ABUNDANCE

The Abundance Breakthrough Project is free and simple. It is an exciting way to help create spectacular Abundance in your life.
This special program is being offered free of charge by Jo Dunning as part of creating a flow of Abundance which will travel around the world on April 15, 2009. If you would like to be included in this world wide wave of Abundance please go to http://www.jodunning.com/abundance-breakthrough-project.html or visit jodunning.com and click under free events.

Every person who signs up for the Abundance Breakthrough Project before April 15th will be included in this powerful Program. Just go to the website and add your name to the list. That is all you need to do. On April 15th, Jo Dunning will focus individually on each name and create a powerful wave of Abundance which will circle the entire globe and help bring Abundance to every person listed.
The goal is to have enough people sign up from from different parts of the world that the wave of joyful abundance will be big enough to embrace the entire globe.
So be sure to tell others about this wonderful free opportunity and pass this email on to as many people as possible. Please list it on your organization calendars, websites and other opportunities. The more people who participate, the bigger the wave will be and the more assistance each person can receive. After you email this information to others then go to digg.com and list this event to help more people around the world know know about it. We need your help to build the momentum so Abundance can flow throughout the world on April 15, 2009 and everyone can experience the continual joyful flow of prosperity in their life. If you would like to participate more actively in this event there are several simple things you can do on April 15th to help generate an even bigger wave of Abundance and create more flow of prosperity into your life. These are listed below and will help to support the wave as it sweeps around the planet.
1. On April 15, 2009, around noon in your local time zone, pause for a moment and imagine your life filled with spectacular, joyful Abundance.
2. Imagine what you would like to have in more abundance in your life, then give a little of that away to someone else.
3. Go to a favorite non profit website and make a small donation to their cause.
4. Make a contribution to your favorite spiritual organization.
5. Take a few cans of food to your local food bank.
6. Go through your extra clothes and other possessions and give them to a local shelter.
7. Smile at a stranger or reach out to assist someone, even in a very small way, like holding a door open for them.
8. Remember all the good things you have in your life right now and feel grateful.
9. Celebrate your Abundance as it arrives in both large and small amounts.
10. Know you are deeply loved and take the chance to believe all of this is truly possible.
11. Go to jodunning.com and click on the Golden Coin and read about The Five Laws of Abundance and how to use them in your life.

ISRAEL IN AN UPROAR OVER BEST SELLER BOOK

According to an article by Joshua Holland on AlterNet, the explosive book by Tel Aviv University scholar Shlomo Zand or Sand, has sent ripples of shock throughout Israeli society. The book, published in 2008 (as of this writing no English translation) became a best-seller in Israel. The title of the book is When and How Was the Jewish People Invented? Holland goes on to say, "And what if most modern Israelis aren't descended from the ancient Israelites at all, but are actually a mix of Europeans, North Africans and others who didn't 'return' to the scrap of land we now call Israel…" Holland continues with, "What if the entire tale of the Jewish Diaspora—the story recounted at Passover tables by Jews around the world every year detailing the ancient Jews' exile from Judea, the years spent wandering through the desert, their escape from the Pharaoh's clutches—is all wrong?"

Several years ago, I authored an article for my blog titled History: A Tapestry of Hallucinations. And in this blog posting I ask "What if the history we have been taught in schools and religions isn't true?" During the period of researching for my books Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls and Mary Magdalene, Her Legacy, I learned that history is a fluid movement according to who is writing the history. James Cameron who wrote the Introduction to The Jesus Family Tomb wrote, "I came to realize that history is a consensus hallucination. It is a myth upon which we all agree to agree." I use the word hallucination in the context of perceived reality or a false or mistaken idea.

