The Effects Of Music On People s Behavior Change After...

Music has been used in our history for thousands of years. Notes weaved together to form stories and beats that pleased the ear. Rarely a master of this art would be able to put his or her audience in a trance, causing them to feel what their music portrays. Most individuals have felt these behavioral enhancing effects of music. The Goosebumps of a beginning cord to an orchestra or the first verse of a chorus that strikes deep within you. Procurers of music know these feelings well but does music leave a permeating effect on individuals? Can music have such an effect that suddenly being without the stimulation of chords and words that it can cause an adverse impact on people s behavior? The purpose of this paper is to ask and solve the question: â€Å"Does a person’s behavior change after the music has been removed from a daily use? To answer this question, the researchers will use individuals within a college setting. College is well known to be a large environment for mental stress as well as physical changes to an individual’s body due to high levels of stress. Finding an answer to the hypothesis will either add more information to the many other studies that are slowly showing music’s effect on mental as well as physical health. If an answer cannot be reached then hopefully the study will help the next study that comes along. The original idea of this study came from The Handbook of Emotion Elicitation and Assessment by James A. Coan, John J.B. Allen, and John J. B. Allen.Show MoreRelatedEffectiveness of Music Therapy Essay1564 Words   |  7 PagesMusic is composed of sounds intertwined with melody and rhythm that can have powerful effects on a person. It can help people focus on tasks or calm the mind. Research has shown that music has beneficial effects on the mind, body, and health of a person. A journal article by Rastogi, Solanki, and Zafar (2013) refers, on the contrary, to: ‘Controlled use of music and its influence on the human being in physiological, psychological, and emotional integration of the individual during treatment of anRead MoreNegative Effects of Rap Music Essay932 Words   |  4 Pagesthe 1990s rap music became a major part of the industry and topped the charts. As people began to want different things; different music was created and that contributed to the variety of music that we have today. This is one of the many things that makes America different but is severely under looked by everyone. The way it effects your emotion can either get the blood pumping with a quick adrenaline boost or can cause severe depression. It can be a positive or negative mental change, physical, andRead MorePiracy Trends and Effects986 Words   |  4 Pagesdownloading of music. Technology, Human Behavior and no global obligation are the main reasons for this trend which finally effects on different issues (e.g., music market progression, buy CDs). Th is essay is structured as one reason and possible effects in each paragraph and finally to sum up with conclusion paragraph. The technology development of computer and communication led to increase the illegal downloading of digital multimedia (e.g. music). In general, there is no change in the behavior of buyersRead MoreMusic As A Universal Experience1375 Words   |  6 Pages Music used as an Educational Tool in Advanced Higher Learning Tennessee State University Miller, Cordell 4/21/2016 â€Æ' Musical Minds â€Å"Musical is a universal experience. With few exceptions, all humans perceive musical pitch, tone, timbre, and harmony. We listen to music to relax, to help us think, to celebrate, and grieve. Our emotional responses to music have been noted in literature, poetry, and drama. The power of music to evoke an emotional response is used by advertising companiesRead MoreMusic And How It Can Heal People1632 Words   |  7 PagesMusic and how it can heal people is becoming a widely global trend. This is due to experts in music that have devoted their time and effort in developing new ways to use their expertise. One of the ways that they have discovered is the use of music as a therapy. Nowadays, Music Therapists have been added as a profession and are now breaking down the walls of silence and affliction of depression anxiety, autism, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson s disease. Music therapy can be define as music performanceRead MoreIncrease of Illegal Downloading of Music794 Words   |  3 PagesThere are many reasons for increasing the illegal downloading for music in the last years. The technology development of computer and communication led to increase the illegal downloading of digital multimedia (e.g. music). In general, there is no change in the behavior of buyers, but starting of internet network and uprising of computerized systems, result in latest rise in piracy. The digital revolution has been one of the most important causes in control of piracy. As the arrival of the digitalRead MoreThe Healing Power Of Music1612 Words   |  7 PagesThe Healing Power of Music The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, defines Alzheimer’s as being the most common form of dementia, occurring in 60% to 80% of people suffering from symptoms of dementia (Clair Tomaino, 2016). The foundation also states that it is an irreversible disease that progresses over time, destroying cognitive functions such as: memory, learning, and language skills. Furthermore it may alter behaviors and mood, cause disorientation, as well as agitation (Clair TomainoRead MoreThe Impact Of Pop Culture On The Music Industry1720 Words   |  7 Pages The 1990’s was a stepping ground for the development of society as it is today. Through television, music, art and technology American social structures experienced huge changes. Gone were the days of the Huxtables where nuclear families displayed perfect, well put together families. 