taylor swift - willow (official music video)

Why We Should All Be Keeping Coronavirus Journals

Keeping a journal in these uncertain times may prove to be so important. The world has been turned upside down, sometimes only the bad drop out. Keeping a diary will help us remember the good and bad times along with the gratitude we have towards each other.

While social media is fighting about the who, what, where and how. It seems our feelings can get in the way of what's rational. We suppress our feelings just to shelter each others feelings. Those feelings have to go somewhere, chronicling our feelings may help us through these times. A journal it can be factual, original and soul searching at the same time.

These are interesting times the medical field will spend the next decades studying this coronavirus and COVID-19. Epidemiologists, doctors, researchers and even hospital administrators are already busily studying how this pandemic has happened, what it is doing to our bodies and how to respond.  But historians, while busy now putting current events into historical context, will not begin actively studying our times for another 30 years or so. And they will need our help.

Wolf leather blank book w/ latch

While most of our Facebook debates will likely be lost to time, at least some of our tweets will be saved by the Library of Congress for posterity. But these public sources will be just snippets of our present. Historians will need other sources to be able to understand, and learn from, our times. They will need more to ensure that the stories that are so often lost to the past are told. Oral histories and personal journals will be vital tools to take their understanding beyond the headlines.

One of the most famous talked about diary's  is The Diary of a Young Girl, also known as The Diary of Anne Frank,  the diary was written while she was in hiding for two years with her family she wrote about her feelings and frustration of her situation.  One passage in her diary, reads: "I'm afraid they'll mock me, think I'm ridiculous and sentimental and not take me seriously". 

Her last know extract:

Anne Frank

Dearest Kitty,

"A bundle of contradictions" was the end of my previous letter and is the beginning of this one. Can you please tell me exactly what "a bundle of contradictions" is? What does "contradiction" mean? Like so many words, it can be interpreted in two ways: a contradiction imposed from without and one imposed from within.

The former means not accepting other people's opinions, always knowing best, having the last word; in short, all those unpleasant traits for which I'm known. The latter, for which I'm not known, is my own secret.

So it seems that Journaling our personal thoughts, our highs and lows can be very therapeutic and historically important.

Mystic Aura journal

sources
Anne frank House
nytimes
Wikipedia

Ostara buns/Hot Cross Buns

Ostara buns and Hot Cross Buns

BY MOTHER GOOSE

Hot-cross buns!

Hot-cross buns!

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot-cross buns!

If you have no daughters,

Give them to your sons;

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot-cross buns!

I loved singing that nursery rhyme from my youth, I would sing this rhyme while waiting for these delectable pastries to come out of the oven. "Hey it was better then saying "mum aren't they ready yet"😊


There are a number of English traditions revolving around hot cross buns. It is believed that if you bake yours on Good Friday, they will not spoil or grow mold.
Another custom says that sailors should take a hot cross buns on their travels to prevent shipwreck.

The cross on the bun comes from a superstition that marking the bun so would prevent the Devil from getting into the baked goods. Interestingly, it’s possible that breads with crosses on top were baked by the ancient Greeks, which makes the whole idea pre-Christian anyway.

If you are weary of Hot Cross Bun's this might renew your taste buds. Think of it as a Celtic Cross, the four equal armed cross of balance within the circle. You have two Equinoxes crossed by the two Solstices, the four seasons, the four Sacred Directions of North, East, South and West and the five elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water with Spirit at the Centre. The circumference represents the cycle of the year, the circle of life, with the still point of balance at its centre. (Brazenly lifted from Glennie Kindred's book of 'Sacred Celebrations'). 

                      Hot cross bun recipe

Ostara Buns

4 cups pastry flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 tube almond paste
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5 eggs, slightly beaten

Icing
1 cup confectionary sugar
1/4 teaspoon almost extract
1 tablespoon soft butter
4 teaspoons water

Preheat oven to 375*F.  Combine bun ingredients in large bowl until a medium-soft dough forms.  Add a little flour as needed for consistency.  With your hands, shape biscuit-size balls.  Slightly flatten the balls when you place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes.  Cool.  Beat icing
ingredients together until smooth.  Frost buns with large cross (+) with icing.  Great for an Ostara breakfast

Video shows passerby freaking out over fake Clark Griswold display

World War II's 10 Weirdest Paranormal Mysteries

Military history and haunted history are intimately connected, as Death + High Emotional Intensity = Ghosts. So, would it stand to reason that the greater the conflict, the greater the stories of supernatural occurrences? Matthew L. Swayne, author of Haunted World War II, presents a list of the top ten weirdest tales that help stake the war's claim as history's most haunted conflict.

Five Ways to Use Essential Oils for Emotional Wellbeing

Essential oils have been used for thousands of years, from enhancing religious rituals to promoting wellness. And, they're easier than ever to procure. But, actually using them can be a daunting task. Here, Essential Oils for Emotional Wellbeing author Vannoy Gentles Fite provides five easy, everyday ways we can use essential oils to heal our emotional and spiritual needs.

What Are Ghosts? And Why Do We Believe in Them?

History has shown us that ghosts and the paranormal appear to be almost commonplace, all across the globe. But, ghosts take on so many forms, from a poltergeist to a sound to a visible being. So, what exactly is a ghost? And why do we believe in the? Haunted Castles of England author JG Montgomery explains.