In my research, I found that most Western researchers and so-called authorities on the Bible missed a wealth of information by not concentrating on Egyptian history. What has been postulated is recycled ignorance and this includes the much-quoted Jewish historian Josephus. The validity of Josephus is suspect. Author/researcher Ralph Ellis began comparing the information in the autobiography of Josephus and the supposedly biography of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament Book of Acts. When comparing their lives, births and travels, they are too similar to dismiss. Could Josephus have created Paul? Perhaps Paul represented what Josephus wanted to be. This also reflects on the Jewish history.

My understanding of the great Exodus from the Hebrew point of view is that the Jews were enslaved and wanted to be free of the tyranny of Egypt. Under the guidance of Moses and his brother Aaron, they departed Egypt and wandered for 40 years before they came to the Promised Land. Have you ever wondered where they spent those 40 years when it only takes about three hours to travel by SUV from the Nile Delta to Palestine?

There are a number of researchers who question the validity of the Exodus story. Published on October 29, 1999, Ze'ev Herzog wrote an article titled, "Deconstructing the walls of Jericho" In Ha'aretz, the leading newspaper in Israel stating that after "70 years of intensive excavations in Israel, archaeologists learned that the Israelites did not sojourn to Egypt or make an exodus. They did not wander in the desert." If there is no evidence of Israelites being in Egypt, then what is the Exodus all about?

Perhaps the Israelites were known under another name other than the one given in the Old Testament. If one were to research Egyptian history as given in hieroglyphics, paintings and other ancient writings, then another picture begins to unfold. This is like cracking a hidden code. The Jewish scholars who promote the hypothesis that the world is only 5764 years old could be correct from the point of view that the Jews or Hebrews had no beginning prior to 5764 BCE. I also found that Jewish history scholars could not agree upon the timelines when important events took place such as the Exodus. In The Gift of the Jews by Thomas Cahill, he writes that the Talmud came into being from oral history and there is no reliable record of written Hebrew before the 10th century BCE. If you have ever played the 'whisper' or 'telephone' game, you have an idea of how garbled the original statements become.

Immanuel Velikovsky researched Egyptian history and the O.T. history extensively without the use of a computer or Internet. His research indicated that Egyptian history and the O.T. history were parallels and when he learned how to reconcile the differences in the time counted, he realized their histories were the same. When in the O.T. it is written that Abraham journeyed south into Gerar, it could be he was traveling into Egypt because the names Gerar and Egypt were the same. What is revealed is the Hyksos were also the Israelites.

Where did the Hyksos come from? Some allege they came from Babylonia and others say Anatolia or Asia. What is known is that the Hyksos came to Lower Egypt bringing with them chariots and horses, which had been previously unknown in Egypt. It was at this time that Egypt was split in two with Lower Egypt ruled by Hyksos pharaohs and Upper Egypt including Ethiopia and Nubia ruled by Egyptian pharaohs. The approximate span for this split was from 1780 BCE to 1560 BCE.

It becomes even more interesting that the pharaohs and those called kings had many different names. According to Velikovsky, there was the birth name, throne name, a name for different countries and it was usual to change the name by royal decrees so that the name would sound more agreeable to the ears of foreign people. As an example: A pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom changed the name of Joseph (Genesis 41-45) to Zaphnaph-Paaneah. Therefore, it is a challenge to know who was who. We cannot assume that the names given in the Old Testament are the correct names. It is much like wandering through a labyrinth of truths and fiction.

There is much more to be revealed and in my next article, I will write about the Exodus and another view of the story.

POWER - CORRUPTION OR THE RIGHT USE

The right use of power has been hidden from the masses for hundreds of years. There was great hope when the Declaration of Independence became a reality, however as with most beautiful things for the good of all they have barnacles attached to them. John Quincy Adams wrote the following: "All the public business in Congress now connects itself with intrigues, and there is great danger that the whole government will degenerate into a struggle of cabals." I began thinking about the power of corruption and am realizing it has been in power for centuries and perhaps eons – yet people still hope for moral men to lead our government.

