According to Quantum Possibilities, “Clairgustance is the ability to taste substances without putting them in your the mouth.” The premise is that some people possess special insight to perceive the essence of something from the ethereal realm through instinctive taste, minimizing the need to use memory to catalogue them within the interior mind.

Part of the problem is that this particular claim contains obvious flaws which distracts from its credibility. How can one identify flavor without having first placed something on the tongue allowing texture, form and smell to be recalled at a later time? It is inconceivable to be able to do this unless some base of reference, dependent on memory is created to guide the interpretation of qualities unique to a substance.

In general, clairvoyance is closely associated with paranormal studies historically found in most cultures. Clairvoyants are often defined as religious or shamanistic individuals who meditate and are able to  exert high levels of personal discipline. They can also exist as the focus of cults who proclaim them as having “clear experiences,” strongly suggesting that their pronouncements are reliable and above suspicion. These people attract large numbers of individuals uncertain about the future, seeking those who they think can access energies that can help them avoid pain and suffering by creating  better choices or convincing illusions foretold from such a vision.

According to some historical documents, the earliest record of clairvoyance was made by Marquis de Puységur, who in 1784 was treating a peasant man, Victor Race, identified with feeble intelligence. It was reported that when in treatment, Race would enter a trance state and undergo personality changes that made him noticeably articulate. He proceeded to diagnosis his own disease and prescribe a course of treatment, as well as many illnesses of strangers. When the trance ended, he returned to his limited mental capacity totally unaware of anything he had said.

Although Puységur used the term clairvoyance, there is no evidence to support a belief in the paranormal since he was a follower of Franz Mesmer, the founder of the Mesmerism school of thought which included certain spiritual phenomena and magnétisme animal as its basis. The evolution of Mesmer’s ideas and practices led Scottish surgeon James Braid to develop hypnosis, a respected tool of psychiatry, in 1842.

There are a number qualities identified as part of the clairvoyant experience. They are usually refinements of the known senses of hearing, seeing, touching, taste and smell, extending into some realm that can only be individually perceived. They can suggest images from the past, visions of the future or be connected to objects such an heirloom.

Most skeptics argue that clairvoyance is the result of self delusion and a failure to consider chance occurrence, “If you test a clairvoyant in a scientific experiment, they will inevitably get a number of answers correct during a series of trials, much like the 20% chance of picking the correct possibility in a multiple choice test with five unknown choices.” This does not mean that there are any special abilities at work other than guessing. Non believers are quick to suggest that the clairvoyant experience should be amenable to established scientific scrutiny in order to be considered valid.

Try and explain that to someone who has had such an event that changed the course of their life and opened them to things they never knew they had. For them, there is no need to justify their ability since they implicitly understand the solitary and unique nature of the introspective experience.

Although a freeloader is usually referred to as “a good for nothing bum” who extends flimsy excuses for being a non contributing member of society, dependency usually marks their lives, often judged worthless by those on whom they rely. Try and observe them without judgment, a difficult task to accomplish, and they usually reveal anxiety and a lack of self confidence when it comes to independent action or dealing with consequences.

Often, from some one else’s perspective, they can appear manipulating in their helplessness, controlling the situation by pushing all the right buttons to evoke a co-dependent response, as anger becomes a cause for avoiding the original issue, lost when uncontrollable emotions kick in. Usually, an abdication of responsibility is present when circumstances require individual action and taking risks as part of the process of growth and development. Unfortunately, this often characterizes the relationship by provoking some sort of guilt along with the anger over being unfairly burdened, overshadowing the possibility of a normal relationship assuming one could be adequately defined.

Discovering the ability to objectify the situation on an emotional level may help prevent the knee jerk responses when buttons are pushed, but unless the anger is transformed, nothing changes. The hope, fleeting at first,  is that something external will intervene and  change the circumstances so that confrontation becomes a mute issue. This approach is a passive way of viewing the dynamics necessary to alter the cycle, and rarely works. The other means of arriving at a solution most often appears when everything else seems to fail, the bottom of the barrel reached and behavior becomes so contrary to what is usual that the blind spots, now glaring, cannot be ignored. Confrontation is then inevitable.

