Theurgy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theurgy
Theurgy (from Greek θεουργία) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself.
Proclus, On the theology of Plato, 1.26.63. E. R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational, University of California Press, 1959).

• Proclus (c. 480): theurgy is "a power higher than all human wisdom embracing the blessings of divination, the purifying powers of initiation and in a word all the operations of divine possession"^[1]
• Pierre A. Riffard, Dictionnaire de l'ésotérisme, Paris: Payot, 1983, 340.
• Keith Thomas: "Spiritual magic or theurgy was based on the idea that one could reach God in an ascent up the scale of creation made possible by a rigorous course of prayer, fasting and devotional preparation."^[2]
• Anne Sheppard: "Theurgy, the religious magic practised by the later Neoplatonists, has been commonly regarded as the point at which Neoplatonism degenerates into magic, superstition and irrationalism. A superficial glance at the ancient lives of the Neoplatonists, and in particular at Eunapius' Lives of the Sophists, reveals a group of people interested in animating statues, favoured with visions of gods and demons, and skilled in rain-making"^[3]
• Anne Sheppard, "Proclus attitude to theurgy",Classical Quarterly, 32 (1982), 212-224. Eunopius, The Lives of the sophists (c. 395), chap. III, London: Harvard University Press, 1921).

External links[edit]

• Two Orations of the Emperor Julian
• Plotinus' Enneads
• Iamblichus' Theurgia or On the Egyptian Mysteries
• A Modern Theurgic School
• Ars-Theurgica.org A site devoted to theurgy

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/theurgy

the·ur·gy  (thē′ûr-jē) n. pl. the·ur·gies 1. Divine or supernatural intervention in human affairs. 2. The performance of miracles with supernatural assistance. 3. Magic performed with the aid of beneficent spirits, as formerly practiced by the Neo-Platonists. [Late Latin theūrgia, from Greek theourgiā, sacramental rite, mystery : theo-, theo- + -ourgiā, -urgy.] the·ur′gic, the·ur′gi·cal adj. the·ur′gi·cal·ly adv. the′ur·gist n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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theurgy (ˈθiːˌɜːdʒɪ)

n, pl -gies

1. (Theology)

a. the intervention of a divine or supernatural agency in the affairs of man

b. the working of miracles by such intervention

2. (Theology) beneficent magic as taught and performed by Egyptian Neoplatonists and others

[C16: from Late Latin theūrgia, from Late Greek theourgia the practice of magic, from theo-theo- + -urgia, fromergon work]

theˈurgic theˈurgical adj theˈurgically adv ˈtheurgist n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

Neoplatonism[edit]

Theurgy means 'divine-working'. The first recorded use of the term is found in the mid-second century neo-Platonist work, the Chaldean Oracles (Fragment 153 des Places (Paris, 1971): 'For the theourgoí do not fall under the fate-governed herd').^[5] The source of Westerntheurgy can be found in the philosophy of late Neoplatonists, especially Iamblichus. In late Neoplatonism, the spiritual Universe is regarded as a series of emanations from the One. From the One emanated the Divine Mind (Nous) and in turn from the Divine Mind emanated the World Soul (Psyche). Neoplatonists insisted that the One is absolutely transcendent and in the emanations nothing of the higher was lost or transmitted to the lower, which remained unchanged by the lower emanations.

Although the Neoplatonists are considered polytheists, they embraced a form of monism.

For Plotinus, and Iamblichus' teachers Anatolius and Porphyry, the emanations are as follows:

• To En (τό ἕν), The One: Deity without quality, sometimes called The Good.
• Nous (Νοῦς), Mind: The Universal consciousness, from which proceeds
• Psychè (Ψυχή), Soul: Including both individual and world soul, leading finally to
• Physis (Φύσις), Nature.

