russian documents Set out 'tectonic weapon' research
Carl Levitin
Moscow. The first official details have emerged in Moscow of ambitious research into 'tectonic warfare' carried out by the former Soviet Union and subsequently by the government of Russia, and involving atte mpts to stimulate 'artificial' earthquakes as weapons of destruction. According to documents obtained by the newspaper Moscow News, two research programmes, the first known as ' Mercury ' and the second as ' Volcano', were aimed at creating new earthquake epicentres by using underground nuclear explosions . Geophysicists are aware that impending earthquakes may be triggered by underground nuclear explosions . But Western geophysicists remain sceptical about tectonic warfare and have all but abandoned research after two unsuccessful phases of activity in the 1960s and 1980s, says Roger Clark, a lecturer in geophysics at the University of Leeds. Clark is not at all surprised that th e Russians tried to create earthquakes and control their location electromagnetically, however. "This sort of science is very much part of their heritage. We don't think it is impossible, or wrong , but past experience suggests it is very, very unlikely. "
The programme , which was secretly launched by the Communist rulers of the former Soviet Union in 1987, and has been unofficially known to Western geophysicists for several years, is now believed to have been abandoned. It would certainly contravene the terms of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which Russia signe d at the United Nations in Geneva last month . The Mercury project was launched in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, but came to a halt when the republic became independent. It was superseded by the Volcano project. Three underground nuclear tests are believed to have taken place at sites in Kyrgyzstan.
According to the documents, the Mercury project was launched by a secret decree of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. The objective was to "develop a methodology for remote operation on an earthquake epicentre by using weak seismic fields and research possibilities of transferring the seismic energy of an explosion ".
The documents say that the Mercury project involved 22 scientific and industrial organizations, including the Geological Institute of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences in Baku. The remit extended to developing the electronic equipment to be installed aboard space satellites that would control the tectonic weapon. The scientists were given three years to complete research, with testing planned for 1990.
During the research phase, Azerbaijani scientists grew increasingly confident and, according to the documents, were sure that " after [a] nuclear explosion, subterranean energy may accumulate at huge distances from the epicentre and reach massive capacity, after which the next directed explosion can release it all ".
Underground testing began at the town of Batken in Kyrgyzstan, and was directed by lkram Ke rimov , of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. The documents say that scientists detonated an underground nuclear charge and tried to control the direction of seismic energy release d using British-built equipment known as 'system 9690 ' .
A report prepared by the Mozhaisky Military Engineering Institute concluded that the test had been a success. But progress slowed considerably following Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union. At about this time , Russia embarked on a more comprehensive tectonic warfare programme known as the Volcano project. The Earth Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) became the project headquarters .
Research was scheduled to be completed in 1992, with underground testing beginning the following year. The final test was carried out at a place code-named S36NZ-0Kh; Moscow News believes the letters 'NZ' refer to Novaya Zemlya, where Soviet nuclear testing began in the 1950s."
https://www.nature.com/articles/383471a0
9. Interprovincial Works and Houses in Rome
304 §1. In the spirit of our fourth vow, the Society confirms its commitment to the interprovincial Roman works entrusted to it by the Holy See: the Pontifical Gregorian University and its associated institutes, the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Oriental Institute, as well as the Pontifical Russicum College, the Vatican Radio, and the Vatican Observatory, all of which are common works of the whole Society, placed directly under the superior general. Recognizing the very valuable service that these institutions have offered and continue to offer today, it calls upon major superiors who share Father General s responsibility for them to continue their help through subsidies and especially by training and offering professors and other personnel to them.
§2. Also recommended to the care of all the provinces are those other works or houses in Rome that render a service to the entire Society, such as the Historical Institute of the Society of Jesus and the international colleges of the Society in Rome.[142]
The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms
A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts
THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES
SAINT LOUIS, 1996
https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf
Exposure to Ionizing Radiation and Risk of Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Tanvi Srivastava; Ekaterina Chirikova; Sapriya Birk; Fanxiu Xiong; Tarek Benzouak; Jane Y. Liu; Paul J. Villeneuve; Lydia B. Zablotska
Radiat Res (2023) 199 (5): 490–505.
https://doi.org/10.1667/RADE-22-00153.1
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The number of people living with dementia is rising globally as life expectancy increases. Dementia is a multifactorial disease. Due to the ubiquity of radiation exposure in medical and occupational settings, the potential association between radiation and dementia, and its subtypes (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease), is of particular importance. There has also been an increased interest in studying radiation induced dementia risks in connection with the long-term manned space travel proposed by The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Our aim was to systematically review the literature on this topic, and use meta-analysis to generate a summary measure of association, assess publication bias and explore sources of heterogeneity across studies. We identified five types of exposed populations for this review: 1. survivors of atomic bombings in Japan; 2. patients treated with radiation therapy for cancer or other diseases; 3. occupationally exposed workers; 4. those exposed to environmental radiation; and 5. patients exposed to radiation from diagnostic radiation imaging procedures. We included studies that considered incident or mortality outcomes for dementia and its subtypes. Following PRISMA guidelines, we systematically searched the published literature indexed in PubMed between 2001 and 2022. We then abstracted the relevant articles, conducted a risk-of-bias assessment, and fit random effects models using the published risk estimates. After we applied our eligibility criteria, 18 studies were identified for review and retained for meta-analysis. For dementia (all subtypes), the summary relative risk was 1.11 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.18; P = 0.001) comparing individuals receiving 100 mSv of radiation to those with no exposure. The corresponding summary relative risk for Parkinson's disease incidence and mortality was 1.12 (95% CI 1.07, 1.17; P <0.001). Our results provide evidence that exposure to ionizing radiation increases the risk of dementia. However, our findings should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of included studies. Longitudinal studies with improved exposure characterization, incident outcomes, larger sample size, and the ability to adjust for effects of potential confounders are needed to better assess the possible causal link between ionizing radiation and dementia.
INTRODUCTION
An estimated ten million new dementia cases occur worldwide every year (1 ). In 2020, there were 55 million patients living with dementia globally, and this number is expected to more than triple by 2050 (2 ). Dementia is an incurable and debilitating condition (3 ) that can bring distress and isolation to patients (4 ), as well as high healthcare costs that burden patients' families and caregivers (5 ). The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer's disease (AD), which accounts for approximately two-thirds of all cases (6 ), followed by Parkinson's Disease (PD) (7 , 8 ). Dementia (unspecified), AD and PD share similarities in underlying biological mechanisms (9 , 10 ) and are frequently grouped together.
Age is the most important risk factor for dementia, followed by other determinants such as poor nutrition; low physical activity; and genetic, socioeconomic and environmental factors (11 ). Ionizing radiation can modify cognitive functions (12 –14 ) and affect neurological integrity (15 , 16 ), and has been linked with an increased risk of dementia (17 ). While radiation is one of the most studied carcinogens (18 ), more recent studies have suggested that exposure increases the risk of adverse non-cancer outcomes, particularly with cardiovascular diseases such as ischemic heart disease (19 , 20 ) and stroke (21 , 22 ).
Few epidemiological studies have examined the effects of radiation on dementia, primarily because the majority of studies has focused on cancer or cardiovascular outcomes using incidence or mortality data (18 ). Death certificates often do not include dementia as the underlying cause of death and the accompanying under-ascertainment of mortality can introduce bias, and reduce study power when investigating the effects of radiation on dementia (23 ). Despite these challenges, there have been more recent investigations on this topic including a recent meta-analysis by Lopes et al. (24 ). The Lopes et al. meta-analysis examined radiation risks for a broad grouping of nonmalignant diseases of the central nervous system that also included PD (24 ). There is a growing need for understanding the health effects from exposure to low dose radiation, including dementia, in view of NASA's long-term space travel plans (25 ). While space radiation is primarily composed of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar particle radiation (26 , 27 ), which differ from radiation exposures on Earth, epidemiologic research on any form of radiation can inform NASA's risk mitigation strategy (25 , 28 , 29 ). A 2012 literature review suggested that there were few studies of radiation exposure and increased risk of dementia and related outcomes, and their findings were equivocal (17 ). Hence, we undertook this review to provide a current synthesis of published findings on this topic, and to explore drivers of differences in the strength of association reported across studies. Our study complements the recently published review by Lopes et al. (24 ) by assessing issues related to publication bias and heterogeneity, as well as presenting summary measures of association specific to dementia.
METHODS
Protocol and Registration
We conducted this systematic review in accordance with PRISMA guidelines (30 ). We registered the protocol for the review on PROSPERO [CRD42021260596], on September 17, 2021.
Exposure Definition
Radiation can be in the form of electromagnetic waves that include gamma rays and X rays, or particles such as alpha or beta particles (31 ). In this review, we examined the effects of both low (10 to 100 millisievert (mSv) and high (over 100 mSv) doses of external and internal radiation exposures to all forms of radiation at all dose-rates on dementia outcomes. We included both full-body and brain doses of radiation in the study but made no distinction when combining them in the meta-analysis.
Outcome Definition
The grouping “dementia” includes Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD), Huntington's Disease (HD), Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH), vascular dementia, mixed dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (32 )
https://meridian.allenpress.com/radiation-research/article/199/5/490/491672/Exposure-to-Ionizing-Radiation-and-Risk-of
The CORONA [1] program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Directorate of Science & Technology with substantial assistance from the U.S. Air Force. The CORONA satellites were used for photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union (USSR), China, and other areas beginning in June 1959 and ending in May 1972."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORONA_(satellite)
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.[7] Most scientists believe the SARS-CoV-2 virus entered into human populations through natural zoonosis, similar to the SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV outbreaks, and consistent with other pandemics in human history.[8][9] Social and environmental factors including climate change, natural ecosystem destruction and wildlife trade increased the likelihood of such zoonotic spillover.[10][11][12][13] The disease quickly spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 are variable but often include fever,[14] fatigue, cough, breathing difficulties, loss of smell, and loss of taste.[15][16][17] Symptoms may begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. At least a third of people who are infected do not develop noticeable symptoms.[18][19] Of those who develop symptoms noticeable enough to be classified as patients, most (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging), and 5% develop critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction).[20] Older people are at a higher risk of developing severe symptoms. Some complications result in death. Some people continue to experience a range of effects (long COVID) for months or years after infection, and damage to organs has been observed.[21] Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.[22]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19
Havana syndrome ’ and the mystery of the microwaves by Gordon Carera
"Doctors, scientists, intelligence agents and government officials have all been trying to find out what causes "Havana syndrome" - a mysterious illness that has struck American diplomats and spies. Some call it an act of war, others wonder if it is some new and secret form of surveillance - and some people believe it could even be all in the mind. So who or what is responsible? It often started with a sound, one that people struggled to describe. "Buzzing", "grinding metal", "piercing squeals", was the best they could manage. One woman described a low hum and intense pressure in her skull; another felt a pulse of pain. Those who did not hear a sound, felt heat or pressure. But for those who heard the sound, covering their ears made no difference. Some of the people who experienced the syndrome were left with dizziness and fatigue for months. Havana syndrome first emerged in Cuba in 2016. The first cases were CIA officers, which meant they were kept secret. But, eventually, word got out and anxiety spread. Twenty-six personnel and family members would report a wide variety of symptoms. There were whispers that some colleagues thought sufferers were crazy and it was "all in the mind". Five years on, reports now number in the hundreds and, the BBC has been told, span every continent, leaving a real impact on the US's ability to operate overseas. Uncovering the truth has now become a top US national security priority - one that an official has described as the most difficult intelligence challenge they have ever faced. Hard evidence has been elusive, making the syndrome a battleground for competing theories. Some see it as a psychological illness, others a secret weapon. But a growing trail of evidence has focused on microwaves as the most likely culprit. In 2015, diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba were restored after decades of hostility. But within two years, Havana syndrome almost shut the embassy down, as staff were withdrawn because of concerns for their welfare. Initially, there was speculation that the Cuban government - or a hard-line faction opposed to improving relations - might be responsible, having deployed some kind of sonic weapon. Cuba's security services, after all, had been nervous about an influx of US personnel and kept a tight grip on the capital. That theory would fade as cases spread around the world. But recently, another possibility has come into the frame - one whose roots lay in the darker recesses of the Cold War, and a place where science, medicine, espionage and geopolitics collide. When James Lin, a professor at the University of Illinois, read the first reports about the mysterious sounds in Havana, he immediately suspected that microwaves were responsible. His belief was based not just on theoretical research, but first-hand experience. Decades earlier, he had heard the sounds himself. Since its emergence around World War Two, there had been reports of people being able to hear something when a nearby radar was switched on and began sending microwaves into the sky. This was even though there was no external noise. In 1961, a paper by Dr Allen Frey argued the sounds were caused by microwaves interacting with the nervous system, leading to the term the "Frey Effect". But the exact causes - and implications - remained unclear. In the 1970s, Prof Lin set to work conducting his experiments at the University of Washington. He sat on a wooden chair in a small room lined with absorbent materials, an antenna aimed at the back of his head. In his hand he held a light switch. Outside, a colleague sent pulses of microwaves through the antenna at random intervals. If Prof Lin heard a sound, he pressed the switch. A single pulse sounded like a zip or a clicking finger. A series of pulses like a bird chirping. They were produced in his head rather than as sound waves coming from outside. Prof Lin believed the energy was absorbed by the soft brain tissue and converted to a pressure wave moving inside the head, which was interpreted by the brain as sound. This occurred when high-power microwaves were delivered as pulses rather than in the low-power continuous form you get from a modern microwave oven or other devices. Prof Lin recalls that he was careful not to dial it up too high. "I did not want to have my brain damaged," he told the BBC. In 1978, he found he was not alone in his interest, and received an unusual invitation to discuss his latest paper from a group of scientists who had been carrying out their own experiments. During the Cold War, science was the focus of intense super-power rivalry. Even areas like mind control were explored, amid fears of the other side getting an edge - and this included microwaves. Prof Lin was shown the Soviet approach at a centre of scientific research in the town of Pushchino, near Moscow. "They had a very elaborate, very well-equipped laboratory," Prof Lin recalls. But their experiment was cruder than his. The subject would sit in a drum of salty seawater with their head sticking out. Then microwaves would be fired at their brain. The scientists thought the microwaves interacted with the nervous system and wanted to question Prof Lin on his alternative view. Curiosity cut both ways, and US spies kept close track on Soviet research. A 1976 report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, unearthed by the BBC, says it could find no proof of Communist-bloc microwave weapons, but says it had learnt of experiments where microwaves were pulsed at the throat of frogs until their hearts stopped. The report also reveals that the US was concerned Soviet microwaves could be used to impair brain function or induce sounds for psychological effect. "Their internal sound perception research has great potential for development into a system for disorienting or disrupting the behaviour patterns of military or diplomatic personnel." American interest was more than just defensive. James Lin would occasionally glimpse references to secret US work on weapons in the same field. And while Prof Lin was in Pushchino, another group of Americans not far away were worried that they were being zapped by microwaves - and that their own government had covered it up. For nearly a quarter of a century, the 10-storey US embassy in Moscow was bathed by a wide, invisible beam of low-level microwaves. It became known as "the Moscow signal". But for many years, most of those working inside knew nothing. The beam came from an antenna on the balcony of a nearby Soviet apartment and hit the upper floors of the embassy where the ambassador's office and more sensitive work was carried out. It had been first spotted in the 1950s and was later monitored from a room on the 10th floor. But its existence was a secret tightly held from all but a few working inside. "We were trying to figure out just what might be its purpose," explains Jack Matlock, number two at the embassy in the mid-70s. But a new ambassador, Walter Stoessel, arrived in 1974 and threatened to resign unless everyone was told. "That caused something like panic," recalls Mr Matlock. Embassy staff whose children were in a basement nursery were especially worried. But the State Department played down any risk. Then Ambassador Stoessel, himself, fell ill - with bleeding of the eyes as one of his symptoms. In a now declassified 1975 phone call to the Soviet ambassador to Washington, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger linked Stoessel's illness to microwaves, admitting "we are trying to keep the thing quiet". Stoessel died of leukaemia at the age of 66. "He decided to play the good soldier", and not make a fuss, his daughter told the BBC. From 1976 screens were installed to protect people. But many diplomats were angry, believing the State Department had first kept quiet, and then resisted acknowledging any possible health impact. This was a claim echoed decades later with Havana syndrome. What was the Moscow signal for? "I'm pretty sure that the Soviets had intentions other than damaging us," says Matlock. They were ahead of the US in surveillance technology and one theory was that they bounced microwaves off windows to pick up conversations, another that they were activating their own listening devices hidden inside the building or capturing information through microwaves hitting US electronic devices (known as "peek and poke"). The Soviets at one point told Matlock that the purpose was actually to jam American equipment on the embassy roof used to intercept Soviet communications in Moscow. This is the world of surveillance and counter-surveillance, one so secret that even within embassies and governments only a few people know the full picture. One theory is that Havana involved a much more targeted method to carry out some kind of surveillance with higher-power, directed microwaves. One former UK intelligence official told the BBC that microwaves could be used to "illuminate" electronic devices to extract signals or identify and track them. Others speculate that a device (even perhaps an American one) might have been poorly engineered or malfunctioned and caused a physical reaction in some people. However, US officials tell the BBC no device has been identified or recovered. After a lull, cases began to spread beyond Cuba. In December 2017, Marc Polymeropolous woke suddenly in a Moscow hotel room. A senior CIA officer, he was in town to meet Russian counterparts. "My ears were ringing, my head was spinning. I felt like I was going to vomit. I couldn't stand up," he told the BBC. "It was terrifying." It was a year after the first Havana cases, but the CIA medical office told him his symptoms didn't match the Cuban cases. A long battle for medical treatment began. The severe headaches never went away and in the summer of 2019 he was forced to retire. Mr Polymreopolous originally thought he had been hit by some kind of technical surveillance tool that had been "turned up too much". But when more cases emerged at the CIA which were all, he says, linked to people working on Russia, he came to believe he had been targeted with a weapon. But then came China, including at the consulate in Guangzhou in early 2018. Some of those affected in China contacted Beatrice Golomb, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, who has long researched the health effects of microwaves, as well as other unexplained illnesses. She told the BBC that she wrote to the State Department's medical team in January 2018 with a detailed account of why she thought microwaves were responsible. "This makes for interesting reading," was the non-committal response. Prof Golomb says high levels of radiation were recorded by family members of personnel in Guangzhou using commercially available equipment. "The needle went off the top of the available readings." But she says the State Department told its own employees that the measurements they had taken off their own back were classified. A host of problems plagued early investigations. There was a failure to collect consistent data. The State Department and CIA failed to communicate with each other, and the scepticism of their internal medical teams caused tension. Only one out of the nine cases from China was initially determined by the State Department to match the criteria for the syndrome based on Havana cases. That left others who experienced symptoms angry, and feeling as if they were being accused of making it up. They began a battle for equal treatment, which is still going on today. As frustration grew, some of those affected turned to Mark Zaid, a lawyer who specialises in national security cases. He now acts for around two dozen government personnel, half from the intelligence community. "This is not Havana syndrome. It's a misnomer," argues Mr Zaid, whose clients were affected in many locations. "What's been going on has been known by the United States government probably, based on evidence that I have seen, since the late 1960s." Since 2013, Mr Zaid has represented one employee of the US National Security Agency who believed they were damaged in 1996 in a location which remains classified. Mr Zaid questions why the US government has been so unwilling to acknowledge a longer history. One possibility, he says, is because it might open a Pandora's Box of incidents that have been ignored over the years. Another is because the US, too, has developed and perhaps even deployed microwaves itself and wants to keep it secret. The country's interest in weaponising microwaves extended beyond the end of the Cold War. Reports say from the 1990s, the US Air Force had a project codenamed "Hello" to see if microwaves could create disturbing sounds in people's heads, one called "Goodbye" to test their use for crowd control, and one codenamed "Goodnight" to see if they could be used to kill people. Reports from a decade ago suggested these had not proved successful. But the study of the mind and what can be done to it has been receiving increased focus within the military and security world. "The brain is being seen as the 21st Century battle-scape," argues James Giordano, an adviser to the Pentagon and Professor in Neurology and Biochemistry at Georgetown University, who was asked to look at the initial Havana cases. "Brain sciences are global. It is not just the province of what used to be known as the West." Ways to both augment and damage brain function are being worked on, he told the BBC. But it is a field with little transparency or rules. He says China and Russia have been engaged in microwave research and raises the possibility that tools developed for industrial and commercial uses - for instance to test the impact of microwaves on materials - could have been repurposed. But he also wonders if disruption and spreading fear were also the aim. This kind of technology may have been around for a while - and even have been used selectively. But that would still mean something changed in Cuba to get it noticed. Bill Evanina was a senior intelligence official when the Havana cases emerged, and stepped down as the head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center this year. He has little doubt about what happened in Havana. "Was it an offensive weapon? I believe it was," he told the BBC. He believes microwaves may have been deployed in recent military conflicts, but points to specific circumstances to explain a shift. Cuba, 90 miles off the Florida coast, has long been an ideal site to collect "signals intelligence" by intercepting communications. During the Cold War, it was home to a major Soviet listening station. When Vladimir Putin visited in 2014, reports suggested it was being re-opened. China also opened two sites in recent years, according to one source, while the Russians sent in 30 additional intelligence officers. But from 2015, the US was back in town. With its newly opened embassy and a beefed-up presence, the US was just beginning to establish its footing, collecting intelligence and pushing back against Russian and Chinese spies. "We were in a ground fight," one person recalls. Then the sounds began. "Who had the most to benefit from the closing of the embassy in Havana?" asks Mr Evanina. "If the Russian government was increasing and promulgating their intelligence collection in Cuba, it was probably not good for them to have the US in Cuba." Russia has repeatedly dismissed accusations it is involved, or has "directed microwave weapons". "Such provocative, baseless speculation and fanciful hypotheses can't really be considered a serious matter for comment," its foreign ministry has said. And there have been sceptics about the very existence of Havana syndrome. They argue that the unique situation in Cuba supports their case.
