WASHINGTON—Stressing that the facade informs nearly every aspect of his daily life, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told reporters Thursday that his Christian faith is an important part of who he pretends to be. “Whether I’m delivering a speech calling for theocracy in front of dozens of cameras or talking to my children at the kitchen table about God’s separate roles for men and women, I mean it when I say the mask I wear in public is the same one I wear at home,” said the 45-year-old lawmaker, who confirmed that Christianity has been the foundation of his public-facing identity ever since he was a shameless young prep school student with his sights set on Yale Law School. “The power of telling people you pray is incredible. My Christian faith is a pretense that’s only grown stronger as I’ve aged. It’s so strong that, sometimes, I almost forget it’s all an act.” At press time, Hawley added that he is grateful to represent all of his Christian constituents through the faith he uses as a guise to seek power.
I read this morning that U.S. citizens should be on high alert following our bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. From possibilities of cyber attacks to hate crimes, we’re told the ongoing conflict is causing a heightened threat environment in the United States. Iranian bombs have already flown toward US military bases in Qatar.
Apparently Iran sent a message to President Trump while he was at the G7 meeting in Canada over a week ago. It warned that they have sleeper cells in the US which could be activated should the US take action against Iran.
We don’t always know what to believe these days, but it seems clear that anything could happen anytime anywhere. We can expect the unexpected, that’s for sure.
According to some sources, the main ingredients for the development of an Iranian nuclear weapon were removed from Fordow days before the US attack. And if that’s true, then the Iranian nuclear program was possibly set back only for months, not even years.
If we only look at things on the level of what’s happening outside ourselves, clearly these are not happy days. Indeed they are rough and chaotic. But the point of spiritual consciousness is to look beyond the mere surface level of things. While major changes are happening in the world, we best navigate them by understanding the nature of things that do not change. Spiritual consciousness is our greatest tool for enduring and navigating the times in which we live.
There are objective, discernible laws of consciousness that work no differently than the laws of the material world. The laws of physics, for instance, are not someone’s opinion. You don’t have faith in the law of gravity; you simply know that it is. And you know it’s not negotiable. You can override it, but the law itself does not bend.
Spiritual and physical laws mirror each other and share the most basic common underpinning: the Law of Cause and Effect. Every action has a reaction, and every thought creates form on some level. We get away with nothing, either physically or spiritually. You don’t drop an object without expecting it to fall, and you don’t take an action without expecting it to be returned to you. The universe keeps a perfect set of books.
The Law of Cause and Effect applies to the behavior of groups of people as much as to individuals. Processing what it means that an entire nation might have karma to deal with is not so much an intellectual stretch as simply a truth to deal with. Yet the laws of nature are inviolable. If everything in the world is a mere Effect the Cause of which is in our minds, then it’s within our minds where we will find our greatest power to change the world.
There are people, usually on the Right, who only want to look at what America has done right and have little interest in looking at what we’ve done wrong. There are also people, usually on the Left, who only want to look at what America has done wrong and have little interest in looking at what we’ve done right. Both views are incomplete and based on false premises. American history has been forged by human beings, and human beings are imperfect. Where we’ve been good, at times we have been spectacularly good. And where we have been bad, at times we have been spectacularly bad.
The truth will set us free, that’s true, but in the words of Werner Erhard, “First it will piss you off.” We need to be willing to look in America’s mirror, with love and compassion but with brutal self-awareness.
The laws of the universe are simple, actually – profoundly encapsulated in the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Why? Because they will! And if they don’t, then someone else will. Think with Love. Act with Love. And if you don’t, don’t go expecting things to turn out well. For they will not.
All of us are human, and all of make mistakes. This world is nothing if not confusing. It is dominated by a thought system based on fear, consistently tempting us to thought and behavior that is anything but aligned with wisdom. It happens to all of us. Add to that, that in our collective existence our thoughts are too often shepherded by sociopathic political and economic forces, and you get…well…you get to where we are.