Plotinus urged contemplations for those who wished to perform theurgy, the goal of which was to reunite with The Divine (called henosis). Therefore, his school resembles a school of meditation or contemplation. Iamblichus of Calcis (Syria), a student of Porphyry(who was himself a student of Plotinus) taught a more ritualized method of theurgy that involved invocation and religious, as well as magical, ritual.^[6] Iamblichus believed theurgy was an imitation of the gods, and in his major work, On the Egyptian Mysteries, he described theurgic observance as "ritualized cosmogony" that endowed embodied souls with the divine responsibility of creating and preserving the cosmos.

Iamblichus' analysis was that the transcendent cannot be grasped with mental contemplation because the transcendent is supra-rational. Theurgy is a series of rituals and operations aimed at recovering the transcendent essence by retracing the divine 'signatures' through the layers of being.^[7] Education is important for comprehending the scheme of things as presented by Aristotle, Plato and Pythagoras but also by the Chaldaean Oracles.^[8] The theurgist works 'like with like': at the material level, with physical symbols; at the higher level, with mental and purely spiritual practices. Starting with correspondences of the divine in matter, the theurgist eventually reaches the level where the soul's inner divinity unites with The Divine.^[9]

Emperor Julian[edit]

The Emperor Julian the Apostate (332-363), embraced Neoplatonic philosophy and worked to replace Christianity with a version of Neoplatonic paganism. Because of his death and the hold mainstream Christianity had over the empire at the time, this was ultimately unsuccessful, but he did produce several works of philosophy and theology, including a popular hymn to the sun. In his theology,Helios, the sun, was the ideal example of the perfection of the gods and light, a symbol of divine emanation. He also held the mother goddess Cybele in high esteem.

Julian favored ritual theurgy, with an emphasis on sacrifice and prayer. He was heavily influenced by the ideas of Iamblichus.

Esoteric Christian theurgy[edit]

Esoteric Christianity accepts theurgy as a tradition that could greatly benefit a person. The main feat of Esoteric Christianity is to learn the mysteries of God (see Raziel) and to rise to higher consciousness. Theurgy, in the esoteric tradition, using this knowledge to heighten one's own spiritual nature.^[10] In Esoteric Christianity, theurgy usually is the practice of trying to gain the knowledge and conversation of one's Higher Self, or Inner God, to teach one spiritual truths and wisdom from God that one couldn't learn from man (seeAlchemy, Kabbalah, and Theosophy).^{[citation needed]} Some branches of Esoteric Christianity hold that if an Esoteric Christian,Rosicrucian, or Theosophist practices it, he or she could potentially rise to the degree of Magus, or Adept. In a traditional and magical sense, Theurgy is seen as the opposite of Goetia, even though many argue that they overlap each other.^[11] Some organizations, such as The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn claim to teach a type of theurgy that would help one ascend spiritually as well as understand the true nature of the self and its relation to the Divine and the Universe. The Golden Dawn has a somewhat significant historical following and influence;^[12] while it is held that many theurgists are usually solitary practitioners and seek the divine light alone through ritual and inner spiritual and psychological equilibration.^[13]

Jewish theurgy[edit]

Following a pattern very similar to the Neoplatonists^{[citation needed]}, the Medieval Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah developed the concept that the Universe is regarded as a series of emanations from the Godhead, namely, the 10 sephirot. It is said that God created the world using the sephirot, pouring Divinity into creation through these "vessels," which also have personality traits. The highest sephirah, Kether, holds the most divine light and is the least accessible to humanity. The lowest sephirah, Malkuth, is still higher thanmatter itself, so the parallel with Neoplatonism is not complete, but Malkuth is considered that aspect of God that can be perceived in the material world. It is also known as the Shekhinah.

For the Kabbalist, God is a single oneness, not separate "gods". The teaching avoids polytheism by insisting that the sephirot are not to be prayed to, but rather, to be meditated on and experienced as manifestations of how God acts in the world. They are envisioned as arranged in three columns, in a pattern called the Tree of Life. By meditating on the sephirot and praying for their unification, Kabbalists seek the theurgic goal of healing a shattered world.

