DC's Poetry Corner

by D. C. Cowan

Reach out your hand;
Reach out your hand;
Try to understand.
Can't you see somebody needs you;
You'll never know when you'll need someone too.

Reach out your hand,
Reach out your hand.
Try not to reprimand
Look beneath the body, the mind;
Search the soul and see what you'll find.

#poetry

Angel Quote

We shall find peace.  We shall hear the angels.  We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.

Anton Chekhov

Divination and the Zodiac

Taurus

Element: Earth
Ruling Planet: Venus
Dates: April 21-May 21
Quality: Fixed
Gender: Feminine
House: Second (Money)

DC's Poetry Corner

What's important to you?
by D. C. Cowan

What's important to you
As you live day by day?
I ask you,
What's important to you,
As you go on your merry way?
I wonder,
What matters to you?
What could be on your mind?
I wonder,
What lesson did you learn?
What truth did you find?

http://dccowanauthors.blogspot.com/

#poem, #author

Elemental Goddesses and Angels

Soko

Sky god.  Nupe [Nigeria, West Africa].  The name refers specifically to the dark sky that stimulates the growth of crops at the beginning of the rainy season.

Soko is also the name of an angel in the Elemental Angels Series.  She's the goddesses of storms, with golden brown skin, white hair and hazel eyes.  She's in the classification of angel called Thrones and is an ophanim, which is a high-ranking type of angel.

http://dccowanauthors.blogspot.com/
Source: Encyclopedia of Gods by Michael Jordan

#angels, #goddess

Africana History Fact

Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola

(1937-1998) Nigerian businessman, presidential candidate, and political prisoner.

On June 12, 1993, the popular businessman Abiola won a long-awaited presidential election in Nigeria, only to have the country's military leader, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, annul the election results.  When Abiola declared himself the country's legitimate leader a year later, Babingida's successor Gen. Sani Abacha, jailed him for treason.  As a political prisoner, Abiola became the rallying symbol for Nigerians' democratic aspirations.

Source: Africana, The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience
http://dccowanauthors.blogspot.com/
#African #history

Angel Quote

I just listened to the crowd and listened to the music and I thought of
angels and clouds. I thought "I can do this." and just enjoyed myself.

- Michelle Kwan, after winning her third U.S. Figure Skating Championships

#angels, #quotes
http://dccowanauthors.blogspot.com/

Featured Video

Courtesy of Cushcity Youtube Channel

Angels in Religion

Archangel Michael, Vatican City

Angels in Catholicism

Angel Basics

Angels are intermediaries between God and humans.  In addition to their roles as servants and messengers, angels are also attendants to God's throne.  Catholic angelogy, formulated by St. Thomas Aquinas, outlines a complex hierarchy of nine choirs of angels divided into three groups: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominions, Virtues, and Powers; Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church declares: "The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'Angels' is a true of faith'.  Angels have a huge role in Christian history - announcing Christ's birth, protecting Christ in the wilderness, and battling Satan in the Book of Revelation, and more.  Their most important function, however, is as attendants of God's throne.

Angelic Form

Angels are pure spirits and remain incorporeal forever.  Traditional Catholicism teachs that angels speak 'within' a person, not 'to' them, thereby maintaining their spiritual nature.

Heavenly Intervention

Each individual has his or her own guardian angel.  Guardian angels can intervene in human affairs to help people.  They can also influence people's senses and imaginations, but not their wills.  They remain with their charges even in heaven.  The Catechism states: "From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession."  Catholics pray to angels to ask for their help and intercession in human affairs.

Important Angels

Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael are archangels or chief angels.  Gabriel announces to Mary that she will give birth to the Son of God.  Michael's role includes fighting evil and Satan and rescuing the souls of the faithful at the hour of death.  He will be present at the time of the Antichrist and the end of the world.  Raphael appears only in the Apocryoha, as the angel who helped Tobias cure his father's blindness in the Book of Tobit.  The unnamed Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament is said by some to be the preincarnate of Christ.  Lucifer is the fallen archangel who, with one-third of angelic host, was cast out of heaven for the sin of pride.  He presides over hell and seeks to lure mankind to sin.



Source: The Big Book of Angels by Editors of Beliefnet

Angels in Religion

Judaism

Basics
Angels in Judaism, or malachim, are messengers of God who help carry out God's work and plans.

Form
Angels are purely spiritual beings who do not have a physical form though Maimonides, the great Jewish sage and biblical commentator, later wrote that physical descriptions of angels were metaphorical.