I have noted that with Obama being the president-elect that some people assume that he is a trickster. I would like to think that he is a man of his word and he does give the people of this country hope. It is my observation that too many people have lost faith in the government. This is not a new thing and by failing to become involved with the elected leaders, have as Bess Myserson stated, "The accomplice of the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference."

In my research, I came across The Idaho Encyclopedia – written during the Great Depression. The chapter on the history of state government is most enlightening. Idaho was part of the Washington Territory in the second half of the 1800's. As miners and settlers began coming into the portion of what is now Idaho, each camp had its own customs or rules along with a judge, a recorder, and an executive officer of some sorts. Attorneys could be found in large camps, which became towns. There was what was called a miners' meeting that became the final source of authority. It was similar to a New England town meeting. It also put into practice "the fundamental American doctrines of equality and manhood suffrage." You will notice that women were not considered. This method worked for a while, but the lawlessness of desperados and banditry called for more law enforcement. Therefore the Idahoans petitioned the Territorial Government to become its own independent territory. This was rejected and the people petitioned the U.S. government to become a state. Idaho became a state in 1863.

The new citizens of the state of Idaho were affected by this move. Author Vardis Fisher states, "The first and most serious of these impediments to order were (1) Political corruption; (2) Crime and violence; (3) Inflated speculation in mining; (4) Poor roads; and (5) Indian troubles. The people thinking their problems would be handled had to face the political corruption along with crime and violence. Doesn't this reflect what we are seeing today? It would appear that political corruption has been a bane throughout history along with crime and violence. Where does morality come in?

Vardis goes on to write that both the Democrats and Republicans were considered corrupt even before the territory became a state. "Between the strife of the two parties, concern for the public good almost disappeared. The Republican machine, desperate to gain the spoils of office, made use of such questionable and corrupt maneuvers as were calculated to offset the overwhelming numerical strength of the Democrats. These factional intrigues and counterplots resulted, very naturally, in shortsighted and nonsensical legislation." Doesn't this apply today? This quote reflected on Idaho in the 1860's.

As Obama takes the oath of office, there are those waiting in the wings to criticize him or condemn, others who are playing the wait-and-see game as well as those acting with indifference. We are at a pivotal point of change and this can be the greatest change in history. We have an opportunity to connect with our government and insist that we want to move beyond corruption. We want to have a healthy environment. We want to move from dependency on oil to alternative fuels. The moment has come for us to dance to a new rhythm and reclaim the power of the people with our government elected officials serving the needs of the people. The time has arrived for a new march. Use the website www.change.gov and let Obama and his team know what you are wanting – demanding. Write your national senators and representatives and demand action. Write your state legislators and demand action. Let us keep the momentum going and see a new era – a new way of life. We have to also do our part and that is to be actively involved instead of indifferent. There is no time like this time.

ARE YOU WILLING TO SHIFT?

BE A SHIFT-CHANGER WITH THE "FREEDOM NOW" PROJECT, a world focus to bring forth a shift on this planet. This concept is simple and anyone can do it. It costs no money and the time in participating is minimal.

PURPOSE:
Freedom is a mode of living desired by most people. My knowledge and understanding is that people want freedom from oppression, poverty, wars, prejudices, enslavement and whatever you want to encompass in the thought of Freedom.
Love is a power that can change anything if we accept love and believe in love. Love has a frequency that can overpower hatred, anger, prejudices and bigotry. Love looks beyond the outward appearances and true love is unconditional. We do not force the shifts--we allow them to happen.
Gratitude is being thankful for life, what we are, what we have and by offering gratitude we send out the frequency that we are being thankful that our efforts are already accomplished. The shifts desired are accomplished. Gratitude is to never deviate from the desired outcome. Gratitude is picturing our desire as having already happened.
Love + Gratitude = Freedom = Peace.
The intent of The For Freedom Now Project is to create a shift in the world from abuse, discrimination, bigotry, poverty, anger, hatred, wars, and enslavement through the use of love and gratitude. As an experiment, there is nothing to lose. We have everything to gain. Today there are enormous challenges for all of us all over the world. There is war, the killing and maiming of women, children and men. There is a global collapsing of the economy, women have not become full-fledged participants on the world stage and there continues to be the suppression of women's rights, rape, and abuse along with the abuse of children. World hunger is escalating and instead of this being an evolving world; the appearances are that it is on a downward spiral.