For Kabbalists, the sephirot are as follows: Kether (Crown); Chokmah (Wisdom); Binah (Understanding); Chesed (Loving kindness);Geburah (Strength); Tiphareth (Beauty); Netzach (Endurance); Hod (Glory); Yesod (Foundation); and Malkuth (Kingdom or Sovereignty).

See also[edit]

• Invocation
• Chaldean Oracles
• Esoteric Christianity
• Henosis
• Iamblichus
• Julian the Apostate
• Kabbalah
• Magi
• Magician (paranormal)
• Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
• Tantra
• Thaumaturgy
• Theosophy

Brotherhood of the All the great white brotherhood

http://arcturian-rainbow-healing.webs.com/arcturians
http://youtu.be/bWGROcdBbdA

note video here

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/androgynous http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgyny To say that a culture or relationship is androgynous is to say that it lacks rigid gender roles and that the people involved display characteristics or partake in activities traditionally associated with the other sex. The term "androgynous" is often used to refer to a person whose look or build make determining their gender difficult, but is generally not used to describe actual intersexuality, transgender or two-spirit people. Occasionally, people who do not actually define themselves as androgynes adapt their physical appearance to look androgynous. This outward androgyny has been used as a fashion statement and some of the milder forms (women wearing men's trousers/men wearing skirts, for example) are not perceived as transgender behavior. Brotherhood of the All the great white brotherhood AKA
The Great White Brotherhood

• Females and males ascended and androgynous an·drog·y·nous [an-droj-uh-nuhs] 
•  Show IPA adjective 1. being both male and female; hermaphroditic. 
• 2. having both masculine and feminine characteristics. 
• 3. having an ambiguous sexual identity. 
• 4. neither clearly masculine nor clearly feminine in appearance: the androgynous look of many rock stars. 
• 5. Botany . having staminate and pistillate flowers in the same inflorescence. Origin: NOTE THIS QUOTE 
• Matching Quote "We are all androgynous, not only because we are all born of a woman impregnated by the seed of a man but because each of us, helplessly and forever, contains the other—male in female, female in male, white in black and black in white. We are a part of each other. Many of my countrymen appear to find this fact exceedingly inconvenient and even unfair, and so, very often, do I. But none of us can do anything about it." -James Baldwin 
•  Note this source Pleck, J. H. (1995). The gender-role strain paradigm. In R. F. Levant & W. S. Pollack (Ed.s), A new psychology of men. New York: Basic Books. Posts of Amie (April 16, 2011). 
• Posts of Amie (April 16, 2011)."Discussion of the nature of being transgender/cisgender.".

from wikpedia a creditable source on this subject

Most
of us feel trapped within the
limited roles that the world expect us to
play. We are instantly attracted to those who are
more fluid, more ambiguous, than we are—those who
create their own persona. Dandies excite us because they can-
not be categorized, and hint at a freedom we want for ourselves.
They play with masculinity and femininity; they fashion their
own physical image, which is always startling; they are mysteri-
ous and elusive. They also appeal to the narcissism of each
sex; to a woman they are psychologically female, to a man
they are male. Dandies fascinate and seduce in large
numbers. Use the power of the Dandy to create
an ambiguous, alluring presence that
stirs repressed desires.