Blaming the lazy slough by comparing him or her negatively to those who are accomplished neglects the response many successful people  give when asked about their own attainments, “I’m not really as successful as everyone thinks, Ive just fooled them into thinking I am.”  This rationale suggests that no matter which side of the line you fall – the overly depended upon, or the good for nothing bum, fear of the inner truth exists.

Reviewing the Twilight Saga is not as easy as it sounds. It’s a complicated story exploring the progression of unrequited love among frustrated lives struggling to be normal while living under a cloudy sky and perpetual rain in Washington near the Canadian border. The tale is based on the four novels written by Stephenie Meyer and is being told in five movies that faithfully follows the books.

Bella Swan, portrayed by Kristen Stewart is an attractive seventeen year old girl of divorced parents who arrives in Forks, Washington in the first film, Twilight, released in 2008. Her self image expresses a wounded psyche, “I’m the kind of girl that suffers in silence” as she apologizes for her clumsiness rather than seeing the beauty others see in her.

The most outstanding thing about the film, directed by Cathrine Hardwicke with a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg is the rain. When Edward played by Robert Pattinson and his family enter the lunchroom everything changes. Mysterious, he sulks as Bella gazes at him and their eyes lock. Later, in biology lab Edward appears as if he is going to vomit when he looks at her, storming out of the classroom leaving her feeling reviled. Finally, after some puzzling events, Bella googles, “the cold one’s,”  and discovers that the Cullen’s are vampires, and Edward has been seventeen for a long time, accumulating decades of teenage angst at the age of 109. He later reveals his attraction to Bella,”I’ve never craved anyone’s blood like I want yours.” She responds, “I trust you. ”

Bella’s relationship with her father from whom she has been estranged is awkward, adding to the alienation she already feels. Charlie, played by Billy Burke, is her young dad who is himself trapped in his own emotional withdrawal in a boring existence without any passion as the chief of police. Although the love and concern they have for each other is apparent, the conversations between them are strained as they have little to talk about.

The stakes are amplified as Bella is threatened by James, a powerful rogue vampire who almost kills her. He is eventually dismembered and burned to cinder by the Cullen clan, allowing Edward to take Bella to the prom night dance where she declares her love and expresses a desire to become a vampire and lurk the forest with him.

New Moon, released in 2009 was directed by Chris Weitz in a screenplay again written by Melissa Rosenberg picks up where the first film left off. Bella and Edward are now openly involved, but age is catching up with her as her eighteenth birthday approaches and she dreams of getting so old that Edward will no longer want her. A party is planned at the Cullen’s house and the event turns into a nightmare as she cuts her finger dripping blood on the carpet that turns Jasper, Edwards brother played by Jackson Rathbone into a carnivorous rage. Edward, realizing the danger decides to leave Bella for good, “you don’t belong in my world,” he says, asking her not to do anything reckless and in return promises, “this is the last time you will ever see me, and you can go on with your life without me.” The plot proceeds to develop the love triangle between Bella and Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner as the younger post pubescent member of the Quileute tribe who she seeks solace from as months of deep depression take its toll after Edward leaves.

Bella soon realizes that by taking risks, Edward comes to her as an apparition guiding her towards safety. She becomes intentionally self destructive and seeks to provoke his appearance, hoping he will come back. She uses Jacob to ease her pain as he begins to get feverish and discovers his werewolf nature, a genetic trait he inherited from his Native American heritage carried by his ancestors to protect the tribe and it’s land. Life gets even more problematic for Bella as Victoria, the vampire mate of James from the first movie stalks her to seek revenge for his death by the Cullen’s.