This is the time to heal our woundedness. Women have carried woundedness in their souls for eons. Now is the opportunity to heal and to give to the world a shift that will enable it to evolve into something greater. From my mind came the concept of a world focus to bring forth a shift on this planet. This concept is simple and anyone can do it. It costs no money and the time in participating is minimal.

As an addendum to the focusing on love and gratitude, here are two affirmations that are suggested to repeat often during your day:
I am always filled with love and gratitude for my life.
I have always loved and appreciated me.

LOVE > GRATITUDE > FREEDOM > PEACE

ACTION:
By linking our intents, we make a difference as Shift-Changers.
~ Once a day—morning or night, we each enter the quiet place in our minds in a meditative or prayerful state. When we enter our closet of silence, we mentally link with those unseen and unknown people in the world who volunteered for this project.
~ We link with these like minds by visualizing a net covering the globe – the Earth. At each cross-section, we each become a point of light. The lines represents the intent of love and gratitude connecting us.
~ We begin projecting love and gratitude into this net all over the world and visualize it moving all around the world. (We do not have to meet in person. We can link with our minds from our homes and whatever country we live in.)
~ We will do this daily for 60 days or longer. It is not required that we do this at a specific time. The only request is that you make the time available in your life to link with the others participating in this project.
~ You are asked to keep a record of any shifts you notice in your life and in the world and to email me this information.

BACKGROUND:
Having attended an academy of the mind for twenty years, I have learned the power of words, the frequencies and about quantum physics. From this, I learned that the observer could change anything. From this school came the movie What the Bleep when Ramtha directed William Arntz, a student to make it. This movie became a worldwide success and Arntz with current students at that time—Betsy Chasse and Mark Vincente created a memorable movie with top scientists, one of which was Dr. John Hagelin. Before the movie was made, I heard Dr. Hagelin speak and he told of an experiment that his group in Iowa who practiced Transcendental Meditation chose to focus on Washington D.C. with their purpose being to change the crime rate. As I recall, they did this for 60 days and the statistical results is that 4,000 participants from 81 countries using T.M. focused on the reduction of homicides, rapes and assaults. After the 60 days, the D.C. police department showed that the crime rate went down over 20%.
According to an interview with Dr. Hagelin, he said: "The impact of our actions, individually and collectively, is inconceivably vast. We can all appreciate to some extent, the environmental impact of polluting behavior. But based on what we now know about the universe, the true impact of our actions is far broader. For example, chaos theory has established that even our most minute actions can have incalculably large effects. This places a great burden of responsibility on everyone. Exercising common sense consideration and care towards our environment is a good start. If we really want to protect our planet against the negative effects of human behavior, we must bring our thinking and action into spontaneous accord with Natural Law. We must align our behavior with the universal intelligence that governs the universe and sustains millions of species on Earth." Dr. Hagelin went on to say, "The development of our total brain potential and the resulting expansion of human comprehension to be universal should be the goal of education today." In 1994 Dr. Hagelin was awarded a lg Nobel Prize based on the above study and presented by genuine Nobel laureates.
If 4,000 people focusing on reducing the crime rate in Washington D.C. can reduce it within a 60-day period, then if we link minds with more than 4,000 people we can create a shift towards freedom and peace in the world. Please join me in participating in this great experiment.

