Another NASA Scientist Found Dead - What is going on?

The news that NASA scientist Alberto Behar died in a plane crash last Friday in Los Angeles is not something that would usually make headlines, but we here at HellasFrappe were stunned to discover that he was the 74th scientist that had suddenly died from a mysterious death in tha last two years.

According to reports, Alberto Behar had helped to prove that there had once been water on Mars, having worked on two missions to that planet. He was also a robotics expert who researched how robots function in harsh environments (such as under water or inside volcanoes).

The unusually high number of scientist deaths in recent years has made people question whether this death was suspicious or not.

See more at: http://yournewswire.com/another-nasa-scientist-has-been-killed-whats-going-on/#sthash.TDkRZQFX.dpuf

Phaistos Disk: Was It A Tribute to Minoan Crete's Mother-Goddess?

The Phaistos Disk, whose decoding has puzzled experts for more than a century now, is actually a prayer to a mother, according to Erasmus coordinator at the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Crete, Gareth Owens, who was speaking at the TEI of Western Macedonia earlier this week.

Describing it as "the first Minoan CD-ROM," he said the disk was discovered in 1908 at the palace of Phaistos, in the northeastern part of the Aegean Island of Crete.

The round clay object, dated close to 1700 B.C., apparently displays an unknown language on both sides which is carved in a circular fashion, from outside to the centre.

Dr. Owens says that there is a complex of signs found in three parts of one side of the disk spelling I-QE-KU-RJA (YGEIAN + AGAPI), with I-QE meaning "great lady of importance" while a key word appears to be AKKA, or "pregnant mother." One side is devoted to a pregnant woman and the other to a woman giving birth, he noted.

     "The most stable word and value is 'mother'," and in particular the mother-goddess of the Minoan era, to whom the disk is dedicated, stressed Owens.

He then noted the institution's web site, www.teicrete.gr/daidalika, where more than 242 signs can be viewed from both sides of the disk, based on 45 different signs. Owens says that there are too many to constitute an alphabet and too few to constitute a truly ideographic script, as is the case with Chinese.

Whatever the case, one thing is certain. The disk will continue to puzzle and fascinate scholars for eons to come.

Half Century Mystery Over Dark Side Of The Moon Finally Solved?

IMAGE: This is a composite image of the lunar farside taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in June 2009, note the absence of dark areas. Credit: NASA

(NASA) The Man in the Moon appeared when meteoroids struck the Earth-facing side of the moon creating large flat seas of basalt that we see as dark areas called maria. But no "face" exists on farside of the moon and now, Penn State astrophysicists think they know why.

     "I remember the first time I saw a globe of the moon as a boy, being struck by how different the farside looks," said Jason Wright, assistant professor of astrophysics. "It was all mountains and craters. Where were the maria? It turns out it's been a mystery since the fifties."

This mystery is called the Lunar Farside Highlands Problem and dates back to 1959, when the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3 transmitted the first images of the "dark" side of the moon back to Earth. It was called the dark side because it was unknown, not because sunlight does not reach it. Researchers immediately noticed that fewer "seas" or maria existed on this portion of the moon that always faces away from Earth.

Wright, Steinn Sigurdsson, professor of astrophysics and Arpita Roy, graduate student in astronomy and astrophysics, and lead author of the study, realized that the absence of maria, which is due to a difference in crustal thickness between the side of the moon we see and the hidden side, is a consequence of how the moon originally formed. The researchers report their results in today's (June 9) Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The general consensus on the moon's origin is that it probably formed shortly after the Earth and was the result of a Mars-sized object hitting Earth with a glancing, but devastating impact. This Giant Impact Hypothesis suggests that the outer layers of the Earth and the object were flung into space and eventually formed the moon.

     "Shortly after the giant impact, the Earth and the moon were very hot," said Sigurdsson. 

The Earth and the impact object did not just melt; parts of them vaporized, creating a disk of rock, magma and vapor around the Earth.

     "The moon and Earth loomed large in each others skies when they formed," said Roy.

The geometry was similar to the rocky exoplanets recently discovered very close to their stars, said Wright. The moon was 10 to 20 times closer to Earth than it is now, and the researchers found that it quickly assumed a tidally locked position with the rotation time of the moon equal to the orbital period of the moon around the Earth. The same real estate on the moon has probably always faced the Earth ever since. Tidal locking is a product of the gravity of both objects.

The moon, being much smaller than Earth cooled more quickly. Because the Earth and the moon were tidally locked from the beginning, the still hot Earth -- more than 2500 degrees Celsius -- radiated towards the near side of the moon. The far side, away from the boiling Earth, slowly cooled, while the Earth-facing side was kept molten creating a temperature gradient between the two halves.

This gradient was important for crustal formation on the moon. The moon's crust has high concentrations of aluminum and calcium, elements that are very hard to vaporize.

     "When rock vapor starts to cool, the very first elements that snow out are aluminum and calcium," said Sigurdsson.

Aluminum and calcium would have preferentially condensed in the atmosphere of the cold side of the moon because the nearside was still too hot. Thousands to millions of years later, these elements combined with silicates in the moon's mantle to form plagioclase feldspars, which eventually moved to the surface and formed the moon's crust, said Roy. The farside crust had more of these minerals and is thicker.

The moon has now completely cooled and is not molten below the surface.

Earlier in its history, large meteoroids struck the nearside of the moon and punched through the crust, releasing the vast lakes of basaltic lava that formed the nearside maria that make up the man in the moon. When meteoroids struck the farside of the moon, in most cases the crust was too thick and no magmatic basalt welled up, creating the dark side of the moon with valleys, craters and highlands, but almost no maria.

Secrets of Agia Sophia Featured in Dan Brown’s "Inferno"

Dan Brown’s latest novel "Inferno" sends protagonist Robert Langdon (rumored to soon be played by Tom Hanks again) to Constantinople and to Agia Sophia. The plot begins to unfold on page 334. Brown’s tweedy Harvard iconographer Robert Langdon turns to Sienna Brooks – a British-born misfit genius who gallops around the world with him in his adventures – that they are "in the wrong country”. And off they go to Turkey and to Constantinople. Once there, and under the gilded dome of the cathedral-mosque-museum of Agia Sophia, we learn that the traditions of East and West are not as divergent as we might think.

His choice to focus on the mysteries of Agia Sofia are surely plenty. The dome and minarets of this sacred site are the symbols of Constantinople. This is the only building in the world to have served as a Catholic Cathedral and as the seat of two religions, Greek Orthodox Christianity and Sunni Islam and before all of that even paganism.

The building which we all see today is to a great extent, despite the rebuilding work carried out after regular earthquakes, the building that was consecrated on December 27th, 537 by Roman Emperor Justinian. It would be the greatest church in Christendom for a thousand years, until St. Peter’s in Rome was completed.

Agia Sophia’s massive dome and gigantic proportions were believed by many to have been the work of the divine. It heavily influenced the architecture of mosques and churches and it’s grandeur was said to have led Russia to convert to Orthodox Christianity, over Catholicism.

Relics such as the shroud of Mary, nails from the true cross and the tombstone of Jesus were some of its treasures, until the city was ransacked during the Fourth crusade.

The secrets of Agia Sophia are as follows:

•     The current building of Agia Sophia is the third structure constructed at the exact same location. After the construction of the first two, this “great church” (Megale Ekklesia) was constructed. It wasn’t called Agia Sophia at first; it was actually called the Great Church for a long time.
•     Agia Sophia is The East Roman Patriarchate Church. St. Sinod Assembly had been convened at the rooms located in the South front aisle of the Agia Sophia.
•     The second Agia Sophia’s West wall ground work are available for viewing, and some monumental parts of it welcome the visitors with lambs that symbolize the apostles.
•     In addition to Agia Sophia’s main construction, two other buildings that are predicted to be baptisteries and that date back much longer than the main construction itself exist. One of these is located in the northeast and is referred to as the treasure building, whereas the other baptistery is located in the southwest.
•     The Agia Sophia includes pieces belonging to Anatolian and Middle Eastern civilizations that date back to the Eastern Roman period, Western Roman period and even the Pagan period. These include the Beautiful Door dating back to second century B.C from Tarsus as well as cubes, countless columns, marbles and many more artifacts from the Hellenistic period.
•     The Agia Sophia includes not only priests and patriarchs but also a monastery, situated close to the main courtyard, where many priests resided.
•     The main ground where Agia Sophia rests has been elevated with the remains from old buildings and construction residue, and the square rests on a foundation of several civilizations’ remains.
•     The Agia Sophia is the site where Byzantine Emperors were crowned. They would be welcomed by the patriarch and crowned in a designated area within the church naos.
•     All the mosaics within the Agia Sophia contain human figures and date back to 842 A.D. All pieces from previous periods have been destroyed due to iconoclasm.
•     Particular pieces within the Agia Sophia were taken outside of Turkey during different periods and are now being exhibited in various museums in Europe.