© The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene

http://17style.com/androgyny/a1.html

M

ost of them are ancient souls, acutely aware of an inherent unity of feminine/female and masculine/male energies and qualities within themselves that manifests as the union of opposites in every area of their lives; the Classical Greeks called them "Androgynes", persons who are both genders in the same body at the same time. Blessed with an existence that they cannot evade or conceal (for very long, without suffering harm), they are both valued and vilified by their fellow humans. They are the subject of myths that predate history, our heritage goes back to the very foundation of the universe, yet, while history has exhibited a perennial fascination (and, oftentimes, an infatuation) with them, humanity has consistently demonstrated a perplexity and misunderstanding about androgynes. This perplexity and misunderstanding frequently promotes adverse social behaviour towards them to such an extent that most of them try to conform to convention and make a sincere, concerted effort to exist in either one realm or another, (i.e. to be either boys or girls, men or women). However, androgynes can't sustain this effort for very long without suffering psychological and emotional harm (which can take decades to heal) and experiencing incomplete, unfulfilled and dissatisying relationships with family, friends and lovers. Although they do not have the vocabulary in early childhood to qualify who they are, most of them are aware they are androgyne by the time they enter primary schooling, (circa 4-5 years old); by that age, their particular struggles with gender conformity have often already begun.They usually give up the search for others like themselves at an early age; it seems this planet is a divided world and is intent on staying that way, so they do their best to adjust to it, to assimilate into the social "norms" of this world, albeit unable to divest themselves of the innate understanding of who they are (or to be truly at peace with such assimilation when it involves self- and/or social denial of their true Nature). Some of them just "bite the bullet" and maintain "the mask" for generations while many of them realize they're indulging in psychological and emotional self-deterioration by maintaining the mask and develop healthy ways of living [harmoniously with the world while being] true to themselves, (most frequently at great social and personal [relationship] expense).Too many of them commit suicide, unable to persist in conformity or to achieve self-liberation. Fortunately, some androgynes are born into families and/or communities/cultures (e.g. most Native American nations) which recognize who they are and encourage them to fully realize their existence and the subtle, powerful gifts they bear for the good of this world.

The androgyne-born community is as diverse as any other human community. They are born into all ethnic groups. They are born female, male or intersexed/hermaphrodite. They are heterosexual and non-heterosexual (all other sexual orientations included). Some androgynes are [female-to-male or male-to-female] The primary difference between androgynes and other humans is simply that they do not, indeed cannot live life fully as either men or woman because they are and must live as both genders, (regardless which restroom they use). As you might imagine, (if you are not an androgyne), this isn't easy. Imagine sawing yourself in half, from crown to crotch, then trying to get about in the world with only the left half of your body or the right. Hmmmm. As we all [androgynes and non-androgynes] learn more and more as we grow older, it is far easier to be ourselves and, thus, fulfill our lives and other's lives here on this world than it is to mask our Nature.

transsexual -- the vast majority of them are not, (the ratio is probably relative to the percentage of transsexuals evident within the general population). They are artists and politicians, scientists and sanitation engineers, educators and slackers et al.
Although some persons have the stamp of the androgyne indelibly imprinted on their consciousness and their bodies [ergo DNA] at birth, the Nature of the androgyne is much wider in scope (and is not confined to persons who are born with an overt duality of gender). The Nature of the androgyne entails an union of opposites within that requires a great degree of self awareness, self acceptance and self actuality (beyond fear of Self and others) to Be fully expressed in one's individual life. To live the androgyne Nature is to experience the breadth of human being-ness.It is through the process of becoming self aware that the individual is enabled to embrace and integrate the (apparently) opposite poles of the psyche, thus awakening the Nature of the androgyne within her/his consciousness. In this manner, the masculine-feminine, anima-animus, intellect-intuition, analytic-Gestalt, left hemisphere-right hemisphere [of the brain], Yin-Yang, Time-Space, Light-Dark, Creative-Receptive, God-Goddess, Heaven-Earth... become One within the person and, paraphrasing the Holy Bible's New Testament, he/she becomes renewed in the Spirit of the mind (hence, the soul/psyche and, in varying degrees, the body -- please, understand that, other than a noticeable increase in vitality and regenerative capacity and [typically] in the expression of balance or personal harmony in the body language, voice and in the cast of the eyes, thisinternal transformation does not imply overt changes in one's physical [e.g. sexual] characteristics). While some persons have androgyny thrust upon them at birth, (impacting them spiritually, mentally, psychically and physically), most persons who incarnate in this manner become aware of their fundamental androgyne nature early on, (being awakened by It rather than awakening It), they too must go through many stages of self evolution to become fully conscious of who they are, to become self actualizing as people [who happen to be androgynes], to become the vital Force they are born to be in our communities and the world. The process of engendering the androgyne Nature in non-androgynes and that of fully actualizing one's Nature as androgyne-born is generally the same; it's an individual process of evolving consciousness that requires years of total commitment to becoming the highest and best that we can perceive ourselves to be in the face of misunderstanding and criticism from the world outside ourselves and, within ourselves, fear of rejection and ostracism; the fear is the killer, not the self evolution; evolving liberates, fear incarcerates, (and the self made prison is the worst kind).