PASSION AND THE FOR FREEDOM NOW PROJECT
Passion is an interesting word with a variation of meanings, i.e. the powerful emotion of love, joy, hatred or anger. It also encompasses a strong sexual desire such as lust. There is another aspect of passion that I have and that is enthusiasm. I have a passion or enthusiasm to right the wrongs done to women over the eons. I have a passion to see the end of racial hatred and prejudice. I have a passion to see the end of the abuse of children, women and all people. I have the passion to see an end to poverty. I have passion to see the unlimited potentials flower in all people. I have a passion for life.
I grew up in segregated Texas in the midst of bigotry and prejudice. When I entered the Foreign Service, U.S. State Department and worked in the embassies in Paris and Tokyo, an entire new world opened up for me and it was easy to shed the prejudices and bigotry. I will admit there was a residue within me until I received an important education from a Japanese friend when I lived in Hawaii. She told me she was 12 years of age when the Americans arrived at the end of WWII. She lived in Osaka and she said they could smell the Americans before they could see them. I was shocked. It had never dawned on me that Americans could smell. We discussed this and, she went on to tell me that the Americans cooked differently and these odors mixed with the shaving creams, toothpaste, deodorants, shoe polish, the canvas tents, clothing created an odor that was not Japanese. This triggered a memory in me of riding a crowded bus with black people in Houston, Texas before I moved away from Texas. Their odor was overpowering and foreign to me. It was years later while driving through Birmingham, Alabama on a November day that I smelled the same odor. I realized that these people cooked on wood stoves and ate different foods from me. This realization was the last residue of any prejudices I had of black people. We never look beyond the surface. My lesson was not to judge but to look beyond the surface.

It is so easy to create a bias or prejudice when something is different from what is in our own small world. During these elections in the U.S., racial discrimination reared its ugly head. The slurs and lies created only harm each of us. I have contemplated what I want to see in this world and that is freedom from the thoughts and beliefs that bind us to the outmoded past. In order to be free, I realize that we must give up these old beliefs and see with a new perspective. I have thought of the attributes of freedom and the following is what has come to me.

Love is an attribute of freedom, because true love looks beyond the outward appearances. Most people love conditionally all over the world. Often it is thought love is felt or given if it is to a lover, a child, one's family, or to those who think the same way as we do. Too often, we withhold love from those who need it the most. Questions I have asked myself: Can I love the derelict on the street? Am I able to love someone who is crippled, ugly and deformed? Can I love a murderer? Can I love a rapist? Can I love a beggar? Can I love one who has opposing views? Can I love an abuser? Can I love a raciest, a bigot, a liar or a pornographer? These are some of the questions I have asked myself when I am tempted to condemn and judge. This does not mean I have to love and approve of their behavior or their actions.

Gratitude is appreciation. If you are reading this, then it indicates you are alive. Be thankful for life. I can look back on all the adversities in my life and realize they have brought me to this point in my life. I can now see the jewels of wisdom that emerged from them. By being a shift-changer, your own life will change. Are we seeing the glass half-full, or are we seeing it half-empty? The majority of people do not realize that by changing one attitude—one belief that they make a difference in the world.

Recently I re-read Morning of the Magicians and came across this quote from an obscure book titled Where is the World Going? by Walter Rathenau who was assassinated in 1922. This
most troubled epoch is worthy of respect, because it is the work not just of a few people but of humanity; and thus it is the work of creative nature—which is cruel but never absurd. If this epoch in which we are living is a cruel one it is more than ever our duty to love it, to penetrate it with our love till we have removed the heavy weight of matter screening the light that shines on the farther side. Even the After contemplating this quote, I realize that in order to have freedom and peace, we must indeed love our enemies even though we do not condone their actions. We must look beyond the surface and see the core of them—the connection to the Creator. This does not mean we have to invite them into our homes, but we can love the hidden divine spark in them.