At our best, as a nation we have adhered to the laws of righteousness and acted according to the “angels of our better nature.” We have recognized our mistakes and sought to correct them. As much wrong as we have done at times, American history is not just littered with error; it is also littered with greatness. People in other generations have recognized and acknowledged the higher truths of the heart. They have lived for them, sacrificed for them, and many have died for them.
Lincoln gave a profound exposition on the spiritual meaning of the Civil War in his Second Inaugural Address. Franklin Roosevelt said these words about the office of President: “The Presidency is not merely an administrative office. That’s the least of it. It is more than an engineering job, efficient or inefficient. It is pre-eminently a place of moral leadership.” Martin Luther King, Jr. saw the Civil Rights Movement as an opportunity to redeem the soul of America, making good on our founding ideals of liberty and justice for all. The last thing any of those men were was naive about the world or naive about America.
Great leaders do not speak, or act, only in material terms. They have at least an instinctive understanding that more is going on here than the mere externals of life. Ideals matter. Principles matter. Righteousness matters. In fact, without them we are doomed. “God shall not be mocked” means that He isn’t. And “Where there is no vision the people perish” simply tells it like it is.
So what has happened to us, that we are where we are today?
Many things have happened, but there are general strokes of history worth noting. In very simple terms, we forget who we are. This nation was founded on the most enlightened principles – never fully actualized, obviously, but continuously striven for in every generation despite ever recurring forces of opposition. Those principles are not just a political identity, but what is in essence a philosophical mission. For most of our history, the people of the United States have had an instinctive understanding of what that meant. From abolishing slavery to fighting fascism, no one can say that Americans have never shown up for the principles on which we purport to stand.
But the last fifty years, while materially successful, have been been a spiritual Dark Ages in the United States of America.
Money became our God. Military and police became our primary problem-solving modality. Corporate greed became our organizing principle. Our political system has become corrupted by the undue influence of money. Among many Americans, there has even developed a fondness for fascism and an attraction to dictators. Morally and politically, we have swerved way off course.
For those thinking God help us, that’s exactly my point.
There is within our consciousness a way to change what’s happening, but it requires humility toward a power greater than our own.
The Atonement is the ultimate expression of God’s mercy, enshrined in all the great religious and spiritual traditions of the world. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, the Holiest day of the year among Jews; the practice of confession is an experience of atonement among Catholics; and the admission of our character defects and seeking to make amends for them is the principle of Atonement found in Alcoholics Anonymous. It means admitting to God the exact nature of our wrongs, invoking a spiritual and psychological reset. When we have strayed from love we can atone for our errors, thus resetting the trajectory of our lives.
And America needs to do that – we need a national Atonement. Only purification of the American heart can get us out of the pickle we’re in now. The self-reflection required of us in this moment is not easy to swallow, but it’s the only portal to fundamental change. For years our political leaders were told by their handlers not to tell us anything “negative,” as though we were children rather than mature adults. And we are paying the price for that right now.
If God forbid sleeper cells are activated in the United States, Americans’ prayers for protection are going to ring pretty hollow to a God who loves other people as much as He loves us.
How many times over the last fifty years has this country behaved with callousness, disrespect – at times even cruelty – led by leaders who argued it was in “America’s best interests” to do so? How many ill advised and unnecessary wars, how much destructiveness of the earth, how many economies demolished so US corporations could get richer, how much callousness toward the poor, the weak, the hungry, the sick, and the young do you think a Divinely Intelligent universe tolerates before the effects of our lovelessness comes crashing back at us?
Prayers for protection are not the prayers that will penetrate the veils of heaven now. God does not save us from what we brought upon ourselves. That’s not to say He isn’t merciful. God’s not angry…but He’s not kidding either.
Prayers for forgiveness, atonement for our shallowness and complacency, fasting in sorrow, purifying our hearts of the ways we’ve enabled a system for so long that has abused so many – such is the power (greater than any other) that will reset our trajectory for the days that lie ahead. The more any individual comes to that place in our hearts, the more we will affect the collective consciousness of the country. That healing will not come from institutional sources; it will come from us.
At a times such as this, contrition is more powerful than bombs.