It is to the understanding of the Nature of androgynes and androgyny that the following page is devoted. The links thereon are to web pages that examine the Nature of the androgyne intelligently and informatively. Some of these pages do this extensively and others only briefly, some of them simply include references to substantial reading material on the subject of androgynes and/or androgyny but are cool or informative pages nonetheless; the principle criterion for inclusion in this list is scholarly content that shines light on the darkness of ignorance and/or misunderstanding regarding the primary subjects to which these pages are devoted, whether those subjects are literary, religious/spiritual, sex and/or gender related or otherwise.They are grouped generally, though not in any particular order, most are in English, some are in French; they all possess an high level of quality of content. (This study also touches on issues relative to androgyny in the context of transexuality and intersexuality.) Hopefully, this study will help non-androgynes to become more aware of the scope of human being-ness as well as natural role androgynes fulfill in society (globally), in addition to helping androgynes to become more aware of the treasure they truly are.

(Among the growing number of books on this subject, one which the trust recommends is "Androgyny" by June Singer, Ph.D.. [From the liner notes in the Anchor Press/Doubleday paperback edition, ISBN: 0-385-11026-X] "'Dr. Singer explores various systems of ancient wisdom as well as revolutionary discoveries of Twentieth Century science, and offers deep insights into the nature of the masculine and feminine principles in the universe and their mutual interrelationships.' Stanislaus Grof, M.D., Esalen Institute". Excellent reading for androgynes and non-androgynes alike, even more so, it is a book which can assist us all in becoming more familiar and interactive with our full Nature as human beings, regardless of our personal gender and/or sexual orientation.)

http://17style.com/androgyny/a5.html

Links about androgyny

T he links hereon are to web pages that examine the Nature of the androgyne intelligently and informatively. Survey on Androgyny * Maddie's All Mixed Up Perspective on Transgenderism & Psychology Eve Ensler: Embrace your inner girl - TED talk The Trevor Project | crisis and suicide prevention for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Transgender Forum Androgyny: the decay of civilization or the promotion of creativity? The Transgender Alternative (on androgyny) Welcome to the World of Male Femininity National Geographic | Explorer: Sex, Lies and Gender The Androgyne | The third gender classification Wikipedia | Transgender>Androgyne A VERY IMPORTANT LINK BELOW IN THE NATIVE TRADITION http://androgyne.0catch.com/2spiritx.htm The Arcturian energy is around you often and has been secretly guiding you in the higher dimensions since your first incarnation here on the Earth. You are so used to having this energy around you that you would not be aware of it being there, as it is so familiar. They have also been working with your energy body. You have probably been aware of the times when you feel like a cloud, as if your body was no longer solid and third dimensional. During these times you are fully aligned with their energy. You are not really third dimensional during these times, you are moving up in consciousness to meet the energies of the Arcturians on the fifth dimension. The Arcturian culture philosophy and belief systems are being programmed into our matrix on the Earth and this is creating a blueprint for heaven on earth. Therefore the Arcturus energy could be seen as a prototype of Earth's future. That is to say that we are taking inspiration and energy from this star system, to allow us to dream our new Earth future. The Arcturian energy works as an emotional, mental, and spiritual healer for humanity. It is also an energy gateway through which humans pass during death and rebirth. It functions as a way station for nonphysical consciousness to become accustomed to physicality.  The Arcturians teach that the most fundamental ingredient for living in the fifth dimension is love. Negativity, fear and guilt must be overcome and exchanged for love and light.