Contagious Stress
Robert W Baloh, a Professor of Neurology at UCLA, has long studied unexplained health symptoms. When he saw the Havana syndrome reports, he concluded they were a mass psychogenic condition. He compares this to the way people feel sick when they are told they have eaten tainted food even if there was nothing wrong with it - the reverse of the placebo effect. "When you see mass psychogenic illness, there's usually some stressful underlying situation," he says. "In the case of Cuba and the mass of the embassy employees - particularly the CIA agents who first were affected - they certainly were in a stressful situation." In his view, every-day symptoms like brain fog and dizziness are reframed - by sufferers, media and health professionals - as the syndrome. "The symptoms are as real as any other symptoms," he says, arguing that individuals became hyper-aware and fearful as reports spread, especially within a closed community. This, he believes, then became contagious among other US officials serving abroad.
There remain many unexplained elements. Why did Canadian diplomats report symptoms in Havana? Were they collateral damage from targeting nearby Americans? And why have no UK officials reported symptoms? "The Russians have literally tried to kill people on British soil in recent years with radioactive materials, yet why are there no reported cases?" asks Mark Zaid. "I would probably put on pause the statement that no-one in the UK has experienced any symptoms," responds Bill Evanina, who says the US is now sharing details with allies to spot cases. Some instances may be unrelated. "We had a bunch of military folk in the Middle East who claimed to have this attack - turned out they had food poisoning," says one former official. "We need to separate the wheat from the chaff," reckons Mark Zaid, who says members of the public, some with mental health issues, approach him claiming to suffer from microwave attacks. One former official reckons around half the cases reported by US officials are possibly linked to attacks by an adversary. Others say the real number could be even smaller. A December 2020 report by the US National Academies of Sciences was a pivotal moment. Experts took evidence from scientists and clinicians as well as eight victims. "It was quite dramatic," recalls Professor David Relman of Stanford, who chaired the panel. "Some of these people literally were in hiding, for fear of further actions against them by whomever. There were actually precautions we had to take to ensure their safety." The panel looked at psychological and other causes, but concluded that directed, high energy, pulsed microwaves were most likely responsible for some of the cases, similar to the view of James Lin, who gave evidence. But even though the State Department sponsored the study, it still considers the conclusion only a plausible hypothesis and officials say they have not found further evidence to support it. The Biden administration has signalled it is taking the issue seriously. CIA and State Department officials are given advice on how to respond to incidents (including 'getting off the X' - meaning physically moving from a spot if they feel they are getting hit). The State Department has set up a task force to support staff over what are now called "unexplained health incidents". Previous attempts to categorise cases as to whether they met specific criteria have been abandoned. But without a definition, it becomes harder to count. This year, a new wave of cases arrived - including Berlin and a larger group in Vienna. In August, a trip by US Vice-President Kamala Harris to Vietnam was delayed three hours because of a reported case at the embassy in Hanoi. Worried diplomats are now asking questions before taking foreign assignments with their families. "This is a major distraction for us if we think that the Russians are doing things to our intelligence officers who are travelling," says former CIA officer Polymreopolous, who finally received the medical treatment he wanted this year. "That's going to put a crimp in our operational footprint." The CIA has taken over the hunt for a cause, with a veteran of the hunt for Osama bin Laden placed in charge.
Markers In The Blood
An accusation that another state has been harming US officials is a consequential one. "That's an act of war," says Mr Polymeropolous. That makes it a high bar to reach. Policymakers will demand hard evidence, which so far, officials say, is still lacking. Five years on, some US officials say little more is known other than when Havana syndrome started. But others disagree. They say the evidence for microwaves is much stronger now, if not yet conclusive. The BBC has learnt that new evidence is arriving as data is collected and analysed more systematically for the first time. Some of the cases this year showed specific markers in the blood, indicating brain injury. These markers fall away after a few days and previously too much time had elapsed to spot them. But now that people are being tested much more quickly after reporting symptoms, they have been seen for the first time. The debate remains divisive and it is possible the answer is complex. There may be a core of real cases, while others have been folded into the syndrome. Officials raise the possibility that the technology and the intent might have changed over time, perhaps shifting to try and unsettle the US. Some even worry one state may have piggy-backed on another's activities. "We like a simple label diagnosis," argues Professor Relman. "But sometimes it is tough to achieve. And when we can't, we have to be very careful not to simply throw up our hands and walk away." The mystery of Havana syndrome could be its real power. The ambiguity and fear it spreads act as a multiplier, making more and more people wonder if they are suffering, and making it harder for spies and diplomats to operate overseas. Even if it began as a tightly defined incident, Havana syndrome may have developed a life of its own."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-58396698
I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind. There is no reason that we should be lagging behind on.........
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2019
The Georgia Guidestones is a highly controversial granite structure modeled loosely after Stonehenge, erected in northeast Georgia and shrouded in mystery. The monument proclaims ten commandments in eight different languages, the most contentious being the establishment of a global population of only 500-million, a reduction of over 6.5-billion people from current levels. Other commandments include the development of a global language and a worldwide government. While most of the commandments are written vaguely and appear benign, Common Sense Renewed details a totalitarian global government where every aspect of human life — including birth, death, marriage, childbearing, work, property ownership, travel, health care, education and the right to vote — are regulated by the state.
The extensive eugenic measures outlined in Common Sense Renewed may reflect the involvement of William Shockley, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who co-invented the transistor. Shockley also became known for his claims that blacks are genetically inferior to whites. He espoused financial rewards to encourage voluntary sterilization for people having sub-100 IQs."
https://vanshardware.com/2015/09/part-1-iowa-white-supremacist-behind-the-georgia-guidestones/
PARTICULAR AND DAILY EXAMEN It contains in it three times, and two to examine oneself. The first time is in the morning, immediately on rising, when one ought to propose to guard himself with diligence against that particular sin or defect which he wants to correct and amend. The second time is after dinner, when one is to ask of God our Lord what one wants, namely, grace to remember how many times he has fallen into that particular sin or defect, and to amend himself in the future. Then let him make the first Examen, asking account of his soul of that particular thing proposed, which he wants to correct and amend. Let him go over hour by hour, or period by period, commencing at the hour he rose, and continuing up to the hour and instant of the present examen, and let him make in the first line of the G------- as many dots as were the times he has fallen into that particular sin or defect. Then let him resolve anew to amend himself up to the second Examen which he will make. The third time: After supper, the second Examen will be made, in the same way, hour by hour, commencing at the first Examen and continuing up to the present (second) one, and let him make in the second line of the same G------- as many dots as were the times he has fallen into that particular sin or defect. FOUR ADDITIONS FOLLOW TO RID ONESELF SOONER OF THAT PARTICULAR SIN OR DEFECT First Addition. The first Addition is that each time one falls into that particular sin or defect, let him put his hand on his breast, grieving for having fallen: which can be done even in the presence of many, without their perceiving what he is doing. Second Addition. The second: As the first line of the G------- means the first Examen, and the second line the second Examen, let him look at night if there is amendment from the first line to the second, that is, from the first Examen to the second. Third Addition. The third: To compare the second day with the first; that is, the two Examens of the present day with the other two Examens of the previous day, and see if he has amended himself from one day to the other. Fourth Addition. The fourth Addition: To compare one week with another, and see if he has amended himself in the present week over the week past. Note. It is to be noted that the first (large) G------- which follows means the Sunday: the second (smaller), the Monday: the third, the Tuesday, and so on.
GGGGGG
"The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola
TRANSLATED FROM
THE AUTOGRAPH
BY
FATHER ELDER MULLAN, S.J.
I.H.S.
NEW YORK
P.J. KENEDY & SONS
PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE
https://ia800303.us.archive.org/.../a588350800loyouoft.pdf
Support the Church of Satan
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DONATIONS
Members and non-members who enjoy what we do to represent the world’s first carnal religion through our official web site may offer support by making donations. This may be done most directly by using PayPal. Simply note in the memo field that the money you send is a donation towards our efforts. Positive reinforcement in action! Please note that donations to us are not tax deductible.
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Meals: a signal for them should be sounded in the colleges [436]; what should be said regarding grace, thanksgiving, and maintaining temperance and modesty [251]; the extent to which externs can be invited to them, 327 §3
Means of social communication: see Social communication (media)
Media: see Social communication (media)
Medicine: whether it can be taught by Ours [452]; the extent to which medicine should be used [304]
The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms
https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf
Back to the Kitchen: 75 Delicious, Real Recipes (& True Stories) from a Food-Obsessed Actor : A Cookbook Hardcover – June 7, 2016
by Freddie Prinze Jr. (Author), Rachel Wharton (Author), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Foreword)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 399 ratings
See all formats and editions
Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. shares 75 of his favorite recipes for weeknight meals.
Most people know Freddie Prinze Jr. from movies (She's All That, Scooby Doo, Star Wars Rebels) and as one half of beloved Hollywood power couple with Sarah Michelle Gellar. But to family, friends, and co-stars he's always been a terrific father and skilled home cook who prepares delicious meals for his family every night.
Freddie grew up in New Mexico cooking with his mother and eating dishes with a ton of flavor and spice from his Puerto Rican heritage. His eggs come New Mexico–style, served with from-scratch biscuits and green-chile gravy. His tacos are the real deal: soft tortillas, homemade salsa, filled with steak layered with quick-pickled cucumbers, or spicy fish dressed with watermelon and Thai chiles. Now in this family-focused cookbook, Freddie teaches fans to cook his mainstays, the recipes that he makes on even the busiest weeknights, as well as more luxurious date night meals.
With personal family photos from Freddie and Sarah's beautiful LA home and Freddie's hilarious stories about the life of an actor, husband, and father in Hollywood, Back to the Kitchen shares more than just recipes. It’s an inside look at a beloved movie and TV personality who has acted, cooked, and eaten his way around the world.
https://www.amazon.com/Back-Kitchen-Delicious-Recipes-Food-Obsessed/dp/1623366925
Overview
Food poisoning, a type of foodborne illness, is a sickness people get from something they ate or drank. The causes are germs or other harmful things in the food or beverage.
Symptoms of food poisoning often include upset stomach, diarrhea and vomiting. Symptoms usually start within hours or several days of eating the food. Most people have mild illness and get better without treatment.
Sometimes food poisoning causes severe illness or complications.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/food-poisoning/symptoms-causes/syc-20356230
[81] 26. 1If he is pleased to remain in the Society, his food, drink, clothing, shoes, and lodging will be what is characteristic of the poor; 2and he should persuade himself that it will be what is worst in the house, for his greater abnegation and spiritual progress and to arrive at a certain equality and common norm among all. 3For where the Society s first members have passed through these necessities and greater bodily wants, the others who come to it should endeavor, as far as they can, to reach the same point as the earlier ones, or to go farther in the Lord.
The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms
A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts
THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES
SAINT LOUIS, 1996
https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf
Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio;[b] 17 December 1936) is head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century papacy of the Syrian pope Gregory III.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked for a time as a bouncer and a janitor as a young man before training to be a chemist and working as a technician in a food science laboratory. After recovering from a severe illness of pneumonia and cysts, he was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina. The administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him to be a political rival.
Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi. Throughout his public life, Francis has been noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, international visibility as pope, concern for the poor, and commitment to interreligious dialogue. He is known for having a less formal approach to the papacy than his predecessors, for instance choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by previous popes.[2]
Francis has made women full members of dicasteries in the Roman Curia.[3][4] He maintains that the Catholic Church should be more sympathetic toward members of the LGBT community, and has stated that while blessings of same-sex unions are not permitted, the individuals can be blessed, as long as the blessings are not given in a liturgical context.[5] Francis is a critic of unbridled capitalism, consumerism, and overdevelopment;[6] he has made action on climate change a leading focus of his papacy.[7] Widely interpreted as denouncing the death penalty as intrinsically evil,[8] he has termed it "an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person", "inadmissible", and committed the Church to its abolition,[9] saying that there can be "no going back from this position".[10]
In international diplomacy, Francis has criticized the rise of right-wing populism, called for the decriminalization of homosexuality (though still considering same-sex acts as sinful),[11] called for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty, helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, negotiated a deal with China to define how much influence the Communist Party has in appointing Chinese bishops, and has supported the cause of refugees during the European and Central American migrant crises, calling on the Western World to significantly increase immigration levels.[12][13] In 2022, he apologized for the Church's role in the "cultural genocide" of the Canadian indigenous peoples.[14] On 4 October 2023, Francis convened the beginnings of the Synod on Synodality, described as the culmination of his papacy and the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council.[4][15][16] In October 2024, it was revealed that Pope Francis would be the first sitting pope to publish a memoir, Hope, which is set to be published in January 2025.[17]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis
On March 17, 1970, a curious article appeared in the Oakland Tribune. It was a report of an interview with Anton Szandor LaVey, Founder and "High PRIEST" of the "Church of Satan" in San Francisco, and the author of the Satanic Bible. Members of the Church of Satan wear an inverted pentagram, or pentacle (a well-known 'Satanic' symbol) with a a goathead on the inside of the circle. The cover of The Satanic Bible also bears an inverted pentagram, or satanic pentacle.
The Oakland Tribune article reported that LaVey had become " a favorite speaker at the University of San Francisco." When asked about his engagements at that university, LaVey proudly replied, "the Jesuits are my greatest audience." In case the reader was not already aware, the University of San Francisco is a renowned Jesuit institution of higher learning.
The statement by Satanist Anton LaVey about his work at this Jesuit University is no mystery. We invite the reader to give attention to this most audacious passage found in the writings of the Jesuit scholar Anthony Escobar. In his Secret Instructions, Escobar treats to what is perhaps the most innovative principle of Jesuitism (Roma Catholicism): "IT IS LAWFUL... TO MAKE USE OF THE SCIENCE ACQUIRED THROUGH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE DEVIL., PROVIDED THE PRESERVATION AND USE OF THAT KNOWLEDGE DO NOT DEPEND UPON THE DEVIL, FOR THE KNOWLEDGE IS GOOD IN ITSELF, AND THE SIN BY WHICH IT WAS ACQUIRED HAS GONE BY." Such is the effrontery of the Jesuits; such are their nostrums-my, my, what intriguing doctrines these Jesuits have-these men will sell their souls on eBay."
pages 73-74
chapter 6
"SCIENCE ACQUIRED THROUGH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE DEVIL"
Codeword Barbelon book One
by P.D. Stuart
PRIESTHOOD OF MENDES
These are the individuals who act as spokespersons for the philosophy of the Church of Satan, which include the titles of “Priest”/“Priestess,” “Magister”/“Magistra,” “Magus”/“MAGA.” Members of the Priesthood make up the Council of Nine, which is the ruling body of the organization, appointed by and responsible to the High Priest/Priestess. The Order of the Trapezoid consists of the individuals who assist in the administration of the Church of Satan. Members of our Priesthood are people of accomplishment in the real world—they have mastered skills and have won peer recognition, which is how they have attained their position—“as above, so below.” They are “movers and shakers” who are the core of our movement. While expected to be experts in communicating our philosophy, they are not required to speak on our behalf and they may even choose to keep their affiliation and rank secret, in order to better serve their personal goals, as well as those of our organization. Thus, you may (even as a member), encounter members of our Priesthood and never know it.
Membership in the Priesthood is by invitation only. The old truism “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it” is certainly highly pertinent to our Priesthood. Words to the wise: Do not ask “How do I become a Priest?”
https://www.churchofsatan.com/hierarchy/
MAGA Make America Great Again: a presidential campaign slogan used by Donald J. Trump.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/maga
I began by attending Fordham University in the Bronx, mostly because I wanted to be close to home. I got along very well with the Jesuits who ran the school, but after two years, I decided that as long as I had to be in college, I might as well test myself against the best. I applied to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and I got in. At the time, if you were going to make a career in business, Wharton was the place to go. Harvard Business School may produce a lot of CEOs—guys who manage public companies— but the real entrepreneurs all seemed to go to Wharton: Saul Steinberg, Leonard Lauder, Ron Perelman—the list goes on and on."
Donald Trump The Art of the Deal
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DLcbnLrl6moQT7nGj1JitG6AiQ6qgK0y/view?usp=sharing
University of Scranton welcomes President Biden
The university has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in red and blue lights.
Author: WNEP Web Staff
Published: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021
Updated: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021
SCRANTON, Pa. — In preparation for President Joe Biden's visit, a university lit up their lights in his honor.
The University of Scranton has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in blue and red with the number 46 prominently displayed to welcome the 46th president."
University of Scranton welcomes President Biden | wnep.com
https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/university-of-scranton-welcomes-president-biden-gateway-lights/523-cdba68b1-822b-4747-94be-4cd7e4de9d67
"His son, Hunter Biden, 38, is a longtime federal lobbyist for the Jesuit university located in his father's hometown, Scranton PA. According to federal disclosures, Hunter Biden has been earning about $80,000 a year since 2006 to lobby for this university. Senator Biden himself has lectured at the Jesuit University of Scranton, and received an honorary degree from the same university, in 1976."
Codeword Barbelon
by P.D. Stuart
The Temple of Set is an occult initiatory order founded in 1975. A new religious movement and form of Western esotericism, the Temple espouses a religion known as Setianism, whose practitioners are called Setians. This is sometimes identified as a form of Satanism, although this term is not often embraced by Setians and is contested by some academics.
The Temple was established in the United States in 1975 by Michael Aquino, an American political scientist, military officer, and a high-ranking member of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan. Dissatisfied with the direction in which LaVey was taking the Church, Aquino resigned and – according to his own claim – embarked on a ritual to invoke Satan, who revealed to him a sacred text called The Book of Coming Forth by Night. According to Aquino, in this work Satan revealed his true name to be that of Set, which had been the name used by his followers in ancient Egypt. Aquino was joined in establishing the Temple by a number of other dissatisfied members of LaVey's Church, and soon various Setian groups were established across the United States.
Setians believe that Set is the one real god and that he has aided humanity by giving them a questioning intellect, the "Black Flame", which distinguishes them from other animal species. Set is held in high esteem as a teacher whose example is to be emulated but he is not worshipped as a deity. Highly individualistic in basis, the Temple promotes the idea that practitioners should seek self-deification and thus attain an immortality of consciousness. Setians believe in the existence of magic as a force which can be manipulated through ritual, however the nature of these rituals is not prescribed by the Temple. Specifically, Aquino described Setian practices as "black magic", a term which he defines idiosyncratically.
Following initiation into the Temple, a Setian can proceed along a series of six degrees, each of which requires greater responsibilities to the group; as a result, most members remain in the first two degrees. Governed by a high priest or high priestess and a wider Council of Nine, the Temple is also divided into groups known as pylons, through which Setians can meet or correspond in order to advance their magical work in a particular area. Pylons of the Temple are now present in the United States, Australia, and Europe, with estimates placing the Temple's membership between 200 and 500.
