When Rick Nafzinger was 14, some Hare Krishnas in the Denver airport handed him a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, an essential book of the Hindu faith. During the next two weeks of family vacation, he read the book over and over.

That was the start of a lifelong spiritual quest for the 51-year-old Stockton man, who recently published a book of Hinduism-inspired daily meditations. He will read and discuss the philosophy and religion behind “Combating Inner Terrorism: Strategies of the Goddess from the ‘Devi Mahatmyam’ ” next Saturday at Borders Books in Stockton.

The center of his religious outlook - which draws from Eastern and Western traditions, mainstream and alternative alike - is an emphasis on Goddess or “the other half of the divine.”

Nafzinger leads the Circle of the Feminine Divine, a Stockton group that takes an interfaith approach to revering the feminine side of deities ranging from the Virgin Mary to the Hindu Goddess Radharani to the Wiccan Earth Goddess.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people who have spiritual inclinations are going to congregations with a male deity,” Nafzinger said, adding that he wants to change that.

Circle member Jim Buik, 76, used to be one of those people. He had always been interested in religions that “see the Earth itself as a mother” though he was raised Catholic, the retired Stocktonian said. Buik spent a long time unaffiliated with any specific religion, and now attends Unitarian Universalist services in addition to Circle meetings, where Nafzinger’s ideas for the new book began.

“Combating Inner Terrorism” is a collection of daily meditations inspired by verses from the Hindu scripture Devi Mahatmyam. Nafzinger wrote these reflections in temples and other inspirational sites around the world every day for a year, and they are meant to be read at the same pace.

Nafzinger’s introduction to the female deities of India might have started in that Denver airport, but his willingness to accept God as a woman came much earlier.

He recalls once in his childhood overhearing his parents arguing. He went to his room to pray and found himself praying to a Goddess rather than a God.

“I knew that God the father wasn’t fixing the problem, so maybe the mother would,” he said.

At 15, a year after the fateful encounter in Denver, Nafzinger ran away from home and joined a Krishna temple.

“It was just so different,” he said about Hinduism. “I grew up on a farm in Colorado. We had two different kinds of people: Christian and Catholic.”

It wasn’t until a year and a half ago that Nafzinger finally became ordained in Hinduism. In the meantime, he’s also been ordained in Christianity and Wicca, went to school in South Carolina, ran a church in Denver, had five children and worked his way up to finance manager at United States Food Service in Livermore.

Nafzinger is currently the chairman of the Interfaith Council of San Joaquin County, where he uses his experience with these different faiths to bring people in the community together.

“Rick brings a spiritual awareness that I don’t think many people have,” said Gloria Morisaki, 49, Stockton Buddhist Temple member and the vice-chair of the Interfaith Council. “He has respect and understanding of all traditions and faiths.”

Source: Stockton Record

MBABANE, Swaziland: King Mswati III had invisibility spells cast upon him and took part in ritual bathing while standing on top of a sacred bull Saturday at the height of annual, folklore-filled festivities to celebrate harvest.

The so-called Incwala ceremony, which also involves the king’s having sexual intercourse with one of his 12 wives and jumping over flames, illustrates the strength of traditional values in Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy, which has withstood pressure for democratic change.

Mswati remains popular even though he has refused to allow political parties and has built luxurious palaces for all his wives — chosen every year at the annual “Reed Dance” — while one-quarter of the 1 million people is dependent on food aid.

But the ceremony, which is the highlight of Swaziland’s calendar, is also shrouded in controversy, reportedly causing a split between two of the kingdom’s most powerful families and being described by some church leaders as demonic.

In the run-up to this year’s ceremony, pastors of the Pentecostal church said the Incwala celebrations were based on principles of witchcraft.

This was denied by Swazi leaders, who described the ceremony as the Swazi nation’s “prayer.” Prime Minister Themba Dlamini, who claims to be a devout Christian, said the event promoted national unity and defined the Swazi culture.

“Incwala is an important tradition, where every Swazi is expected to take part and pray for the year ahead. This is our culture; you modernized people have demonized it,” said Jahe’dzala Dlamini, another follower.

Much of Saturday’s ceremony was held in secret, although its contents are common knowledge and were confirmed to The Associated Press by a number of sources. It culminated in public singing and dancing attended by some 15,000 people, including tourists. But traditional authorities banned the use of mobile phones and electronic broadcasting equipment during the dance.

At the crack of dawn, in a private ceremony, an assembly of powerful traditional leaders or “juju-men,” some from neighboring Mozambique, cast a spell on Mswati to make him “invisible” for ordinary people and to allow them to invigorate his powers in accordance with tradition.

As part of the cleansing ceremony, the monarch had intercourse with one of his wives inside an enclosure constructed out of shrubs — cut by men who have never fathered a child — inside a cattle kraal at the queen mother’s royal residence, just outside the capital, Mbabane.

During the ritual, Mswati also had to jump seven times over flames and inhale incense made of various herbs as part of his rejuvenation for the year ahead.

The monarch then had to bathe with a concoction of herbs while standing on top of a sacred black bull (Incwamba), during a closely guarded ritual witnessed only by his brothers and close members of the royal family. The ceremony is meant to rejuvenate the powers of the king, who is symbolized as the lion.

The collection of the bathing waters from the Indian Ocean is an elaborate ritual, which also entails collection of soil, cow dung and plants from all the chiefdoms, according to members of the Mkhatshwa clan responsible for the task.