80’s music once filled with electric synthesizers and singers professing their love for their partners evolved into Hip Hop and Grunge music that discussed the grittiness of real life and the human struggle mostRead MoreThe Protest Song By Charles Albert Tindley1478 Words   |  6 PagesArtists, 1945) written by various artists, with lyrics originating from an older activist s hymn. This report will cover the history, purpose, lasting effects, and the value of We Shall Overcome and its predecessor I ll Overcome Someday. We Shall Overcome the protest song has found itself tied to multiple social movements, however, its origin has its roots planted in the civil rights movement. After researching about this song I came across the fact that the lyrics and the style of the songRead MoreMusic Therapy And Its Effectiveness1269 Words   |  6 Pagesuse of music to help accomplish certain goals or objectives in a therapeutic setting. Research in music therapy supports its effectiveness in many areas such as: overall physical rehabilitation, increasing people s motivation to become more involved in their treatment, giving emotional support for clients and their families, and providing an way for expression of their feelings to others. Musical therapy in a more detailed descriptions is an established health profession in which music is used

Advancements in the Roman Empire Compared to that of the...

As one rises, another falls. Civilizations undulated in historic times more frequently than waves in an ocean; however, most of them are forgotten to this day because of their insignificant impact. The Roman and Chinese Empires were established like any other civilization, but rose to power through proper governing of the people. They later became so successful that they emulated one another in different fields of culture. The Han Dynasty was one of many dynasties in ancient China and it was able to change the outlook on society because of its radical and novel ideology based on Confucianism. During the dynasty, the emperor Wudi pushed borders and trade like no other dynasty of its kind and conquered land past Chinas century long†¦show more content†¦Most of these attributes were derived from the Grecian culture around 210 BC and disseminated all over Rome (Nardo, 60). Not only did the people contribute to the arts, but so did the government, which built bronze statues of th e emperors or Gods, like the statue of Marcus Aurelius in 175 AD, and decorated the currency with elaborate drawings (Hinds, 172). A lasting example of the Roman taste of the arts was preserved in Pompeii after the volcanic eruption. According to written documents, a museum owned by two wealthy businessmen in Pompeii was available for public viewing, which displayed the gratitude of the people of Pompeii toward their own culture (Hinds, 178). Along with the paintings, Romans had a wide variety of other arts ranging in many different fields of interest. For example, the wealthy owned papyrus scrolls and other documents that they read (Nardo, 70). Music also spread joy and was even played at special occasions, like weddings, as it is today in addition to formal concerts and theaters. Moreover, plays and theatrical arts were performed on stages by prominent actors of the field and written by even more famous writers, like Plautus and Terence (Hinds, 31). Art also played a role in advan cing the society through architecture, like the famous arches found along theaters, bridges, and other great structures. But most importantly, the Romans cherishedShow MoreRelatedModel Essay Comparison Essay Post-Classical Civilizations1304 Words   |  6 Pagesto the rise post-classical civilizations from 500 CE to 1200CE between two of the following regions- Europe, East Asia, Africa or the Middle East. Model Essay Comparison Essay Post-Classical Civilizations With the collapse of the Roman, Gupta and Han empires, the world was left in a period of chaos with little structure in most areas. However after these collapses and the interlude that followed, post-classical civilizations arose in various regions. There were various reasons for this thatRead MoreThe Dynasty Of Chinese History Essay1715 Words   |  7 PagesThe Six Dynasty period in Chinese historiography is often classified with moments of conflict, revolt, strife, famine, disunity, and not innovation. Historians and academics categorize the period as a placeholder between the more significant Han China—206 BCE to 220 CE—and the Tang dynasty—618 to 907 CE. Understandably, Han China’s military, infrastructure, and civil capabilities were rivalled only by that of the Roman Empire, and even then, the Han dynasties administrative capabilities were rivalledRead MoreThe Invention Of China s Inventions1795 Words   |  8 Pagestoo hard to write on and it was too expensive. How the paper differentiated from the papyrus was paper was flat in surface it was also white which made it easier to write on. Writing on paper was more legible and was preferred