Definition
The Temple of Set is a new religious movement,[1] and draws upon earlier forms of Western esotericism.[2] Among academic scholars of religious studies, there has been some debate as to whether the Temple of Set can be characterized as "Satanism" or not. The religious studies scholars Asbjorn Dyrendal, Massimo Introvigne, James R. Lewis, and Jesper Aa. Petersen describes the Temple of Set as a Satanic group, despite its reluctance to use the term "Satanism", because it is an offshoot of the Church of Satan which continues to use satanic mythology.[3][4] Conversely, the scholar Kennet Granholm argued that it should not be considered a form of Satanism because it does not place an emphasis on the figure of Satan. Granholm acknowledged that it was an "actor in the Satanic milieu" and part of the wider left-hand path group of esoteric traditions.[5] He suggested that it could also be seen as a form of "Post-Satanism", thereby continuing to reflect its historical origins within religious Satanism.[6]
The Temple of Set is far more rooted in esoteric ideas than the Church of Satan had been.[7] It has thus been termed "Esoteric Satanism", a term used to contrast it with the "Rational Satanism" found in LaVeyan Satanism.[8] Accordingly, it has been labelled the "intellectual wing of esoteric Satanism",[9] with the Temple presenting itself as an intellectual religion.[10] Aquino possessed a P.h.D. in political science and this formal education was reflected in the way that he presented his arguments, in which he draws broadly upon Western philosophy and science.[11]
History
Foundation
Born in 1946, Michael Angelo Aquino was a military intelligence officer specializing in psychological warfare.[12] In 1969 he joined Anton LaVey's Church of Satan and rose rapidly through the group's ranks.[13] In 1970, while he was serving with the U.S. military during the Vietnam War, Aquino was stationed in Bến Cát in South Vietnam when he wrote a tract titled "Diabolicon" in which he reflected upon his growing divergence from the Church of Satan's doctrines.[14] In this tract, teachings about the creation of the world, God, and humanity are presented, as is the dualistic idea that Satan complements God.[15] The character of Lucifer is presented as bringing insight to human society,[16] a depiction of Lucifer that was inherited from John Milton's seventeenth-century epic poem Paradise Lost.[17]
By 1971 Aquino was ranked as a Magister Caverns of the IV° within the Church's hierarchy, was editor of its publication The Cloven Hoof, and sat on its governing Council of Nine.[12] In 1973 he rose to the previously unattained rank of Magister Templi of IV°.[12] According to the scholars of Satanism Per Faxneld and Jesper Petersen, Aquino had become LaVey's "right-hand man".[18] There were nonetheless things that Aquino disliked about the Church of Satan; he thought that it had attracted many "fad-followers, egomaniacs, and assorted oddballs, whose primary interest in becoming Satanists was to flash their membership cards for cocktail-party notoriety".[19] When, in 1975, LaVey abolished the system of regional groups, or grottos, and declared that in the future all degrees would be given in exchange for financial or other contributions to the Church, Aquino became increasingly disaffected; he resigned from the organization on June 10, 1975.[20] While LaVey seems to have held a pragmatic and practical view of the degrees and of the Satanic priesthood, intending them to reflect the social role of the degree holder within the organization, Aquino and his supporters viewed the priesthood as being spiritual, sacred and irrevocable.[21] Dyrendal, Lewis, and Petersen describe Aquino as, in effect, accusing LaVey of the sacrilege of simony.[21]
Aquino then provided what has been described as a "foundation myth" for his Setian religion.[22] Having departed the Church, he embarked on a ritual intent on asking Satan for advice on what to do next.[23] According to his account, at Midsummer 1975, Satan appeared and revealed that he wanted to be known by his true name, Set, which had been the name used by his worshippers in ancient Egypt.[24] Aquino produced a religious text, The Book of Coming Forth by Night, which he alleged had been revealed to him by Set through a process of automatic writing.[25] According to Aquino, "there was nothing overtly sensational, supernatural, or melodramatic about The Book of Coming Forth By Night working. I simply sat down and wrote it."[26] The book proclaimed Aquino to be the Magus of the new Aeon of Set and the heir to LaVey's "infernal mandate".[27] Aquino later stated that the revelation that Satan was Set necessitated his own exploration of Egyptology, a subject about which he had previously known comparatively little.[28]
Aquino's Book of Coming Forth by Night makes reference to The Book of the Law, a similarly revealed text produced by the occultist Aleister Crowley in 1904 which provided the basis for Crowley's religion of Thelema. In Aquino's book, The Book of the Law was presented as a genuine spiritual text given to Crowley by preternatural sources, but it was also declared that Crowley had misunderstood both its origin and message.[29] In making reference to The Book of the Law, Aquino presented himself as being as much Crowley's heir as LaVey's,[30] and Aquino's work would engage with Crowley's writings and beliefs to a far greater extent than LaVey ever did.[7]
In establishing the Temple, Aquino was joined by other ex-members of LaVey's Church,[12] and soon Setian groups, or pylons, were established in various parts of the United States.[12] The structure of the Temple was based largely on those of the ceremonial magical orders of the late nineteenth century, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Ordo Templi Orientis.[31] Aquino has stated that he believed LaVey not to be merely a charismatic leader but to have been actually appointed by Satan himself (referring to this charismatic authority as the "Infernal Mandate") to found the Church.[32] After the split of 1975, Aquino believed LaVey had lost the mandate, which the "Prince of Darkness" then transferred to Aquino and a new organization, the Temple of Set.[32] According to both the historian of religion Mattias Gardell and journalist Gavin Baddeley, Aquino displayed an "obsession" with LaVey after his departure from the Church, for instance by publicly releasing court documents that reflected negatively on his former mentor, among them restraining orders, divorce proceedings, and a bankruptcy filing.[33] In turn, LaVey lampooned the new Temple as "Laurel and Hardy's Sons of the Desert".[34] In 1975, the Temple incorporated as a non-profit Church in California, and later that year secured state and federal recognition and tax-exempted status.[35]
Later development
Many members of the Temple had voiced their opposition to Aquino's position of power within it.[36] Aquino relinquished his office of High Priest in 1979 to Ronald Keith Barrett,[37] who produced an inspired text of his own, titled The Book of Opening the Way.[38] Barrett's approach was later criticized as "more mystical than magical" by Temple members.[39] Barrett's leadership was also criticized as authoritarian,[40] resulting in a decline in the Temple's membership.[38] Barrett resigned his office and severed ties with the organization in May 1982.[37] He subsequently established his own Temple of Anubis, which he led until his 1998 death; it survived until the early 2010s.[36] After Barrett's departure, Aquino retook leadership of the Temple of Set.[36] During this period, the sociologist Gini Graham Scott clandestinely participated in the Temple, using her observations as the basis for her 1983 book The Magicians: A Study of the Use of Power in a Black Magic Group.[41]
After receiving his PhD in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1980, Aquino worked as an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University until 1986 while continuing to serve in the United States Army as an Active Guard Reserve officer at the Presidio of San Francisco.[42] He was fascinated with the connections between occultism and Nazism,[43] resulting in some accusations that he was sympathetic to Nazi ideology.[44] In 1983, he performed a solitary rite at Walhalla, the subterranean section of the Wewelsburg castle in Germany that was utilized as a ceremonial space by the Schutzstaffel's Ahnenerbe group during the Nazi period. This resulted in his formation of the Order of the Trapezoid, a Setian group whose members understood themselves as a chivalric order of knights.[45] From 1987 through to 1995, the Grand Master of the Order of the Trapezoid was Edred Thorsson, who had joined the Temple of Set in 1984 and risen to the Fifth Degree in 1990.[46] Thorsson exerted a "discernible influence" over the Setian community through his books, in which he combined aspects of Satanic philosophy with the modern Pagan religion of Heathenry.[47] In 1980, he founded the Texas-based Rune-Gild which shared many of the Temple's key philosophical tenets but with a focus on the study of runes and their applications in magical practice.[48]
In the 1980s, Aquino attracted greater publicity for his Temple through appearances on television talk shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show and Geraldo.[18] In 1987, during the Satanic ritual abuse hysteria, the three-year-old daughter of a Christian clergyman accused Aquino of sexually abusing her during Satanic rites held at his Russian Hill home. Responding to the allegations, police raided Aquino's home, however—after no evidence was found to substantiate the allegation and it was revealed that Aquino was living in Washington D.C. at the time of the alleged abuse—the police decided not to charge him with any felony.[49] Aquino attempted to bring formal charges against the chaplain and psychiatrist who had encouraged the girl's claims, although he was more successful in bringing legal action against two books—Carl A. Raschke's Painted Black and Linda Blood's The New Satanists—that had suggested that he was guilty.[50] cause” in the case of alleged child sexual abuse. Aquino. however, he was not convicted.[51] He then left the Presidio and was transferred to St. Louis.[52] In 1994, Aquino retired from active service in the Army, being honourably transferred to the Retired Reserve and awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.[53]
While the Satanic ritual abuse hysteria declined, Aquino continued to be a figure of prominence in "mind control" conspiracy theories because of his career as a psychological warfare officer in the US Army.[54] In the United Kingdom during this same period, tabloids like the News of the World and Sunday Mirror published sensationalist articles about the Temple.[55] In the mid-1990s, a group of British Setians approached the religious studies scholar Graham Harvey and encouraged him to conduct research into the group so as to combat misconceptions about them.[56] The Temple first registered a website in 1997, the same year as the Church of Satan.[57] It would also establish its own intranet, allowing for communication between Setians in different parts of the world.[5]
One member of the Temple was the New Zealander Kerry Bolton, who split to form his own Order of The Left Hand Path in 1990.[58] In 1995, another couple who joined were LaVey's daughter Zeena Schreck and her husband Nikolas Schreck, both of whom were vocal critics of Zeena's father.[59]
In 1996, Don Webb became the high priest of the Temple, a position that he held until 2002.[60] He was replaced by Zeena Schreck, but she resigned after six weeks and was replaced by Aquino, who took charge once more.[60] In that year, Zeena led a schism within the organization[9] establishing her own Berlin-based group, The Storm, which she later renamed the Sethian Liberation Movement.[61]
Aquino stood down as Supreme Priest again in 2004, to be replaced by Patricia Hardy who was elected to the position of Supreme Priestess.[61] Although no longer in charge of the organization, he nevertheless remained its most visible spokesperson.[61]
Aquino died in July 2020 at the age of 73.[62]
Ideology
Writings
In addition to the Book of Coming Forth by Night, in which Set himself is purported to speak, the Temple's philosophy and teachings are revealed in a series of occult writings titled the Jeweled Tablets of Set.[63] Each tablet is keyed to a specific degree in the Temple hierarchy.[63] Only the introduction to the first tablet (Crystal Tablet of Set), titled "Black Magic", is available for non-members.[63] The Ruby Tablet, which is available for second-degree members, is the lengthiest and most diverse of the tablets.[64]
The private Temple literature is not regarded as secret per se, but is kept restricted because it contains materials which, according to the Temple, may be dangerous to the non-initiated.[63]
Self-deification and Xeper
The human individual is at the centre of Setian philosophy.[22] The Temple places great emphasis on the development of the individual,[65] postulating self-deification as the ultimate goal.[18] The realization of the true nature of the Setian is termed "becoming" or "coming into being" and is represented by the Egyptian hieroglyphic term kheper, or "Xeper" (a phonetic of _Xpr_), as the Temple of Set prefers to write it.[66] This term is described in The Book of Coming Forth by Night as "the Word of the Aeon of Set".[67] Members attempt "to preserve and strengthen" their "isolate, psyche-centric existence" through adherence to the left-hand path.[9] This idea is in opposition to the traditional goal of Hermetic and Western mystical practices, which is the surrendering of the ego into a union with either God or the universe.[68]
The Temple teaches that the true self, or essence, is immortal, and Xeper is the ability to align consciousness with this essence.[9][69] Aquino taught that there is an afterlife for those who have reached the necessary level of individual development.[70] This afterlife could occur in the individual's subjective universe.[70] Those unable to reach this level dissolve into non-existence when the physical body dies.[70] Self-initiation is knowledge understood as a conjunction of intellect and intuition.[9] In keeping with its emphasis on the individual, the Temple encourages their members to celebrate their own birthday, and does not prescribe any other calendar of religious festivities.[71]
Barrett presented Xem as his Aeonic Word to the Setians,[39] presenting it as a natural and necessary further development of Aquino's Xeper.[38] Aquino later acknowledged Xem as a worthwhile magical concept for Setians to explore, but found Barrett's insistence on its exclusivity as incompatible with the Temple's individualistic philosophy.[38]
Set
Aquino's understanding of Satan differed from the atheistic interpretation promoted by LaVey,[22] and the Temple's theology differs from that of the Church of Satan.[72] The Temple states that the name Satan was originally a corruption of the name Set.[73] The Temple of Set promotes the idea that Set is a real entity,[74] and accordingly has been described as being "openly theistic".[18] It further argues that Set is ageless and is the only real god in existence, with all others having been created by the human imagination.[75] Set is described as having given humanity—through the means of non-natural evolution—the "Black Flame" or the "Gift of Set". This refers to humanity's questioning intellect which sets the species apart from other animals and gives it an "isolate self-consciousness" and the possibility to attain divinity.[76] Aquino argued that the idea of the Gift of Set was inadvertently promoted to a wider audience in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. According to Aquino, the black monolith which imparts human-level intelligence onto prehistoric apes in the film was a symbol of Set.[77]
While Setians are expected to revere Set, they do not worship him, instead regarding him as a teacher and a guide.[78] He is portrayed as a role model on which Setians can base their own deification.[79] According to Webb, "we do not worship Set - only our own potential. Set was and is the patron of the magician who seeks to increase his existence through expansion."[80]
Embracing the idea of aeons from Crowley's Thelema, Aquino adopted the Crowleyan tripartite division between the Aeon of Isis, Aeon of Osiris, and Aeon of Horus, but added to that the Aeon of Satan, which he dates from 1966 to 1975, and then the Aeon of Set, which he dated from 1975 onward.[81] Despite presenting these chronological parameters, Aquino also portrayed the aeons less as time periods and more as mind-sets that can co-exist alongside one another.[81] Thus, he stated that "A Jew, Christian or Muslim exists in the Æon of Osiris, a Wiccan in that of Isis, and a Thelemite in that of Horus".[81]
Magic
Aquino placed an emphasis on what he deemed to be the division between the objective and subjective universes.[82] In the Setian religion, the objective world is understood as representing the natural world and humanity's collective meaning systems, while the subjective universe is understood as the individually experienced world and individual meaning systems.[48] Following earlier esotericists like Crowley, Aquino characterized magic as "causing change in accordance with will".[83] Unlike LaVey, Aquino expressed belief in the division between black magic and white magic.[84] He described white magic as "a highly-concentrated form of conventional religious ritual", characterizing it as being "more versatile", "less difficult", and "less dangerous" than black magic.[85] However, he criticized white magic as "fraud and/or self-delusion" which deceives the consciousness into thinking that it has been accepted in the objective universe.[86]
Aquino divided black magic into two forms: lesser black magic and greater black magic.[87] He stated that lesser black magic entails "impelling" things that exist in the "objective universe" into doing a desired act by using "obscure physical or behavioral laws" and into this category he placed stage magic, psychodramas, politics, and propaganda.[88] Conversely, he used the term greater black magic in reference to changes in the subjective universe of the magician, allowing them to realize their self in accordance with the principle of Xeper.[89] Among Setians it is accepted that there may be changes in the objective universe as a result of greater black magic, but such effects are considered secondary to the impact that they have upon the subjective universe.[89]
Within the Temple, rituals are typically known as "workings",[90] and are most often carried out alone.[91] Stressing the religion's individualist nature, there are no rituals that are specifically prescribed by the Temple.[92] Aquino also emphasized that in order to achieve a desired aim, the Setian should carry out physical actions alongside magical ones.[83] There are no regular occasions which are marked by fixed rituals, and the Temple has no calendar of festivals.[91]
Insignia
The Temple uses an inverted pentagram as its insignia, known as the "Pentagram of Set" to Setians.[93][94] The use of the geometric shape is derived from the Sigil of Baphomet used by the Church of Satan, although stripped of its overtly Satanic add-ons.[93] The Temple explains the meaning and significance of the pentagram by referring to Pythagorean ideas and "mathematical perfection".[93] At Setian gatherings, members wear the pentagram as a medallion.[94] The medallion is colored according to the initiation degree of the Setian.[94]
Both the Church of Satan and the Temple of Set also use the trapezoid symbol.[93] The version used by the Church includes flames, a pitchfork and the number 666, while the trapezoid of the Temple has a left-facing Egyptian sceptre, and the number 666 stylized in geometric shapes rather than as clear numbers.[93]
Structure
The internal structure of the Temple of Set is closely reminiscent of that of the Church of Satan as it existed in the 1970s.[95]
Degrees
All members of the Temple must be affiliated with a pylon, and thus membership is by application, requiring contact with a Setian priestess or priest followed by an evaluation period.[9] The participation of non-initiated in the Temple's rituals are forbidden, due to the belief that their rituals would be dangerous in the wrong hands.[96]
The Temple of Set recognizes several stages or degrees of initiation. The degrees indicate the individual Setian's development and skill in magic.[97] The degree structure is based on that of the Church of Satan, which in turn was based on the degrees of a nineteenth-century occult group, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.[98] The Temple terms the progression through degrees as "recognitions", because the organization's philosophy sees that the individual member initiates themselves and that the Temple merely acknowledges this by granting the degree.[99] These degrees are:[100]
Setian (First Degree)
Adept (Second Degree)
Priest / Priestess of Set (Third Degree)
Magister / Magistra Templi (Fourth Degree)
Magus / Maga (Fifth Degree)
Ipsissimus / Ipsissima (Sixth Degree)
The priesthood of the Temple of Set consists of members holding the third degree or higher; those in the first and second degrees are considered "lay members" of the Temple.[101] The first degree serves as a space for mutual evaluation, in which the Temple assesses whether the individual is appropriate for the group, and the individual decides whether they wish to further their involvement with it.[102] Full membership comes with recognition to the second degree.[99] Many members do not advance beyond the second degree, nor is this expected of them, as while the first and second degree members use the organization's teachings and tools for their own development, the priesthood involves greater responsibilities towards the organization, such as being its official representatives.[103]
Recognition is performed by members of the priesthood.[99] The fourth degree, which is acknowledged by the high priest/priestess, entails that the individual is so advanced in their magical skills that they are able to found their own school of magic, represented in the different orders of the Temple.[99] The fifth degree can only be awarded by the unanimous decision of the Council of Nine and by the approval of the Temple's high priest/priestess.[99] A fifth degree member has the power to utter and define a concept which somehow affects the philosophy of the organization, such as the concept of Xeper defined by Aquino in 1975.[99] Only a handful of members have attained this degree and most "fifth-degree" concepts defined in such a manner are no longer studied in the organization.[99] The final sixth degree represents a Magus "whose Task is complete".[99] This degree is held by a very select few in the Temple, although any fifth-degree member can assume the sixth degree based on their own assessment.[99]
Leadership
The organization is led by a high priest/priestess, who is also the public face of the Temple.[90] The high priest is chosen among fourth or higher degree members by the chairman of the Council of Nine.[90] This ruling council has nine members chosen from the priesthood (third degree or higher), whose mandate lasts for nine years with a new member being elected every year.[90] The chairman of the council is chosen from among the council members each year.[90] The council has the ultimate ruling power in the Temple and even the high priest is responsible to it.[90] The Temple also has an executive director, whose task is to deal with administrative issues.[90]
Since its founding in 1975, the temple has had the following high priests/priestesses:[90]
Michael A. Aquino (1975–1979, 1982–1996, 2002–2004)
Ronald K. Barrett (1979–1982)
Don Webb (1996–2002)
Zeena Schreck (2002)
Patricia Hardy (2004–2013)
James Fitzsimmons (2013–present)
Pylons, elements, and orders
In addition to the international organization, the Temple sponsors initiatory Orders and Elements and local groups called Pylons. Pylons are intended to facilitate the initiatory work of the Temple's members by conducting meetings where discussions and magical works take place.[98] The purpose of a pylon is to provide a space in which the Setian can focus on their religion, aided by like-minded individuals.[104] Pylons typically meet in a member's home.[104] Members usually join the Pylon located geographically closest to them.[98] Correspondence- or Internet-based Pylons also exist,[98] with Harvey noting that this online networking is more common than in-person interaction.[72] A Pylon is led by a second-degree (or higher) member who is called a Sentinel.[98][104] The term pylon derives from the architectural features which served as fortified gateways to ancient Egyptian temples.[105] One Finnish Setian informed Granholm that the relationship between the orders and the temple was like that of different departments in a university.[98]
Elements are loosely structured interest groups, where specific themes and issues are addressed.[98] They can be open for non-members and are commonly in operation only for short periods.[98] Topics of interest include, for example, animal rights, which was the subject of the Arkte element operated by Aquino's wife Lilith.[98]
There are sections of the Temple known as Orders, each of which focus on a particular theme, for instance ancient Egypt, Norse culture, Tantric Hinduism, or vampirism.[106] Others focus on a particular skill, for instance the Order of Uart focuses on the visual arts and the Order of Taliesin on music.[107] Orders can be understood as schools of different aspects of magic providing different paths of initiation.[98] Orders are led by grand masters, who will usually be the founder of the order.[98] In longer-lived orders the founder may have a successive grand master.[98] Orders are founded by members of the fourth degree.[99] When members reaches the second degree of initiation, they are expected to join an order of their own choosing.[98] In normal circumstances, a Setian is only permitted to join one order, however special dispensation can be obtained for a practitioner to join two.[5]
Setians also hold annual International Conclaves. First Degree Initiates who obtain sponsorship by a member of the Priesthood are permitted to attend the International Conclave and Regional Gatherings.[108]
Demographics
In 2000, the Temple had thirteen pylons, which were operating in the United States, Australia, Germany, and across Sweden and Finland.[73] The extent of the Temple's membership has not been publicly revealed by the group;[104] however, in 2005 Petersen noted that academic estimates for the Temple's membership varied from between 300 and 500,[9] and Granholm suggested that in 2007 the Temple contained circa 200 members.[109] The Temple's members come from a variety of racial backgrounds.[110]
In 1999, the anthropologist Jean La Fontaine suggested that in Britain there were 100 members of the Temple at most, and possibly "considerably fewer".[111] In 2001 the scholar Gareth Medway posited that the group had 70 to 80 members in the United Kingdom, adding that it was the largest Satanic group then active in the country.[112] In 2009, Harvey concurred with La Fontaine's assessment, although still believed that it was the largest Satanic group in the United Kingdom.[113] He noted that most members were male, between the ages of twenty and fifty, and that—despite his expectation that they might be political extremists—they endorsed mainstream political positions, with all those whom he communicated with stating that they had voted for either the Conservative Party, Labour Party, or Liberal Democrats.[72]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Set
THE definition of magic, as used in this book, is: "The change in situations or events in accordance with one's will, which would, using normally accepted methods, be unchangable." This admittedly leaves a large area for personal interpretation. It will be said, by some, that these instructions and procedures are nothing more than applied psychology, or scientific fact, called by "magical" terminology - until they arrive at a passage in the text that is "based on no known scientific finding". It is for this reason that no attempt has been made to limit the explanations set forth to a set nomenclature. Magic is never totally scientifically explainable, but science has always been, at one time or another, considered magic.