We The Arcturians: A True Experience

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0962741701?tag=arcturi-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0962741701&adid=0J3NR53V2AXDPE7PZDQS& http://www.amazon.com/dp/0962741701?tag=arcturi-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0962741701&adid=0J3NR53V2AXDPE7PZDQS&#reader_0962741701 Most Helpful Customer Reviews 165 of 170 people found the following review helpful 5.0 out of 5 stars I finally found what I have been looking for ! June 25, 2000 By Bob Mckelvy Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified PurchaseI went through a rough transition when I found out that God may be an ET ! I stood by my policy of keeping an open mind no matter how extreme it may appear to be. I have been doing a lot of reading on the different ET's who have been working with us. Just finished reading another book on the Arcturians. When I started to read this one to see how their stories compared, it took me completely by surprise. The other book pales in comparison with this one. It concurs with the material in that book, but has a lot more detail, and appears to be a lot more accurate. This book had such a strong impact on me that I could only handle small amounts at a time. There is a lot packed between the lines. The energies that pour out of it are very evident. This book will hold your attention all the way. You will realize that you are one of the most fortunate beings in this World to have the good fortune of reading this book. It will change your life. I especially enjoyed the detailed tour of their Spacecraft, and how they transmute the different energies. The Arcturians are one of the most advanced and benevolent group of beings watching and gently guiding us into the 5th dimension. It also provides you with some very powerful techniques for clearing your mind and developing your psychic abilities. You will appreciate the power, the protection and the gifts presented to you by the Arcturians. I would love to share this new discovery with others who may be interested in the Arcturians. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. Thanks ! bobmck@thegateway,.net

APOLLO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo#Oracular_shrines

Apollo (Attic, Ionic, and Homeric Greek: Ἀπόλλων, Apollōn (gen.: Ἀπόλλωνος); Doric:Ἀπέλλων, Apellōn; Arcadocypriot: Ἀπείλων, Apeilōn; Aeolic: Ἄπλουν, Aploun; Latin:Apollō) is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. The ideal of the kouros (a beardless, athletic youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, healing, plague, music, poetry, and more. Apollo is the son ofZeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu.

As the patron of Delphi (Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius, yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague. Amongst the god's custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of the Muses (Apollon Musegetes) and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became a common attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans.

In Hellenistic times, especially during the 3rd century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became identified among Greeks with Helios, Titan god of the sun, and his sister Artemis similarly equated with Selene, Titan goddess of the moon.^[1] In Latin texts, on the other hand,Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to find any conflation of Apollo with Sol among the Augustan poets of the 1st century, not even in the conjurations of Aeneas and Latinusin Aeneid XII (161–215).^[2] Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the 3rd century CE.

Origins

The Omphalos in the Museum of Delphi

The cult centers of Apollo in Greece, Delphi and Delos, date from the 8th century BCE. The Delos sanctuary was primarily dedicated to Artemis, Apollo's twin sister. At Delphi, Apollo was venerated as the slayer of Pytho. For the Greeks, Apollo was all the Gods in one and through the centuries he acquired different functions which could originate from different gods. In archaic Greece he was the prophet, the oracular god who in older times was connected with "healing". In classical Greece he was the god of light and of music, but in popular religion he had a strong function to keep away evil.^[31] Walter Burkert^[32] discerned three components in the prehistory of Apollo worship, which he termed "a Dorian-northwest Greek component, a Cretan-Minoan component, and a Syro-Hittite component."