by the public when compared to the papyrus (sacu). It was not until the 3rd century AD that paper began to spread across the world, it first reached Korea. Then it was introduced to Japan around 610AD and moved to Vietnam and India in the beginning of the 16th century. By thisRead MoreEssay about Summary of History of Graphic Design by Meggs14945 Words   |  60 Pagespower of the Persian Empire. Reading and writing had become more important by this time, because the expansion of information and knowledge exceeded the ability of oral communication. - Most of the knowledge documented by the Greeks was lost due to the fragile nature of papyrus scrolls and the damp Greek climate. - After the death of Alexander the Great, Greek civilization and its alphabet became influential throughout the whole world. - The Latin alphabet came to the Romans from Greece by wayRead MoreGp Essay Mainpoints24643 Words   |  99 Pagesproblems faced by America and his helplessness in coming up with solutions): Photoshopped †¢ Inherent bias/political slants †¢ E.g. Fox news channel headed by Republican supporters often portray Democrats in a negative light. Fox’s anchorman compared the logo of the recent nuclear technology forums, approved by President Obama, with the Muslim crescent, accusing Obama of having Muslim inclinations. The logo, in fact, was a representation of the scientific atom and had nothing to do with religion

Digital Forensic Investigation Plan Digital Data - Free Sample

Question: As part of the auditing team in capacity of a Digital Forensics expert, your task is to prepare digital forensics investigative plan to enable a systematic collection of evidence and subsequent forensic analysis of the electronic and digital data. Assuming all systems are Windows based, this plan should detail following: justify why use of the digital forensic methodology and approach is warranted including procedures for corporate investigation. describe the resources required to conduct a digital forensic investigation, including team member skill sets and required tools. outline an approach for data/evidence identification and acquisition that would occur in order to prepare the auditors for review of the digital evidence. outline an approach and steps to be taken during the analysis phase making the assumption the computer system is a Microsoft Windows-based computer. create a table of contents for the investigative plan describing Answer: Abstract Information technology has become integral part of the human life, no matter of the age. And businesses have exploited the information technology to a great extent that every business activity is automated to decrease the time and increase the productivity. Though it is a good and encouraging aspect with the IT, the cyber crimes are also increasing at the same pace. So, the companies have to emphasize on the security of the intellectual information as the companies do for the automation through the information technology. Global Finance company has materialized its vision of globalization through information technology and faced the challenge of the compromise of the system. The digital forensic investigation team can encounter such challenges to find the sources of the compromise and secure the systems and network back with necessary safety standards. Introduction Global Finance company is one of the huge companies in Australia, with wide range of finance products and wide range of customers, throughout the world. The company has enabled the information technology with necessary infrastructure in the head office and all of its child organizations. A suspect of compromise has been detected from the managers computer from the Queensland branch, which is one of its child organizations. The investigation audit team is formed to investigate the source of the compromise. The team has been deployed in the branch office to conduct the digital forensic investigation. Compnay and Background Global Finance is the company that needs the digital forensic investigation done by the audit team. The case study includes the following important points about the company. Global Finance Company is located in Australia and its branches are spread all over the world. It has over 10,000 employees throughout the world. The company stands to be an international player in global finance market. The company provides investment, superannuation and retirement services to the clients. The clients include right from individuals to larger corporate. The company has the expert employees in global shares, property, private equity, fixed interest and credit. An information security concern has been raised from a branch office to the information security office in the head office. Concern of the Compnay Global Finance facilitated its global business with the support of the information technology. After year 2000, regular updates for application infrastructure and network infrastructure starts missing in the child organizations. The access among the child organizations is flat and relatively less secured. So, the users from one child organization can access the data from the servers and workstations from any other child organizations. One of the branch managers from Brisbane branch felt compromise in his computer. Both the servers and workstations from all the offices are based on Microsoft Windows. The firewalls and network segmentation are poorly implemented. Though intrusion detection