There is no difference between "White" and "Black" magic, except in the smug hypocrisy, guilt-ridden righteousness, and self-deceit of the "White" magician himself. In the classical religious tradition, "White" magic is performed for altruistic, benevolent, and "good" purposes; while "Black" magic is used for self-aggrandizement, personal power, and "evil" purposes. No one on earth ever pursued occult studies, metaphysics, yoga, or any other "white light" concept, without ego gratification and personal power as a goal. It just so happens that some people enjoy wearing hair shirts, and others prefer velvet or silk. What is pleasure to one, is pain to another, and the same applies to "good" and "evil". Every practitioner of witchcraft is convinced that he or she is doing the "right" thing.
THE THEORY AND PRACTICE
OF
SATANIC MAGIC
(Definition and Purpose)
https://cparker15.tripod.com/tsb/earthI.html
Magisterium of the Church: its norms are to be observed in the doctrine that is to be taught by Ours, 100; due reverence should be shown to it, 101; what is to be said if a given professor in his teaching departs from doctrine that is in accord with it, 104; we must collaborate with it in order to discern the movements of the Spirit in the sense of the faithful, 295
Magistrates: see Important persons, princes
Magnanimity: it should shine forth in the superior general [728]; in all superiors, 349 §2; and in novices, 51, 52 Magnates: see Important persons, princes
The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms
A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts
THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES
SAINT LOUIS, 1996
https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf
Thirteenth Rule. To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it, believing that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, there is the same Spirit which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls. Because by the same Spirit and our Lord Who gave the ten Commandments, our holy Mother the Church is directed and governed."
The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms
A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts
THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES SAINT LOUIS, 1996
https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf
What Is the Al Smith Dinner And Why Isn’t Kamala Harris Attending?
By
Xavier Martinez
Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be in attendance for tonight’s Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner that benefits Catholic charities, but she will address the New York crowd in a video message, the New York archdiocese said. Harris is the first major party presidential candidate since Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984 to decline an invitation to the dinner. Instead, she’s spending the day campaigning in Wisconsin and traveling to Michigan, where she will campaign on Friday.
The dinner, which starts at 6:30 p.m. ET and will be emceed by comedian Jim Gaffigan, will include live remarks by former President Donald Trump. Update: Here is what Trump said at the dinner.
https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/harris-trump-election-10-17-2024/card/what-is-the-al-smith-dinner-and-why-isn-t-kamala-harris-attending--C6eX4i3u4hDRPkrBrVO2
104 If any of our professors in his teaching departs from doctrine in accord with the magisterium of the Church, superiors ought to speak with him in order to understand well both him and his thinking; and, if occasion warrants, they should admonish him. If he does not change, superiors should not hesitate even to remove him from his teaching position, if it eventually proves necessary, observing as far as possible the statutes of the institution or faculty.[74]
105 During their course of studies, scholastics should be taught, under the direction of their professors, to read critically and use prudently the works of those authors who have greater influence on present-day cultures. Thus they should learn how to retain what is good and to correct what is unacceptable.[75]
The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms
A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts
THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES
SAINT LOUIS, 1996
https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf
Frederick Karl Prinze Sr. (born Frederick Karl Pruetzel; June 22, 1954 – January 29, 1977) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, and the star of the NBC-TV sitcom Chico and the Man from 1974 until his death in 1977. He was described in a Vulture magazine article as "having blown up like no other comedian in history."[1] Prinze is the father of actor Freddie Prinze Jr.
Early life
Prinze was born Frederick Karl Pruetzel (German spelling: Prützel) at Saint Clare's Hospital in Manhattan, New York City,[2] the son of Maria de Gracia Pruetzel (née Graniela y Ramirez) and Edward Karl Pruetzel. His mother was a Puerto Rican Catholic and his father was a German[3] Lutheran immigrant who had arrived in the U.S. as a youth in 1934.[4] Prinze was raised in a mixed neighborhood in Washington Heights, New York City.[5] When Prinze was a small child, his mother enrolled him in ballet classes to deal with a weight problem. Without telling his parents, Prinze successfully auditioned for the High School of Performing Arts, where he was introduced to drama and continued ballet—and where he discovered his gift for comedy while entertaining crowds in the boys' restroom. He dropped out of school in his senior year to become a stand-up comedian.
Career
Prinze worked at several comedy clubs in New York City, including The Improv and Catch a Rising Star, where he introduced himself to audiences as a "Hunga-rican" (part Hungarian, part Puerto Rican). Although his mother was in fact Puerto Rican, his father was a German immigrant with no Hungarian ancestry. Prinze's son, Freddie Prinze Jr., has stated many times that his father was half German/half Puerto Rican. This is also verified by census records as well as Prützel/Pruetzel family accounts. For the sake of his budding comedic career, he legally changed his surname to "Prinze". According to his friend David Brenner, Prinze originally wanted to be known as the king of comedy, but since Alan King already had that last name and sobriquet, he would be the prince of comedy instead. During 1973, Prinze made his first television appearance on one of the last episodes of Jack Paar Tonite. In December 1973, his biggest break came with an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Prinze was the first young comedian to be asked to have a sit-down chat with Carson on his first appearance. Prinze appeared on and guest-hosted The Tonight Show on several other occasions. He also appeared on The Midnight Special to perform his comic routine.
From September 1974 until his death in January 1977, Prinze starred as Francisco "Chico" Rodriguez in the NBC TV series Chico and the Man with Jack Albertson. The show was an instant hit. Prinze made several appearances on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, most notably the roasts for Sammy Davis Jr. and Muhammad Ali. In 1975, he released a comedy album that was taped live at Mister Kelly's in Chicago entitled Looking Good—his catch phrase from Chico and the Man. In 1976, he starred in a made-for-TV movie, The Million Dollar Rip-Off. Prinze had a little-known talent for singing, examples of which could be heard in the background of the title song of the Tony Orlando and Dawn album To Be With You, in his appearances on their variety show, and on rare occasions on his own sitcom. About four months before his death, Prinze signed a five-year deal with NBC worth $6 million.
Personal life
On October 13, 1975, Prinze married Katherine "Kathy" Elaine (Barber) Cochran, with whom he had one child, son Freddie Prinze Jr., who was born March 8, 1976. Prinze was arrested for driving under the influence of Quaalude on November 16, 1976. A few weeks later his wife filed for divorce.
Prinze had been romantically linked to actresses Raquel Welch[6] and Pam Grier, whom he met in 1973.[7] Grier recalls their relationship in chapter nineteen of her memoir, My Life in Three Acts.[8] After his break-up with Grier, Prinze dated actress Lonette McKee for a time during 1976.[9] Prinze also dated Joanna Kerns a short time before he died. The two had worked together on the 1976 TV movie, The Million Dollar Rip-Off.[10]
Prinze was very close friends with singer Tony Orlando;[11] Orlando appeared on Chico and the Man, and Prinze appeared on Orlando's variety show.[12] As he started to make more money, Prinze took martial arts lessons from Robert Wall,[13] a student of Bruce Lee, who appeared in Enter the Dragon and The Way of the Dragon. Soon after, Wall became godfather to Prinze's newborn son.[14]
Death
Prinze suffered from depression. On the night of January 28, 1977, after talking on the telephone with his estranged wife, Prinze received a visit from his business manager, Marvin "Dusty" Snyder. During the visit, Prinze put a gun to his head and shot himself.[15] He had purchased this gun in the presence of fellow actors Jimmie "JJ" Walker and Alan Bursky, although it was long rumored that Bursky gave him the gun.[16] Prinze was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center and placed on life support following emergency surgery. His family removed him from life support, and he died at 1 p.m. on January 29.[17]
Prinze made farewell phone calls to numerous family members and friends prior to shooting himself and left a note stating that he had decided to kill himself.[18][19] In 1977, the death was ruled a suicide. However, in a 1983 civil case brought by his mother, wife, and son against Crown Life Insurance Company, the jury found that his death was medication-induced and accidental, which enabled the family to collect $200,000 in life insurance. This followed a $1 million out-of-court settlement with his psychiatrist and doctor to end a malpractice suit for allowing him access to a gun and overprescribing him Quaalude (as a tranquilizer).[20]
When Chico & the Man went into hiatus due to Prinze's death, a new mid-season series, which would go on to become highly successful, Three's Company, gave its star, John Ritter, Prinze's dressing room for its pilot episode.
Prinze is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, near his father, Edward Karl Pruetzel. His son, Freddie Prinze Jr., who was under one year old when his father died, did not speak publicly about his father's death until he discussed it in the documentary Misery Loves Comedy (2015), directed by Kevin Pollak.[21]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Prinze
Trick-or-treating is a traditional Halloween custom for children and adults in some countries. During the evening of Halloween, on October 31, people in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "trick or treat". The "treat" is some form of confectionery, usually candy/sweets, although in some cultures money is given instead. The "trick" refers to a threat, usually idle, to perform mischief on the resident(s) or their property if no treat is given. Some people signal that they are willing to hand out treats by putting up Halloween decorations outside their doors; houses may also leave their porch lights on as a universal indicator that they have candy; some simply leave treats available on their porches for the children to take freely, on the honor system.
The history of trick-or-treating traces back to Scotland and Ireland, where the tradition of guising, going house to house at Halloween and putting on a small performance to be rewarded with food or treats, goes back at least as far as the 16th century, as does the tradition of people wearing costumes at Halloween. There are many accounts from 19th-century Scotland and Ireland of people going house to house in costume at Halloween, reciting verses in exchange for food, and sometimes warning of misfortune if they were not welcomed.[1][2][3] In North America, the earliest known occurrence of guising is from 1898, when children were recorded as having done this in the province of British Columbia, Canada.[4] The interjection "trick or treat!" was then first recorded in the same Canadian province of Ontario in 1917.[5] While going house to house in costume has long been popular among the Scots and Irish, it is only in the 2000s that saying "trick or treat" has become common in Scotland and Ireland.[2] Prior to this, children in Ireland would commonly say "help the Halloween party" at the doors of homeowners.[2]
The activity is prevalent in the Anglospheric countries of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States and Canada. It also has extended into Mexico. In northwestern and central Mexico, the practice is called calaverita (Spanish diminutive for calavera, "skull" in English), and instead of "trick or treat", the children ask, "¿Me da mi calaverita?" ("[Can you] give me my little skull?"), where a calaverita is a small skull made of sugar or chocolate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-or-treating
According to his family, Anton LaVey died on October 29, 1997, in St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco of pulmonary edema;[44] however, his death certificate lists October 31, 1997.[45] He was taken to St. Mary's, a Catholic hospital, because it was the closest available. A secret Satanic funeral, attended by invitation only, was held in Colma, after which LaVey's body was cremated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey
Prior to Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers, there were earlier reform movements within Western Christianity. The Protestant Reformation, however, is usually considered to have started on 31 October 1517 with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses, authored by Martin Luther. Over three years later, on 3 January 1521, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X. On 25 May 1521, at the Diet of Worms, Luther was condemned by the Holy Roman Empire, which officially banned citizens from defending or propagating Luther's ideas.[4] Luther survived after being declared an outlaw due to the protection of Elector Frederick the Wise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation
416 Finally, those means that are proposed by our holy father Saint Ignatius in Part X of the Constitutions for the preservation and development not only of the body or exterior of the Society but also of its spirit, and for the attainment of the objective it seeks, which is to aid souls to reach their ultimate and supernatural end, [10] are to be observed eagerly and diligently by all, with a truly personal sense of responsibility for its increase and development, for the praise and service of our God and Lord Jesus Christ, and the help of souls. [11]
L. D. S. "
The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms
https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf
The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (Latin: Magnum schisma occidentale, Ecclesiae occidentalis schisma), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon both claimed to be the true pope, and were joined by a third line of Pisan claimants in 1409. The schism was driven by personalities and political allegiances, with the Avignon Papacy being closely associated with the French monarchy.
The papacy had resided in Avignon since 1309, but Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377. The Catholic Church split in 1378 after Gregory XI's death and Urban VI's election. A group of French cardinals declared his election invalid and elected Clement VII as pope. After several attempts at reconciliation, the Council of Pisa (1409) declared that both rivals were illegitimate and elected a third purported pope. The schism was finally resolved when the Pisan claimant Antipope John XXIII called the Council of Constance (1414–1418). The Council arranged the renunciation of both Roman pope Gregory XII and Pisan antipope John XXIII. The Avignon antipope Benedict XIII was excommunicated, while Pope Martin V was elected and reigned from Rome.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Schism
Baldwin IV (1161–1185), known as the Leper King, was the king of Jerusalem from 1174 until his death in 1185. He was admired by his contemporaries and later historians for his willpower and dedication to the Latin Kingdom in the face of his debilitating leprosy. Choosing competent advisers, Baldwin ruled a thriving crusader state and succeeded in protecting it from the Muslim ruler Saladin.
Baldwin developed the first symptoms of leprosy as a child but was only diagnosed after he succeeded his father, King Amalric (r. 1163–1174). Thereafter his hands and face became increasingly disfigured. Count Raymond III of Tripoli ruled the kingdom in Baldwin's name until the king reached the age of majority in 1176. As soon as he assumed government, Baldwin planned an invasion of Egypt, which fell through because of his vassals' uncooperativeness. Saladin in turn attacked Baldwin's kingdom in 1177, but the king and the nobleman Raynald of Châtillon repelled him at Montgisard, earning Baldwin fame. The young king mastered horse riding despite gradually losing sensation in his extremities and was able to fight in battles until his last years.
Leprosy prevented Baldwin from marrying. He hoped to abdicate when his sister, Sibylla, married William of Montferrat in 1176, but William died the next year. In 1180, in order to forestall a coup by Count Raymond III of Tripoli and Prince Bohemond III of Antioch, Baldwin had Sibylla marry Guy of Lusignan. Guy was opposed by a large fraction of the nobility, and soon permanently impaired his relationship with Baldwin. The internal discord that followed forced Baldwin to remain king, as only he was capable of uniting the quarreling nobility. Baldwin again repelled Saladin in 1182 but leprosy rendered him blind and unable to walk or use his hands in 1183. He disinherited Guy and had Sibylla's son, Baldwin V, crowned co-king before having himself taken in a litter to lift Saladin's Siege of Kerak. Baldwin failed to have Sibylla's marriage to Guy annulled and Guy's fief of Ascalon confiscated. In early 1185, he arranged for Raymond to rule as regent for Sibylla's son and died before 16 May.