Divers Attempt to Unravel Mysteries Beneath Agia Sophia

Goksel Gulensoy tried to reveal the hidden secrets of Agia Sophia lying beneath the surface in his new documentary. Along with a team of two divers and four spelunkers they dove in the waters under this historical for Christianity Church to learn more about the reservoirs which are connected to Topkapi Palace and Underground Cistern.

Although he began his studies in 1998, he was  only able to complete his 50 minute documentary (titled In the Depths of Agia Sophia) in 2009.

He was the first to explore the reservoir close to the entrance, (which is apparently 12 meters deep). While investigating the area, the divers discovered two thick pieces of wood as well as a bucket which they claim turned into dust when they were touched.

In the second reservoir the divers found a dozen flasks that were dated from 1917, glass from chandeliers, a chain with two rings and various pieces of stained glass.

The International Speleological Society of Bogazici then began searching of the tunnels under the main hall of Agia Sophia. They found two stone tunnels towards to Sultanahmet Square and Topkapi Palace. Both ends of the tunnel split into two after 50 meters but the passages were blocked.

One member of the search team, Aydin Menderes, moved towards the direction of Topkapi Palace until he spotted daylight between the stones. He then used a pen camera and saw that he had reached the palace yard. He then returned to enter yet another tunnel which led to two more rooms.

While there, he discovered various broken jugs and the remains that are expected to belong to the grave site of St Antinegos who was the first to be buried in Agia Sophia. At the same time they also apparently found the remains of Patriarch Athanasius.

References - OCC247 and the National Turk

Conspiracy or Truth - Top Philly Mob Boss Linked To JFK Assassination Suddenly Murdered!

CLICK ON BOLD LINKS TO CROSS REFERENCE ARTICLE WITH THE MAINSTREAM NEWS

A new report prepared by the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) circulating in the Kremlin on Tuesday states that Israel’s Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (MOSSAD) was “stunned” this past week after the Obama regime killed Jewish billionaire philanthropist Lewis Katz in a fiery plane crash due to his plans to “release explosive materials” relating to the November 22nd, 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Lewis Katz

According to this report, the Federal Security Services (FSB) had long identified Lewis Katz as being one of the most powerful members of the Philadelphia mobster organization linked to the Chicago Mafia many Russian intelligence experts had previously linked to the killing of President Kennedy and his accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

In the 1960’s, FSB reports say, Lewis Katz worked as a “leg man” for the famous columnist Drew Pearson, helping him do the digging that led to the censure in 1967 of Senator Thomas J. Dodd of Connecticut over the personal use of campaign funds. Pearson was best man at Katz's wedding, and Katz named a son after him so close was their relationship.

Pearson, the FSB reports further notes, was one of the best-known American columnists of his day, noted for his syndicated newspaper column “Washington Merry-Go-Round,” in which he attacked various public persons, and was personal friends with Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren who headed the JKF assassination investigation known as the Warren Commission, and which Lewis Katz was preparing to expose.

The Philadelphia mobster organization Lewis Katz was controlling at the time of his death, this GRU report says it’s important to note, was co-headed by his “close friend” the American billionaire media oligarch H. F. “Gerry” Lenfest, who aside from being the Chairman of the Board of the powerful TelVue Corporation, last week, with Katz, become the sole owners of  Interstate General Media LLC which also operates the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and the news website Philly.com, all which were being prepared to “release” the “explosive” materials relating to JFK’s assassination.

Katz’s mob partner Lenfest, FSB files further illuminate, was the “heir apparent” to the long time Philadelphia mob boss and top political operative Walter Annenberg (1908-2002), who aside from being President Richard Nixon’s Ambassador to Great Britain, owned the Philadelphia Inquirer and was identified by Katz’s mentor Pearson in his posthumous publication Drew Pearson's Diaries, 1949–1959 as being one of the two top mob bosses in America, the other being Chicago billionaire Henry Crown (1896-1990).

FSB files also note that Walter Annenberg and his “mob boss” father, Moses Annenberg (1877-1942), were indicted by the US Government in 1939 on income tax invasion which culminated on April 4th, 1940 when Moses Annenberg plead guilty to the 1936 income tax evasion count in the indictment which charged him with evading $1,217,296 in taxes thus sparing his son Walter from being prosecuted.

Judge James Herbert Wilkerson, the same judge who previously sentenced Chicago mob boss Alphonse (Al) Capone, sentenced Annenberg to three years in prison and a fine of $8,000,000 “the largest single tax fraud penalty in history” at the time, the place where he ultimately died in 1942.

With Katz and Lenfest vowing to fund in-depth journalism to return the Philadelphia Inquirer to its former glory last week, Katz visited the home of the well known American Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin this past Saturday where, according to this GRU report, he “highly detailed” his planned exposure of the JFK assassination and its cover-up using private documents he “received” from Pearson in the 1960’s but had never released. 

credit WhatDoesItMean

Katz, however, this GRU report says, was unable to accomplish his mission due to his Gulfstream IV exploded on takeoff  at 9:40 p.m. as it was departing Hanscom Field, about 20 miles northwest of Boston, barely an hour after his leaving Goodwin’s home.

This GRU report further speculates that the Obama regime “had the most to gain” in the killing of Katz due to the fact that an exposure of the true events surrounding JFK’s assassination and subsequent cover-up would expose the “real” powers who put President Obama into office in the first place.

With Obama’s “criminal regime” appearing near collapse, this GRU report concludes, the apparent “true participants” in the deadly and titanic political struggle now ongoing in America appear to be the powerful mobster forces linked to Katz and Lenfest being against the US intelligence services, and who may or may not be supporting Obama.

After all, this GRU grimly warns, the last time these two powerful forces fought against each other, it should not be forgotten that President Kennedy became one of its main casualties… but not its only one, as will surely be the case this time around too.

Sorcha Faal
WhatDoesItMean

Italian Scientist Cracks Mystery Code in Rare Copy of "Odyssey"!

An Italian computer engineer has apparently cracked the riddle of some mysterious handwritten notations that were discovered in the margins of 1504 Venetian edition of Homer’s Odyssey.

According to press reports, Daniele Metilli won a US $1,000 prize, that was awarded to him by the University of Chicago Library from a collector by the name of M.C. Lang (who had donated the book to the University of Chicago Library in 2007) for doing just that!

The Italian scientist who identified the mystery script as a system of shorthand invented by Frenchman Jean Coulon de Thevenot in the late 18th century, was quited as saying that although he reads Greek, and writes in French, as well as has spent days and nights trying to solve difficult word puzzles, he and his team rediscovered that the Odyssey was not an easy mystery to solve.

    "We approached the contest looking for an adventure, and we got it. It was a wonderful experience and we could not be more happy!”

"Una Faccia Una Razza" (One Face, One Race).

Bones Of Mystery Boy Found In Grave Spark New Investigation For Alex (VIDEO)

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A cemetery official was shocking with his testimony on the "Fos Sto Tunnel" show on ALPHA tv on Friday night. He spoke about the body of a little boy in a grave he discovered in a village called Rapsomaniki that could possibly be that of Alex Meschisvili.

Alex, was an 11-year old boy from Veria, Greece who disappeared on February 3, 2006. On June 3, 2006, the Greek press reported that five children aged between 12 and 13 years admitted to having hit and killed the 11-year-old, only to bury his body in the open space of a private building that was ready to be demolished. The murder was the first known case of a child's murder by teenagers in the crime history of Greece.