and logging exist in the branches, these are hardly used. Head office consists of enough infrastructure for the investigative and forensic capabilities. An auditor team has been formed to conduct a digital forensic investigation in the branch office, where the suspect has been felt. The team has the responsibilities of both reviewing paper based documents as well as digital forensic analysis, by finding the digital evidences from all the files like MS-Word, Spreadsheet, deleted files and Outlook. Digital Forensic Methodology and Need Digital forensic methodology is preferred to be processed or executed by the information security office. It is because all the other methodologies, like computer forensic, mobile forensic, network forensic and data recovery can give partial investigation results rather than complete investigation of the source of the compromise, as these are all the sub branches of the digital forensic. Digital forensic investigation conducted for the regional office of the Global Finance Company has the following scopes. Security lap identification from the network of the regional office Malicious activities identification with details of who, what, why, when and where Legal procedure identification, if the cyber crime is illegal Identifying the impact of the compromised managers computer, if there is any compromise Digital Forensic Investigation Approach The audit team of the Global Finance Company can follow Four Step Forensics Process or FSFP. This digital forensic investigation model stands to be a most effective model for investigation of the compromise happened in the regional branch of the Global Finance Company. Digital Forensic Investigation Approach Resources Digital forensic investigation needs a lot of resources to successfully process and create a report for the same. It demands technological support with the tools, techniques to implement the processes as well as it demands the expertise of the audit team in multiple dimensions. Digital forensic methodologies that can be implemented are static methodologies and dynamic methodologies. Various tools, like EnCase, ProDiscover and many other tools are needed to conduct thorough check on the existing network system present in the branch office. ACPO or Association of Chief Police Officers is the standard guideline set consisting of four principles. When the computer or digital forensic investigation is conducted, the audit team has to follow the following principles. Principle 1: The data present and collected from the targeted computers are to be preserved as is, without performing any alterations or changes. Principle 2: The data collected must be well preserved safely, so the audit team must have enough expertise and should be enough competent to handle the collected data safely, and whenever it is required, the course of action during the processes must be explained with necessary evidences. Principle 3: All the documentation and audit trails must be created clearly and should be preserved. When the third party executes the process, the same results are expected. Principle 4: Each and every team member of the audit team should be responsible for the entire investigation conducted. The audit team members should posses enough expertise in the core level operating system, networking system and the necessary tools and techniques needed to use for the investigation. The skill set must be extended to the multiple dimensions, like cyber crime knowledge, legal procedures and many related to the same. Preparation The impact of the investigation must be known prior to the initiation of the investigation, in terms of affected productivity, because of the down time, etc. All information from the managers workstation, servers and other workstations must be collected. Obtain all the important network information Identify the storage content, both internal and external devices Forensic tools that are applicable and to be used for the investigation are to be listed and made available for usage. Each and every activity must be well documented during the course of investigation Target computer forensic imaging has to be done and then hashed to check the integrity of the data Live network traffic has to be captured Digital evidences must be collected from the workstations of the managers, others and the servers present in the regional office. The following evidences are useful. IP addresses System Log files Windows registry information Network topology and diagrams Network information that consists of hubs, routers, network topology documentation, switches, servers, network diagrams and firewalls Information from both the internal storage and external storage devices, like CD, flash drive, DVD, USB drive, remote computers, portable hard disc and memory card. Digital evidence collection: Digital evidence acquisition in the regional branch of the Global Finance company has to be done in two stages. Volatile memory is the temporary memory, for which the data is held, only while the workstation or server is working. Primarily volatile memory is RAM. Same LAN must be accessed to access the managers computer to acquire this data. Give the command, cryptcat 6543 k key Computer data can now be acquired with the command, cryptcat -1 p 6543 k key In addition to these commands, graphic user interface tools, like Tcpview, Rootkit Revealer and Process Explorer would be helpful to the team to retrieve the volatile data