As Jacob and his pack protect Bella, Edward calls to see if she is well but is led to believe by Jacob who answers the phone that she is dead.  Overwhelmed by sadness, Edward decides to go to the Volturi, the vampire counterpart of the Vatican located somewhere in Italy to ask to be killed. The Volturi is the ruling body of vampire law with members who have special powers to maintain order. Distraught and intent on saving Edward, Bella flies to Italy to stop him from ending his life. Alice, his sister,  superbly played by Ashley Greene accompanies her. When Bella saves Edward, she also encounters the Volturi who intend to kill her, but agree to let her go with the provision that she be turned into a vampire.

Eclipse, the third installment of the saga, released on June 30, 2010 was directed by David Slade with the script (all five) written by Melissa Rosenberg. Now we have an army of newbie vampires, created and trained by Victoria to track Bella and destroy the Cullen clan who has formed an alliance with the wolves to protect her and Forks in a final confrontation.

The love story between Bella and Edward becomes more complicated as she is now approaching her nineteenth birthday, two years older than Edward in mortal reckoning. She is pressuring him to turn her before the age difference becomes more noticeable. He urges her to marry him first, but she is reluctant to tie the knot, “Its just a piece of paper,” she remarks. He reminds her, “I come from another era when courting, drinking iced tea on the porch and asking her father for her hand in marriage is the way it was done.” When Charlie expresses his discomfort with Edward, Bella proclaims, “Hey dad, I’m still a virgin.” Charlie responds, “well, I like that boy even more now.” But Edward still grapples with guilt over turning Bella because he feels it would be a selfish act and understands the consequences to her soul even if she doesn’t.

The action is predictable, a final battle between Victoria’s army and the alliance of the Cullen clan and Wolves end in success for the forces of good but not without some physical injuries to Jacob who also hurts when he hears that Bella has accepted Edwards proposal of marriage. She kisses Jacob but declares to Edward, “I love him, but I love you more.”

Despite the flaws in the script, the bad acting and the incessant rain, I liked all three installments. It’s a story narrated from Bella’s perspective about how everything that has happened has led her to make the decision to become a vampire.

At the end of the film she says to Edward. “This wasn’t a choice between you and Jacob, it was between who I should be and who I am. I’ve always felt out of step, literally stumbling through my life, I’ve never felt normal because I’m not normal. But now I know I don’t want to be. I’ve faced death and loss and pain in your world, but I’ve also never felt stronger, more real, more myself because its my world too. Its where I belong.”

The Chosen One – The Story Of Buffy’s Sacrifice And Unrequited Love

Chronic Dissatisfaction And The Strigoi Of Europe

Recently, when President Obama was asked about the Top Kill Project, the plan to plug the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico, he declared, “If it’s successful, and there are no guarantees, it should greatly reduce or eliminate the flow of oil streaming into the Gulf from the sea floor, but if it’s not, there are other approaches that may be viable.” Never-the-less, this situation has focused attention on the necessity for seeking alternative fuel sources even though it will cause a great deal of pain from the costly changes in lifestyle required to kick the dependence on oil.

One way to resolve the global reliance on fossil fuels was suggested in a popular 1951 novel by British writer John Wyndhum who was relatively unknown until The Day Of The Triffids catapulted him from literary obscurity and established him as a major fiction writer. The public saw the book as a science fiction post apocalyptic satire about cultural dependence on the products of the industrial revolution while others contended it to be a play about how karma unfolds for those who did not open there eyes to see what was approaching.

The Triffids, a fictional creation of Wyndhum are described as large venomous plants genetically manipulated by industry controlled farms as a substitute for petroleum. “They can communicate through sound and have three feet which allows them mobility with poisonous tentacles that kill their prey and consume its flesh.”

The pivotal event that occurs is a dazzling display of lights in the sky from a passing comet that destroys the optic nerve and renders anyone who views them blind. Only a few on the planet are unaffected as the horrific consequences lead to the escape and proliferation of the triffids that seek humans as a source of food and display a remarkable ability for enhancing their intelligence with each successive generation by sharpening their predatory nature as ruthless hunters.

