What Real Men Do!

     When a man is in love, he will give his significant other a title.  Ladies, if your man does not refer to you as his boo, girl, fiance, or wife, you are just a casual fling to him.

My Soul To Take by Tananarive Due

The last book in the African Immortals saga, and it has come to a climatic end. Our story begins with Fana continuing her healing campaign and enlisting the help of a retired singer Phoenix Harris. Fana was suppose to return to her fiance Michael, another Immortal, who is intent on cleansing the world according to a long ago prophecy; however, Fana abhors his interpretation of the prophecy, but she agrees to marry him if it would save her family and friends.  She was suppose to return to Michael in 10 years, but due to a plague he creates, this forces Fana to return to Michael in one year agreeing to marry him with the hopes of preventing the cleansing; she enlisted the help her father Dawit, her mother Jessica, her teacher Tera, and Phoenix to accompany her back to the city of Nogales. Meanwhile, her true love, Johnny Wright, whom she gives her blood to make him immortal, plots to kill Michael and save Fana.  It all makes for an exciting adventure I enjoyed a great deal. Tananarive does an excellent job of wrapping up this saga and bring life to an amazing story.

Chill of Fear by Kay Hooper

I enjoyed this story.  Kay Hooper's ability to keep the story moving with suspense is phenomenal.  Psychic FBI agent Quentin Hayes returns each year to the Lodge to revisit a 25 year ago murder of Missy Turner; he combs through the files over and over looking for anything he may have missed before. The case is important to him because he was at the lodge 25 years ago as a 12 year old boy who befriended Missy.  Meanwhile, Diana Brisco has struggled to put her life together after being heavily sedated for the better part of her life because of terrible dreams, vision, voices, and blackouts; she finally breaks free of her father's influence, and the medication used to dull her senses.  With her head clear, she meets Quentin who helps her to accept she is not mentally ill but she is very special; he helps her come to terms with the fact that she is a medium and all this time, the dreams, visions, and the blackouts would lead her to the lodge where she finally uncovers the truth regarding her childhood; she discovers Missy was a her sister.  With the help of Missy and the restless souls living in hotel, she finally uncovers the truth about Missy murder and a very evil entity that has terrorized the lodge for many years.  The book is worth the time invested to enjoy a real good thriller.

The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

     The second book in the Inheritance trilogy from N.K. Jemisin loss a bit of momentum from the first book. It's storyline seemed to be indirectly related to the first but still a new story altogether. This book introduces the reader to a new character Oree Shoth; she happens to be blind woman with magical gifts concealed in her painting and magical blood. Later in the story, it is revealed Oree is a demon. I didn't fully understand how and why she was made a demon; nevertheless, this was not much of a surprise since the story deals with Gods and Goddesses.
     In addition to the story about Oree, the fallen God Lord Itempas has been living his life as a human; this curse is a result of the punishment he received from Yeine, the Goddess of Life and Death at the end of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms from the crimes he inflicted upon the Gods.
     Also, the Order of the New Lights is a rival cult to the Itempan order; each group is fighting for supremacy in the city of Shadow(formerly known as Sky). As backdrop to this, godling Role is murdered, and Itempan order seeks to blame Oree; meanwhile, Detah, one of the leaders of the New Lights, kidnaps Oree in hopes of using her magic blood as a weapon against the godlings.
Overall, it was a pretty good book. I just felt the story kind of lost its way in relationship to the first book.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

     I just finished reading this book, and I enjoyed it immensely. N.K. Jemisin does a wonderful job of created a new world full of interesting characters.

     The story begins as Yeine is called to the city of Sky by her grandfather King Dekarta to be announced as one of three heirs to the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.  The other two heirs to the kingdom are Yeine's twin cousins Scimina and Relad Arameri.  As Yeine soon finds out, both Scinima and Relad, are truly ambitious; they are ready to kill anyone for the kingdom.  Yeine does not care much for her family and the kingdom, but she is much more concerned with finding out the truth behind her mother's murder; her relentless search for the truth allows her to meet some very interesting characters....She becomes acquainted with Sieh the trickster, Nahadoth the Nightlord, Viraine and a host of other characters....Her journey is filled with lies and deceit; she doesn't know whom to trust.  In the process, she learns about her mother--the person she comes to know about is not consistent with the woman she knew as her mother--furthermore, she discovers her mother sold her to be a vessel for the Goddess Enefa. While she grapples with having another entity inside of her, she learns a very troubling secret which she is unable to avoid. Her destiny to be the sacrifice and emancipator of the godlings troubles her but yet she accepts her true destiny.  This story is worth the time invested to discover what ultimately happens to Yeine in her journey.