According to what is known, on February 3, Alex had not come home after going out in a basketball field to play with some of his friends. His parents started asking around and later reported him missing. The five children he was playing with pleaded that they did not know anything at the time. Four months later, and after tips from kids attending the same school as Alex, the police called the children back in for questioning, one at a time, and compared their alibis. The children each told different stories, so the police continued questioning them. Finally, the children individually confirmed the place where they had buried the body of Alex. Since then, investigators are still looking for the body.

During the show, one of the five boys from this gang broke his silence and spoke to the host Angeliki Nikolouli and gave new insight to this sensational murder case.

The show also featured a video with Alex's mother Natela who went to the Rapsomaniki cemetery (which is located outside of Veria), while at the same time revealed unknown details about the case that were not known until today. The show followed her every step and there was even some scenes of how the police, the local prosecution , the Church and even how some town authorities made it difficult for her to receive permission to remove the body that was discovered for DNA testing.

If you have been following the story, then you know that the case of Alex was brought to light by Angeliki Nikolouli. The hostess of the show even testified to the Special Magistrate Appeals in Thessaloniki about the case, and at the trial that followed. The children involved in the case were convicted, as were their parents and guardians.

How the body was found

A couple of weeks ago, Merkourios Kinigos was preparing a burial at the village Rapsomaniki Imathia. The village is located very near the town of Veria where Alex was scene last. As he began digging, he discovered the skeleton of a young child without any clothing about half a meter below the surface. On the show he told Nikolouli that he immediately became alarmed and informed the ecclesiastical commissioner, but he refrained from going to the police. He then took the initiative and buried the bones elsewhere in the cemetery.  Immediately the news reached the mother, and together with her husband she rushed to the cemetery. Following a series of endless meetings with local authorities, her request to remove the body for DNA testing was finally accepted. She is now waiting anxiously for the results.

All these years Natela never stopped searching for her missing son. As she was surfing the web one day she discovered an anonymous comment on a website claiming that Alex’s body was buried in the same cemetery.

The First Instance Court of Veria awarded Natela 150,000 Euros in compensation for the pain and suffering she endured after losing her only son.

Source - Fos Sto Tunnel

Have Scientists Found The One Missing 7 Wonders Of The World?

A 16th century depiction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, by Martin Heemskerck, with Tower of Babel in the background. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a report earlier this week, the Daily Mail claimed that scientists have identified the location of The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The gardens are the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World for which no archaeological evidence has ever been found.

According to the report, the historians believed for centuries that the Hanging Gardens were built in Babylon,in Iraq, by Emperor Nebuchadnezzar, and a closer analysis of these ancient texts have led  researchers to believe it was actually built 350 miles away in the city of  Nineveh, again in Iraq, by Assyrian King Sennacherib.

The Daily Mail’s article is based on a Channel 4 documentary called Finding Babylon’s Hanging Garden, in which Oxford University academic, Dr Stephanie Dalley describes where she believes to be the ruins to be. Click on the map to enlarge to see the locations on the Seven Wonders. I thought you might like to see the map of the locations of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Read the whole report here at the Daily Mail by clicking here

MYSTERY SOLVED - CIA Finally Declassifies Area 51

credit RT

The US government has admitted to the existence of a top-secret site in the Nevada desert, but the declassification will probably do little to calm ‘conspiracy theories’ over UFOs and other rumors involving the place.

George Washington University's National Security Archive obtained a CIA history of the U-2 spy plane, a high-altitude surveillance aircraft, through a freedom of information request, and released it Thursday.

National Security Archive senior fellow Jeffrey Richelson says he requested the information back in 2005 and received a version a few weeks ago.

According to the Archive’s website, the new information “is notable for the significant amount of newly declassified material with respect to the U-2 (spy plane project),” which provides the names of pilots, codenames and cryptonyms, as well as a map of the secret site where the jet was tested in the 1950s.

The story of Area 51 begins with the CIA searching for a reliable place to test the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft at a time when the military showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union was in high gear.

US pilots found what they were looking for at Groom Lake, a desert salt flat, on April 12, 1955, according to “The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance,” an internal CIA history of the U-2, written by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach.

     “President Eisenhower also approved the addition of this strip of wasteland, known by its map designation as Area 51, to the Nevada Test Site,” the authors wrote.

The U-2 spy plane flew at an altitude of 70,000 feet, which made some believe UFOs were buzzing Earth.

     "High-altitude testing of the U-2 soon led to an unexpected side effect – a tremendous increase in reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs)," the report states.

Richelson says the new document shows the CIA is becoming less secretive about Area 51's existence, and the activities that took place there.

     "It marks an end of official secrecy about the facts of Area 51," he told The Las Vegas Sun. "It opens up the possibility that future accounts of this and other aerial projects will be less redacted, more fully explained in terms of their presence in Area 51."

However, judging by the number of conspiracy theories involving Area 51, the release of the information may only serve to intensify rumors as to what else may have taken place on this lonely stretch of wasteland in the Nevada desert, which remains off-limits to this day.

Area 51 has come to be associated with a number of so-called urban legends, perhaps most famously the Roswell UFO incident that occurred on July 7, 1947 when an airborne object crashed on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico.

The US government said the crash involved a military surveillance balloon, but other reports said the object was a spacecraft containing extraterrestrial life.

Ever since the 1970s, speculation has been rife as to what really crashed in Roswell.

http://rt.com/usa/cia-area51-roswell-us-577/

X-Files - The Incredible Story of the Miraculous Icon of Panagia Soumela

The Evangelist Luke painted several Icons of the Holy Mother of God. One of these is the Panagia Soumela. After Saint Luke was crucified at 84 years of age, he was buried in he town of Thebes (modern-day Thiva). Paanagia SoumelaHis relics were transferred to Constantinople in the mid-fourth century to the Church of the Holy Apostles. After he died his companion Ananias become the caretaker of the icon he painted of the holy Mother.

In the late 3rd or early 4th century the icon was placed in a church in Athens dedicated to the Mother of God.

Barnabas and Sophronios

During the reign of Theodosios (379-395) a priest in Athens had a vision where the Mother of God told him that he and his nephew, a deacon, should become monks. After they were tonsured as Barnaabas and Sophronios, they went to venerate the wonder-working icon that saint Luke had painted on the Mother of God in Athens. As they knelt in front of this icon the Mother of God again spoke to them and told them that they should follow her and go east to Mount Melas. At the same time, angels appeared, lifting the icon and carrying it off. It was never seen again in Athens.

These two monks wandered towards the east stopping at Mount Athos, Latmos, and Papikon and then to Ephesus where they took a ship to the Black Sea. This part of the world (Asia Minor – modern day Turkey) was the center of Christian spirituality. This was the age of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory the Theologian, and the Second Ecumenical Council. Christianity had just become a state religion. It was also when Saint John Chrysostom was delivering his sermons in Constantinople and Saint Marcarius was preparing young Augustine for his baptism in Africa.

Baranabas and Sophronios visited Trebizond and wandered the region in search of Mount Melas. Mount MelasFinally, at one of their stops they met a farmer who advised them that they had encamped at the foot of Mount Melas. That next day they followed the river towards the top of the mountain and slept near the top. In the morning they found a dry cave a bit closer to the summit. they entered to investigate and this miraculous icon appeared in front of them. It was sitting on a high ledge bathed in light.

Without any resources they established life on the side of the steep mountain. One day a donkey appeared laden with food and he also carried a letter from the nearby monastery of Vazelon. The abbot wrote that the Mother of God had appeared to him and asked them to send food.

Shortly, word of the monks and the miraculous icon spread and pilgrims began to come. Some stayed to become monks. By the time of the death of the founders in 412 the monastery was flourishing. It was favored by the Byzantine emperors and was the most prosperous monastery in the Pontos region.

The monastery was sacked and destroyed in the 7th century by “Hagarenes” (probably non-Christian raiding parties from the south or Cretan Arabs who were pirating as far north as Trebizond on the Black Sea). The monastery was restored in 644 by an illiterate farmer named Christopher. The Mother of God appeared to him and instructed him to go to the local bishop to be ordained and then to go and rebuild her monastery. Miraculously when he arrived the chapel had been swept clean and when he picked up the Gospel he found he could read. Shortly, the monastery again prospered.