How do we deflect anger, hurt, and attacks? We do not retaliate. Instead, we send out the frequency of love and it is said love conquers all—a quote from Virgil's Eclogue X--his poems Eclogues. The frequency of love is higher than the frequency of hatred. We only give power to hatred when we accept it. We also give gratitude for who we are, what we have and the mind to focus and create a shift in this world. Please join me in this project. The greatest of things are achieved with a light heart. – Ramtha
Bettye Johnson

Website:

http://www.forfreedomnow.weebly.com/
http://www.magdalenescrolls.com
Blogs:
http://feminine-point-of-view.blogspot.com
http://haveyouevenwondered.blogspot.com
http://secretsofthemagdalenescrolls.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/bettyejohnson

THE MAGIC KEY

Last spring during a book signing, I noticed a man wearing a baseball hat with the word Imagine emblazoned on the front of it. I complimented the man on his choice and he promptly took it off and gave the cap to me. I wore the cap a few times and it wasn't until this past week that someone noticed the words on the cap and thought it was Imagenie. We commented on the word and I began thinking about the power this one word has. Imagine.

I have a love for words and when I began examining the word, I realized it is filled with power. The first two letters are im or I am. I am is a decree. When ever we say I am sick, behold--we are sick. We can also say I am wealthy and if we accept it, then we are.

Embedded in the word imagine is the word magi. Magi has an exotic sounding and this is primarily from being mentioned in the Bible as the wise men who came to see Jesus when he was born. Where did they come from? Some say from Persia. I have my own interpretation and that is the Magi were teachers from the Ancient Schools of Wisdom and Jesus learned from them.

Another word within the word imagine is magic if we add the letter 'c'. Ah, the magician who conjures up something miraculous. Many people of today look upon them as illusionists or charlatans. Some could be and then, there is a latent magician within each of us waiting to be used.

Returning to my friend first seeing the word Imagenie on my cap, we can now see that by adding an e that we now have I'm a genie and as I have written in my book Awakening the Genie Within, it is true. Each of us has the power of imagination to bring forth that which we truly desire when we can put away doubt and fear. The genie is the spirit within--the giver of all desires if we don't cancel them out with doubts and fears. We are the genius, the magi, the magician and we only have to imagine by placing a visual image behind our forehead. Voila! We have the Magic Key to the future ~ Imagine.

John Lennon's songs are filled with magic. Here are the words to his Imagine. Enjoy.

Imagine ~ John Lennon
Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today
Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace
You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world
You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one

OUR INVISIBLE WORLD ~ CHAINS OR WINGS?

This morning the thought came to me about our invisible life. Few of us give much thought to how much of our life is invisible. We are caught up in what we see, touch, feel, taste and smell. I contemplated the invisibility of my life and came to the conclusion that each of us lives in a world that is mostly invisible. For instance, we live in a web of entangled rules and regulations. These came about because someone or some group created them and put them down on paper. These laws and regulations only exist on paper. They are not tangible, but the majority of us accept them. Have you ever actually ever seen a law? What does it look like? We only know the consequences if we are caught not obeying the law or the regulation. Thus, we are governed by a belief system that is invisible. Sometimes these invisible laws appear to strangle us.

Another invisible belief is debt. Have you ever seen a debt? It only exists due to a belief system that if we purchase a piece of property and do not pay cash for it, then we get a mortgage and a debt with interest. Where does the debt exist? There are words and numbers on paper and an entry on a computer. The same goes for a credit card, and if a payment isn't received on time, then we have to pay more. Debt is not tangible. It is only something we believe is real.

Money is also invisible and only represented by a coin, paper and our agreement that it is real. Have you ever seen actual money, or are you accepting coin, paper and credit cards as money? It is something to think about.

Our lives are governed by what we agree to and accept. People's lives are governed by invisible beliefs and customs. Religions tell us that God is outside of people and only a priest, preacher, pastor or minister can interpret what God's laws are and how we should live. Have you ever wondered how they know that God is outside the human? It is all invisible information handed down in ignorance. The Holy Bible was written by men and re-interpreted by men down through the ages. It is only a road-map or a treasure map according to what one's beliefs are.

