Dear Banjo,

Your encounter with the peonies reminds me of the time I took my daughter to the Adirondacks. As a child I used to visit my grandparents in the Adirondacks. The conifer forests were a magical place. I walked on the forest floor covered with pine needles. Springy steps – pleasant odours – rays of sun slanting through the trees with the glitter of insects and dust motes. When my daughter was twelve I drove up to the Adirondacks and took her into the woods so she could share the magic. Her face swelled. Her eyes watered, and she had trouble breathing. I picked her up and carried her out. She recovered, but no more pine forests for her.

Dear George,

Part of the American problem is democracy. The Constitution was written by men influenced by the Enlightenment, and suffrage was limited. These men were separate from the Great Unwashed. However, as suffrage became extended to the general public the primitive religiosity of the Great Unwashed affected public policy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Awakening tells about the various religious revivals in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burned-over_district tells about the area of the US where many of these religious movements arose. I was born and grew up just east of that district.

I find the history fascinating and have visited the remains of the Oneida Community mentioned in the second article.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalism describes the rejection of modernity beginning in the late nineteenth century by US Protestantism.

The Committee on Science, Space and Technology is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. One of its members is Paul Broun of Georgia.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/paul-broun-science-committee_n_2237394.html refers to an article on Paul Broun. In it is the following:

“Earlier this year, video leaked of the congressman explaining to a group of sportsmen gathered at a Georgia church that evolution and the big bang theory were "lies straight from the pit of Hell." He proceeded to state his belief that the earth was "about 9,000 years old" and "created in six days as we know them," according to the Bible.”

Such people are involved in deciding US science policy.

.

Dear David et al,

.

Roses ruddy and roses white,
What are the joys that my heart discloses?
Sitting alone in the fading light
Memories come to me here tonight
With the wonderful scent of the big red roses.
Memories come as the daylight fades
Down on the hearth where the firelight dozes;
Flicker and flutter the lights and shades,
And I see the face of a queen of maids
Whose memory comes with the scent of roses.

Visions arise of a scent of mirth,
And a ball-room belle who superbly poses --
A queenly woman of queenly worth,
And I am the happiest man on earth
With a single flower from a bunch of roses.

Only her memory lives tonight --
God in his wisdom her young life closes;
Over her grave may the turf be light,
Cover her coffin with roses white
She was always fond of the big white roses.

Such are the visions that fade away --
Man proposes and God disposes;
Look in the glass and I see today
Only an old man, worn and grey,
Bending his head to a bunch of roses.

http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/pierre-auguste-renoir#supersized-flower-painting-218998

.

in the spirit realm..flowers reveal..the emotions/reason/purpose that underpin its creation..[to a certain extent]..we have accorded meanings to them as well

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=flower+meanings

my..thought was if those with allergies
to..specific types..of flowers..could be a form..of divination[or clue]

i recall..the medium..j0hn edward
who states..that the colour of the roses..[impressed onto his mind..from the departed]..convey messages beyond the grave..to him

he says its his own...personalised way..of receiving the emotions/feeling/teachings and..l-earning's/mess-ages..
he claims to receive..from our beloved departed

[of course..freewill..is held sacrosanct..by those spirit realm's
thus elements of doubt..*must always remain...to balance adverse karmic correction

it is this that prevents me further researching
daffodils/pine needle blossum's etc

anyhow..the loki thing is out there!

i should..search-out the flower/spirit..issue..
i think..i came across..in..wanderer in the spirit lands

http://new-birth.net/booklet/Wanderer_a4.pdf

i will leave you with the opening prayer
[for karmic balance..[that durn/loki]

Oh, Star*
of Hope that shines to

Bless the Wanderer through
Life’s Wilderness!

Angels of Love—say
“Are ye come to lead
the Weary Wanderer home?”

anyhow i look forward..to wandering through..it all..yet again
ps the flower thing..happens early..in the text

anyhow..so genesis is a ,myth?
bible just tales?..loki
just others dreams?

not sure if its funny or sad
but it led to..BIBLICAL ASTROLOGY*
http://www.biblenews1.com/astrology/handteeth.html
[meanings of body parts..mentioned..in the bible..and what was meant]

anyhow..this stood out

<<..God created the man and woman in the Garden
as witnesses in the Appeal Trial of Satan.>>

also reading

A WANDERER
IN THE
SPIRIT LANDS

By Franchezzo

http://new-birth.net/booklet/Wanderer_a4.pdf
about a rascal..that redeems himself..for love of one good woman

http://new-birth.net/booklet/Wanderer_a4.pdf

<<..Chapter 6..Twilight Lands..Love's Gifts..The Valley of Selfishness..
The Country of Unrest..The Miser's Land..The Gambler's Lands...>>