In 1461 the Turks occupied Trebizond and Pontos. The monastery was not affected until early in the 16th century when Sultan Selim I discovered the monastery and was angered by its wealth and prosperity. He ordered it to be destroyed. But as soon as he made the order he fell from his horse with convulsions. He recanted his order and was restored to health. When he returned to Constantinople he issued an imperial firman granting the monastery all the privileges it had enjoyed under Byzantine rule during the Comnenus Dynasty. Other sultans followed suit and the monastery enjoyed prosperity in the 18th and 19th century under Turkish rule.

This all came to an end with the genoside and exchange of populations which took place in 1923 in which all the Orthodox of Asia Minor were exiled to Greece. This forced the abandonment of the monastery. The monasteries treasures, which included the cross, gospel, icon and relics, were buried to hide them. The were not touched until 1933 when the Turkish government gave permission for them to be unearthed and taken to Greece. The monk Ambrosios visited the ruined monastery of Soumela and retrieved the holy icon and the rest ofthe church valuables and brought them to Athens.

The icon of the Panagia Soumela was kept in the Benaki Museum in Athens until 1952. Pontians who had been exiled to Greece from Pontos obtained the funds to build a church in a small village in Kastinia between Kozani and Veria.

The icon is coveredby a silver rriza depicting the Prphets david, Moses, Isaiah and Aaron flanking the Mother and Child. Time has worn the icon until the faces are indistinguishable, although an outline of one of the Virgin’s eyes is still faintly visible.

Today the icon is still revered and a copy now is kept at the monastery in South Carolina, Paracletos Greek Orthodox Monastery.

The Turkish government is now restoring the Monastery of Soumela, about 40 kilometers south of Trebizond, not as an Orthodox monastery, but as an historical tourist site, with more Turkish feeling than the original architecture.

The icon of Panagia Soumela took its name from the Monastery of Soumela in Pontos of Asia Minor. The name “Soumela” comes from “Stou Mela”, i.e. “at the mount Melas” and consequently signifies a particular locality in Pontos.

A short excerpt on the Monastery of Soumela in an interview with a Pontian Greek Orthodox Christian by Road to Emmaus Journal refeeenced below

“RTE: In your account of the Black Sea crypto-Christians, you frequently mention the Monastery of Panagia Soumela, between Trabzon and Kromni. According to the Greek tradition of the founder-monks, Sts. Barnabas and Sophronius, Soumela is even older than St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai.

GEORGE: Yes, we had three of the oldest monasteries in the world near Trebizond. The Pontian tradition describes them as: “Vazelon, the most ancient,” dedicated to St. John the Forerunner and built in this remote spot in 270, at the height of Emperor Diocletian’s persecution of Christians; “Panagia Soumela, the most famous,” founded in 383; and “St. George Peristereota, the most beautiful,” established in the early sixth century. They were living monasteries throughout the Byzantine and Ottoman periods until they were evacuated in 1923 during the European-engineered Exchange of Populations, when the monks were forced to leave. The monasteries were left to be ruined by weather and vandals. Archbishop Chrysanthos Filippides of Athens and All-Greece, the Metropolitan of Trebizond who fed the Turkish women and children during the Russian occupation of 1916, later remarked, “Through the guilty complicity of the western Christian powers, a glorious Christian civilization in the East has been destroyed. The Church of Trebizond has been banished, and our inheritance has been transferred to strangers.”

Paracletos Greek Orthodox Monastery.

X-Files - Ancient Pyramids, Possibly Man-Made, Discovered in Antarctic (VIDEO)

Three ancient pyramids have been discovered in the Antarctic by a team of American and European scientists. Two of the pyramids were discovered about 16 kilometers inland, while the third one was very close to the coastline. An expedition to the bizarre structures should answer the intriguing question whether they are artificial or natural.

The first reports about the pyramids appeared in western mass media last year. A few pictures were posted on some web-sites with a commentary that the strange structures could serve evidence that the ice-covered continent used to be warm enough to have had an ancient civilization living there.

At the current moment little is still known about the pyramids and the team continues to keep silent about the discovery. The only reliable information provided by the scientists was that they were planning an expedition to the pyramids to research them more thoroughly and determine for sure whether the structures were artificial or natural. No details about the time frame of the expedition were offered.

In case the researchers prove the pyramids are man-made structures, the discovery may bring about the biggest revision of human history ever made.

Meanwhile, a number of strange but interesting discoveries have been made lately in the Antarctic. In 2009 climate scientists found particles of pollen there, which could possibly testify that palm trees once grew in Antarctica and summer temperatures reached 21C. Three years later, in 2012, scientists from Nevada's Desert Research Institute identified 32 species of bacteria in samples of waters of Lake Vida in East Antarctica.

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X-Files - The Hidden World Found in Symbols (VIDEO)

(ALT Headlines via Activist Post) - In order to fully grasp and understand society, control, agendas, it helps to understand symbols and why they are prevalent. Symbols are a part of our daily lives but for most people they often go unseen. During our lives, at some point or another, every human being experiences an “a-ha” moment. That millisecond of conscious thought, in time and space, when someone realizes that the world is nothing like they thought it was.

From that moment on, they start seeing the world in a whole new way. It is almost as if the proverbial rose-colored glasses simply fell to the ground and got stepped on, breaking the chains that bound this person to a certain set of beliefs which dictated how they saw the world.

If you spend some time in the big city watching the hundreds of people mindlessly strolling along, you will realize that the majority of individuals tend to look downward towards the ground. This obviously has implications on how they see and interact with the world. However, every once in a while, some break free and have looked up to the moon, the stars and a bigger reality around them and nothing can be the same again.

Even the most seemingly innocent symbols have meaning hidden in them. Those in branding and marketing, the mad men of Madison Avenue, as well as those in power have an astute understanding of symbolism while most of the population is still looking downward muddling through life.

Most choose not to, or have not opened their eyes to the knowledge or understanding of what’s around them and how the manipulations by the few control the many. Symbols are one of the vehicles in which hidden messages and archetypes have a way of subtly influencing society.

“Occult” Simply Means “Hidden”

The word occult has a negative connotation in most people’s perception of it, however it literally can be defined as “hidden.” Many occult messages are found in symbols discovered all throughout history whether it’s the famous illuminati symbol of the all seeing eye, old Egyptian symbols, as well as many religious symbols which can be found throughout architecture all over Europe in the Western world. Many times there are hidden meanings in symbols, which are only known by a few, while the masses are taught an entirely different re-presentation of a certain symbol.

• What is the true meaning of the capstone of a pyramid?
• What is the all Seeing Eye?
• Why are gargoyles prevalent in old world architecture?
• Does the cross have multiple meanings?
• Why are secret societies into the occult?
• Are there hidden powers in symbols?

In the early part of this 21st century books such as Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code introduced symbols to the mainstream population, and a whole new generation of people started researching secret societies, special human bloodlines, secret agendas and other topics found within the book.

The above questions can be understood through the work of Jordan Maxwell a long time scholar of the occult and the esoteric. Since 1959 Jordan has done extensive lectures on this topic as well as appearing on over 600 radio shows.

Below is a must watch lecture on the hidden meaning of symbols for those who want to be able to go beyond and further than what was started for many with Dan Brown’s book. As Jordan humbly states:

     “I am simply an ordinary man pursuing extraordinary knowledge”.

This lecture is filled with over two hours of information in symbols and it is a good starting point on your pursuit of extraordinary hidden knowledge.

The 10 Inventions of Nikola Tesla That Changed The World

Nikola Tesla is finally beginning to attract real attention and encourage serious debate nearly 70 years after his death.  Was he for real? A crackpot? Part of an early experiment in corporate-government control?

We know that he was undoubtedly persecuted by the energy power brokers of his day -- namely Thomas Edison, whom we are taught in school to revere as a genius.  He was also attacked by J.P. Morgan and other "captains of industry." Upon Tesla's death on January 7th, 1943, the U.S. government moved into his lab and apartment confiscating all of his scientific research, some of which has been released by the FBI through the Freedom of Information Act. (I've embedded the first 250 pages below and have added a link to the .pdf of the final pages, 290 in total).