Watching Donald Trump deliver the news of an American attack on Iran Saturday night, I wondered how many viewers had the same reaction I did: How can the United States be going to war — and that’s exactly what it is — with advisers whose collective experience managing international conflict is see-through thin?
There was Trump, a draft dodger who has long derided the military, surrounded by his war cabinet of second-rate choices, who owe their professional and political souls to him. Will any of them ever question Trump’s decisions? We know the answer to that.
Trump did not have solid evidence Iran was building a nuclear bomb. Nearing the time when they might be able to build one is the best that can be said. Similar, although not identical, to the situation when George W. Bush didn’t have hard evidence that Iraq was building weapons of mass destruction. Bad intel back then led to a war that lasted eight years and killed nearly 5,000 Americans and reportedly 200,000 Iraqis. No WMDs were ever found.
Lessons learned? Hardly. Bombing Iran was easy enough. Did anyone at the White House think about what would happen on Day 2?
Forty-eight hours after the United States launched bunker-busting bombs and dozens of cruise missiles at Iran, the Iranian regime retaliated. Iran launched missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East. The Defense Department said there were no injuries because Qatari air defenses were able to intercept the Iranian attack. Also, the Iranians gave advance warning to minimize casualties.
No one should be surprised by this escalation. And no one should think this is the end of hostilities. Forty thousand U.S. troops are stationed in the region.
It is a consequence of going to war, which is exactly what Donald Trump did when he called for strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites. Even if Vice President JD Vance says otherwise. “We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” he said on “Meet the Press” Sunday. The Iranian people likely quibble with Vance’s semantics.
Iran has other retaliatory options from which to choose.
In an internal FBI email obtained by The New York Times, American officials warn that Iran and its allies have “historically targeted U.S. interests in response to geopolitical events, and they are likely to increase their efforts in the near term.”
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow strip of water between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, is one of the world’s most important strategic choke points. And Iran controls the north side of it. The 20 million barrels of oil produced daily in the region — a fifth of global output — must travel through the strait.
Some influential Iranians are calling for Hormuz to be closed, including Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of a popular hard-line Iranian newspaper, who has the ear of the supreme leader.
“It is now our turn to act without delay. As a first step, we must launch a missile strike on the US naval fleet in Bahrain and simultaneously close the Strait of Hormuz to American, British, German, and French ships,” Shariatmadari wrote in his newspaper.
Mohammad Ali Shabani, an expert on Iran, told CNN that Iran’s control of global shipping lanes gives the government the “capacity to cause a shock in oil markets, drive up oil prices, drive inflation, [and] collapse Trump’s economic agenda.”
If Hormuz is closed, oil prices will skyrocket. But perhaps the ayatollah will put his pocketbook before payback. China is the No. 1 buyer of Iranian oil. The money Iran earns from Chinese oil sales accounts for 50% of government spending, according to The Times. It has allowed the Iranian regime to fund terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
By the way, need we remind ourselves that China, not Iran, is the most potent foreign threat to American security? Also that Iran, along with China and Russia, has the ability to launch destructive cyber attacks.
But now back to the strikes themselves. Trump claimed victory, saying the U.S. bombings “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. No evidence has been given, and a bomb damage assessment has yet to be released. This administration is not known for truth-telling, so a wait-and-see approach is justified.
Using satellite imagery, the Israeli military’s initial assessment is that Fordo, the main nuclear site, where the U.S. dropped at least six bunker busters, was damaged but not destroyed. Israeli intelligence believes Iran moved equipment and uranium from the site prior to the bombing.
All this means that Saturday’s attack was not a one-and-done as the president would have us believe. Add to that Trump’s changing tune on regime change. Initially he said the goal of the bombing was “destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity.”
Vance, Pete Hegseth, and Marco Rubio were reading from the same script as they made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows. The administration’s view “has been very clear that we don’t want a regime change,” Vance said.
Perhaps the president didn’t get a copy of the talking points. Not four hours later, Trump took to social media. “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!” he posted.