<<..*there were..such things
as we had earned*..as the rewards of our labors.

edit..<<..a picture..of my love...It
seemed..more like a..reflection of her..in a mirror..than a mere..painted/image..

when I looked..intently at her..she would smile
back at me..in answer,..as though..her spirit was/conscious of my gaze,and when I wished..*very much to..know..what she was doing,..my picture..would change..and show me.>>..

sounds like a..future digital-photo frame
[but this..was written 1896]

<<..Since then..I have been shown..how this living
image..was thrown..upon the light..of the astral plane.and then projected..into its frame..in my room...but I..cannot explain it more

Another gift..from my darling was a white rose-bud,
which I had in..a small vase and which never seemed to fade or wither, but remained fresh and fragrant..and ever an emblem
of her love,..so that I called her..my white rose.

I had so longed..for a flower.
I had so loved flowers..on earth and I had seen none..since I saw those my..darling put upon my grave...In this land there were no flowers. not even a leaf or blade of grass,..not a tree or
a shrub however stunted--

for the dry arid soil..of our selfishness
had no blossom..or green thing to give to
any one of us;

and it was..when I told her this..during one of the brief visits*..I used to..pay her,.and when..through her own hand..I was able to write short messages--it was,...

I say,..when I told her..that there was not
one fair thing for me..to look upon ..ave only the picture of herself,..that she asked that I might be given a
flower..from her,..and this white rosebud..was brought to my room by a spirit friend..and left for me to find..when I returned from earth and her.

Ah! you..who have so many flowers
that you do not value them enough

and leave them to wither unseen,
you can scarce realize..what joy this blossom brought to me
nor how I..have so treasured it..and her picture..and some loving words she once wrote to me,..that I have carried them
with me..from sphere to sphere..as I have risen,..and shall, I hope, treasure them evermore.

http://new-birth.net/booklet/Life_in_the_World_Unseen.pdf

extract..p 55

<<>..A matter..that gives rise..to some perplexity
concerns the flowers..that we have in the spirit_world.

Some would ask:..why flowers?
What is their purpose..or significance?
Have they..symbolical meaning?..

EDIT

..<<Flowers are..given to the earth world..
to help to beautify it,..and for the..delight and..enjoyment of those..who behold them.

The fact..that they serve..other useful purposes.is an added reason..for/their existence...Flowers are essentially beautiful, *evolved..*from the Supreme Creative Mind,..given to us..as a
precious gift,*

showing us..in their colourings,..in their formations,
and in their perfumes..an infinitesimally..small expression.of that Great Mind*.

You have..this glory upon the earth-plane.
Are we..to be deprived of it..in the spirit world..because it is considered..that flowers are rather..earthy,..or..because no deep, abstruse meaning..can be assigned..to their existence?

We have..the most glorious flowers here,
some of them..like the old familiar cherished blooms.of the
earth-plane.. others known only to the spirit world,..but all alike are superb,..the perpetual joy..of all of us who..are surrounded with them.

They are divine creations,..each single flower
*breathing..the pure air of spirit,..and..upheld..by their Creator and by all of us..here in the love..that we shower upon them.

Had we no wish for/them—an impossible supposition!—
they would be swept away...And what should we have..in their stead?

Where,..otherwise,..would the great wealth..of colour
come from..which the flowers provide?

And it..is not..only the smaller growing flower.. that we have here.

There is no single..flowering tree or shrub..that the mind can recall that we do not possess,..flourishing in superabundance..and perfection,..as well as..those trees and shrubs..that are to be seen nowhere else..but in the spirit world.

They are..always in bloom,
they never fade..or die,..and their perfumes..are diffused into the air..where they act like a spiritual tonic upon us all...They are at one with us,..as we are with them.

When..we are first introduced..to the flowers
and trees..and all the luxuriance of spirit nature,..we
instantly*..perceive something*..that earthly nature/never seemed to possess,..and that is an inherent/intelligence..within all growing things.

Earthly flowers,..although living,
make..no immediate*personal/response..when one comes..into close touch with them.

edited

<<..They..are part of..the immense stream/of life
that flows..directly from Him,..and that*..flows through
every species..of botanic growth.

That stream..never ceases,..never falters,
and it is,..moreover,..continuously..>>

EDITED

have to..end..the quote
somewhere..