Besides his persecution by corporate-government interests (which is practically a certification of authenticity), there is at least one solid indication of Nikola Tesla's integrity -- he tore up a contract with Westinghouse that was worth billions in order to save the company from paying him his huge royalty payments. But, let's take a look at what Nikola Tesla -- a man who died broke and alone -- has actually given to the world.  For better or worse, with credit or without, he changed the face of the planet in ways that perhaps no man ever has.

1. Alternating Current -- This is where it all began, and what ultimately caused such a stir at the 1893 World's Expo in Chicago.  A war was leveled ever-after between the vision of Edison and the vision of Tesla for how electricity would be produced and distributed.  The division can be summarized as one of cost and safety: The DC current that Edison (backed by General Electric) had been working on was costly over long distances, and produced dangerous sparking from the required converter (called a commutator).  Regardless, Edison and his backers utilized the general "dangers" of electric current to instill fear in Tesla's alternative: Alternating Current.  As proof, Edison sometimes electrocuted animals at demonstrations.  Consequently, Edison gave the world the electric chair, while simultaneously maligning Tesla's attempt to offer safety at a lower cost.  Tesla responded by demonstrating that AC was perfectly safe by famously shooting current through his own body to produce light.  This Edison-Tesla (GE-Westinghouse) feud in 1893 was the culmination of over a decade of shady business deals, stolen ideas, and patent suppression that Edison and his moneyed interests wielded over Tesla's inventions. Yet, despite it all, it is Tesla's system that provides power generation and distribution to North America in our modern era.

2. Light -- Of course he didn't invent light itself, but he did invent how light can be harnessed and distributed.  Tesla developed and used florescent bulbs in his lab some 40 years before industry "invented" them. At the World's Fair, Tesla took glass tubes and bent them into famous scientists' names, in effect creating the first neon signs.  However, it is his Tesla Coil that might be the most impressive, and controversial.  The Tesla Coil is certainly something that big industry would have liked to suppress: the concept that the Earth itself is a magnet that can generate electricity (electromagnetism) utilizing frequencies as a transmitter.  All that is needed on the other end is the receiver -- much like a radio.

3. X-rays -- Electromagnetic and ionizing radiation was heavily researched in the late 1800s, but Tesla researched the entire gamut. Everything from a precursor to Kirlian photography, which has the ability to document life force, to what we now use in medical diagnostics, this was a transformative invention of which Tesla played a central role.  X-rays, like so many of Tesla's contributions, stemmed from his belief that everything we need to understand the universe is virtually around us at all times, but we need to use our minds to develop real-world devices to augment our innate perception of existence.

4. Radio -- Guglielmo Marconi was initially credited, and most believe him to be the inventor of radio to this day.  However, the Supreme Court overturned Marconi's patent in 1943, when it was proven that Tesla invented the radio years previous to Marconi.  Radio signals are just another frequency that needs a transmitter and receiver, which Tesla also demonstrated in 1893 during a presentation before The National Electric Light Association.  In 1897 Tesla applied for two patents  US 645576, and US 649621. In 1904, however, The U.S. Patent Office reversed its decision, awarding Marconi a patent for the invention of radio, possibly influenced by Marconi's financial backers in the States, who included Thomas Edison and Andrew Carnegie. This also allowed the U.S. government (among others) to avoid having to pay the royalties that were being claimed by Tesla.

5. Remote Control -- This invention was a natural outcropping of radio. Patent No. 613809 was the first remote controlled model boat, demonstrated in 1898.  Utilizing several large batteries; radio signals controlled switches, which then energized the boat's propeller, rudder, and scaled-down running lights. While this exact technology was not widely used for some time, we now can see the power that was appropriated by the military in its pursuit of remote controlled war. Radio controlled tanks were introduced by the Germans in WWII, and developments in this realm have since slid quickly away from the direction of human freedom.

6. Electric Motor -- Tesla's invention of the electric motor has finally been popularized by a car brandishing his name.  While the technical specifications are beyond the scope of this summary, suffice to say that Tesla's invention of a motor with rotating magnetic fields could have freed mankind much sooner from the stranglehold of Big Oil.  However, his invention in 1930 succumbed to the economic crisis and the world war that followed. Nevertheless, this invention has fundamentally changed the landscape of what we now take for granted: industrial fans, household applicances, water pumps, machine tools, power tools, disk drives, electric wristwatches and compressors.

7. Robotics -- Tesla's overly enhanced scientific mind led him to the idea that all living beings are merely driven by external impulses.  He stated: "I have by every thought and act of mine, demonstrated, and does so daily, to my absolute satisfaction that I am an automaton endowed with power of movement, which merely responds to external stimuli."  Thus, the concept of the robot was born.  However, an element of the human remained present, as Tesla asserted that these human replicas should have limitations -- namely growth and propagation. Nevertheless, Tesla unabashedly embraced all of what intelligence could produce.  His visions for a future filled with intelligent cars, robotic human companions, and the use of sensors, and autonomous systems are detailed in a must-read entry in the Serbian Journal of Electrical Engineering, 2006 (PDF).

8. Laser -- Tesla's invention of the laser may be one of the best examples of the good and evil bound up together within the mind of man.  Lasers have transformed surgical applications in an undeniably beneficial way, and they have given rise to much of our current digital media. However, with this leap in innovation we have also crossed into the land of science fiction.  From Reagan's "Star Wars" laser defense system to today's Orwellian "non-lethal" weapons' arsenal, which includes laser rifles and directed energy "death rays," there is great potential for development in both directions.

9 and 10. Wireless Communications and Limitless Free Energy -- These two are inextricably linked, as they were the last straw for the power elite -- what good is energy if it can't be metered and controlled?  Free?  Never.  J.P. Morgan backed Tesla with $150,000 to build a tower that would use the natural frequencies of our universe to transmit data, including a wide range of information communicated through images, voice messages, and text.  This represented the world's first wireless communications, but it also meant that aside from the cost of the tower itself, the universe was filled with free energy that could be utilized to form a world wide web connecting all people in all places, as well as allow people to harness the free energy around them.  Essentially, the 0's and 1's of the universe are embedded in the fabric of existence for each of us to access as needed.  Nikola Tesla was dedicated to empowering the individual to receive and transmit this data virtually free of charge.  But we know the ending to that story . . . until now?

Tesla had perhaps thousands of other ideas and inventions that remain unreleased.  A look at his hundreds of patents shows a glimpse of the scope he intended to offer.  If you feel that the additional technical and scientific research of Nikola Tesla should be revealed for public scrutiny and discussion, instead of suppressed by big industry and even our supposed institutions of higher education, join the world's call to tell power brokers everywhere that we are ready to Occupy Energy and learn about what our universe really has to offer.

The release of Nikola Tesla's technical and scientific research -- specifically his research into harnessing electricity from the ionosphere at a facility called Wardenclyffe -- is a necessary step toward true freedom of information.  Please add your voice by sharing this information with as many people as possible.

For additional information about the demand for release, or to use as a template to form your own demand, please visit: http://releaseteslasresearch.weebly.com/

As they state:

    Tell your friends, bring it up and discuss it at your next general assembly, do whatever you can to get the word out, organize locally to make a stand for the release of Nikola Tesla's research.... America is tired of corrupt corporate greed, supported by The American government, holding us back in a stagnant society in the name of profit . . . The Energy Crisis is a lie.

As an aside: there are some who have pointed out that Tesla's experimentation with the ionosphere very well could have caused the massive explosion over Tunguska, Siberia in 1908, which leveled an estimated 60 million trees over 2,150 square kilometers, and may even have led to the much maligned HAARP technology.  I submit that we would do well to remember that technology is never the true enemy; it is the misuse of technology that can enslave rather than free mankind from its animal-level survivalism.

activistpost.com

Additional Sources:

• http://www.electroherbalism.com/Bioelectronics/Tesla/TeslaversusEdison.htm
• https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/%21/petition/release-nikola-teslas-technical...
• http://science.howstuffworks.com/nikola-tesla1.htm
• http://teslapress.com/blackout.html
• https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/History_of_radio
• http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ins/lab_remotec.html
• http://home.earthlink.net/~drestinblack/didyouknow.htm
• http://sites.google.com/site/teslanichelson/home
• http://www.world-mysteries.com/dougy.htm
• http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/28/4/1189.full

X-Files - The Mystery of the Tomb of Christ (VIDEO)

Pilgrims from every nation of the world pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.Six Christian groups occupy the church and offer religious services and liturgies  - Latin Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Syrians, Copts, and Ethiopians. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, or the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the Christian Quarter of the walled Old City of Jerusalem and only a few steps away from the Muristan. The site is venerated as Golgotha (the Hill of Calvary), where Jesus was crucified, and is said also to contain the place where Jesus was buried (the Sepulchre).