Childhood
Baldwin was born in mid-1161. His parents were Amalric, then the count of Jaffa and Ascalon, and Agnes of Courtenay. Baldwin's godfather was his paternal uncle, King Baldwin III, who joked that his christening present was the Kingdom of Jerusalem.[1] The kingdom and other crusader principalities, though surrounded by Arab Muslim states, were ruled by Franks, French-speaking Catholics who had arrived in the Levant from Western Europe and remained Western in culture.[2] The king was young and recently married, making a nephew's accession seem unlikely; yet Baldwin III died childless in 1163.[1] Amalric was his heir, but the nobles of the kingdom were strongly opposed to Amalric's wife, Agnes; they were likely threatened by the prospect of her increased influence.[3] The High Court forced Amalric to agree to an annulment of his marriage on the grounds of consanguinity in order to be accepted as king.[1] Amalric succeeded in having his and Agnes's children, Sibylla and Baldwin, declared legitimate despite the annulment.[3]
Baldwin grew up without a mother, as Agnes remarried soon after the annulment (firstly to Hugh of Ibelin[3] and then to Reynald of Sidon[4]) and only saw Baldwin on public occasions.[3] He also seldom saw his sister, Sibylla, who was raised in the Convent of Saint Lazarus by their grandaunt Ioveta.[3] At the age of six Baldwin gained a stepmother, Maria Komnene, with whom he was not close. Queen Maria was an ambitious woman who likely saw Baldwin as an obstacle to her own children.[5]
Playmates pinch Baldwin and William of Tyre discovers first symptoms of Baldwin's leprosy, in Estoire d'Eracles, painted in France in the 1250s
King Amalric ensured that Baldwin, as the heir apparent to the kingdom, received a good education. The nine-year-old prince was sent to live with William of Tyre, a sophisticated and well-traveled cleric who was famed for his learning. William noticed that, unlike other children in the playground, Baldwin did not cry when pinched by his peers. After a while it became apparent to the tutor that Baldwin could not feel pain in his right arm.[5] The king hired the Arab physician Abu Sulayman Dawud to treat Baldwin and another Arab, Abul'Khair, to teach Baldwin horse riding, an essential skill for a Frankish nobleman. Having sensation in only one hand, Baldwin needed to learn to control the horse in battle using solely his knees, and mastered riding despite the handicap. Leprosy was suspected, but there were no visible symptoms yet and physicians hesitated to diagnose because of the stigma the boy would face.[6] Had such a diagnosis been made when he was a child, Baldwin might have been required by law to enter the Order of St Lazarus, a military order composed of affected knights and serjeants.[7]
As an adolescent, Baldwin was precocious, determined, and optimistic in the face of his illness. He took after his father in good looks, body shape, and manner of walking and expressing himself. Baldwin was a quick learner, but he stuttered. He enjoyed listening to stories and history lessons. His tutor, William, remarked on Baldwin's excellent memory, stating that he forgot neither kindness nor slights done to him by others.[8]
Amalric attempted to have Sibylla marry the French Count Stephen I of Sancerre, who would rule the kingdom as regent on Baldwin's behalf if Amalric died early. When physicians informed him that Baldwin could develop leprosy, Amalric may have begun viewing Sibylla and Stephen as eventual monarchs instead of Baldwin, but the match fell through.[9] In June 1174, the king came down with dysentery. He died on 11 July leaving an underage heir, as he had feared might happen.[10]
Accession
Patriarch Amalric crowns King Baldwin IV, as depicted in late 13th-century edition of the Histoire d'Outre Mer
Upon Amalric's death, the High Court convened to discuss the succession.[10] Though he had not yet been diagnosed, the High Court must have been aware of the royal physicians' suspicions that Baldwin had contracted leprosy.[11] Yet there was no viable alternative. Baldwin was the king's only son; from his second marriage Amalric had two daughters, of which only Isabella survived infancy.[9][12] Female succession was expressly allowed, but Sibylla was an unmarried adolescent and Isabella only two years old.[13] The male candidates, Amalric's cousins Prince Bohemond III of Antioch, Baldwin of Antioch, and Count Raymond III of Tripoli, were politically unsuitable: Bohemond was bound to distant Antioch, Baldwin in the service of Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and Raymond virtually a stranger to the barons after nine years spent in Muslim captivity.[14]
After three days of deliberation[10] Baldwin IV was chosen, with the expectation that a husband would be found for Sibylla to succeed him if he proved to be affected.[15] The young king's coronation by the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Amalric of Nesle, took place immediately in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[15] Medieval rulers were typically crowned on Sundays, however in Baldwin's case, 15 July 1174 (on Monday) was chosen instead as it was the 75th anniversary of the First Crusade's seizure of Jerusalem.[16]
Regency
Seal of Raymond III of Tripoli
Until he reached the age of majority, which was 15 in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Baldwin needed a regent to rule in his name.[17] The government was initially assumed by the seneschal, Miles of Plancy.[18][12] Shortly thereafter Count Raymond III of Tripoli arrived in Jerusalem and succeeded in claiming regency as the king's closest kinsman.[19] Miles was murdered while trying to extend his hold on the government.[20][21] No new seneschal was appointed for two years, and so the young and sickly king presided over burdensome High Court meetings when the regent was away on military duties or in Tripoli.[22]
Baldwin's mother, Agnes, returned to court when Raymond became regent. She is frequently accused by historians of exploiting her son's condition for self-gain, but the contemporary sources, including Baldwin's tutor, William of Tyre, are biased against her.[22] Having grown up without her since the age of two, Baldwin had no memories of his mother, but she became devotedly kind to him and he developed a strong attachment to her.[23]
During the regency it became clear that the king was indeed affected by leprosy.[24] It is not clear from whom he caught it; medical historian Piers Mitchell concludes that it must have been someone with whom Baldwin had spent a lot of time at a young age, such as a family member, a wet nurse, or another servant, and who did not exhibit easily visible symptoms.[25] Puberty may have accelerated the development of the lepromatous form of the illness. His condition worsened rapidly. Most severely affected were his limbs and face, which made his subjects uneasy when they approached him.[26] Yet, contrary to the common practice,[7] and to the surprise of Muslim observers, Baldwin was never segregated.[27] As a leper, Baldwin could not marry or expect to have children.[28] It thus became a priority to arrange a marriage for Baldwin's sister and heir presumptive, Sibylla. Raymond's choice was William of Montferrat, son of Margrave William V of Montferrat in Piedmont, Italy, and cousin of both the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and King Louis VII of France.[26]
Personal rule
On the second anniversary of his coronation, 15 July 1176, Baldwin reached the age of majority and Raymond's regency lapsed. At the suggestion of his mother, the king appointed his loyal and capable maternal uncle, Joscelin of Courtenay, to the office of seneschal and arranged for him to marry a rich heiress, Agnes of Milly.[29] The change in government signaled a new Frankish approach to the Egyptian ruler Saladin, who had been allowed by Raymond to encircle the crusader states by conquering Muslim principalities in Syria.[30] Baldwin did not ratify Raymond's peace treaty with Saladin,[31] firmly agreeing with Joscelin that the sultan's power needed to be curbed.[32]
Planned offensive
Map of the Near East in c. 1165. By the time Baldwin IV ascended, the Fatimid Caliphate had been overthrown by Saladin, who advanced into Zengid territory.
As soon as he took over the government, Baldwin began planning a full-scale attack on Egypt with his advisers.[33] The king took advantage of Saladin's campaign in Aleppo to lead a raid around Damascus.[31] This was his first experience of warfare. Despite having use of only one hand, he refused to delegate his military duties and took part in fighting.[34] He and his advisers then decided to intervene in Saladin's war against the Order of Assassins. On 1 August, Baldwin and Raymond led the armies of Jerusalem and Tripoli, respectively, in a raid of the Beqaa Valley (modern-day Lebanon), where they defeated the garrison of Damascus, forcing Saladin to abandon his campaign.[35]
William of Montferrat married Baldwin's sister Sibylla, in November 1176 despite misgivings of the nobles who no longer trusted his cousin Emperor Frederick's ability to aid the kingdom. Baldwin offered to resign the throne to William, according to Sicard of Cremona; if he did, William declined because he knew he lacked the support of the nobility.[36]
In order to carry out his attack on Egypt, Baldwin needed naval support. He thus sent Raynald of Châtillon to lead an embassy to Emperor Manuel, Raynald's stepson-in-law, in Constantinople in the winter of 1176–77.[37] Manuel agreed to take part in the invasion in return for the establishment of Byzantine protectorate over the kingdom and restoration of the Orthodox patriarch, Leontius II, in Jerusalem.[38] As Raynald's mission was successful, Baldwin consented to his marriage with the lady of Oultrejordain, Stephanie of Milly.[39]
In April 1177, William of Monferrat fell sick with malaria in Ascalon,[40][41] of which he had been made count on his marriage to the king's sister.[42] Baldwin visited him and became gravely ill too. William died in June, leaving Sibylla pregnant and Baldwin incapacitated without a deputy ahead of a major war offensive. The king entrusted the government and military command to Raynald, snubbing the count of Tripoli.[40] Baldwin's first cousin Count Philip I of Flanders arrived in the East in September.[43][44] He brought to Baldwin financial aid from another cousin, King Henry II of England.[45] Henry was invested because he and Baldwin both belonged to the Angevin family.[46] Still in sickbed in Ascalon, the king had himself taken back to Jerusalem in a litter and convened a general council, on the advice of which he offered regency to Philip.[43] Philip declined, and Raynald retained his post.[47]
The Byzantines sent a war fleet in preparation of the invasion of Egypt[48] but to Baldwin's regret[49] they withdrew because of the uncooperativeness of Philip of Flanders, Bohemond of Antioch, Raymond of Tripoli, and the grand master of the Knights Hospitaller, Roger de Moulins.[50] Saladin's power remained unchecked, and the Byzantine alliance collapsed.[49] Despite the hostility of the Latin patriarch, Amalric of Nesle, Baldwin continued to court the Greek patriarch, Leontius, in hopes that the Byzantines would remain committed to his kingdom.[51]
Initial conflicts with Saladin
A crowned man battling another man, both on horseback
13th-century depiction of Baldwin toppling an enemy at the Battle of Montgisard
Philip left the Kingdom of Jerusalem with his troops in late October 1177 to help Raymond of Tripoli attack the Muslim-held city of Hama.[52] With the Frankish army in northern Syria, Saladin seized the opportunity to invade Baldwin's kingdom on 18 November.[53] Though still recovering from malaria, Baldwin rode to meet the sultan,[54] while the Knights Templar hurried to defend Gaza.[53] The king took his humble host to Ascalon, where in desperation he issued an arrière-ban, summoning all able-bodied men. Saladin reached Ascalon on 22 November and Baldwin led the troops out to meet him. Seeing how drastically outnumbered he was, the king retreated into the city. Saladin too saw the strength in his numbers and confidently proceeded towards Jerusalem.[55] Baldwin managed to contact the Templars, however, and ordered them to abandon Gaza and join him.[56] Contrary to the sultan's expectation, Baldwin and Raynald then rode out of Ascalon, joined up with the Templars, and attacked his dispersed army at Montgisard.[57] The young king was in the forefront.[56] Saladin, who barely survived, suffered a crushing defeat.[57]
Ruined fortress of Le Chastellet
Not having enough men to launch an offensive on the retreating Muslims, Baldwin decided to fortify the Damascene frontier. The Templars convinced him to build a castle, Chastellet, on the upper Jordan River; he was reluctant because the Franks had promised not to mark that part of the border. After protests of local Muslims, Saladin offered money to Baldwin in exchange for aborting the construction, but the king refused.[58] In 1178, Baldwin hosted the patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Michael the Syrian, in Jerusalem and won his lasting loyalty to Frankish cause.[59][60]
In April 1179, Baldwin intended to round up the sheep passing from Damascus to Banias. Saladin's nephew Farrukh Shah was sent to investigate the king's movement but suddenly ran into him, and a skirmish followed.[61] The elderly but exceptionally able constable, Humphrey II of Toron, sustained fatal wounds while protecting the king. Weeks later Baldwin rode out to intercept Bedouin raids of Beirut and Sidon, and in June Saladin's raiding party routed Baldwin's. The king was unhorsed and carried to safety on a knight's back because he could not remount on his own.[62] In late August, Baldwin summoned a host to Tiberias to respond to Saladin's siege of Le Chastellet, but the castle fell before the relic of the True Cross could be fetched from Jerusalem to accompany the Christian troops.[63]
Rise of factions
In the winter of 1177–78 the king's widowed sister, Sibylla, gave birth to a son, Baldwin, named after the king. A year of official mourning for the child's father, William, concluded in June 1178 and it became appropriate to seek another husband for her. Baldwin of Ibelin's suit was well known, but not entertained. In order to avoid antagonizing the Ibelins, however, King Baldwin had allowed Balian of Ibelin to marry the king's stepmother, Queen Maria, in late 1177. In July 1178 Baldwin IV began associating Sibylla with him in some public acts, thereby acknowledging her as next in line to the throne.[64] He began contemplating her marriage to Duke Hugh III of Burgundy, and wrote to the king of France: "To be deprived of the use of one's limbs is of little help to one in carrying out the work of government ... It is not fitting that a hand so weak as mine should hold power when fear of Arab aggression daily presses upon the Holy City and when my sickness increases the enemy's daring."[65]
Raymond and Bohemond arriving in Jerusalem to find Sibylla married to Guy
During the Holy Week in 1180, the prince of Antioch and the count of Tripoli marched with their armies to Jerusalem. It is most likely that their intention was to force the king to have Sibylla marry Baldwin of Ibelin and to then abdicate.[66] The king had never approved of Baldwin's ambition to marry his sister, and though he did wish to abdicate, he was not keen on having terms forced on him.[67] Baldwin acted decisively before his kinsmen's armies reached Jerusalem: he arranged for Sibylla to marry a Poitevin knight, Guy of Lusignan. Raymond and Bohemond had no option but to accept the fait accompli, and the coup was foiled.[68]
Baldwin had hoped to abdicate, but was prevented by a deep rift within his court.[69] The historian Steven Runciman speaks of a division already at the beginning of Baldwin's reign between the cautious, diplomatic native barons and the Hospitallers on one side and the "aggressive, militantly Christian" newcomers from Western Europe and Templars on the other.[21] This view, though common in older historiography, is rejected by modern authors such as Bernard Hamilton and Peter Edbury. Hamilton posits that the factions arose only after Sibylla's marriage to Guy and centered on the king's paternal relatives (cousins Raymond of Tripoli and Bohemond of Antioch; stepmother, Maria; and her new family, the Ibelins) and maternal relatives (mother, Agnes; stepfather, Reynald of Sidon; sister, Sibylla; brother-in-law, Guy; uncle, Joscelin; and Raynald of Châtillon), of whom the king supported the latter.[69] In light of these problems, Baldwin proposed a two-year truce with Saladin, who was glad to accept in order to campaign freely in northern Syria.[70] Baldwin sent his uncle and chief minister, Joscelin, to assure the Byzantine court that Jerusalem still needed their protection. During Joscelin's absence, from mid-1180 to mid-1181, the full burden of government fell on the shoulders of the king, whose health was deteriorating. He relied chiefly on his mother in this period.[71]
To secure Guy's position and prevent the emergence of an alternative claimant, Baldwin had his eight-year-old half-sister, Isabella, solemnly betrothed to the teenage lord of Toron, Humphrey IV, in October 1180. Isabella was then sent to live at Kerak Castle with the lady of Oultrejourdain, Humphrey's mother, as far as possible from her maternal kin and potential conspirators.[72] By the terms of the marriage contract, Humphrey ceded Toron to Baldwin, who thus prevented the union of two great fiefs under one vassal and strengthened his position against the count of Tripoli.[73]
Truce and resumed hostilities
Saladin as depicted on a dirham coin, c. 1190
Baldwin made use of the truce with Saladin to strengthen the position of his maternal kin, granting Maron and Chastel Neuf to Joscelin and usufruct of Toron to Agnes, while associating Guy and Sibylla with him in public acts. He remained unreconciled with Raymond, however, and forbade the count to enter the kingdom in early 1182 owing to suspicions of another conspiracy.[75] Baldwin likely intended to charge Raymond with treason and deprive him of the Principality of Galilee, a fief of Jerusalem held by Raymond through marriage to Eschiva of Bures. The law prevented the king from seizing the fief without the assent of the High Court, and the High Court urged the king to reconcile with Raymond; Baldwin reluctantly heeded his vassals' advice.[76]
Baldwin's truce with Saladin was due to expire in May 1182[76] but was broken in mid-1181 by Raynald, who seized a merchant caravan on its way from Egypt to Damascus.[77] Raynald ignored the king's request to make restitution to Saladin, who was then preparing to annex the Zengid-ruled Aleppo.[77] The king, who consistently acted against Saladin's attempts to expand into northern Syria, decided to oppose him.[78] The recent anti-Catholic coup in Constantinople gave Saladin confidence to attack the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In July, Baldwin marched with his host to relieve the Muslims' siege of Bethsan, and his outnumbered army won the Battle of Le Forbelet.[79] Historian Bernard Hamilton attributes the victory to the respect and loyalty commanded by Baldwin,[80] who stayed on the battlefield despite his illness and intense heat.[79]
The defeated sultan took his host to besiege Beirut, while another army from Egypt attacked the south of the kingdom. Baldwin knew that he was being provoked into dividing his forces. Deciding that Beirut was of a greater strategic importance, he ignored the southern attack and moved with his troops to Tyre. From there he procured assistance from the Italian maritime republics in lifting Saladin's naval blockade of Beirut.[80] Saladin abandoned the siege, but declined to make a truce, worrying Baldwin and his advisers.[81] He proceeded north to fight the Zengids, thereby expanding his realm, while Baldwin led an attack on Saladin's Damascene territory, then on Bosra, before finally laying siege and capturing Cave de Sueth.[82] In the winter of 1182–1183, after agreeing on a strategy with his council, Baldwin attacked Damascus again. He threatened to destroy a mosque in Darayya, but local Christians convinced him not to for fear of losing their churches in retaliation.[83]
Last years
Progressing disability
Kerak Castle
Baldwin could not walk unsupported or use his hands from 1183.[84] Because of an inability to blink, his cornea dried and he became blind.[85] He nevertheless had to summon his troops in response to Saladin's march south following the Egyptian conquest of Aleppo in June. The king then developed a life-threatening fever. He was attended by his mother and the new patriarch, Heraclius, at nearby Nazareth. Having summoned the High Court to his bedside, Baldwin entrusted the government to his brother-in-law, Guy, who was next in line to succeed him.[86] Guy's appointment to regency was meant to be permanent. Baldwin retained only the royal title and authority over the city of Jerusalem, but he had Guy swear that, while Baldwin lived, he would not make himself king or alienate parts of the royal demesne.[87][88]
Fearing discontent among his barons, Baldwin had failed to give Guy any experience in military leadership prior to making him regent.[87] Indeed, the great lords of the kingdom, the independent rulers of Antioch and Tripoli, and the grand masters of the military orders refused to cooperate with Guy.[89] Baldwin recovered unexpectedly and returned to Jerusalem. Having found that coastal climate suited his health, Baldwin offered Jerusalem to Guy in exchange for Tyre. Guy brusquely refused, possibly because Tyre was more lucrative, leaving Baldwin gravely insulted.[90][88]
The wedding of Baldwin's half-sister, Isabella, and Humphrey IV of Toron was celebrated in Kerak in late 1183. Saladin attacked during the festivities and laid siege to the castle, hoping to capture the king's half-sister and her husband.[90] The retired king had gathered a council in Jerusalem to inform him about the government of the kingdom when news about the siege reached him. He immediately dismissed Guy from regency and resumed power, as the defense of such a vital fortress and the king's half-sister within it could not be entrusted to the man who had proven unable to command the troops. Guy's removal from regency was effectively disinheritance; at the council's insistence, deliberations about the succession followed. The proposal of the king's mother that Sibylla's five-year-old son, Baldwin, be made co-king was accepted, and the boy was crowned on 20 November.[91]
In late November Baldwin ordered the lighting of a beacon on the Tower of David, which may have been the first in a chain of such beacons, in order to hearten the defenders of the intensely bombarded Kerak.[92] Baldwin accompanied his troops again, but having become blind and immobile, this time he went in a litter slung between two horses.[93] His presence was essential to unite the discordant barons. Even his humiliated brother-in-law led his men. Warned by his scouts about the king's approach and concerned about having left Egypt unguarded, Saladin abandoned the siege on 4 December. Baldwin entered Kerak triumphantly.[94][95]
Brother-in-law's insubordination
The question of regency for his nephew troubled Baldwin. The only way to ensure that Guy could not claim it was to have his marriage to Sibylla annulled.[92] Baldwin discussed this with the patriarch, Heraclius.[92] The king may have intended to claim that he had forced his sister to marry Guy and that the marriage was unlawful because of that. Sibylla's unwavering loyalty to Guy thwarted his plans, as the couple refused to appear at court.[96]
Early in 1184, Baldwin ordered Guy to attend him as vassal in Jerusalem. Guy declined, citing poor health, and this was repeated several times. Baldwin then had himself carried to Ascalon in the company of the High Court. Guy refused to let him into the city. From the battlements and towers, the inhabitants witnessed the king ceremoniously raise his hand to knock on the gates and demand admission only for the gates to remain closed. The king was welcomed in Jaffa, however, where he installed a governor, thereby depriving Guy of half of his county. In Acre, Baldwin summoned his council, probably to gain support to seize Guy's fief on the grounds of refusal of the royal summons. The patriarch and the grand masters begged Baldwin to forgive Guy in order to avoid a civil war. This was as unacceptable to Baldwin as it would have been to any contemporary king. The patriarch and the grand masters stormed out of the council, swaying the rest of the assembly to withhold support for the action.[97]
Baldwin was reconciled with the patriarch and the grand masters by June when he sent them to Europe on a diplomatic mission to seek aid for the kingdom. He informed them by letter that Saladin was once more besieging Kerak.[98] Again, Saladin abandoned the siege when the litter-bound king approached with his army. Once in Kerak, Baldwin ordered and financed the reparations of the damaged castle.[99]
Last months, death, and aftermath
Death of Baldwin IV and coronation of Baldwin V in the 1280 edition of William of Tyre's Histoire d'Outremer
In late 1184[100] Baldwin was shocked to learn about Guy's massacre of the Bedouin of the royal fief of Darum, who were under royal protection and who provided information about the Egyptians' movements.[101][88] He soon developed a fever. When he returned to Jerusalem in late 1184 or early 1185, Baldwin bestowed regency on Raymond of Tripoli, the man whom he had never trusted, but to whom he could find no better alternative.[102] At the time, he expected to survive the illness, having done so twice before, but within weeks it became apparent that it would be his last. On his deathbed he summoned the High Court to appoint a permanent regent for his nephew, Baldwin V, and Raymond was chosen.[103] The dying king then ordered that homage be rendered to his nephew as king and to Raymond as regent, to be followed by a solemn crown-wearing ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[104]
Baldwin IV died, attended by his vassals,[105] in March 1185[88][106] or before 16 May 1185 at the latest, when Baldwin V is recorded as the sole king.[105] He was buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,[106] close to his father, King Amalric.[105] The young Baldwin V died the next year.[107] Sibylla, who succeeded her son,[108] made Guy king.[109] Baldwin IV's realm was destroyed by Saladin following his decisive victory over Guy at the Horns of Hattin in 1187. Sibylla and her daughters died in 1190, leaving Isabella I as the heir to the defeated kingdom.[110]
Assessment and legacy
19th-century depiction of Baldwin commanding troops at the Battle of Montgisard, by Charles-Philippe Larivière. Baldwin is depicted in a litter, but he was still mobile at the time and fought this battle on horseback.
