The Magic Box

Here it is! There are quite a few people who believe the secrets of the world are inside this box. Or, the answer to solving the world’s ills anyway.

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Inside, it holds the writings of one Joanna Southcott. For anyone not familiar with her story, in 1792 she heard a voice telling her of the second coming. That wasn’t all she heard. She went on to publish 65 books. (A list of her writings can be found here Joanna Southcott Collection.)

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She composed prophecies in rhyme and sealed them inside this box. It’s supposed to be opened only at a time of national crisis while 24 bishops from the Church of England stand at hand. In 1927, a box was opened and contained things like a lottery ticket and a brush, but her followers insist it was the wrong one and that is the actual box.

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Ms. Southcott also claimed that she would give a virgin birth to the second messiah, Shiloh, at the age of 64. Insisting she was pregnant at this age, she secretly married to give the baby legitimacy and went through quite a few doctor examinations. 17 of those 21 doctors proclaimed her pregnant. She died not long after the proposed birth date. Her autopsy revealed no pregnancy.

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She attracted a huge number of followers and that society exists still today. You can find information about them here. The Panacea Society, Bedford There is much written about this society in different books and articles– easily found on the Net. For the most part, the articles aren’t flattering and the group is more often than not called a cult.

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Her prophecies did include one where the world would end in 2000. Oh, but England would be okay.

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For further reading:

Joanna Southcott Web Site (Her official website)

Joanna Southcott’s Box of Sealed Prophecies / Frances Brown (book)

Joanna Southcott

About Joanna Southcott – Digitised Resources – Bedfordshire’s Virtual Library

So, What Are You Doing After You Die?

Death has come to my attention lately. My son, who is four, asked me what will happen after I die. My response, as we hurried across a busy intersection (trying not to die) was: “I will lie down and not get up, and you will have to go live with your dad.”

Which is all my son needs to know right now. But then I thought about it: What if, after you die, what happens to you depends on what you believe: If you believe you deserve Heaven, there you go; Hell, and you are on your way. I think when I was a young teen I read a science fiction short story like that once. But what if you believe in something else? Heaven/Hell may not apply. For instance, I know a few neo-Hellenics, and they will pass through the River of Lethe, forget their whole lives, and then live in sorrow in a grimly half-lit Underworld.

I like the afterlife of the Ancient Egyptians a little better. If you believe in the Egyptian gods, then you better make sure your two halves (spiritual and physical) meet and then you can become a force that wanders the earth, not unlike the latest version of the movie,”The Mummy.” It makes me think of zombies. I suppose I could terrorize the people who gave me grief (I’ll have to make a list before I’m entombed) and stop cars from hitting all the people who were good to me (another, much shorter list).

Speaking of Zombies, if you believe in voodoo, you can eventually join cosmic forces, but first you have to trust your relatives to protect your gravesite for a week (so no one can make you into a zombie) and then to remember to “raise” you in ceremony a year later, after which you become a minor divinity they pray to (you do their bidding) and then, 16 cycles later, you get a break.

Something else that takes a long time, but more restful: Islam. I am sure by now you’ve heard about the 72 virgins (and what are us girls supposed to do after we die?) but did you know that’s not supposed to happen until after Judgment day? There are Muslims who have been waiting in their graves hundreds of years already!

Something more immediate: I have always liked the idea of reincarnation. More Hindu than Buddhist (Buddhists suggest reincarnation, but Buddha himself did not believe in idle speculation on the afterlife. Besides, Buddhists don’t believe we have souls that stay the same.) Hinduism is closely related to the caste system.If you do lots of good, release your desires, you’ll be born into a better caste next time around. What better way to keep your servants on their best behavior.

Jesus and his Heaven are looking better and better.

If you can do without Jesus, a Hopi belief, shared by many other Native American groups, was a sort of happy hunting ground: we just go back “where we came from.” Somewhere at the beginning of time, where all is still wonderful: convenient two-way rivers, and a whole lot of buffalo.
I was raised more Protestant than anything else, more from my parents’ unconscious value system than any formal teaching. My son will get that from me. But maybe I can learn more about the Hopi, and tell my son when we die we go back where we came from–two way rivers and buffalo sound fine to me.

For a complete list and explanation of afterlives, visit http://www.near-death.com/religion.html

Thomas Jefferson’s Koran to Be Used in Swearing-In

This guy gets the last laugh after coming under fire–From Bring It On!: Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, found himself under attack last month when he announced he’d take his oath of office on the Koran — especially from Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called it a threat to American values. Yet the holy book at tomorrow’s ceremony has an unassailably all-American provenance. We’ve learned that the new congressman — in a savvy bit of political symbolism — will hold the personal copy once owned by Thomas Jefferson. Link is here.

The Mahdi Here By Spring?

So sayeth the Iranians. I had heard that President Amadinejad had ordered a clean-up of Tehran in prep for this. From the article: An official state media website in Iran has posted a message heralding the coming of the Shiite messianic figure, Imam Mahdi, noting he could arrive with Jesus by the spring equinox. “Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) will appear all of a sudden on the world scene with a voice from the skies announcing his reappearance at the holy Ka’ba in Mecca,” the message says. The Islamic Republic of Iran broadcasting website said in a program called “The World toward Illumination,” that the Mahdi will form an army to defeat the enemies of Islam in a series of apocalyptic battles, in which the Mahdi will overcome his archvillain in Jerusalem. Interesting link: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53577

Saddam’s Ghost Haunts Baghdad

From the India Daily: In a most bizarre stories ever heard, some people in Baghdad are claiming that they are seeing Saddam’s ghost in Baghdad public areas. Sources say, this may be a plot by the Baathists to keep Saddam ‘alive’ among the Sunni communities. Some claim he is seen in restaurants, markets and so on. It is possible many Saddam look-alikes are now more prominent and people are mistaking these look-alikes as possible Saddam. It is also possible that Saddam was such a threat that people just cannot believe he is dead and not coming back. None of these possible ghost sightings are confirmed by any reliable sources or Iraqi authorities. Saddam Hussein was buried before dawn on Sunday in his native village of Awja, near Tikrit in northern Iraq, the head of his tribe and a family source said. Ali al-Nida, head of the Albu Nasir tribe, told Reuters the burial in a family plot took place in the early morning, less than 24 hours after the former president was hanged for crimes against humanity. He gave no further details. A source close to Saddam’s family confirmed his remains were interred at Awja, where his sons Uday and Qusay, killed by US troops in 2003, also lie in a family plot. The family had said he might be buried in the western city of Ramadi.Arab television stations broadcast new video images of Saddam’s hanging, apparently shot on a low-quality camera by guards or other officials at the execution, taken from a different angle from footage shown on Iraqi state television.