Today it also serves as the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, while control of the building is shared between several Christian churches and secular entities in complicated arrangements essentially unchanged for centuries. Today, the church is home to Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Anglican, Nontrinitarian and Protestant Christians have no permanent presence in the church – and some regard the alternative Garden Tomb, elsewhere in Jerusalem, as the true place of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection. (Wikipedia)

The Following Article was written by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos for johnsanidopoulos

The Despotic Feasts were established by the Church to be celebrated within the year for us to remember the great events that took place with the Incarnation, the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ, but especially, and above all, to experience the mystery of Christ and the mystery of our regeneration. This is the reason why the celebration of these events are preceded by a period repentance, fasting and prayer, and all are linked with the Divine Liturgy and the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, which means our own existential participation in these great and wonderful events.

In regards to the feasts of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, the central points of the celebration are horrible Goglotha and the life-giving Tomb of Christ, which are located in Jerusalem, and are the center of our love and worship towards the suffering and risen Christ. Golgotha is associated with the Cross of Christ and His Tomb with His holy Resurrection.

On the occasion of the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ we will now need to turn our attention to Christ's Tomb, the empty memorial, in which was placed the glorious Body of Christ, after His death on the Cross and being unnailed from it.

The Historical Site and the Mystery

The Tomb of Christ is a historical site, above which the piety of Saint Constantine and Saint Helen founded the Church of the Resurrection, but it was also the center of love and reverence for the early and later Christians. Billions of Christians throughout the ages have placed there their love and their reverence and have been helped in the course of their lives, as well as being spiritually reborn. It is, therefore, a historical event, but it is also a mystery.

The hymns of the Church speak of the value of the Tomb of Christ, in as much as it was the special place in which the Body of Christ was entombed after His unnailing from the Cross, and in so far as the mystery is associated with it.

In one hymn from the Canon of Great Saturday it is written: "the Tomb and the winding-sheet reveal your deepest mystery, O Word" (Ode 5, Eirmos 2). The Tomb received the Body of Christ with His Divinity, and shows that death cannot hold Christ. We Christians believe in the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ.

In another hymn of the same Canon is chanted the following: "O blessed Tomb that sheltered the sleep of the Creator! You have become the divine treasure of life; this was done for our salvation, and we praise Him: Blessed are you, O Lord, for you redeemed us" (Ode 7, Eirmos 2). That is, the Tomb of Christ has become "blessed" because the Creator was contained within as if He was sleeping. Although the Body of Christ died on the Cross, because of His Divinity death was like sleep, "life-breathing sleep", which gives life. So this Tomb has become a divine treasure of life and contributes to the salvation of we who praise the Risen Redeemer Christ.

The Tomb of Christ is praised in another hymn as life-giving and more beautiful than Paradise. It says: "How life-giving, how more beautiful than paradise, and truly more resplendent than any royal palace is Your Tomb, the source of our resurrection, O Christ."

The Holy Altar and the Heart

The physical Tomb of Christ is in Jerusalem which was indicated and established by the historic Church and the love of Christians. At the same time, however, the Eucharistic tomb is the Holy Altar, on which is performed the bloodless mystagogy, and from where is proclaimed to the whole world the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ, which regenerates all who approach Him, with Orthodox presuppositions, and desire to taste the Body and Blood of Christ. The mystery of the Tomb and Resurrection of Christ is lived by those who are regenerated by the Holy Mysteries, especiall the central Mystery which is the Divine Eucharist.

Saint Maximus the Confessor gives another interpretation of the mystery of the Tomb which shows the Resurrection of Christ. He writes: "The cosmos is a despotic tomb which is also in the hearts of all the faithful." The cosmos is a despotic tomb, because in it exists the logoi of beings, the uncreated energies of God; moreover the heart of man is a despotic tomb because there Christ rests and rises in human existence. For this reason, as he continues to say, they will see Him "risen in glory", while for others who don't have Him entombed within themselves Christ will be "invisible".

These days we are always honoring and reverencing the Tomb of Christ in Jerusalem, which shows the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, but we are also linked with the Holy Altar, the empty memorial, and we strive to offer our heart to Christ in order to make it a despotic tomb. This is how the saints lived throughout the centuries and this was revealed by the Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Fathers, Venerable Ones, and Ascetics who sacrificed their entire lives for the Risen Christ. They did not do this because they studied historical events, but they were inspired by the experience of the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ.

Let us pray that the Risen Christ reveal to us constantly the mystery of the life of salvation and let us hear Him proclaim the mystery of His Resurrection which will gladden our existence. Let us always be linked to the Tomb of Christ which is the Holy Altar. The life and voice of the Risen Christ can eclipse and neutralize all human voices of dead intellectuals who question the greatest event in history, the Resurrection of Christ.

X-Files - Greek And Cypriot Superstitions, Rituals And Beliefs

What frightens us, what makes us laugh, what makes us love, what makes us upset and why do we believe the things we do? People are indeed an enigma, and no two are alike, yet for some, superstition binds them in a web of fear. Ever wonder where superstitions first originated?

Why do we throw salt over our left shoulder for luck and why do we turn the other way when we see a black cat crossing our paths? Do we know why we believe in superstitions? Is it a habit, or is it something that we were taught to do?

What causes some people to believe in what others may think is silly? Can there be some true medical or physiological reason behind superstitions? What are some things people can do to ease their fears tied to superstitions? Can beliefs in superstition get out-of-hand? Are superstitions cultural?

These and many other questions will be answered today, as Hellas frappe opens the X-Files on Greek and Cypriot superstitions.

For as long as humans have been making sounds and instruments, magical methods have been created in the attempt to control the forces of nature and the life and death matters of daily existence. Good and evil befall us without rhyme or reason. We imagine spirits or intelligible forces causing our good and bad fortune. We invent ways to placate them or direct them.

While many people do believe that some supernatural phenomena are real, almost all of us recognize that at least many of these superstitions aren't really real. But wait a minute, if they aren't real then why do we react the way we do and feel better for doing so after that?

Certainly this has a lot to do with the power of the mind, but we are not sociologists, or anthropologists here at HellasFrappe and we certainly never mastered the psychology so we can't really offer scientific reasoning, the only thing we can conclude is that we believe the things we believe in because they have been around for many generations. This is an important factor because the things we believe in have been passed down to us from mother to daughter, and from father to sun. There was never any scientific reasoning behind these beliefs, because quite simply people were less educated and could not understand certain phenomena.

For instance, mirrors show reflections or shadows fall when light is coming from the opposite direction. Tens of hundreds of years ago this could not be explained without science, so the people at the time concluded that reflections and shadows are part of their soul. That is why they considered it unlucky when a glass or mirror was broken because they believed their soul would get harmed. So people, breaking mirrors were considered harmful and unlucky.

There are of course some exceptions to some of these superstitions such as the evil eye. For some odd reason throwing a couple of drops of olive oil into a plate with some water and chanting some words makes the person across the room feel better. But do we feel better because the olive oil is trapping this evil eye, or do we feel better because our subconscious is telling us to stop feeling sick? This we cannot answer because the power of the mind itself is an enigma. Besides, if we did that, then we wouldn't be operating a blog, but a mental health clinic.

As Greeks, we know that almost every action we make (or don’t make) could quite possibly have an indirect consequence on how the rest of our life plays out.

Every culture has their fair share of superstitions. Some are common among parallel societies, while others remain unique within a specific country and certainly the Greek culture is surrounded with superstitions.

So here are a few unusual Greek superstitions that you may or may not have heard of.