No one thinks the Iranian government is made up of good guys. It has an abysmal human rights record and is the poster child for state-sponsored terrorism. These leaders have a long record of hating America and all for which we stand. They have been known to subvert our Arab allies in the region. But regime change seldom if ever works out the way the changers intend. See: Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
But calling for regime change versus seeking to destroy a country’s nuclear capabilities — no matter how spurious the intelligence — are very different goals with very different long-term prospects.
It’s been widely reported that the U.S. defense secretary was not included in planning the Iran mission. Perhaps Hegseth’s Signalgate scandal has finally caught up with him. At least he was by Trump’s side as the president delivered his version of the war news.
Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been put on ice by Trump for testifying to Congress — in March — that the intelligence community did not believe Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon.
So Trump needs advisers who will guide him by telling him the truth, rather than what he wants to hear; because they are beholden to him for jobs they aren’t qualified for, they never will. Trump learned from his first administration: Don’t hire the smart people, elevate the sycophants.
A few closing notes from your reporter, who has spent a fair portion of his life covering wars:
Truth IS the first casualty of war.
The first things you hear often are untrue, and so are many of the things you hear later.
Wars are by their very nature chaotic and unpredictable. What you most expect frequently does not happen; what you least expect often does.
Up close and personal, wars are almost unbelievably savage. The television screen and the printed word do not come close to conveying their harsh realities.
This card is one with a great deal of hidden strength and power within it, which promises new growth, big changes and new beginnings, accompanied by the inner reserves to make the best of those influences.A day ruled by this Princess is one on which financial matters will usually work well, and where you may quite possibly receive good news regarding money and wealth. Pay special attention to ideas you have during a day like this, and be prepared to think them through and act on them as soon as the time is right.Keep firmly in touch with everyday life, but listen for the whispers of intuition which are sparked by part of the Princess’s inner power. This is a day to be well-earthed, but to walk with your head among the stars.The Princess of Disks has a hidden title – the rose of the Palace of Earth. And here we find the deepest spiritual aspects of her influence. The Palace of Earth is the planet, and the rose is connected symbolically to the rosa mundi, the Rose of the World – a symbol of resurrection and eternal life.Thus this card touches upon the most important issues about being in love with life – its creation, its experience, its excitement and promise of fulfilment. When we are able to enjoy each passing minute of our lives, we put ourselves in touch with the mighty and empowering forces of love which flow through the Cosmos at all times. We become more deeply aware of the creative force of the goddess, and more in touch with our own inner vitality and life force.
Affirmation: “I now welcome fresh growth and renewal into my life.”
CONGRESS, NOW MORE THAN EVER, OUR NATION NEEDS YOUR COWARDICE
Published: June 20, 2025
Who will stand up for our democracy? This question, fraught in even the most peaceful times, has only grown more pressing as our country approaches its 250th anniversary. Each passing day brings growing assaults on essential liberties like freedom of speech and due process. Meanwhile, our delicately assembled legal system faces a constant barrage of threats. Even as this issue reaches publication, the U.S. military has been deployed against peaceful protestors. We teeter on the brink of collapse into an authoritarian state. That is why, today, The Onion calls upon our lawmakers to sit back and do absolutely nothing.
Members of Congress—now, more than ever, our nation desperately needs your cowardice.
Our republic is a birthright, an exceedingly rare treasure passed down from generation to generation of Americans. It was gained through hard years of bloody resistance and can too easily be lost. Our Founding Fathers, in their abundant wisdom, understood that all it would take was men and women of little courage sitting in the corridors of power and taking zero action as this precious inheritance was stripped away—and that is where we have finally arrived.
Now is not the time for bravery or valor! This is the time for protecting your own hide and lining your pocket. Now is not the time for listening to your idiotic constituents drone on about what’s happening to their precious democracy. This is the time for getting down on all fours and groveling. Now is not the time to say, “Enough is enough,” and have the tough conversations about resisting the ongoing assaults on American liberty. This is the time to let the wave of apathy and indifference roll over you as you think about getting a really nice renovation to your house in Kalorama.