The first film adaption of the novel was in 1963 and starred Howard Keel, most known as the lead actor in a long string of MGM musicals of the 1950′s including Showboat and Kiss Me Kate, and who went on to television notoriety playing the second husband of Miss Ellie, matriarch of the Ewing clan on Dallas. This version was considered more of a horror movie that brought the triffid spores to Earth from the meteor shower much like the pods in The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956). “Triffids are portrayed as aliens, and come from outer space, depicted as carnivorous monsters, evil in nature.” But few elements of the  original novel were in the script which had a happy ending when it was discovered that seawater turned the triffids into mush. The salvation of the human race presented in narrative form is similar to the microbes that miraculously ended The martian invasion in The War Of The Worlds (1953).

In December 2009 the BBC aired a made for TV miniseries which was never shown in the United States. This production  is  much more faithful to the 1951 book. It lays responsibility for the creation of the triffids on scientists and oil companies too quick to hail the discovery of triffid oil as the silver bullet to the crisis while doing nothing to change consumer consciousness except by transferring the dependence from fossil fuel to triffid oil, also regulated by the oil industry.

In this version as in the original novel, the plants did not come from outer space, nor are they monsters, but rather a species that comply  with the same biology that bacteria and virus’s have   evolved based on the scientific principle of adaptation. All this as a blind human race succumbs to the cattle call of their triffid predators reminiscent of the morlocks in H. G. Wells, The Time Machine.

The 2009 made for TV film stars two members of the Redgrave family, Jolie Richardson and her mother Vanessa Redgrave in a small but pivotal role as a mother superior who claims to hear the word of God and delivers blind people to the triffids as a human sacrifice to prevent the carnivores from overrunning the abbey she heads. Redgrave, considered by many as the foremost English speaking actress of the twentieth century is also well known for her controversial political and social activism which plays well in this role.

The breakdown of society, its moral foundations and the lines of good and evil are drawn differently in this intelligent production, with superb action and special effects, although the climax does not end as happily as it did for the 1961 film. The population of the planet is consumed and only a small community of sighted people survive on the Isle of White as reality deals a blow to those blinded by the consequences of corporate greed , cultural addiction and disregard for ecological balance.

Aside from water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage with a history steeped in rituals about the simple task of boiling water and dropping leaves into the pot.

According to myth, the emperor Shen Nung of China, who scholars say was well versed in science and the arts, ordered all of his subjects to boil water before drinking. Some historians believe this was based on a knowledge of medicine and the life cycle of germs. Others speculate that, “while the emperor was resting one day after traveling with an elaborate entourage, leaves from a nearby bush fell into the cauldron of boiling water being prepared for him. The monarch, noticing the flavourful aroma and dark color, ordered his food tasters to sample the drink. When the emperor finally sipped it himself, convinced that the tasters were not poisoned, he said ‘this is good.’”

It wasn’t until the Ch’a Ching was written in 800 A. D. by the renowned Lu Yu, an orphan raised by scholarly Buddhist monks in one of China’s finest monasteries. His training as an observer reflected a Zen Buddhist upbringing and led to the first comprehensive book written about tea and its evolution in culture. He recorded the various methods of it’s cultivation and preparation in ancient China that was eventually exported to imperial Japan by Zen missionaries, projecting Lu to near sainthood within his own lifetime.

Although this discovery was a step towards the development of herbal knowledge and the infancy of pharmaceuticals, Lu Yu still considered his life a failure and without meaning. Perhaps it was the realization that in all its glory, tea is nothing more then water with variable solvents open to interpretation when the liquid is poured from the cup and the clumps of leaves left behind reveal clues about the life cycle of whoever was drinking from the cup. This may have also been the origin of reading tea leaves, a form of divination.