•     EVIL EYE - Probably the most famous superstition of all is the evil eye. Belief in the evil eye is ancient and widespread; it occurred in ancient Greece and Rome and is found in Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu and Christian cultures, being particularly prevalent today in the Mediterranean and Aegean. Think back to when someone complimented you, and then you developed a painful headache. The belief is complex, but the idea is that if you act in such a way that people begin to envy you, their thoughts of envy will bring about the ‘evil eye’ and begin to bring misfortune into your life or make you feel dizzy and ill. Where does it come from? The origin of the concept is ancient but it’s present in ancient Greek texts such as those of Plutarch or Aristophanes. Others argue that it has roots in evolutionary psychology and the need for no one individual to become too proud and ostentatious, which may explain its prevalence in areas far beyond the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It’s such an ancient belief, however, that no one really knows for sure. To ward off the Evil Eye you can wear blue beads as a necklace or bracelet, or get someone to chant a mystical prayer. This is an issue over which Greek Church and folklore are both united and separated. They are joined in their belief that the curse of the evil eye exists, but divided on how it can be warded off or tackled.  The Greek Orthodox Church has recognized the evil eye since the establishment of the faith. The church calls it Vaskania (pronounced Vas-ka-nee-a) and has a special prayer made especially to help cure those who have fallen under the curse. As for the prayer that is designed to alleviate the symptoms, the priests were insistent in their belief that it should be done by a member of the church rather than a layman. Common practice in Greek society has it that people are taught the prayer by a priest and will use it themselves to 'treat' cursed friends and relatives, sometimes even over the phone. Some believe that for a woman to be able to do the prayer she must be taught it by a man.
•     SNEEZING - If, on the other, you sneeze, somebody is talking about you, or at least that's what an old Greek superstition claims. If you want to find out who it is then begin listing names. If saying one name stops the sneezing, then that is the person that is talking about you. If that doesn't work, ask someone for a three digit number (three for the Holy Trinity). Add the numbers. If the number is higher than the number of letters in the alphabet - 24 in Greek, 26 in English, add the digits. Using the resulting number and counting such that A or a is 1, B or b is 2, etc., find the letter indicated by the number. This will be the first initial of the person talking about you. And if all else fails and you can't figure it all out, then just spit three times on your chest to avoid the evil eye, or our advice would be to take some flu medication.
•     ITCHY HANDS - An itchy hand says that you will be receiving or giving money. If your right hand is itchy, you will receive money, but oh boy if your left hand is itchy then get ready to pay some hefty bills. If on the other both hands are itchy then you will both give and receive money. Roots of favoring the right side can be seen in the Orthodox Church, where the Son of God sits to the right of the father.
•     SPITTING - Some people spit because they have a build-up of saliva, but in Greece many people spit to ward off evil. For instance, when someone hears bad news, they might spit on themselves three times to stop the possibility of anything bad happening to them. They don't actually use saliva in the process, it's more of a "Ptew, Ptew, Ptew." Some people who believe this might even raise their shirts and spit between their clothes towards their chest. Greek fishermen also spit into their nets to allow for a good catch. If someone compliments a Greek, to avoid the evil eye they may spit onto themselves, and may say to the person "ptew, ptew, ptew min me matiasis", which basically says, "I'm spitting on myself so that you do not cause the evil eye to come upon me." Spitting is believed to be very effective against the evil eye. We also see it in Greek-Orthodox religious rituals. During a baptism, the priest will blow into the air three times to glorify the Trinity, and spit into the ground three times at the devil. The practice of spitting three times is believed to come from this.
•     GARLIC - A clove of garlic can also protect wearers (and send vampires running - lol). Some people even keep garlic in their pockets (hope they are wearing cologne). Garlic is believed to ward off demons and evil spirits.
•     SALT - In Greek superstition salt has great purifying powers and can be used to ward off demons and evil spirits. And this can be done simply by throwing it over your left shoulder. In some areas of Greece, new homes are "purified" from evil by sprinkling salt to remove any demons or lurking evil spirits, but did you know that salt can also be used to remove unwanted guests? Salt can either be sprinkled on their chair or thrown behind them, but be careful that your guest does not see this because if they do then the power of the salt is weakened, or so the superstition says. Another claim is that salt should be covered at night. If the moon or the stars shine upon the salt, whoever carries it will develop warts or a rash on their body.
•     CROWS - Crows are considered omens of bad news, misfortune and death. When you see or hear a crow cawing, you say "Sto Kalo… Sto Kalo…. Kala Nea na mou Feris" which loosely translates to "Go well into the day and bring me good news". Crows, and their raven cousins, have always held a spot in mythology as the symbols of occult knowledge and power, wisdom, and, above all, war. Associated with the other world, war, and death, perhaps from their macabre attendance on the battlefield, these birds have accompanied such mythological figures as the Norse God Odin, the Greek god Apollo. Perhaps because of their connection with war and death, crows have generally been seen as symbols of ill fortune.
•     SAILING - Even Greek seamen have their own superstitions. It used to be an ill omen to start a voyage on certain days of the week. Friday was one, the origin of this being that the Crucifixion took place on a Friday. Other days are the first Monday in April, believed to be the birthday of Cain and the day on which Abel was killed; the second Monday in August, thought to be the day on which Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed; and December 31st, the anniversary of the day on which Judas Iscariot hanged himself. Another omen was that if the cargo being brought on board heeled the ship to steer board, or starboard, storms would blow; but if it heeled to lead board then the voyage would be successful.
•     GIFT OF COLOGNE – In Greece it is customary that when you give someone the gift of cologne that they must first give you a metal coin in return or you will be cursed with bad luck. Also, if a couple gives each other cologne or perfume and does not gift a metal coin, then they are in danger of breaking up!
•     MONEY - Greeks believe that money attracts money, so never leave your pockets, purses or wallets completely empty and never completely empty out your bank account. Always leave at least a couple of coins. It is also considered good luck that when you give a gift of a wallet or a purse, that you put a coin or two in it before giving it to the recipient.
•     FISH - Fish are believed to be wise and knowledgeable. But the Church also sees the fish as a revered symbol of silence. Fish don’t speak or make noise. Perhaps some of you have seen the sign of the fish in your own church, as many non-Orthodox religions also use its symbolism with the Greek letters ΙΧΘΥΣ ΙΧΘΥΣ- "Ichthis", which means fish and also the Greek term for the zodiac sign of Pisces. But it also has a deeper meaning. If each letter is taken individually, you will see its religious significance.
•     OREGANO - As well as being used for medicine and flavoring, the oregano herb was used in ritual and traditional ceremonies. In Roman and Ancient Greek wedding ceremonies, the bride and groom were crowned with oregano laurels and considered this as a must so that they can have a long and happy life. Oregano was also used in ancient funerals and was grown around tombs and on graves.
•     SHOES - Overturned shoes (soles up) are considered to be bad luck and even omens of death. Never let your shoes lay upside down. If you accidentally take them off and they land soles up, turn them over immediately and say ‘Skorda (garlic)’ and a spit or two won’t hurt either.
•     TALISMANS – FILAXTA - Talismans or ‘Filahta’ are regularly used in Greece and worn by many, many people, especially children. Most commonly you will see these charms pinned to the backs of small children’s and infant’s clothing. But you will also find that many elders carry them in their pockets, wallets and/or purses or have them discretely pinned to their clothing as well. They are used to ward off the evil eye. There are numerous items that are used for Filahta, or what the Greek Orthodox Church calls Baskania. Of course, there are the simple gold crosses or medals of Saints, and evil eyes and beads, but there are also small pieces of cloth sewn into sachets, holding an array of mysterious contents. These sachets can be filled with pieces of olive branch or basil that have been used by a priest in some ceremony, dirt from the grave of a Saint or maybe burnt candle shavings from a Church altar. Anything can be used for these charms, but the rule is that it has to be something from holy ground or something that has been blessed. Any one item or a combination is sewn into a very small, triangular sachet and sometimes adorned with beads in the sign of the cross.
