Virginity Checks on Female Protesters. Outrageous.

I've just read this on CNN's website. Female protesters who were arrested in Cairo, Egypt were subjected to virginity tests back in the Egyptian protests earlier this year. Just recently, a senior Egyptian general admits that the virginity of the women were tested despite denials from other officials. The unidentified general gave the following statements in defense of the intrusive inspection:

"The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine," the general said. "These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs)."


The general said the virginity checks were done so that the women wouldn't later claim they had been raped by Egyptian authorities.

"We didn't want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren't virgins in the first place," the general saidhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif. "None of them were (virgins)."

Outrageous I tell you.

Source

Prudish Nutrients

Here's a little something I found posted in Plurk.



It turns out that the C in Vitamin C means "Chastity".

Lug the God of All Skills

I find myself always focused on Egyptian deities so, for a refreshing change, I'm going to talk about an ancient European god who recently caught my attention. Lug (pronounced as "loo") is a heroic polymath god in Celtic mythology and the leader of the Tuatha De Danann, the gods of light and goodness. Lug was also artist, wise man, sorcerer, musician, warrior and blacksmith all rolled into one. He and his forces fought against the Formarians. a race of evil giants led by Balor of The Evil Eye.



"Wait! Stop! I think I think my contact lens fell off."

Balor of The Evil Eye was the grandfather of Lug. He was given that name because of his malevolent gaze that can destroy armies. It as prophesied that Balor's own grandson will kill him so he imprisoned his only daughter in a cave. However, she was seduced and she bore triplets. Balor had the triplets drowned but one of them survived and his name was Lug. Lug was rescued and raised by the smith god Goibhnu. The god, taught in all arts, crafts and skills, grew into a handsome and brilliant man. In the epic battle of good versus evil, Lug finally killed his grandfather Balor by piercing his eye with a sling stone. Afterwards, the Tuatha De Danann ruled Ireland for many centuries. However, after many centuries, the old Celtic gods were forced to live underground after a crushing defeat by the ancestors of the Gaels. As ages gone by, the all-skill god Lug became a fairy craftsman known as Lugh-chromain ("low-stooping Lug"), better known as the folkloric leprechaun.




Man he really let go.


sources:
Gods and Goddesses: A Treasury of Deities and Tales from World Mythology (Macmillan Books)
Wikipedia

Netjer Cards set 1

Last week, I drew this set of Egyptian deities on blank calling cards. They're originally for sale but I like them so much I'm going to put them in a frame and display them in my house. Besides, I can make more cards like these.

The Unfortunate Tale of Dr. John Dee

I was watching the movie Elizabeth: The Golden Age and I was pleased to see that the English court magician Dr. John Dee was featured in the film. In real life, the man was remarkable. He was a scientist, an astrologer, occultist, navigator and even a spy (his codename was 007 thus making him a prototype for James Bond) for Queen Elizabeth I back in the Renaissance Age. He was the founder of Enochian Magic. He was a man who was ahead of his time.

Well, that is until religious bigotry stepped in and ruined his life. When Queen Elizabeth I died, troubles started piling up for poor John. His library and laboratory was ransacked by vandals and thieves. He was made Warden of Christ's College in Manchester but there he was hated and even cheated. When he returned to London, Elizabeth I died and the new ruler James I refused to help Dee due to his supernatural reputation. Dee spent the rest of his life in poverty.

Despite his unfortunate tale, John Dee's legacy lives on among the modern magicians. If the real world has a Merlin, Dr. Dee was the closest.