Intervention
According to Judaism, angels intervene in stores in the Torah (the first five books of the bible) as God's messengers, such as when an angel stops Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac. There is also the famous story of Jacob wrestling with an angel.  But in general, angels initiate the communication from God, not vice versa.  There is no angel worship in Judaism, and Jews believe that is only God who determines what happens on earth - angels merely carry out god's will.

Important Angels
Traditionally, Michael is a guardian of the people of Israel.  He carries out God's mission of kindness.  Gabriel is the angel of judgment and strength.  Uriel is an angel who illumines the right path.  Rapheal is a healer.

Source: The Big Book of Angels by Editors of Beliefnet

Inspirational Quote

I am an invisible man... I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind.  I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.

Ralph Ellison (1914-1994).  Prologue to The Invisible Man, 1952

Elemental Gods and Angels

Vayu

God of the winds. Hindu.  His consort is Anjana.  Also known as Pavana.  Period of worship began around 1700 B. C. and continues to the present day.

He is depicted in sculptures and carvings in metal and stone and found in the literary sources such as the Vedic texts, including Rg Veda and is one of the most important deities of the Vedas.  He is depicted in some texts as a chariot driver for the god Agni.

His color is dark blue.  He is depicted with an arrow, hook, prayer wheel, staff or water jar.

In the Elemental Angels Series, there is the elemental angel of wind using Vayu's alternate name, Pavana.

Elemental Gods and Angels

Hyperion

Greek God of Primordial Light.  

Consort is Thea

Children are...

Helios god of the sun

and

Selene goddess of the moon.

Hyperion is the name of the Angel of Light in the Elemental Angels Series.

Inspirational Quote

Inspirational Quote

DC's Poetry Corner

 

The Lord will take you as you are...

Be like a babe, that knows no sin;

And the Lord will take you in.

Be like a child, so innocent;

And be ready for the judgment...

For the Lord will take you as you are.

You know the Lord does not judge you

by the color of your skin

by the texture of your hair

by the shape you are in...

As long as you can say

That you are free from all sin

The Lord will take you in.

Copyright © 1962-2014 by D. C. Cowan

Divination and Angels

According to Merriam and Webster, divination is defined as the practice of using signs (such as an arrangement of tea leaves or cards) or special powers to predict the future.  Divination includes things like astrology, numerology, talismans, tarot readings and in a way alchemy.  In a literary sense, I have always enjoyed connecting the divine, such as God and angels, to divination such as astrology and alchemy.  In many of my books I use these two types of divination as a reoccurring theme.  In the Elemental Angels Series, many angels are named after the 12 zodiacs and in the Angelic Heroes Trilogy, alchemy is an important part of the story.  When you think about it, divination is meant to see into the future and it's very similar to religion in the way that religion foresees future events such as in the bible there are many prophecies.  I'm not saying that I am a believer in divination, but I certainly enjoy using it in my work.

One book that inspired me since I was in high school is The Book of Divination by Ann Fiery.  I enjoy the pictures and the author's depth of understanding different types of divination.

Picture Source: Pinterest

Divination and the Zodiac

Virgo

Element: Earth
Ruling Planet: Mercury
August 24-September 22
Quality: Mutable
Gender Feminine
House: Sixth (Health / Work)

Divination and the Zodiac

GEMINI

Element: Air
Ruling Planet: Mercury
Quality: Mutable
Gender: Masculine
House: Third (Communication)

Divination and the Zodiac

Cancer

Ruling Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Qualities: Cardinal Signs
Polarities: Aquarius
Gender: Feminine
Birth Dates: June 22 - July 22

Divination and the Zodiac

Leo

Ruling Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
Qualities: Fixed
Polarities: Aquarius
Gender: Masculine
Date: July 23-August 23
House: Fifth

Source: Piniterest
Artwork: Kagaya

Black Rose Poetry

Just because I loves you—

That's de reason why

Ma soul is full of color

Like da wings of a butterfly

Just because I loves you

That's de reason why

My heart's a fluttering aspen leaf

When you pass by.

Langston Huges (1902-1967) "Reasons Why" (complete poem), 1922, The Collected Poems of Langston Huges, ed. Arnold Rampersad and David Roessel, 1994.

DC's Poetry Corner

The Lord Will Take You As You Are

If you are...

              singing,

              praying,

              serving,

              saying,

I'm fighting for the name of the Lord.

Then no one could ever jude you

by the color of your skin,

by the texture of your hair,

by the shape you're in...