The beliefs we accept are invisible and operate on a frequency. It is similar to a radio frequency. It depends on what station we are tuned into. Our emotions determine our frequencies. Our emotions are invisible, but we experience the frequency of the emotion. Too often people get stuck in their web of unseen frequencies and become ill, feel like they are tied down by responsibilities, hate their jobs, hold on to grudges, anger, hatred, sorrow, regret, guilt and these emotional frequencies only tighten the invisible noose of the frequency web.

When we say I can't or it is too hard, then it is because of the frequency emitted. However, if we turn it around and say or think it's possible or I can, then we allow new possibilities to come to us. It has taken me a life-time to arrive at these conclusions that I am sharing now.

First, I want to point out that we are living in a world of positives and negatives, which are something like a see-saw. When our beliefs, thoughts and words we say reflect negatives then we tap into that frequency. The same goes true for positive and this means that we will have our ups and our downs. When we recognize that our ups and downs are created by our thoughts, words and beliefs, then we can change and ride the wave, so to speak.

Too often people will think that by being positive all the time is the secret, but unless our basic beliefs are changed we bounce back and forth. I have changed a multitude of beliefs and it is something like peeling an onion--layer by layer. The more I become detached and observe a belief or a situation, the more I am at peace within myself. Peace is born within the mind and we are the creators of our mind. It is something to think about.

Peace be unto you.

BLUE MOON AND OTHER BLUES

On August 27, 2008 the planet Mars will appear to the naked eye to be as large as the moon and therefore it will look as if there are two moons during August. Mars will be 34.65 million miles from Earth. Synchronicity of this is that I had been researching about blue moons! Here is my research and this Mars event is once in a blue moon.

Have you ever wondered what the phrase means, once in a blue moon? In my research, I learned that it means an irregular timed full moon that occurs every two to three years. A full moon is usually a 30-day cycle with about 11 days left over. It is said that these days carry over and there occurs two full moons in one month. Thus came the saying, once in a blue moon. Apparently there is a blue colored moon and it is a rare event when it literally becomes visible. The first photo on the right is a NASA photo.

No, the photo shown on the left is not a blue moon. It is a photo of the Earth taken by a satellite and it is titled the Blue Marble. In 1933, Bing Crosby made the song Where the Blue of the Night popular and the lyrics go on to say Where the blue of the night meets the gold of the day. I take it to mean it is the brief moments just before the sun goes down beyond the horizon and the descent into night.

The second NASA photo on the right is of a blue sun. The photo was taken when the sun was emitting extreme ultraviolet rays. These colors for both the sun and moon happen when they are going through phases of the Visible Light spectrum and do not often occur.

With the blue moon metaphorically described as a rare event, there is also the apt description of a blue rose. A true blue rose is rare and its meanings are mystery, impossible and enchantment.

In researching the various meanings of terms we use, I wondered where the term Blue Monday came from and apparently Monday is considered to be a sad day because people have to return to work after a week-end. This led me to the term I feel blue. The original meaning came into being from rains and thunder storms. It is the hue of that portion of the visible spectrum lying between green and indigo. Therefore people began thinking of it as dark and dreary. Feeling Blue is also associated with a custom among old deep water sailing ships. When a ship lost the captain or any of its officers during a voyage, the ship would fly blue flags to and also have a band of blue painted along the ships hull when it returned to its home port.

In Greek mythology, it is said the god Zeus would make rain when he was sad and a storm when he was angry. old deep water sailing ships. Therefore, the feeling said and using the word blue goes back to ancient times.

This leads into singing the blues. The genre of Blues is attributed to African-American music, which came into popularity as far back as 1912. It originated during the times of slavey when the slaves sang work songs, spirituals, field hollers and shouts and chants. It has within it a blue note that is sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major musical scale. The Blues has become the roots of jazz, rythm and blues and bluegrass to name a few.

Blues may be associated with sadness, depression and loss, however from this terminology I can see a depth of beauty that is unsurpassed. It is all an interpretation.