Christian defeat at Hattin two years after Baldwin's death marred the king's legacy, with historians tracing fatal discord to Baldwin's reign.[111] Yet, while Baldwin was on the throne, the kingdom lost no territory[111] and flourished economically and spiritually.[112] Baldwin understood the importance of curbing Saladin's power, which was reflected in his choice of ministers. He did not devise strategy or diplomacy alone, and delegated Church patronage and finances to his mother, Agnes, and uncle, Joscelin, respectively.[32] His chief contribution was his determination not to abdicate before finding a suitable successor, despite leprosy making government an unbearable burden.[113] As was clear during his reign and especially in its disastrous aftermath, Baldwin alone preserved unity in the kingdom.[114]
Contemporary Christian theologians were divided on the issue of leprosy. Pope Alexander III showed little sympathy when writing about Baldwin, declaring leprosy a "just judgement of God", but another school of thought encouraged the faithful to see Christ in the affected.[115] Baldwin's reign may have led to a lesser stigmatization of the illness in the 13th-century Kingdom of Jerusalem.[116] His subjects' acceptance of his illness confounded some Muslims.[114] Muslim historian Imad al-Din al-Isfahani wrote:
In spite of illness the Franks were loyal to him, they gave him every encouragement ... being satisfied to have him as their ruler; they exalted him ... they were anxious to keep him in office, but they paid no attention to his leprosy.[114]
Baldwin's public image may have been aided by his chastity, seen as evidence of extraordinary sanctity,[117] and his success against Saladin was interpreted as a sign of God's favor.[117] After the disastrous Seventh Crusade, a crusader was told by an old man in Damascus:
I have seen a time when King Baldwin of Jerusalem, the one who was a leper, beat Saladin although he only had 300 armed men against Saladin's 3,000. But now your sins have come to such a pass that we round you up in the fields like cattle.[117]
Despite perceived sanctity Baldwin was not particularly devout. He was primarily a knight, both in character and in upbringing, and to contemporaries his most distinctive traits were his courage and honourableness.[117]
In popular culture
In the 2005 historical drama film Kingdom of Heaven, Edward Norton plays Baldwin. In contrast to the historical king, Baldwin is portrayed as an androgynous, orientalized, and fragile king bound to his chamber. He is depicted wearing a metallic silver mask, but there is no evidence King Baldwin IV wore such a covering for his leprosy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_IV_of_Jerusalem
Guy Fawkes Day – The Jesuit Treason and the Gunpowder Plot
A plan was hatched by a joint collaboration of the Pope and the Jesuits to blow up the House of Lords during the state opening of Parliament on 5th November 1605. Robert Catesby was the leader of a group of English Catholics who plotted to assassinate the protestant King James 1 in the failed gunpowder plot.
Guy Fawkes, a key member of the group was chosen to bomb the parliament owing to his experience as a soldier in the Spanish army. He smuggled 36 barrels of gun powder into a cellar directly below the Parliament which was enough to obliterate the entire building thereby killing all the key members of the state including the king and high ranking officials.
However, through Divine providence, an anonymous letter was sent to a Catholic called William Parker who was a member of the Parliament. The letter warned him to stay away from the opening of the Parliament. Alarmed by this, he brought this to the attention of King James who then ordered a search of the basement of Parliament. Guy Fawkes was found hiding in one of the cellars guarding a stash of gunpowder and explosives. After being tortured, Guy Fawkes revealed that this was a preplanned Jesuit led Catholic conspiracy to annihilate England’s Protestant government and replace it with a Catholic one.
https://www.secretsunlocked.org/bible/bible-history/guy-fawkes-day-the-jesuit-treason-and-the-gunpowder-plot
On March 17, 1970, a curious article appeared in the Oakland Tribune. It was a report of an interview with Anton Szandor LaVey, Founder and "High PRIEST" of the "Church of Satan" in San Francisco, and the author of the Satanic Bible. Members of the Church of Satan wear an inverted pentagram, or pentacle (a well-known 'Satanic' symbol) with a a goathead on the inside of the circle. The cover of The Satanic Bible also bears an inverted pentagram, or satanic pentacle.
The Oakland Tribune article reported that LaVey had become " a favorite speaker at the University of San Francisco." When asked about his engagements at that university, LaVey proudly replied, "the Jesuits are my greatest audience." In case the reader was not already aware, the University of San Francisco is a renowned Jesuit institution of higher learning.
The statement by Satanist Anton LaVey about his work at this Jesuit University is no mystery. We invite the reader to give attention to this most audacious passage found in the writings of the Jesuit scholar Anthony Escobar. In his Secret Instructions, Escobar treats to what is perhaps the most innovative principle of Jesuitism (Roma Catholicism): "IT IS LAWFUL... TO MAKE USE OF THE SCIENCE ACQUIRED THROUGH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE DEVIL., PROVIDED THE PRESERVATION AND USE OF THAT KNOWLEDGE DO NOT DEPEND UPON THE DEVIL, FOR THE KNOWLEDGE IS GOOD IN ITSELF, AND THE SIN BY WHICH IT WAS ACQUIRED HAS GONE BY." Such is the effrontery of the Jesuits; such are their nostrums-my, my, what intriguing doctrines these Jesuits have-these men will sell their souls on eBay."
pages 73-74
chapter 6
"SCIENCE ACQUIRED THROUGH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE DEVIL"
Codeword Barbelon book One
by P.D. Stuart
Anton Szandor LaVey[1] (born Howard Stanton Levey; April 11, 1930 – October 29, 1997) was an American author, musician, and LaVeyan Satanist.[2] He was the founder of the Church of Satan, the philosophy of LaVeyan Satanism, and the concept of Satanism. He authored several books, including The Satanic Bible, The Satanic Rituals, The Satanic Witch, The Devil's Notebook, and Satan Speaks! In addition, he released three albums, including The Satanic Mass, Satan Takes a Holiday, and Strange Music. He played a minor on-screen role and served as technical advisor for the 1975 film The Devil's Rain[3] and served as host and narrator for Nick Bougas' 1989 mondo film Death Scenes.[4]
Historian of Satanism Gareth J. Medway described LaVey as a "born showman",[5] with anthropologist Jean La Fontaine describing him as a "colourful figure of considerable personal magnetism".[6] The academic scholars of Satanism Per Faxneld and Jesper Aagaard Petersen described LaVey as "the most iconic figure in the Satanic milieu".[7] LaVey was labeled many things by journalists, religious detractors, and Satanists alike, including "The Father of Satanism",[8] the "St. Paul of Satanism",[9] "The Black Pope",[10] and the "evilest man in the world".[11]
Early life
LaVey was born Howard Stanton Levey on April 11, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Michael Joseph Levey (1903–1992), from Chicago, married LaVey's mother, Gertrude Augusta née Coultron. His parents supported his musical interests, as he tried a number of instruments; his favorites were keyboards such as the piano and accordion. Anton played piano in a Baptist church as a boy, and played oboe in high school.[12][13] He attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, California, until the age of 16.[14][15] LaVey claimed he left high school at age 16 to join the Clyde Beatty Circus and later carnivals, first as a roustabout and cage boy in an act with the big cats, then as a musician playing the calliope.[16] He played tunes such as "Harlem Nocturne" by Earle Hagen.[17] LaVey later claimed to have seen that many of the same men attended both the bawdy Saturday night shows and the tent revival meetings on Sunday mornings, which reinforced his increasingly cynical view of religion. In the foreword to the German language edition of The Satanic Bible, he cites this as the impetus to defy Christian religion as he knew it. He explains why churchgoers employ moral double standards.[18] However, journalist Lawrence Wright investigated LaVey's background and found no evidence LaVey ever worked in a circus either as a musician or a cage boy.[1][19]
In the winter of 1948, LaVey began to work as an organist in bars, lounges, and nightclubs. His "genius" on keyboards helped him attain gigs.[11][20] He claimed to have had a brief affair with then-unknown Marilyn Monroe while playing organ in Los Angeles burlesque houses, stating that she was a dancer at the Mayan Theater at the time. This was challenged by those who knew Monroe then, as well as the manager of the Mayan, Paul Valentine, who said she had never been one of his dancers, nor had the theater ever been used as a burlesque house.[21]
According to his biography, LaVey moved back to San Francisco. LaVey met Carole Lansing in 1950, and they married the following year, when Lansing was fifteen years old. Lansing gave birth to LaVey's first daughter, Karla LaVey, born in 1952. In order to avoid the Korean War draft, he studied criminology at City College of San Francisco. LaVey then attained a job as a photographer for the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD),[1] where he worked for three years. (Wright could find no evidence of LaVey working at this job either.)[22] LaVey claimed to have dabbled as a psychic investigator, looking into "800 calls" referred to him by SFPD. Later biographers questioned whether LaVey ever worked with the SFPD, as there are no records substantiating the claim.[1][23]
During this period, LaVey was friends with a number of writers associated with Weird Tales magazine; a picture of him with George Haas, Robert Barbour Johnson, and Clark Ashton Smith appears in Blanche Barton's biography The Secret Life of a Satanist.
LaVey and Carole divorced in 1960, after LaVey became involved with Diane Hegarty. Hegarty and LaVey never married, but she was his companion for 24 years and mothered his second daughter, Zeena Galatea Schreck (née LaVey) (born in 1963).[24] At the end of their relationship, Hegarty sued for palimony.[25][26]
Church of Satan
Anton Lavey became a local celebrity in San Francisco through his paranormal research and live performances as an organist, including playing the Wurlitzer at the Lost Weekend cocktail lounge.[27] He was also a publicly noticeable figure; he drove a coroner's van around town, and he walked his pet black leopard, named Zoltan.[11] He attracted many San Francisco notables to his parties. Guests included Carin de Plessin, Michael Harner, Chester A. Arthur III, Forrest J Ackerman, Fritz Leiber, Cecil E. Nixon, and Kenneth Anger. LaVey formed a group called the Order of the Trapezoid, which later evolved into the governing body of the Church of Satan.[28] According to Faxneld and Petersen, the Church of Satan represented "the first public, highly visible, and long-lasting organisation which propounded a coherent Satanic discourse".[29]
Never one for theory, LaVey created a belief system somewhere between religion, philosophy, psychology, and carnival (or circus), freely appropriating science, mythology, fringe beliefs, and play in a potent mix. The core goal was always indulgence and vital existence, based on the devices and desires of the self-made man.
Per Faxneld and Jesper Petersen.[7]
LaVey began presenting Friday night lectures on the occult and rituals. A member of this circle suggested that he had the basis for a new religion. According to LaVey himself, on Walpurgisnacht, April 30, 1966, he ritualistically shaved his head, allegedly "in the tradition of ancient executioners", declared the founding of the Church of Satan and proclaimed 1966 as "the Year One", Anno Satanas, the first year of the Age of Satan. LaVey's image has been described as "Mephistophelian", and may have been inspired by an occult-themed episode of the television show The Wild Wild West titled "The Night of the Druid's Blood" which originally aired on March 25, 1966 and starred Don Rickles as the evil magician and Satanic cult leader Asmodeus, whose Mephistophelean persona is virtually identical to that which LaVey adopted one month later. [30] Media attention followed the subsequent Satanic wedding ceremony of journalist John Raymond to New York City socialite Judith Case on February 1, 1967. The Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle were among the newspapers that printed articles dubbing him "The Black Pope". LaVey performed Satanic baptisms (including the first Satanic baptism in history for his three-year-old daughter Zeena, dedicating her to Satan and the Left-Hand Path, which garnered worldwide publicity and was originally recorded on The Satanic Mass LP).[31][32][33][34]
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, LaVey melded ideological influences from Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand,[35] H. L. Mencken, and social Darwinism[36] with the ideology and ritual practices of the Church of Satan. He wrote essays introduced with reworked excerpts from Ragnar Redbeard's Might Is Right and concluded with "Satanized" versions of John Dee's Enochian Keys to create books such as The Complete Witch (re-released in 1989 as The Satanic Witch), and The Satanic Rituals.[37] The latter book also included rituals drawing on the work of H. P. Lovecraft. Admitting his use of Might is Right, LaVey stated that he did so in order to "immortalize a writer who had profoundly reached me".[38]
In 1972, the public work at LaVey's Black House in San Francisco was curtailed and work was continued via sanctioned regional "grottoes". In early 1975, LaVey announced that higher degrees of initiation could be given in return for a financial contribution.[5] In June 1975, editor of the Church's newsletter, Michael Aquino, left the Church of Satan and formed the theistic Temple of Set,[39] claiming to take an unknown number of dissenters with him. The Church maintains this policy announcement was designed to "clean house" of members who did not understand Satanic philosophy.[40]
Later life and death
In 1980, the FBI interviewed LaVey in connection with an alleged plot to murder Ted Kennedy. LaVey told the agents that most of the church's followers were "fanatics, cultists, and weirdos". The agents reported that LaVey's "interest in the Church of Satan is strictly from a monetary point of view," and that he spent "most of his time furnishing interviews, writing material, and lately has become interested in photography."[41]
In July 1984, Hegarty issued a restraining order against LaVey, which he did not contest.[42] LaVey's third and final companion was Blanche Barton. On November 1, 1993, Barton gave birth to Satan Xerxes Carnacki LaVey. Barton succeeded LaVey as the head of the Church after his death and has since stepped down from that role and handed it to Magus Peter H. Gilmore.[43]
According to his family, Anton LaVey died on October 29, 1997, in St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco of pulmonary edema;[44] however, his death certificate lists October 31, 1997.[45] He was taken to St. Mary's, a Catholic hospital, because it was the closest available. A secret Satanic funeral, attended by invitation only, was held in Colma, after which LaVey's body was cremated.
On February 2, 1998, his estranged daughter Zeena Schreck and her then husband Nikolas Schreck published a nine-page "fact sheet",[46] in which they endorsed Wright's earlier allegations and claimed that many more of LaVey's stories about his life had been false.[47]
Thought
LaVey included references to other esoteric and religious groups throughout his writings, claiming for instance that the Yazidis and Knights Templar were carriers of a Satanic tradition that had been passed down to the twentieth century.[48] Scholar of Satanism Per Faxneld believed that these references were deliberately tongue-in-cheek and ironic, but he noted that many Satanists who had read LaVey's writings had taken them to be literal historical claims about the past.[48][49] Although he regularly derided older esotericists, LaVey also relied upon their work; for instance, making use of John Dee's Enochian system in The Satanic Bible.[50] Faxneld therefore believed that there was a tension in LaVey's thought between his desire to establish prestigious Satanic predecessors and his desire to be seen as the founder of the first real Satanic society.[51]
Dyrendel argued that LaVey partook in conspiracy culture as he grew older, for he was greatly concerned with modern society's impact on individual agency.[52] LaVey was conservative in his attitude to law and order and insisted that the Church abide by state law in all of its actions.[53] He supported eugenics and believed that it would be a necessity in the future.[54] LaVey hated rock and metal music, with or without "Satanic" lyrics, and often expressed his distaste for it.[2]
Reception and legacy
Historian of Satanism Gareth J. Medway described LaVey as "A born showman",[5] with anthropologist Jean La Fontaine describing him as "A colourful figure of considerable personal magnetism".[6] Medway contrasted LaVey from the likes of Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Charles Manson, noting that whereas the latter were the charismatic leaders of apocalyptic communes, within the Church of Satan, "No one hung onto [LaVey's] every word, and church members [were] allowed considerable autonomy."[55]
The academic scholars, Per Faxneld and Jesper Aagaard Petersen, described LaVey as "the most iconic figure in the Satanic milieu",[7] while Asbjørn Dyrendel described him as "the founder of modern Satanism".[56] In his 2001 examination of Satanists, the sociologist James R. Lewis noted that, to his surprise, his findings "consistently pointed to the centrality of LaVey's influence on modern Satanism". As a result he "concluded that— despite his heavy dependence on prior thinkers— LaVey was directly responsible for the genesis of Satanism as a serious religious (as opposed to a purely literary) movement".[57]
His books The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals have been cited as having "an influence far beyond" the Church of Satan's membership.[6] In 1995, the religious studies scholar Graham Harvey wrote that although the Church had no organized presence in Britain, LaVey's writings were widely accessible in British bookshops.[58]
Due to increasing visibility through his books, LaVey was the subject of numerous articles in the news media throughout the world, including popular magazines such as Look, McCall's, Newsweek, and Time, and men's magazines. He also appeared on talk shows such as The Joe Pyne Show, Donahue, and The Tonight Show, and in a feature-length documentary called Satanis in 1970. LaVey claimed that he had been appointed consultant to the film Rosemary's Baby, which revolved around a group of fictional Satanists, and that he also had a cameo appearance in the film as the Devil. However, critics have argued that none of this was true.[59] In an article published in Rolling Stone magazine in 1991, the journalist Lawrence Wright revealed that through his own investigative work, he found that many of LaVey's claims about his life had been untrue.[47] Two official biographies have been written on LaVey, including The Devil's Avenger by Burton H. Wolfe, published in 1974 and The Secret Life of a Satanist by Blanche Barton, published in 1990.
Politics
Due to James Madole's opposition to Christianity, he sought new religious ideas and was attracted to a merging of fascism and Satanism that led to an alliance between LaVey and Madole. Black Sun by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke states, "James Wagner, a former Security Echelon (SE) commander, recalls that relations between the NRP and the Church of Satan, founded in 1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey, were cordial. Madole and LaVey frequently met at the NRP office and in the Warlock Bookshop in New York."[60]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_LaVey
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Scientology Recruits for the O.T.O.
In 1967, the O.T.O. in England founded the Process Church of the Final Judgement soon after the rise of The Beatles rock group. In the late sixties and early seventies, the Process set up cells in a number of U.S. cities. Maury Terry says that the Process Church took over the O.T.O. in the United States. The Church of Scientology reverted to the position of Blavatsky's Theosophical Society a century earlier - that of a recruiting agency for the O.T.O. Terry said of Michael Carr, who, before his violent death was one of the leaders in the Process Church and a ranking Scientologist: If he's counselling lost souls for Scientology, allegedly helping them discover themselves, he could certainly be working both sides of the street and plucking a few out for recruitment in the Satan stuff. That Scientology movement is fertile ground for latching onto confused people. He'd have his pick of candidates.41
The O.T.O. and Psychological Warfare
The counterculture, which today has permeated our whole society, provided and still provides recruits to the Church of Scientology which spots and selects the confused and drug addicted candidates for the homicidal O.T.O.-Process Church. One such candidate was found in Charlie Manson, who was first recruited by Scientology before he joined the Process Church. At that time the Process Church in America was led by Robert Moore (alias Robert DeGrimston), who, like Manson, was first a Scientologist. Process members worship both Satan and Christ, as did the Priory of Sion and the Templars in medieval days.42
Charlie Manson taught his "family" that he was Jesus Christ returned to bring judgement on America through a race war. "Helter Skelter" was his plan. He believed his instructions were concealed in the lyrics of songs sung by The Beatles.43 What Manson taught his "family" about hidden messages in rock music may well be true. Aleister Crowley himself taught such a technique to his initiates - that of writing messages backwards as a means of secret communication. William Sutton, in The New Age Movement and The Illuminati 666. states that Manson was also a Freemason. In support of this he writes that "[d]uring the Tate-LaBianca trials - with Susan Atkins testifying to how good it felt when the knife went into Sharon Tate – Manson was flashing Masonic hand signals to the Judge."44 Sutton not only links Manson to Freemasonry, but to Scientology, the Process Church, the O.T.O. and the New Age Movement.45
Likewise, Maury Terry documents that the Charlie Manson murders in California and the David Berkowitz - Son of Sam - murders in New York, were both ordered by the same organization, the O.T.O.- Process Church.46 One of Terry's first clues of this connection was the use of common terms by Berkowitz's "Sam" cult and the O.TO.-Process Church. For example, the term "German shepherds" was used by both as an allusion to their Nazi heritage. Both killers wore the same Nazi symbols - HT and HH for Hitler, the German SS lighting bolts for Satan and 666 for the mark of the beast. Both were white Aryan, anti. Christian, anti-black, and anti-Semitic.47 Berkowitz, whose murders followed some six years after Manson's, often mentioned Manson in his notes.