However, one royal source, who asked for anonymity, said there was a rift between the Mkhatshwa clan and queen mother’s family clan over the traditional privilege of preparing the cleansing concoctions of the monarch.

The queen mother’s clan wanted to take over responsibility for preparing the concoctions, whilst the Mkhatshwa clan insisted the potions are based on ancient knowledge inherited from their forefathers, the source said.

Even before the latest tensions, problems accompanied recent ceremonies. Several years ago, the sacred bull was stolen on the eve of the ceremony, and last year the king’s special regalia was stolen and sold.

Source: International Herald Tribune

For all our prudish behaviour, Indians really know how to package and present their patented manual on sex year after year. We’re talking of Vatsyayana’s Kama Sutra — a text that has been analysed time and again and has always been a money-spinner.

2007 will see three versions of the famous text being released. There’s Deepak Chopra’s Kama Sutra; Pavan Varma’s The Art of Making Love to a Woman and Kama’s Playground: An Anthology of Indian Erotica, edited by Alka Pande.

All three texts are different in their interpretation. Says writer-diplomat Varma, the author of The Great Indian Middle Class, “My book pays tribute the genius of Vatsyayana as the master symphonist of the erotic mood.

In the midst of this avalanche of flesh, “I have attempted to rediscover the lost delicacy of Vatsyayana’s original text.” Varma adds that his interpretation of the ancient text is essentially targeted at the male for the benefit of the female.

Publisher Pramod Kapoor reveals the international market for interpretations of the KS is huge.

“Our first print run for Pavan’s book will have 30,000 copies. And such texts sell five times more in France than in India. It makes a lot of business sense to release a generic title like this one,” says Kapoor.

Deepak Chopra’s Kama Sutra combines sex and spirituality. “Each version of the KS has different sub-markets. Chopra’s book comes about 40 years after we published a paperback version of Vatsyayana’s original text, which is still on our bestseller list,” informs Akash Shah, publisher, Jaico Publishing House.

“Through the years, the KS has become such a staid text — anything but sensual. Still it is one of India’s treasures and required a re-invention,” says Chopra. But then again, is there anything in KS that has yet to be explained?

“Two sections in the present book are not found in any of the other commentaries on the KS. The first of these is deep examination of the nature of sexual energy and how it relates to spiritual energy, and the second section is on the seven stages of romantic love including attraction, infatuation, communion, intimacy, surrender, passion, and ecstasy,” he adds.

Source: Times of India

WITH the current popularity of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, everyone is looking for a bit of magic - and the extraordinary thing about Lewes and its landscape is that it is brimming with mystery.

No-one knows this better than Philip Carr-Gomm, a Lewes author and psychologist who has the odd distinction of teaching magic by post.

The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, which he has led for 18 years, has attracted more than 10,000 members.

Years ago, he started walking the hills around Lewes and began researching its history and folklore.

The result? He found that he didn’t need to travel to Glastonbury or the Himalayas for spiritual inspiration – it was right here in his home town.

He wrote a book, The Druid Way, about a walk he took from the Mount by Lewes Priory to the Long Man of Wilmington and back.

And it seems he isn’t alone in wanting to find a magical landscape that he can explore.

Just two weeks ago, some 50 people, including Lewes District Council chairman Marina Pepper, assembled on the Mount to celebrate the winter solstice sunrise - the shortest day of the year - and the sun duly rose over Beddingham Hill, complete with aligned burial mounds – although it was covered by cloud that day.

For the record, from The Tump the winter solstice sunset is aligned with Swanborough Hill; the summer solstice sunset with Black Cap and the summer solstice sunrise with the long barrow on Cliffe Hill.

‘A lot of people are drawn to Lewes because they sense it is somewhere very special,’ Philip added. ‘Sometimes they are a little scared of it, but there is nothing frightening about the kind of magic I’m talking about.

‘It’s all about seeing beyond the every-day to recapture the wonder we felt as children.’

Now, after 13 years The Druid Way has been republished by Thoth Books.
Philip has re-written much of it and added in more material he has since discovered.

It is on sale (together with a free map) at the Lewes Tourist Information Office in the High Street.
His advice? ‘Go walking on the hills and footpaths around the town. Read a little about the local folklore and history. Come up to The Tump on one of the eight ancient festival days.

‘The next one is Imbolc on February 1, followed by the spring equinox on March 21.

One of the suggestions Philip made in The Druid Way found support, when in 1997, local archaeologist John Bleach published a paper in the Sussex Archaeological Collections, which revealed the existence in ancient times, of four mounds in the town which, if included with the three existing ones, suggests that Lewes was once home to at least seven sacred mounds.

Two Druid groups have formed in the area; the Anderida Grove and the Avronelle Seed Group of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids.

The Anderida group also began holding open gatherings to celebrate the eight festivals beside the Long Man, and in 2003, with the co-operation of the Sussex Archaeological Society and with paint donated by the Order, members of both local groups re-painted the concrete blocks which outline the figure.
Concluded Philip: ‘Looking back, it is surprising to see how much activity this enigmatic figure in the landscape has inspired.

‘Perhaps it is because although the figure seems to be simply holding two staves, we feel that something more is going on – that a doorway is being held open, and we are simultaneously being invited in and at the same time being barred from entry.’

Source: Lewes Today