like, system data, time, logged user, open ports, running processes and network connections. There are many other tools used for Windows based systems for volatile data capture are, netusers and qusers, netfile,HBGras F-Response, ipconfig, HBGrays FastDump, doskey, to identify all the network traffic towards the managers computer. The clipboard content which is potential digital evidence is also collected by the team. Non-Volatile Memory Acquisition Permanent memory or non volatile memory stands significant source for the digital forensic investigation. Permanent data is collected through both online and offline methods. Offline data is collected from the hard drive duplicator tools, such as FTK imager, Guymager, DCFLdd, IXimager and EnCase are used to collect the data from the hard drives of the managers workstation, other workstations and the servers. Other permanent storage devices like CD, DVD, memory cards, flash drives, pen drives and other drives are also collected from the office. Online data, like firewall logs, antivirus logs and domain controller logs is collected with the help of tools like ethereal and Wireshark tools. Examination Once all the potential digital forensic evidences are collected, detailed examination is done by comparing the original and logical copies collected and checked for any hypothesis and deviations. Such examinations can give clues of how the managers computer is compromised. Detailed examination is done for windows registry, network forensic, file system and database forensic. The team uses the following commands for the same. c:echo text_mess file1.txt:file2.txt the above file is then retrieved through the command, c:more file1.txt:file2.txt windows registry examination is done with the following hives and structures present in it, HKEY_USERS HKEY_CURRENT_USER HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Network forensic is enabled using the tools and techniques so that the following potential information can be accessed from the managers computer. System information Service listings Process listings Registry information Network connections Registered and Logged on users Binary dump of memory The above information can be accessed with the network forensic tools, NetStumbler, TCPDumpWindump, Wireshark, Sleuth Kit and Argus. Analysis with Assumotions Many tools and methodologies are used by the audit team to analyze the collected and examined evidences. Analysis is done according to the following. Keyword searches in all the files Recovering the deleted files Registry information extraction from the workstation of the manager and other systems. The tools used in this phase for the team are EnCase, FTK and ILOOKIX. These tools are helpful to recover the internet documents, chat logs, emails, images, internet history, accessible and deleted space from the managers computer and cache files of OS. Hash signature forensic tool helps to find notable files. When SSD drives are present in the systems, even after secure erase operations also the data can be recovered. Once the analysis is done by the team, it extracts the answers for the following objectives. Opportunities for reconstruction of the events Accountability of the users and administrators Detection of the attempts violation Providing information of identification of the problems Report The final report is generated by the audit team, with all the documented information. Final Report Purpose of the Report Digital Forensic Investigation conducted on the compromise of the managers computer in a regional office of the Global Finance Company Author of the Report The audit team Incident Summary The sources of compromise are x, y, z reasons Evidences All the effected files, registry data, log data Analysis All the analyzed data from the analysis part Conclusion All the digital evidences are extracted and the sources of compromise are found Documents to Support Volatile and non- volatile data, tool generating info, log info and registry info and so on. Conclusion The source of compromise of the managers computer in the regional branch of Global Finance Company is found through digital forensic investigation. References Cyber Forensic Investigation Plan, International Journal of Advance Research (2008), UOAR.org, Volume 1 Siti Rahayu Selamat, Robiah Yusof, Shahrin Sahib (2008), Mapping Process of Digital Forensic Investigation Framework, JCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Securit, Vol 8. Kenneth J. Zahn (2013), Case Study: 2012 DC3 Digital Forensic Challenge Basic Malware Analysis Exercise, GIAC (FREM) Gold Certification John Ashcroft (2001), Electronic Crime Scene Investigation, A guide for First Responders, NIJ Guide M Reith, C Carr, G Gunsch (2002). "An examination of digital forensic models". International Journal of Digital Evidence Richard Brian Adams (2012), The Advanced Data Acquisition Model (ADAM): A Process Model for Digital Forensic Practice Agarwal, A., Gupta, M., Gupta, S., Gupta, S. C. (2011). Systematic Digital Forensic Investigation Model, International Journal of Computer Science and Security, 5(1), 118-130. Armstrong, C. (2003), Mastering Computer Forensics. In C. Irvine H. Armstrong, Security Education and Critical Infrastructures Kluwer Academic Publishers. Aquilina, M.J., (2003), Malware Forensics, Investigating and Analyzing Malicious Code, Syngress, Carvey, H., (2005), Windows Forensics and Incident Recovery, Boston: Pearson Education Inc.