John 1:1-5

     Due to tradition, many believers accept the words of their respective churches and pastors concerning this Bible verse. There is the belief the Holy Bible is literal history, but I have written in a previous blog the Bible is not literal history but metaphysical.  In other words, nothing in the bible happened literally but does happen metaphysically.  Through my many hours of study, the metaphysical understanding of these Bible verses begin to make sense. Since the New Testament was written in Greek, the explanation of these verses will follow per it's translation of the language. With this in mind, follow me on this journey to see where it leads.

    1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. According to Strong's concordance the Greek word used for Word is Logos which means a word embodying an idea, thoughts and/or divine thought. The Greek word for God is Theos which means God, the creator and owner of all things.  Since the Word(idea, thoughts, and/or divine thought) was God as the verse states then the idea, thoughts, and/or vine thought is God.  In other words, the thoughts emanating from the mind is God the creator.
     
   2 He was with God in the beginning.  He is referencing back to the word Word which in Greek Logos is used in the masculine term; therefore, this is why the word He is used to denote the masculine form of the word. In essence, the express idea, thought, and/or divine thought  was with God(idea, thoughts, and/or divine thought) in the beginning.

  3 Through Him(idea, thoughts, and/or divine thought) all things were made; without Him(idea, thoughts, and/or divine thought) nothing was made that has been made.  

 4  In Him(idea, thoughts, and/or divine thought) was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The Greek word for life is Zoe which is physical(present) and of spiritual(particularly future) existence. The idea, thoughts, and/or divine thought can exist in the here and now, and the power of the idea, thoughts, and/or divine thought can empower the spiritual being(subconscious mind).  The light in Greek is Phos which means illumination, and the word used for mankind is Anthropos which includes male and female; in this case mankind(male/female) is synonymous with conscious mind(male) and subconscious mind(female)

5  The light(illumination) shines in the darkness(ignorance), and the darkness(ignorance) has not overcome it.  It refers to light(illumination). The Greek word for darkness is Skotos which means obscurity i.e. ignorance.

     I hope the explanation of these verses clears up any misunderstanding; after studying these things, it has made a difference for me in understanding the spiritual journey the soul must take to enlightenment. There is so much more to discuss, but I hope to delve into other Bible verses at a later time.

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

     I just finish reading this book yesterday, and I enjoyed this read a great deal. This story is about the main character Onyesonwu who is the product of a brutal rape. Ms. Okorafor gives voice to the issues women face surrounding being violated. Onyesonwu was born in the desert, but her mother moved the two of them to Jwahir.  In this town, both mother and daughter, are a shame since a child was born through a violent act.  Onyesonwu is ewu because she is daughter of a brutal Nuru general, and her mother is from the Okeke people.  In addition, ewu are children of rape who will live a life of violence due to the nature of their birth.  There is a long standing strife between Nuru and Okeke people. Nuru consider Okeke to be slaves and worthy of the abuse they suffer.
  As a result of her lineage, Onyesonwu is a sorcerer by birth since her abilities were handed down to her by her father Daib.  Her abilities begin to show themselves by certain events that happen to her without her knowledge until she relentlessly convinces Aro to teach her how to control her abilities and teach her the Mystic Points.  Aro, at first refuses, he refuses because she is a girl; this is another issue Ms. Okorafor reveals how girls and women are viewed as non-important and treated as slaves. One of Onyesonwu abilities she taps into a great deal is shape shifting into a vulture; the symbolism in the vulture dealing with the element of air; in addition, it is the symbolism of the mind, thoughts, and intelligence.
    Another important issue Ms. Okorafor deals with the concerning young girls is circumcision.  In the town of Jwahir, Onyesonwu befriends Binti, Diti, & Luyu....Even though she does not have to, she decides to take part in the Eleventh Rite along with Binti, Diti, & Luyu....She takes part of the Eleven Rite primarily to remove the shame from her and her mother Najeeba because she was a product of rape. The Eleventh Rite is a process were young girls have a part of their clitoris removed to prevent them from deriving pleasure from sexual intercourse--as a result, this causes extreme pain during sexual intercourse--it is truly a barbaric act inflicted upon young girls.
     In order to exact revenge on her father for his terrible deeds, Onyesonwu envision she must face death to right the wrongs inaugurated by Daib.