•     TOUCH RED - It might be considered a form of ESP or maybe just coincidence, but sometimes two people have the same thought and speak the same words at the same time. Take for example two girlfriends going out shopping together and stopping to admire a dress in a window. They both say the words "that’s beautiful" and presto, they get the sudden urge to touch red. The Greeks believe that this is an omen and that if these two friends do not touch red right then and there they will surely get into a fight.
•     TUESDAY THE 13 - The Greek "Friday the 13th" Alternative. Indeed different from Western cultures, Greeks consider the Tuesday the 13th unlucky.
•     WHOPPING COUGH - In the days before vaccinations, Greeks believed that donkey’s milk should be given to a child infected with whooping cough. According to old wives tales, there is some kind of substance in the milk that cures the illness.
•     CURSE OF A PARENT - It is believed by some that a curse of a parent will take effect as it will fall on the ears of God, who will pull his protection away from the disrespectful child. This in Greek is called a “Parahorisi". There are two forms of Parahorisis one is for the good as is the case with gifts from God such as being able to see Prophesy (St. John the Evangelist), smell myrrh (Jacob) etc.  And the other form of Parahorisis is the feared form which can result in the worst case Possessio.
•     BAD ENERGY - Regardless of whether they consider themselves religious, many Greeks believe in something beyond the reach of the Orthodox Church, or bad energy, and it is usually caused by people thinking about you in a negative way. If they envy you, or talk behind your back, they will send you bad vibes, which can make you feel stressed, give you headaches or an upset stomach. If you want to prevent it from happening to you, wear a light-blue eye or some stone of the same color. Or you can have an elder (preferably female) pray for you so that this bad energy can be released into the cosmos. (Silly, but effective).
•     DOGS - Greeks thought dogs could foresee evil. A howling dog at night means bad luck or somebody close to you will be very sick or worse.
•     OWLS - Owls have carried a mixed bag of superstitions. The ancient Greeks revered owls and believed them sacred to Athena. Affiliated with the goddess of wisdom and learning, the owl was considered wise and kind. But somewhere in time, the owl's reputation plummeted and hearing the hoot of an owl is now associated with bad luck. To counter evil owl power put irons in your fire. Or throw salt, hot peppers or vinegar into the fire, the owl will get a sore tongue, hoot no more, and no one close to you will be in trouble. When you hear an owl, take off your clothes, turn them inside out and put them back on. (You might not want to do this if you are in public - lol). But here is the best part, considering you are a single female, when an eligible groom eats roasted owl he will be obedient and a slave to his woman.
•     PEACOCKS - A peacock feather has an evil eye at the end. In Greek mythology Argus said a hundred eyed monster was turned into a peacock with all its eyes in its tail. Guess that is why Greeks think twice about brining a peacock feather indoors for decoration since they are very unlucky.
•     SWANS - A swan's feather, sewed into the husband's pillow, will ensure fidelity. In ancient Greece, the swan was dedicated to Apollo, the God of music, which may account for the belief which has developed that when one of the birds is dying it, sings, thus giving rise to the expression "swan song". Actually the bird makes its usual hissing sound, but there is still much faith in the belief that when one of them lies its head and neck back over its body during the daytime then a storm is on the way.
•     HORSESHOES - There is no greater symbol of better luck than finding a horseshoe with the open hoof space facing toward the fortunate discoverer. No ill omens seem to be connected with this particular superstition. Even if a person merely dreams of finding a horseshoe, good luck will come to him or her. Today, it is not quite as easy to find a discarded horseshoe as it was in the days before the automobile became the principal means of transportation, so perhaps the horseshoe is even luckier in the twenty-first century than it was in the past. Also, keep in mind that the last letter in the Greek alphabet, Omega, is shaped like a horseshoe, and perhaps the ancient Greeks used reverse psychology when they tacked a symbol of "the end" on their walls to protect themselves from diseases such as the plague. On the other hand, the Romans must have thought the horseshoe was an able defender against the terrible disease, because from what we know they followed the Greek custom of placing horseshoes on their walls.
•     BASIL - Hippocrates used to prescribe basil as a treatment for heart, nausea and constipation. The ancient Greeks believed that putting a spring of basil in the hands of the dead would open heaven’s gates for them. Basil is also used in the Greek Orthodox Church for the preparation of the holy water. Even today, many Greeks take their pots full of basil to church for a blessing or to give them as a gift. The Greek name for basil is “Vassilikos” which means “royal”, and it has always represented health and prosperity for Greeks. There is also the superstition, still palpable among Greeks, that if you keep a pot with basil at the entrance door of your house you will have lots of luck and money (this is questionable, but you certainly will not have a problem with mosquitoes and flies!).
•     PERFORMING THE SIGN OF THE CROSS - The cross sign is made in the church, before meals and sometimes when paying a compliment in order to ward off the evil eye. When Greeks talk about something terrible that has happened, they might also do the sign of the cross. If they pass by a church they will also perform the sign of the cross, regardless if they are walking or travelling by bus, car or driving a motorbike.
•     DRIED FLOWER WREATHS - The wreaths are put on the front door on May 1st of every year (or international Labor Day), and they have supposedly fallen off at the end of the summer when they are all dried up. The reason behind this ritual or superstition is so that all can enjoy a bountiful harvest. Also, in ancient times this was a kind of measurement of time.
•     SMOKED CROSS ON DOOR - After midnight mass on the eve of Easter Sunday, all church goers will receive the Holy Light back to bless their homes. Before entering their homes they will make a cross sign at the head of the entrance. This is believed to bring good health and fortune to all family members.
•       BREAD - Bread is considered a gift from God. It has roots from the bible story, Sermon on the Mount, of how Jesus Christ fed thousands with the fish and the bread. The older village women always make the sign of the cross over a fresh loaf before slicing it. No bread is ever thrown away. If it is not eaten in some way or another, it is fed to the animals - chickens or pigs, and even dogs, as it would be a sin for it to end up in the garbage and has to be consumed by some living creature. And even though this might sound silly, if the Greeks are obligated to throw out stale bread, they kiss it before placing it into the rubbish bin as a sign of respect. Also, eating the rough ends of the bread loaf means that your mother-in-law will like you.
•       CACTUS - No Greek home would be complete without at least one cactus positioned somewhere near the front entrance. (Usually this would be in a huge "Feta" tin or garden pot). According to old wives tales, the cactus proudly wards off the evil eye from all the property.
•       KNIVES - Never hand someone a knife. It is believed that you first have to set it down and allow the person who is asking for the knife to pick it up themselves. If you don't there is a Greek superstition that says that you will get into a fight with that person.
•        OLIVE LEAVES - The olive leaf is a key character in Cypriot superstitions. If you manage to get off the beaten track in Cyprus and experience some village life, you will probably come across the custom of burning olive leaves. Olive leaf burning is again done to defend you against the evil eye. A member of the family burns the leaves in a pot and waves smoke towards you to protect you. So if you are having a run of bad luck you may want to give this a try! If you spend New Year’s Eve in Cyprus, you will also notice Greek Cypriot wreaths made from olive leaves hung on people’s doors. Cypriots hang the wreaths believing that they will bring a blessing from St Basil.
•       LOUKOUMADES - During the Greek Orthodox epiphany celebrations when Loukoumades (small little doughnuts) are prepared, it’s traditional to toss the first one from the frying pan onto the roof of the house. The reason for this is to appease any evil spirits who may be skulking around the home. (Lol)

Luckily for Greece, as well as Cyprus, there are also many ways to get luck on your side. Drinking the last drop of beer or wine out of a carafe means that you will get married, if you spill coffee into the saucer under the cup, you will become rich and if you smash a piece of pomegranate fruit at the beginning of the new year will allow you to expect for good things to happen. Superstitions are primitive instincts that will continue to lurk in the back of our minds no matter how intelligent or practical society we are. Besides, why condemn beliefs which are etched into our culture and heritage?

Greece and Cyprus will forever remain superstitious. We know that superstition has given us delusions and illusions, dreams and visions, etc. We also know that science has given us all we have of value, for it is the only "civilized" form of belief, but nonetheless we continue to believe in various superstitions nonetheless. The reason for this is, that science might of clothed the naked, fed the hungry, lengthened life, given mankind electricity, pictures and books, ships and railways, telegraphs, engines, computers, satellites, and it even destroyed the beliefs in monsters, phantoms, and all the winged horrors that fill the savage brain ... But why oh why can’t it alleviate the symptoms of the evil eye?

Certainly this is puzzling.