The Wiccan Religion free essay sample

The Wiccan Religion Rough Draft Mikki Dandreano September 3rd, 2010 Wicca is a common and older name for witchcraft; the term witchcraft has been defined in many different ways in past times it was mostly referred to as a human harnessing of supernatural powers for the purpose of practicing black magic. For this reason, magic, witchcraft and sorcery has been associated with Satanism. Not all withes worship Satan; in fact most of them do not have a belief in Satan nor is there a belief in hell, original sin or evil. During the Middle Ages, witchcraft experienced a huge revival. The supernatural world became very popular. If someone wanted to become a witch, there was an initiation process; the first would be that the witch must Join of their own free will and the second requirement was that the prospective witch must be willing to worship the devil Modern day witches are typically not Satan worshipers. We will write a custom essay sample on The Wiccan Religion or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Wicca is considered a New Age Movement, and with that Wiccans do not believe and accept that there is good or evil, they say that there are only forces that must be balanced. Most Wiccans support a neo-tolerance for politics, meaning that there is no absolute truth, what is true for one many not be true for nother, so everything is true Just pick one. They are also strong supporters of womens rights and matriarchy, sexual freedom; including polyandry, non-monogamy, homosexuality, and sexual activity among the teenage community. In the past few years there have been lawsuits filed by Pagans against things such as In God We Trust, student led prayer, Christian symbols (such as the Cross), The Ten Commandments in many cities. Many Wiccans are active in getting schools to teach Wiccan holidays, like the Winter Solstice and Halloween, to honor pagan elements such as Earth day and Pagan symbolism. The United Nations are trying to introduce pagan earth worship into the schools by promoting Earth Charter in education; this is a document that contains much pagan doctrine and tradition. The start of modern witchcraft began with Gerald Gardner (1884 1964); he was an archaeologist and had accumulated an extensive occult background. While Gardner was in Southeast Asia, he learned of secrets of the Malaysian magical knife and became a nudist and a Mason. In 1930, he returned to England as an avid occultist and became a member of the Corona Fellowship of Rosicrucians; this is where he met Dorothy Clutterbuck; Dorothy initiated Gardner into witchcraft. There seems to be a general agreement that Wicca first became a mass movement in recent times in England during the 1950s with the publishing of books by Gerald Gardner and has expanded at an extreme rate through Europe and North America. Wicca is one of the largest of the minority religions in the United States there are no real estimated numbers of the Wiccans in this country but the best estimate is over 750,000, which would make Wicca about the fifth largest organized religion in the United States; following Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. The Wiccan religion is almost unknown The few Wiccans that decide to let their religion be known are normally heavily persecuted; on a per-capita basis, they are thought to be victimized more often than members of any other religious groups. In 1999, there were several attacks on Wicca and other Neopagan religions by leading political fgures; including Rep. Bob Barr (R- GA) and Governor George W Bush (R_TX_ over the religious rights of Wiccan soldiers at Ft. Hood, Texas they were Joined by over a dozen Fundamentalist Christian groups. After the known attacks in 1999 against the Wiccan community, the religion as somewhat come out of the closet to reveal their faith in a more open manner. To totally understand Wicca, you must first know the ways, laws, and powers of a witch; one who practices Wicca is called a witch, and this is referred to as a man or a woman. Wicca is actually a beautiful nature and goddess focused religion. The Wiccans have something known as the Wiccan Ways. They are basically saying that they will seek out wisdom in books, poems and texts but to also look at nature, as this is where all the old secrets are preserved. They feel that while books contain words, trees contain energy and wisdoms that books could never hold. They feel that one should be like a river willow tree; meaning that they should evolve so they can grow and shine; Wiccans will not mock rituals or spells of another, because they do not believe they are greater in wisdom or power. One should always make sure their actions are honorable because everything they do will return in thrice fold bad or good. Wiccans honor everything that is living life of all things should be saved to preserve your own life. The Wiccan power is not to be used to bring harm to anyone, to control or injure others; but if the need should arise, the power will be sed to protect their life or the lives of others. Their powers are used only as need dictates and can be used for ones own gain, as long as they harm no one in the process. Wiccans feel they should not accept money for the use of their