Berkowitz himself admitted to joining the Process Church in New York in 1975, just six years after Manson's arrest. Process members openly mingling with existing O.T.O. factions were seen in New York City as late as 1973. People such as Berkowitz, Man son and members of the Process Church, and its cells around the United States, make up the current O.T.O. network. All are sub-Masonic and linked as part of an underground web of murder. The "Sam" cult, according to Terry, is headquartered near Los Angeles and has branches in Bismarck, Minot, Houston and New York. These branches shuttle killers and "contracts" back and forth.48
From evidence presented by both Terry and Sutton, there is sufficient documentation to convince the reader that the Ordo Templi Orientis was carried to the United States by English Freemason Aleister Crowley for the express purpose of preparing Christian America for destruction through mass and serial murder, drugs, licentious living, witchcraft, and the psychological terror and social chaos caused by the same. The O.T.O. continues its assault on our society to this day. The O.T.O. is English Freemasonry's psychological warfare unit targeted against Christian America."
Scarlet and the Beast by John Daniel
https://ia803001.us.archive.org/28/items/ScarletAndTheBeastJohnDaniel1995/Scarlet%20and%20the%20Beast,%20John%20Daniel%20(1995).pdf
WELCOME
Process Theatre, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, incorporated in 1982, whose primary mission is to provide Media Arts-in-Education to diverse populations.
OUR PURPOSE
1) To provide instruction in theatre, dance, music, digital arts, digital media, video, multimedia, and other art forms.
2) To provide technical assistance and consultation to other organizations and public entities in the performing arts (i.e. theatre, dance, music, digital arts, digital media, video, multimedia, and other art forms)
3) To produce and provide public performances – synchronous & asynchronous – of theatre, dance, music, video, multimedia, digital arts, digital media, and other arts productions.
4) To increase employment and economic opportunities and skills for the artists involved in PROCESS THEATRE.
5) To encourage participants involved to use the “creative process” of PROCESS THEATRE in their everyday lives in order to enhance their well-being and quality of life
6) To provide training for persons serving the general public in the use of the “creative process” of PROCESS THEATRE in their work to enhance other individuals’ well-being and quality of life.
https://www.processtheatre.org/
Theodorus of Cyrene (Ancient Greek: Θεόδωρος ὁ Κυρηναῖος, romanized: Theódōros ho Kyrēnaîos; fl. c. 450 BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician. The only first-hand accounts of him that survive are in three of Plato's dialogues: the Theaetetus, the Sophist, and the Statesman. In the former dialogue, he posits a mathematical construction now known as the Spiral of Theodorus.
Life
Little is known as Theodorus' biography beyond what can be inferred from Plato's dialogues. He was born in the northern African colony of Cyrene, and apparently taught both there and in Athens.[1] He complains of old age in the Theaetetus, the dramatic date of 399 BC of which suggests his period of flourishing to have occurred in the mid-5th century. The text also associates him with the sophist Protagoras, with whom he claims to have studied before turning to geometry.[2] A dubious tradition repeated among ancient biographers like Diogenes Laërtius[3] held that Plato later studied with him in Cyrene, Libya.[1] This eminent mathematician Theodorus was, along with Alcibiades and many other of Socrates' companions (many of whom would be associated with the Thirty Tyrants), accused of distributing the mysteries at a symposium, according to Plutarch, who himself was priest of the temple at Delphi.
Work in mathematics
Theodorus' work is known through a sole theorem, which is delivered in the literary context of the Theaetetus and has been argued alternately to be historically accurate or fictional.[1] In the text, his student Theaetetus attributes to him the theorem that the square roots of the non-square numbers up to 17 are irrational:
Theodorus here was drawing some figures for us in illustration of roots, showing that squares containing three square feet and five square feet are not commensurable in length with the unit of the foot, and so, selecting each one in its turn up to the square containing seventeen square feet and at that he stopped.[4]
The square containing two square units is not mentioned, perhaps because the incommensurability of its side with the unit was already known.) Theodorus's method of proof is not known. It is not even known whether, in the quoted passage, "up to" (μέχρι) means that seventeen is included. If seventeen is excluded, then Theodorus's proof may have relied merely on considering whether numbers are even or odd. Indeed, Hardy and Wright[5] and Knorr[6] suggest proofs that rely ultimately on the following theorem: If
x
2
=
n
y
2
{\displaystyle x^{2}=ny^{2}} is soluble in integers, and
n
{\displaystyle n} is odd, then
n
{\displaystyle n} must be congruent to 1 modulo 8 (since
x
{\displaystyle x} and
y
{\displaystyle y} can be assumed odd, so their squares are congruent to 1 modulo 8.
That one cannot prove the irrationality the square root of 17 by considerations restricted to the arithmetic of the even and the odd has been shown in one system of the arithmetic of the even and the odd in [7] and,[8] but it is an open problem in a stronger natural axiom system for the arithmetic of the even and the odd [9]
A possibility suggested earlier by Zeuthen[10] is that Theodorus applied the so-called Euclidean algorithm, formulated in Proposition X.2 of the Elements as a test for incommensurability. In modern terms, the theorem is that a real number with an infinite continued fraction expansion is irrational. Irrational square roots have periodic expansions. The period of the square root of 19 has length 6, which is greater than the period of the square root of any smaller number. The period of √17 has length one (so does √18; but the irrationality of √18 follows from that of √2).
The so-called Spiral of Theodorus is composed of contiguous right triangles with hypotenuse lengths equal √2, √3, √4, …, √17; additional triangles cause the diagram to overlap. Philip J. Davis interpolated the vertices of the spiral to get a continuous curve. He discusses the history of attempts to determine Theodorus' method in his book Spirals: From Theodorus to Chaos, and makes brief references to the matter in his fictional Thomas Gray series.
That Theaetetus established a more general theory of irrationals, whereby square roots of non-square numbers are irrational, is suggested in the eponymous Platonic dialogue as well as commentary on, and scholia to, the Elements.[11]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodorus_of_Cyrene
Cruz is a surname of Iberian origin, first found in Castile,[citation needed] Spain, but later spread throughout the territories of the former Spanish and Portuguese Empires. In Spanish and Portuguese, the word means "cross", either the Christian cross or the figure of transecting lines or ways. For example, in the Philippines, the adopted Tagalog word is rendered to "krus" in plain usage, but the Spanish spelling survives as a surname.
The word "Cruz" (Spanish for "Cross"), as well as "Vera Cruz" ("True Cross") and "Santa Cruz" ("Holy Cross") are used as surnames and toponyms. Its origin as a surname particularly flourished after the Alhambra Decree of 1492 and the increasing activities of the Spanish Inquisition, when New Christian families with Crypto-Jewish, Moorish, and/or mixed religious heritage converted to the state-enforced religion of Catholicism and subsequently fashioned and adopted surnames with unambiguous religious affiliation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruz
To sum up: men crucified to the world, and to whom the world itself is crucified[7] such would our Constitutions have us to be; new men, I say, who have put off their affections to put on Christ;[8] dead to themselves to live to justice; who, with St. Paul in labors, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long suffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Spirit, in charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, show themselves ministers of God[9] and by the armor of Justice on the right hand and, on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, by good success finally and ill success, press forward with great strides to their heavenly country. This is the sum and aim of our institute.
Preface to the First Edition
Rome, the house of the Society of Jesus, 1559
The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms
https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf
Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward Cruz (/kruːz/; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 to 2008.
After graduating from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Cruz pursued a career in politics, eventually serving as a policy advisor in the George W. Bush administration. In 2003, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott appointed Cruz to serve as Solicitor General, a position he held through 2008. Cruz was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012, becoming the first Hispanic American to serve as a U.S. senator from Texas.[2] In the Senate, he has taken consistently conservative positions on economic and social policy. He played a leading role in the 2013 United States federal government shutdown, seeking to force Congress and President Barack Obama to defund the Affordable Care Act. Cruz was reelected in a close race in 2018 against Democratic nominee Beto O'Rourke and decisively won a third term in 2024 against Congressman Colin Allred.
In 2016, Cruz sought the Republican presidential nomination, emerging as a serious competitor to front-runner Donald Trump in a primary marked by intense, often personal, exchanges. Cruz initially withheld his endorsement after Trump secured the nomination, but became a strong supporter during Trump's first term. In 2021, Cruz objected to the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Early life and family
Rafael Edward Cruz was born on December 22, 1970,[3][4] at Foothills Medical Centre[5][6] in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to Eleanor Elizabeth (née Darragh) Wilson and Rafael Cruz.[7][8][9][10] Cruz's mother was born in Wilmington, Delaware. She is of three-quarters Irish and one-quarter Italian descent, and earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Rice University in the 1950s.[11][12]
Cruz's father, Rafael, was born and raised in Cuba, the son of a Canary Islander who immigrated to Cuba as a child.[13] As a teenager in the 1950s, Rafael Cruz was beaten by agents of Fulgencio Batista for opposing the Batista regime.[14] He left Cuba in 1957 to attend the University of Texas at Austin and obtained political asylum in the United States after his four-year student visa expired.[15] He earned Canadian citizenship in 1973[5] and became a naturalized United States citizen in 2005.[9][16][17]
At the time of his birth, Ted Cruz's parents had lived in Calgary for three years and were working in the oil business as owners of a seismic-data processing firm for oil drilling.[9][18][19][20][21] Cruz has said that he is the son of "two mathematicians/computer programmers".[22] In 1974, Cruz's father left the family and moved to Texas.[23] Later that year, Cruz's parents reconciled and relocated the family to Houston.[5] They divorced in 1997.[24] Cruz has two older half-sisters, Miriam Ceferina Cruz and Roxana Lourdes Cruz, from his father's first marriage. Miriam died in 2011 from a drug overdose.[24][25][26]
Cruz began going by Ted at age 13.[27]
Education
For junior high school, Cruz went to Awty International School in Houston.[28] Cruz attended two private high schools: Faith West Academy, near Katy, Texas;[29] and Second Baptist High School in Houston, from which he graduated as valedictorian in 1988.[16][30][31] During high school, Cruz participated in a Houston-based group known at the time as the Free Market Education Foundation, a program that taught high school students the philosophies of economists such as Milton Friedman and Frédéric Bastiat.[21][32]
After high school, Cruz studied public policy at Princeton University.[33][3][34] While at Princeton, he competed for the American Whig-Cliosophic Society's Debate Panel and won the top speaker award at both the 1992 U.S. National Debating Championship and the 1992 North American Debating Championship.[35] In 1992, he was named U.S. National Speaker of the Year and, with his debate partner David Panton, Team of the Year by the American Parliamentary Debate Association.[35] Cruz and Panton later represented Harvard Law School at the 1995 World Debating Championship, losing in the semifinals to a team from Australia.[36][37][38] Princeton's debate team named their annual novice championship after Cruz.[38] At Princeton, Cruz was a member of Colonial Club.[39] His 115-page senior thesis at Princeton investigated the separation of powers; its title, Clipping the Wings of Angels: The History and Theory Behind the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, was inspired by a passage attributed to James Madison from the 51st essay of the Federalist Papers: "If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." Cruz argued that the drafters of the Constitution intended to protect their constituents' rights, and that the last two items in the Bill of Rights offer an explicit stop against an all-powerful state.[11][40] Cruz graduated from Princeton in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts cum laude.[41]
Cruz then attended Harvard Law School,[3][42] where he was a John M. Olin Fellow in Law and Economics.[43] He was a primary editor of the Harvard Law Review, an executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and a founding editor of the Harvard Latino Law Review.[34] Referring to Cruz's time as a student at Harvard Law, professor Alan Dershowitz said that Cruz was "off-the-charts brilliant."[44][45][46][47] Cruz graduated from Harvard Law in 1995 with a Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude.[41]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz
Raphael (UK: /ˈræfeɪəl/ RAF-ay-əl, US: /ˈræfiəl, ˈreɪf-/ RA(Y)F-ee-əl; "God has healed")[a] is an archangel first mentioned in the Book of Tobit and in 1 Enoch, both estimated to date from between the 3rd and 2nd century BCE.[5][6] In later Jewish tradition, he became identified as one of the three heavenly visitors entertained by Abraham at the Oak of Mamre. He is not named in either the New Testament or the Quran, but later Christian tradition identified him with healing and as the angel who stirred waters in the Pool of Bethesda in John 5:2–4,[5] and in Islam, where his name is Israfil, he is understood to be the unnamed angel of Quran 6:73, standing eternally with a trumpet to his lips, ready to announce the Day of Judgment. In Gnostic tradition, Raphael is represented on the Ophite Diagram.[7]
Origins in post-exilic literature
In the Hebrew Bible, the word 'מַלְאָךְ' (malʾāk̠) means messenger or representative;[8] either human or supernatural in nature. When used in the latter sense it is translated as "angel".[9] The original mal'akh lacked both individuality and hierarchy, but after the Babylonian exile they were graded into a Babylonian-style hierarchy and the word archangelos, archangel, first appears in the Greek text of 1 Enoch.[10][11] At the same time the angels and archangels began to be given names, as attested in the Talmudic statement that "the names of the angels were brought by the Jews from Babylonia",[12] attributed to Shimon ben Lakish[13] or Rabbi Hanina[14] respectively.
Raphael first appears in two works of this period, 1 Enoch, a collection of originally independent texts from the 3rd century BCE, and the Book of Tobit, from the early 2nd century BCE.[15][16] In the oldest stratum of 1 Enoch (1 Enoch 9:1) he is one of the four named archangels, and in Tobit 12:11–15 he is one of seven.[17]
His name derives from the Hebrew root רפא (r-p-ʾ) meaning "to heal",[18] and can be translated as "God has healed".[19] In Tobit he goes by the name Azariah (Hebrew: עֲזַרְיָה/עֲזַרְיָהוּ ʿĂzaryāh/ʿĂzaryāhū, "Yah/Yahu has helped")[20] while disguising himself as a human. In the text he acts as a physician and expels demons,[19] using an extraordinary fish to bind the demon Asmodeus and to heal Tobit's eyes, while in 1 Enoch he is "set over all disease and every wound of the children of the people",[19] and binds the armies of Azazel and throws them into the valley of fire.[16]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_(archangel)
Lucky 17, Q and the 'tippy top' White House: How conspiracy theories are being turbo-charged in Donald Trump's America
Donald Trump
World
Thursday 22 November 2018 at 12:01am
The profile picture of Robert Moore
Robert Moore
ITV News Correspondent
There are some riddles about America that I never imagined I would have to unravel.
In fact, there are many conspiracy theories that exist in the dark recesses here that I never knew about, even after reporting from the US for more than a decade.
Until recently, I was blissfully unaware of the significance of the number 17 to many Americans.
I had never pondered the letter Q as a political force.
I would have struggled to tell you why thousands of people were exhilarated when Donald Trump used the phrase “tippy top” from the White House balcony.
Today, having spent a month researching and filming American conspiracy theories for a documentary for ITV’s Tonight programme, I feel more informed and more confused at the same time.
I have a better grasp, certainly, of why Americans are drawn to the idea of conspiracies and secret plots.
But as these theories are turbo-charged by the internet, talk radio and social media, I don’t know where it ends.
Does America become increasingly paranoid and suspicious, seeing shadows and threats everywhere, or does it eventually rediscover its equilibrium and return to a belief in reason and science?
Let me explain those riddles.
Q is the name that many Trump-supporting Americans give to the secretive figure they believe exists inside the government, who is helping the president defeat his enemies.
They believe that Q will not only ensure Trump’s survival but that he - or she - will turn the tables and destroy the Democrats and the Deep State.
And since Q is the 17th letter of the alphabet, his followers attach special significance to that number.
In the eyes of Q believers, his credibility was enhanced when a follower asked Q to get President Trump to say “tip top”.
Sure enough, Trump did use those words, although he had used the phrase before and there is no evidence of a link between the president and the Q conspiracy theory.
America has always been awash with such ideas.
From the hysteria of the 17th century Salem witch trials, through to the paranoid McCarthy era, to the JFK assassination and 9/11, there is a direct connection.
All have fuelled Americans’ obsession with conspiracies and raised doubts about whether official explanations are accurate.
But today something much more remarkable has occurred.
Suddenly, the conspiracy theorist-in-chief is on the inside.
He works from the White House. He is the President of the United States of America.
Donald Trump has weaponised conspiracy theories for his own political benefit.
Indeed, he came to political prominence by riding on the back of the Birther Movement, the pernicious lie that claims that Barack Obama was born in Africa and therefore was an illegitimate president.
Whether it is believing votes have been deliberately miscounted in the mid-term elections, or that there is a Deep State conspiracy against him, Trump is playing to the anxiety of millions of Americans who already have a profound distrust of the government and mainstream sources of news.
Many recent acts of violence have been triggered by those who believe in wild conspiracy theories, including most recently the gunman who murdered 11 Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue.
So there is grave danger ahead if the battle for truth is lost.
In our film, we speak to those who believe passionately in the existence of Q; we hear from those who have been traumatised by conspiracy theorists; and we speak to scientists and intellectuals who are fighting back.
Besieged by talk of Fake News, with a president who portrays much of the media as the Enemy of the People, America is at a crossroads.
https://www.itv.com/news/2018-11-22/lucky-17-q-and-the-tippy-top-president-how-conspiracy-theories-are-being-turbo-charged-into-donald-trumps-america
U.S. House condemns 'QAnon' conspiracy theory; 17 Republicans vote no
By Reuters
October 2, 2020 11:41 AM PDT Updated 4 years ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted to condemn the online pro-Trump conspiracy theory known as “QAnon,” but 17 Republicans opposed the non-binding resolution, whose sponsor Democrat Representative Tom Malinowski said he has received death threats.
The House voted 371-18 to reject the conspiracy theory, which posits President Donald Trump has been working to take down a global child sex ring. As many as a dozen Republican candidates for Congress have voiced some support for the theory, and at least one of them appears to be a on a path to victory.
"The grotesque nature of the tweets and Instagram posts and the anti-Semitic tripe spewed by QAnon adherents should cause concern for everyone," Representative Denver Riggleman, a Republican co-sponsor of the resolution, said on the House floor.
"But the death threats Tom Malinowski received were at surprise and a shock," Riggleman said. "This type of behavior is easily condemned."
Seventeen Republicans lawmakers and independent Representative Justin Amash voted against the resolution. Another Republican voted present, and forty lawmakers, most of them Republicans, did not vote.
Writing on Twitter, Amash said the resolution threatened protected speech - and may make things worse. "These are conspiracy theorists who believe in a deep state that’s fighting against them," he wrote.
Republican candidates who have voiced some measure of support for the QAnon theory include Georgia businesswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, on track for a House seat after her Democratic opponent dropped out, and Jo Rae Perkins, who is running for Senate in Oregon against incumbent Senator Jeff Merkley. He is expected to win.
The theory claims without evidence that “deep-state” traitors, child sex predators and prominent Democrats are plotting against Trump, who in turn is leading a plot against them. The FBI included QAnon last year in a warning about “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists.”
Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Aurora Ellis
https://www.reuters.com/article/world/americas/us-house-condemns-qanon-conspiracy-theory-17-republicans-vote-no-idUSKBN26N371/
Meaning of Numbers: The Number 17
The English word "seventeen" for the number 17 appears 10 times in 10 King James Bible verses. It is found the most in the book of Genesis (twice). Surprisingly, the word is not found at all in the King James version of the New Testament.
Timeline of Peter's Life and Ministry!