From his eastern-origin Apollo brought the art of inspection from "symbols and omina" (σημεία και τέρατα : semeia kai terata), and of the observation of the omens of the days. The inspiration oracular-cult was probably introduced from Anatolia. The ritualismbelonged to Apollo from the beginning. The Greeks created the legalism, the supervision of the orders of the gods, and the demand for moderation and harmony. Apollo became the god of shining youth, the protector of music, spiritual-life, moderation and perceptible order. The improvement of the old Anatolian god, and his elevation to an intellectual sphere, may be considered an achievement of the Greekpeople.^[33]

Microcosm of Japanese Actions Across WW II Asia

http://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Road-Glenn-Close/dp/B001JF68EM/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1391538688&sr=1-1&keywords=paradise+road

Microcosm of Japanese Actions Across WW II Asia A fascinating, moving film of European civilian women interned in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, *Paradise Road* tells a tale of courage and fortitude amidst the incredible barbarism of the war-period Japanese army. Kate Blanchett's character is especially moving. The film (and book) deal in microcosm with Japanese actions across Asia towards civilians - and not just Europeans of course (tragic as that was), but Asians, too. When I lived in Hong Kong and Singapore in the 90s, memories among locals were still very strong about Japanese behaviour - which across Asia resulted in the deaths of twenty million Asians: in Hong Kong Chinese villagers in the remoter New Territories at times still attacked Japanese tourist coach parties, while in Stanley, HK, I lived a few yards from the notorious site of the Stanley internment camp, where the Japanese brutally treated civilians, and had earlier, a few steps away at a nearby Stanley prep school, raped and bayonnetted the British nurses manning a make-shift hospital during the Battle of of Hong Kong. Camps for European civilian women existed across Asia, not just in "two" spots, as another reviewer suggests (these are simply all that are mentioned in the film) - in Sumatra, Java, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Borneo, etc, while the same reviwer's wondering if the Japanese raped anybody is simply lack of knowledge. Some fine books to read on the subject, as moving as *Paradise Road*, include Lavinia Warner's *Women Beyond the Wire*, Jean Gittins' *Stanley: Behind Barbed Wire* and George Wright-Nooth's *Prisoner of the Turnip Heads* ("Turnip Heads" is what the Cantonese of Hong Kong call the Japanese) - some are printed in Britain and available through Amazon's UK site. The film *Empire of the Sun* gives the view of a 12-year-old boy in a Japanese camp in China. The Lavinia Warner book gives a lot of details of Japanese war-time barbarism towards women in Singapore, Bangka island (an infamous massacre of twenty-odd Australian nurses) and the horrors of camps in Sumatra. Also, Dieuwke Wendelaar Bonga's *Eight Prison Camps* gives accounts of Dutch women imprisoned on Java, while Ernest Hillen's *The Way of a Boy* gives a view of Java internment camps and their horrors from the perspective of a young Dutch boy. The West may have enough to deal with remembering the atrocities of the Nazis in Europe, but really we have only ourselves to blame if we forget the other terrible atrocities commited in the Pacific by the Japanese. An investigation of the subject makes fascinating and moving reading, and a good place to start is *Paradise Road*.

prisoner+of+the+turnip+heads

http://www.amazon.com/Internment-Western-Civilians-Japanese-1941-1945/dp/0714655929/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391664155&sr=1-16&keywords=prisoner+of+the+turnip+heads




http://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-Turnip-Heads-Imprisionment-Japanese/dp/0304352349/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391662669&sr=1-1&keywords=prisoner+of+the+turnip+heads

A superbly vivid account of POW life in Hong Kong

By Natasha North on March 10, 2001

Format: Paperback

The cruelty and depravity demonstrated by the Japanese during their occupation of Hong Kong between 1941 and 1945 is one of the less well-documented chapters of the Second World War. Yet, as George Wright-Nooth demonstrates with such freshness and clarity in this autobiographical account, it is as great a story of heroism, endurance, and poignancy as any other of its time. The image of 33 individuals, British, Chinese and Indian, preparing to be executed by beheading, and being comforted from among their own group by an Sandhurst-trained Indian officer and a Hong Kong Chinese man leading prayers will long remain in the mind. What also brings the book to life are the diary extracts and the author's excellent memory for detail, which superbly capture the sense of a young Englishman caught in the sweep and suffering of a wider tragedy, but somehow retaining his spirit, his inquisitiveness and that uniquely British sense of humour that shines undimmed through fifty years and the terrible things he saw and experienced.