power because by doing so it will take control and they will become like other religions. Most of all, they remember that their powers are a gift from the Goddess and God and shouldnt be misused and abused. WICCAN SABBATS The Wiccan, Pagan and Witchcraft year runs from October 31st through October 30th. Following the Wiccan year, they have many holidays they celebrate and pay ribute to. Samhain Lore, on October 31st, translates into End of Summer and is the final harvest of the year. This is a magical interval when laws of space and time are suspended and the thin veil between worlds is lifted. This is a great time for communication with departed loved ones; it is a time to study the Dark Mysteries and honor the Dark Mother and Father. In older times, the Feast of the Dead was celebrated by leaving food at altars and doorsteps for the dead. Many practioners of Wicca still follow this tradition candles are lit and left in windows so souls can be uided home, apples are buried along the roads and paths for spirits who are lost and have no one to provide for them, extra chairs are set at dining tables for unseen guests. In older days, traveling after the sunset was not advised at all because the wee folk became active, pulling pranks on people. To fool the spirits people dressed up as ghosts and dressed in clothing of the opposite gender. On February 2nd, Imbolc Lore is celebrated. At this point in the year, herd animals have either given birth to offspring or they are about to give birth. This is a time of blessing of the rrived. Imbolc is a festival for the Maiden, from February 2 to March 21; this is her season to prepare for renewal and growth. Straw Beidedgas (corn dolls) are created from wheat or oat straw and placed in baskets; young girls carry the dolls from door to door, gifts are given to the image of the doll from each house. Candles are lit and placed into each room of the house; this honors the rebirth of the Sun. April 30th or May 1st begins Beltane, also known as May Day or Roodmas. This holiday is celebrated with rituals and feasts and is one of the eight solar Sabbats. As summer egins and the plants start to bloom and blossom, the mood of the people start to lighten. In Celtic times, this was a time of unabashed sexuality and promiscuity where marriages of a year and a day could be undertaken; however this is not observed in this way in our times. (Celtic Connection, The, Herne) Lughnasadh begins on July 31st, and means the funeral games of Lugh. This day honors the Tailtean marriages and coincides with the first gathering of harvests. As autumn begins, the Sun God is entering his old age but is not yet dead. The God symbolically will lose strength as the Sun rises further in the south each day and the nights begin o be longer. The Christians adopted this theme and called it Lammas, which means loaf mass, a time when baked loaves of bread are placed on the altar. December 31st is Yule lore and is when the dark half of the year begins turning itself over to the light half. On January 1st, the Sun will start to climb a little higher in the sky and stay a little longer. This is known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year. Bonfires are lit and crops and trees were toasted with spiced cider. The Yule log is the highlight of this festival; the log must have been harvested from a householders land or given as a gift one cannot buy one. Once the log is brought into the home and placed in a fireplace, it is decorated with greenery, covered with a cider or ale, and dusted with flour before it is set on fire. The log then burns throughout the night and smolders for 12 days after before it is put out ceremonially. (YULE, Akasha) Ostrara begins on March 21st and is also known as the spring or Vernal Equinox, or Lady Day. Spring reaches its midpoint day and night are in perfect balance. A young Sun God celebrates a sacred marriage with the young Maiden Goddess who will conceive. In nine months, the young Maiden will become the Great Mother and at his time, there will be newborn animals and new plant growth. The next full moon is called the Ostara and is sacred to the Saxon Lunar Goddess of fertility. Christians adopted this as Easter, which is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon follows the vernal equinox. June 21st, begins the summer solstice or Litha. This holiday is the opposite of Yule. This is the longest day of the year; life and light are plenty. During mid-summer, the Sun God has reached the moment of his greatest strength; he is lord of the forests and his face is seen in church architecture peering from countless foliate masks. The Christian religion turned this day of Jack-in-the- Green to the Feast of St. John the Baptist; portraying St. John in a rustic attire, sometimes with cloven feet and horns. September 21st, is the Mabon, or the Autumn Equinox. This divides night and day equally; people take a moment to respect the darkness that is impending. There are thanks given to the sunlight as people begin to store their harvests of the years crops. Offerings of ciders, herbs, wines and fertilizers were appropriate. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she and a rebirth. There are many other names for this holiday because it is a lesser