A butterfly is a delicate, ephemeral creature. So, the Zuni Butterfly Dance, which took place off a dusty, remote New Mexico road, came as a shock to many. As Clarissa Pinkola Estes describes it in Women Who Run with the Wolves, the dancer, Maria Lujan, was a large, elderly native woman with long, gray hair wearing a one-shouldered, red-and-black blanket dress and sporting … [Read more...]
Some years ago, motivational teacher Debra Poneman was preparing a big speech for Jack Canfield’s Transformational Leadership Council. But fate had a twist up its sleeve. As Poneman recalls, “I had my presentation all planned, replete with my flip chart and white board and power point, and I was ready to romp around the stage and give the presentation of a lifetime. And then, … [Read more...]
Human beings can be profoundly contradictory. Take Pope John Paul II, who helped usher the Catholic Church into the 21st century. A passionate social activist and champion of human rights, Polish-born Karol Wojtyla was actively anti-Communist and played a big part in bringing down the Iron Curtain. A Taurus Sun sign with his ruling planet, Venus, conjunct Mercury in loquacious … [Read more...]
At age 35, Jennifer Flewellen was put into a medically induced coma after crashing her car into a pole. Doctors soon became certain she would never recover and encouraged Flewellen’s mother, Peggy Means, to take her off life-support. Means refused. Weeks turned to months, which turned into years, but Means’ fierce love for her daughter wouldn’t allow her to give up. Despite … [Read more...]
“Newton was sitting under an apple tree when an apple fell on his head and he discovered gravity. And we here are living in darkness and tragedy, and rockets are falling on us, therefore I thought of creating light.” Using two fans salvaged from a scrap market that he rigged to some wires, 15-year-old Hussam Al-Attar has created his own source of electricity. His goal was … [Read more...]