The meaning of the number 17 is that of "overcoming the enemy" and "complete victory." God overcame the sins of rebellious humans when he began to flood the earth through rain on the 17th of the second Hebrew month. Noah's ark and its eight passengers rested on the mountains of Ararat on Tishri 17 (the seventh month of the Hebrew sacred calendar).
Jesus Christ gained a complete victory over death and the grave when God resurrected him near sunset on Nisan 17 (Saturday, April 8, 30 A.D.).
In the book of 1Corinthians the thirteenth chapter, the seventeenth mention of the word "love" occurs when the apostle Paul states that it is the greatest gift of all (1Corinthians 13:13). God's unending love (John 3:16) is truly victorious over all things. Those who stay faithful to God to the end of their lives will gain the victory over the grave when they are miraculously brought back to life (see 1Corinthians 15).
Daniel 7's beasts have seven heads and ten horns, for a total number of 17. They represent world-ruling powers from Daniel's time to the Second Coming of Jesus. The devil's end-time system (Revelation 13) will have seven heads and ten horns, which totals 17.
All mankind will very soon obey and worship the devil and the Beast power. They will war against those who have faith in Jesus and keep the commandments, thus achieving a victory (though short-lived) against God's people (Revelation 13:1 - 8).
True Christians, however, will gain the ultimate victory over God's adversaries when he resurrects them back to life (Revelation 15:2; 20:4). One of the major themes of the Day of Atonement (commonly referred to as Yom Kippur), which occurs in the seventh Hebrew month on the tenth day, is the binding of Satan (see Revelation 20). Thus, 10 plus 7 equals the number 17, which testifies to Christ's perfect overcoming of Satan.
Appearances of Number Seventeen
No Bible books have exactly seventeen chapters.
The Old Testament Biblical chapters of Leviticus 1, 3, Joshua 3, 1Samuel 7, 1Chronicles 14, 2Chronicles 1, 3, Ezra 5, Esther 4, 8, Job 23, 42, Psalm 7, 40, 45, 59, 86, 90, Ecclesiastes 8, Song of Solomon 1, 2, Isaiah 21, 34, 54, Jeremiah 12, 28, Ezekiel 4, 5, 25, Hosea 9, Amos 7, Jonah 1, Habakkuk 1, Zechariah 9, 11 and Malachi 2 have 17 verses in the King James Translation.
In the King James New Testament, the chapters Matthew 3, 2Corinthians 2, 2Thessalonians 2, 2Timothy 3, James 4, Revelation 6, 7 and 12 all contain 17 verses.
Rehoboam, son of Solomon and the very first king of Judah after the kingdom split in 930 B.C., reigned for 17 years (930 to 913 B.C.).
And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess (1Kings 14:21, KJV).
The book of James has material from seventeen Old Testament books. The book of 1Corinthians has 17 direct quotations from the Old Testament.
One of the longest names found in the word of God, containing seventeen letters, is Chushanrishathaim (Judges 3:8).
Number 17 and God
In Romans 8:35 the apostle Paul asks a simple question which is "What shall separate us from the love of Christ?" (HBFV). He extends his question a little more by asking if the following seven things could separate us, which are tribulation, persecution, distress, nakedness, famine, the sword or any other danger.
Paul then tells us ten things that cannot get between our God and us. These are life, death, principalities, powers, angels, things present or to come, depth, height or anything created. Thus, we have 7 + 10 = 17, representing a Christian's perfect and eternal standing with God through Christ.
Joseph, Jacob and Seventeen
Jacob, in 1692 B.C., moves his family of twelve sons and one daughter to Mamre (Hebron). At the age of 108 he endures the long journey so that he can reunite with his father Isaac whom he hasn't seen in 31 years! Jacob's second youngest son, Joseph, is 17 years old when the family settles in Hebron.
Joseph, while still 17 years old, receives his famous "coat of many colors" which distinguishes him from his brothers (Genesis 37:2 - 3). His brothers, however, out of jealousy for the special treatment he receives (Genesis 37:4 - 5, 11), hate him. They get their chance to get rid of him when they sell him to Ishmaelite traders for 20 pieces of silver (verses 20 - 28).
Joseph, in Egypt, will ultimately reunite with his brothers and the rest of his family twenty-two years after he was sold into slavery. Jacob will end up living in Egypt for 17 years (Genesis 47:28) until he dies at the ripe old age of 147.
More Info on Biblical Meaning of 17
17 is the seventh prime number. The primes 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 come before it and those after it are 19, 23 and 29.
The city of Ephesus is mentioned 17 times in the King James New Testament. The capital of the Roman Province of Asia, the city boasted the second largest populated area in the known world at the time of the Apostle Paul.
Ephesus was evangelized by Paul during his second and third missionary journeys, forming the first Christian church in the metropolis. The Apostle John is believed to have retired to the area after writing Revelation, dying in the city around 100 A.D.
Jehoahaz ruled the Kingdom of Israel from 814 to 798 or 17 official years (16 actual, 2Kings 13:1). He was the first of four generations of sovereigns who were descendants of King Jehu. This dynasty was promised by God to Jehu after he carried out the Eternal's will of destroying the house of King Ahab (2Kings 10:30). Jehu's dynasty ended up being the longest (88 years) of any ruler over the Kingdom of Israel.
The Hebrew amon, Strong's Concordance #H526, is found 17 times in 17 Hebrew Old Testament verses. It is found the most in the book of 2Chronicles (6 times). Amon was the name of the 15th ruler of the Kingdom of Judah after it had split from Israel in 930 B.C. After only two years on the throne he was assassinated by his servants (2Kings 21).
The Hebrew word yehoash, Strong's #H3060, is recorded 17 times in 16 Hebrew Old Testament verses. The word, translated as the name Jehoash in the King James, is found only in the book of 2Kings. Jehoash, the 13th King of Israel after the nation split in 930 B.C., reigned for sixteen years and dies in 782 B.C.
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash (yehoash) which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (2Kings 14:15, KJV).
Psalm 83, verses 6 to 11, lists seventeen enemies of Israel. Seven of these God destroyed in the past. The other ten foes will soon try to destroy the Israelites and "cut them off from being a nation." The Psalm, written by Davidic priests, beseeches the Eternal to treat Israel's future enemies like those in the past.
The seven enemies of Israel God destroyed in the past are the Midianites, Sisera, Jabin, Oreb, Zeeb, Zebah and Zalmunna. The future confederation prophesied to be against God's chosen are Edom, Ishmaelites, Moab, Hagarenes, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistines, Tyre and Assyria. This makes for 17 total foes vanquished by the Eternal!
https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/17.html
Romans 8
1599 Geneva Bible
8 1 He concludeth that there is no condemnation to them, who are grafted in Christ through his Spirit, 3 howsoever they be as yet burdened with sins: 9 For they live through that Spirit, 14 Whose testimony, 15 driveth away all fear, 28 and relieveth our present miseries.
1 Now [a]then there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, which [b]walk not after the [c]flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 [d]For the [e]Law of the Spirit of [f]life which is in [g]Christ Jesus, hath [h]freed me from the Law of sin and of death.
3 [i]For (that that was [j]impossible to the Law, inasmuch as it was weak, because of the [k]flesh) God sending his own Son, in the similitude of [l]sinful flesh, and for [m]sin, [n]condemned sin in the flesh,
4 That that [o]righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled [p]in us, which walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 [q]For they that are after the [r]flesh, savor the things of the flesh: but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 [s]For the wisdom of the flesh is death: but the wisdom of the Spirit is life and peace,
7 [t]Because the wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God: [u]for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 [v]So then they that are in the flesh, cannot please God.
9 [w]Now ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, because the spirit of God dwelleth in you: but if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, the same is not his.
10 [x]And if Christ be in you, the [y]body is dead, because of sin: but the Spirit is life for righteousness sake.
11 [z]But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that [aa]dwelleth in you.
12 [ab]Therefore brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh:
13 [ac]For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye mortify the deeds of the body by the Spirit, ye shall live.
14 [ad]For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 [ae]For ye have not received the [af]Spirit of bondage, to [ag]fear again: but ye have received the Spirit of [ah]adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The same Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
17 [ai]If we be children, we are also [aj]heirs, even the heirs of God, and heirs annexed with Christ: [ak]if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
18 [al]For I [am]count that the afflictions of this present time are not worthy of the glory, which shall be showed unto us.
19 [an]For the fervent desire of the [ao]creature waiteth when the sons of God shall be revealed,
20 Because the creature is subject to [ap]vanity, not of its [aq]own will, but by reason [ar]of him, which hath subdued it under [as]hope,
21 Because the creature also shall be delivered from the [at]bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
22 For we know that every creature groaneth with us also, and [au]travaileth in pain together unto this present.
23 [av]And not only the creature, but we also which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we do sigh in [aw]ourselves, waiting for the adoption, even [ax]the redemption of our body.
24 [ay]For we are saved by hope: but [az]hope that is seen, is not hope: for how can a man hope for that which he seeth?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, we do with patience abide for it.
26 [ba]Likewise the Spirit also [bb]helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what to pray as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh [bc]request for us with sighs, which cannot be expressed.
27 But he that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what is the [bd]meaning of the Spirit: for he maketh request for the Saints, [be]according to the will of God.
28 [bf]Also we know that [bg]all things work together for the best unto them that love God, even to them that are called of his [bh]purpose.
29 For those which he knew before, he also predestinated to be made like to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover, whom he [bi]predestinated, them also he called, and whom he called, them also he justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 [bj]What shall we then say to these things? If God be on our side, who can be against us?
32 Who spared not his own Son, but gave him for us all to death, how shall he not with him [bk]give us all things also?
33 [bl]Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s chosen? it is [bm]God that justifieth.
34 Who shall condemn? it is Christ which is dead: yea, or rather, which is risen again, who is also at the right hand of God, and maketh request also for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of [bn]Christ? shall tribulation or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake are we killed all day long: we are counted as sheep for the slaughter:
37 [bo]Nevertheless, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes
Romans 8:1 A conclusion of all the former disputation from Rom 1:16 even to this place: Seeing that we being justified by faith in Christ, do obtain remission of sins and imputation of righteousness, and are also sanctified, it followeth hereof, that they that are grafted into Christ by faith, are out of all fear of condemnation.
Romans 8:1 The fruits of the Spirit, or effects of sanctification, which is begun in us, do not ingraft us into Christ, but do declare that we are grafted into him.
Romans 8:1 Follow not the flesh for their guide: for he is not said to live after the flesh, that hath the holy Ghost for his guide, though sometimes he step away.
Romans 8:2 A preventing of an objection: seeing that the virtue of the spirit which is in us, is so weak, how may we gather thereby, that there is no condemnation to them that have that virtue? because saith he, that virtue of the quickening spirit which is so weak in us, is most perfect and most mighty in Christ, and being imputed unto us which believe, causeth us to be so accounted of, as though there were no relics of corruption, and death in us. Therefore hitherto Paul disputed of remission of sins, and imputation of fulfilling the Law, and also of sanctification which is begun in us: but now he speaketh of the perfect imputation of Christ’s manhood, which part was necessarily required to the full appeasing of our consciences: for our sins are defaced by the blood of Christ, and the guiltiness of our corruption is covered with the imputation of Christ’s obedience: and the corruption itself (which the Apostle calleth sinful sin) is healed in us by little and little, by the gift of sanctification, but yet it lacketh besides that another remedy, to wit, the perfect sanctification of Christ’s own flesh, which also is to us imputed.
Romans 8:2 The power and authority of the spirit, against which is set the tyranny of sin.
Romans 8:2 Which mortifieth the old man, and quickeneth the new man.
Romans 8:2 To wit, absolutely and perfectly.
Romans 8:2 For Christ’s sanctification being imputed unto us, perfecteth our sanctification which is begun in us.
Romans 8:3 He useth no argument here, but expoundeth the mystery of sanctification, which is imputed unto us: for because, that the virtue of the law was not such (and that by reason of the corruption of our nature) that it could make man pure and perfect: and for that it rather kindled the disease of sin, than did put it out and extinguish it, therefore God clothed his Son with flesh like unto our sinful flesh, wherein he utterly abolished our corruption, that being accounted thoroughly pure and without fault in him apprehended and laid hold on by faith, we might be found to have fully that singular perfection which the Law requireth, and therefore that there might be no condemnation in us.
Romans 8:3 Which is not proper to the Law, but cometh by our fault.
Romans 8:3 In man not born anew, whose disease the law could not heal it.
Romans 8:3 Of man’s nature which was corrupt through sin, until he sanctified it.
Romans 8:3 To abolish sin in our flesh.
Romans 8:3 Showed that sin hath no right in us.
Romans 8:4 The very substance of the law of God might be fulfilled, or that same which the law requireth, that we may be found just before God: for if with our justification there be joined that sanctification which is imputed to us, we are just, according to the perfect form which the Lord requireth.
Romans 8:4 He returneth to that which he said, that the sanctification which is begun in us, is a sure testimony of our ingrafting into Christ, which is a most plentiful fruit of a godly and honest life.
Romans 8:5 A reason why to walk after the flesh, agreeth not to them which are grafted in Christ, but to walk after the spirit agreeth and is meet for them: because, saith he, that they which are after the flesh, savor the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit.
Romans 8:5 They that live as the flesh leadeth them.
Romans 8:6 He proveth the consequent: because that whatsoever the flesh savoreth, that engendereth death: and whatsoever the spirit savoreth, that tendeth to joy and life everlasting.
Romans 8:7 A reason and proof, why the wisdom of the flesh is death: because, saith he, it is the enemy of God.
Romans 8:7 A reason why the wisdom of the flesh is enemy to God: because it neither will neither can be subject to him. And by flesh he meaneth a man not regenerate.
Romans 8:8 The conclusion: therefore they that walk after the flesh, cannot please God: whereby it followeth, that they are not ingrafted into Christ.
Romans 8:9 He cometh to the others, to wit, to them which walk after the spirit, of whom we have to understand contrary things to the former: and first of all he defineth what it is to be in the spirit, or to be sanctified: to wit, to have the spirit of God dwelling in us; then he declareth, that sanctification is so joined and knit to our grafting in Christ, that it can by no means be separated.
Romans 8:10 He confirmeth the faithful against the relics of flesh and sin, granting that they are yet (as appeareth by the corruption which is in them) touching one of their parts (which he calleth the body, that is to say, a lump) which is not yet purged from the earthly filthiness in death: but therewithall willing them to doubt nothing of the happy success of their combat, because that even the little spark of the Spirit, (that is, of the grace of regeneration) which appeareth to be in them by the fruits of righteousness, is the seed of life.
Romans 8:10 The flesh, or all that which as yet sticketh fast in the clefts of sin, and death.
Romans 8:11 A confirmation of the former sentence. You have the selfsame Spirit, which Christ hath: Therefore at length it shall die the same in you, that it did in Christ, to wit, when all infirmities being utterly laid aside, and death overcome, it shall clothe you with heavenly glory.
Romans 8:11 By the virtue and power of it, which showed the same might first in our head, and daily worketh in his members.
Romans 8:12 An exhortation to oppress the flesh daily more and more by the virtue of the Spirit of regeneration, because (saith he) you are debtors unto God, forsomuch as you have received so many benefits of him.
Romans 8:13 Another reason of the profit that ensueth: for such as strive and fight valiantly, shall have everlasting life.
Romans 8:14 A confirmation of this reason: they be the children of God, which are governed by his Spirit, therefore shall they have life everlasting.
Romans 8:15 He declareth and expoundeth by the way, in these two verses, by what right this name, to be called the children of God, is given to the believers: because saith he, they have received the grace of the Gospel, wherein God showeth himself, not (as before in the publishing of the Law) terrible and fearful, but a most benign and loving father in Christ, so that with great boldness we call him Father, that holy Ghost sealing this adoption in our hearts by faith.
Romans 8:15 By the Spirit is meant the holy Ghost, whom we are said to receive, when he worketh in our minds.
Romans 8:15 Which fear is stirred up in our minds, by the preaching of the Law.
Romans 8:15 Which sealeth our adoption in our minds, and therefore openeth our mouths.
Romans 8:17 A proof of the consequent of the confirmation: because that he which is the Son of God, doth enjoy God with Christ.
Romans 8:17 Partakers of our father’s goods, and that freely, because we are children by adoption.
Romans 8:17 Now Paul teacheth by what way the sons of God do come to that felicity, to wit, by the cross, as Christ himself did: and therewithall openeth unto them fountains of comfort: as first, that we have Christ a companion and fellow of our afflictions: secondly, that we shall be also his followers in that everlasting glory.
Romans 8:18 Thirdly that this glory which we look for, doth a thousand parts surmount the misery of our afflictions.
Romans 8:18 All being well considered, I gather.
Romans 8:19 Fourthly, he plainly teacheth us that we shall certainly be renewed from that confusion and horrible deformation of the whole world, which cannot be continual, as it was not at the beginning: But as it had a beginning by the sin of man, for whom it was made by the ordinance of God, so shall it at length be restored with the elect.
Romans 8:19 All this world.
Romans 8:20 Is subject to a vanishing and flitting state.
Romans 8:20 Not by their natural inclination.
Romans 8:20 That they should obey the Creator’s commandment, whom it pleased to show by their fickle estate, how greatly he was displeased with man.
Romans 8:20 God would not make the world subject to everlasting curse, for the sin of man, but gave it hope that it should be restored.
Romans 8:21 From the corruption which they are now subject to, they shall be delivered and changed into that blessed state of incorruption, which shall be revealed when the sons of God shall be advanced to glory.
Romans 8:22 By this word is meant, not only exceeding sorrow, but also the fruit that followeth of it.
Romans 8:23 Fifthly, if the rest of the world looks for a restoring, groaning as it were for it, and that not in vain, let it not grieve us also to sigh, yea, let us be more certainly persuaded of our redemption to come, forasmuch as we have the firstfruits of the Spirit.
Romans 8:23 Even from the bottom of our hearts.
Romans 8:23 That last restoring, which shall be the accomplishment of our adoption.
Romans 8:24 Sixthly, hope is necessarily joined with faith: seeing then that we believe those things, which we are not yet in possession of, and hope respected not the thing that is present, we must therefore hope and patiently wait for that which we believe shall come to pass.
Romans 8:24 This is spoken by the figure Metonymy: Hope, for that which is hoped for.
Romans 8:26 Seventhly, There is no cause why we should faint under the burden of afflictions, seeing that prayers minister unto us a most sure help, which cannot be frustrated, seeing they proceed from the spirit of God which dwelleth in us.
Romans 8:26 Beareth our burden, as it were that we faint not under it.
Romans 8:26 Provoketh us to prayers, and telleth us as it were within, what we shall say, and how we shall groan.
Romans 8:27 What sobs and sighs proceed from the instinct of his Spirit.
Romans 8:27 Because he teacheth the godly to pray according to God’s will.
Romans 8:28 Eighthly, we are not afflicted, either by chance or to our harm, but by God’s providence for our great profit, who as he chose us from the beginning, so hath he predestined us to be made like to the image of his Son: and therefore will bring us in his time, being called and justified, to glory, by the cross.
Romans 8:28 Not only afflictions, but whatsoever else.
Romans 8:28 He calleth that, Purpose, which God hath from everlasting appointed with himself according to his good will and pleasure.
Romans 8:30 He useth the time past, for the time present, as the Hebrews use, who sometimes set down the thing that is to come, by the time that is past, to signify the certainty of it: and he hath also regard to God’s continual working.
Romans 8:31 Ninethly, we have no cause to fear that the Lord will not give us whatsoever is profitable for us, seeing that he hath not spared his own Son to save us.
Romans 8:32 Give us freely.
Romans 8:33 A most glorious and comfortable conclusion of the whole second part of this Epistle, that is, of the treatise of justification. There are no accusers that we have need to be afraid of before God, seeing that God himself absolveth us as just: and therefore much less need we to fear damnation, seeing that we rest upon the death and resurrection, the almighty power and defense of Jesus Christ. Therefore what can there be so weighty in this life, or of so great force and power, that might seize us, as though we might fall from the love of God, wherewith he loveth us in Christ: Surely nothing. Seeing that it is in itself most constant and sure, and also in us being confirmed by steadfast faith.
Romans 8:33 Who pronounceth us not only guiltless, but also perfectly just in his Son.
Romans 8:35 Wherewith Christ loveth us.
Romans 8:37 We are not only not overcome with so great and many miseries and calamities, but also more than conquerors in all of them.
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