No, no one could ever deny

That you are free from all sin,

When the Lord has taken you in.

Text Copyright © 1962-2014 by D. C. Cowan

DC's Poetry Corner

 What times are these?

What times are these
When evil prevails
When righteousness leaves
And good fails
When men must die
For doing right
And you and I
Must fear the night

These, these are times of woe
Of man against man, forever more
Stop, stop for dignity
And become a complete humanity


Text Copyright © 1962-2014 by D. C. Cowan

DC's Poetry Corner

  I've Found My Love

I've loved and been loved, many a time,
       And many a time before.
I've lost that love with the passing of time,
       Never to love anymore.
I've always seem to find someone else's
       Heart beating just for me.
I've lost that someone, because of someone,
      Needing it to be.
I've never grieved upon the lost, 
        Because it was not too real.
I've searched and found, found and lost,
      Heartbreak never to feel.
I've seen the light, I'll find my love,
      And he'll be mine forever more.

 

Text Copyright © 1962-2014 by D. C. Cowan

DC's Poetry Corner

Why do you cry?

Why do you cry?
Is it that the world has done you wrong, 
Or, have your wronged yourself?

Why do you cry?
Is it that love has failed you,
Or have you failed to love?

Why do you cry?
Is it worth the tears you shed?
Are the tears you shed worth it?
Do you know why you cry?
Or, do you cry because you don't know why?
Tell me,
Why do you cry?
If you can...

 
By D. C. Cowan




Text Copyright © 1962-2014 by D. C. Cowan

Angel Quote

Every man hath a good and bad angel attending on him in particular all his life long.

Robert Burton (1577-1640). The Anatomy of Melancholy, 1.2.1.2, 1621-1651

Angel Quote

They are always on deck when there is a miracle to the fore - so as to get up in the picture, perhaps.  Angels are as fond of that as a fire company: look at the old masters.

-- Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Angel Quote

When I ask the angels for answers 

to the human mystery, 

I find that they guide me 

to a sense of peace and 

comfort in my soul.  

The angels do this 

not by bringing me answers 

and intricate theories, 

but by bringing me 

creative ways of responding 

to life with light in my heart.  

- Terry Lynn Taylor, The Angel Experience.

Angel Quote

In this dim world of clouding cares.

We rarely know, til 'wildered eyes

See white wings lessening up the skies,

The angels with us unawares

Gerald Massey

Angel Quote

As there is much beast and some devil in man, so is there some angel and some God in him.  

If a man is not rising upwards to be an angel, depend upon it, he is sinking downwards to be a devil.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). 1 August 1831, Table Talk, 1835.

Angel Quote

One should not stand at the foot of a sick person's bed, because that place is reserved for the guardian angel.

-Jewish Folk Saying

Angel Quote

I've been on the verge of being an angel all my life, but it hasn't happened yet.

Mark Twain, Autobiography

Angel Quote

My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths and they have not hurt me, because i was found blameless before him.

Daniel 6:22

Daniel (8th Century B. C.), Explaining his survival to King Darius, who had thrown him into the lions' den. 

Angels in Religion

Angels in Protestant Christianity

In Protestant Christianity, angels are messengers and carry out God's will but have less elaborate characteristics and less prominence than in Catholicism.  Angels are most important in their gospel role of ministering to Jesus and assisting the disciples.

Angelic Form
Angels are created as spiritual beings - not as humans.  They can take on a corporeal form if doing so will help them do their work on earth.  They are genderless and invisible.

Heavenly Intervention
They provide guidance and assurance to believers and pray for them in heaven.  John Calvin rejected the concept of guardian angels, saying, "All the angels watch over our salvation."  Not all angels are good however.  Satan, or Lucifer, the rebel angel, is a constant threat to unwary souls.

Important Angels
All biblical angels are important.  Most protestant theologians, however warn against the Catholic practice of praying to angels (which they view as idolatry) and the angel hierarchy of Catholicism because these traditions are not biblical and are not seen as having pagan roots.  The devil is prominent as the "ruler of this world" whom humanity must struggle to overcome.

Source: Big Book of Angels, by Editors of Beliefnet
Blog Feed: dccowanauthors.blogspot.com

DC's Poetry Corner

I Had a Dream

I had a dream last night
Of how to live right.
It gave me a brand new start,
Now i know there's a God.
Deep in my heart I know,
My Jesus loves me so
As long as I live the life;
He'll ease the pain, sorrow and strife.

Poem by D. C. Cowan