But what can I, one coward, do alone? you might ask. It’s true. As a solitary person, your fecklessness will make little impact. But if you join together with the most craven senators and representatives in the Capitol, the impact will be immense: The corruption, the disregard for the rule of law, the shipping of residents to foreign gulags, the attacks on judges, the censorship and chilling of speech, the punishment of any and all dissent—it can be made that much worse if you just find it in yourself to clutch your head in your hands, wet the bed, and cower in the hope of being spared from the White House’s wrath.
It won’t be easy, but you must search deep within yourself and muster up every ounce of gutlessness you have. Then, bend over and lick the president’s boots.
Why? Because ultimately none of this matters. Democracy? Equality? The U.S. Constitution? These are hollow phrases. They mean nothing. But money—delicious money? That is solid. You can hold it in your hands. You know this. We know this, too. Only our infantile citizenry fail to appreciate how much you stand to gain by kissing the ring.
In our nation’s darkest moments, the public often looks to Congress for profiles in meekness. We search for men and women much like yourselves, emotional weaklings who are afraid to meet their own glance in the mirror, insignificant do-nothings who quake in their boots at the mention of the slightest exertion. Many of you have already distinguished yourselves as such individuals. To them, our country’s oligarchs can only offer their boundless thanks.
Take solace knowing you are not alone in this endeavor. Over the grand expanse of American history, there have been countless lawmakers who managed to summon up their complete lack of backbone and do the easy thing. Think of the members of Congress who turned a blind eye to Japanese American internment, McCarthyism, or the horrors of the Holocaust, all because doing something seemed a little too hard, a little too inconvenient. These men should be your inspiration. Never forget: You stand on the shoulders of spineless giants.
But we have not descended entirely from a nation of fearful men, have we? Let this be the moment to make amends for any missteps of American bravery and valor. Congress, we are asking, nay, demanding: This coming Independence Day, don’t wave the Stars and Stripes, that enduring symbol of liberty and rebellion.
Caterpillars do not have conscious awareness or foresight about becoming butterflies. Their transformation is driven by instinct and biological processes rather than conscious thought. When caterpillars reach a certain stage of development, they instinctively know to find a safe place to pupate and form a chrysalis or cocoon.
Inside the cocoon, a complex process called metamorphosis occurs, where the caterpillar’s body is broken down and restructured into that of a butterfly. While they are guided by genetic programming, they do not have the capacity to “know” what is happening in the way that we understand knowledge. Their behavior is purely instinctual, aimed at survival and reproduction.
Ascension K Jun 15, 2025 What if sex isn’t just an instinct — but an unconscious force shaping your thoughts, choices, and emotional patterns? In this video, we dive into Carl Jung’s teachings on sexuality, the shadow, and what we refuse to acknowledge within ourselves. ???? Repressed desire isn’t gone — it becomes the silent master of your mind. It’s time to see what you’ve been avoiding. Subscribe, hit the bell, and start reclaiming your inner truth.
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The roots of Ipomoea jalapa, when dried, are carried as the John the Conqueror root amulet.
John the Conqueror, also known as High John the Conqueror, John, Jack, and many other folk variants, is a deity from the African-American spiritual system called hoodoo. Due to there being little early written information on the John the Conqueror root, many of the earliest mentions are from oral traditions and in tales from escaped slaves like Frederick Douglass in his autobiography “Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,[1]” published in 1845. He is associated with the roots of Ipomoea purga, the John the Conqueror root or John the Conqueroo, a plant native to the South-eastern United States. Tales of magical powers are ascribed in African-American folklore to the plant, especially among practitioners of Hoodoo.[2][3][4]Muddy Waters mentions him as Johnny Cocheroo in the songs “Mannish Boy” and “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man“. In “Mannish Boy”, the line is “I think I’ll go down/To old Kansas too/I’m gonna bring back my second cousin/That little Johnny Conqueroo”. This line is borrowed from the Bo Diddley song “I’m a Man“, to which “Mannish Boy” is an answer song.[5]
Use in Hoodoo
Frederick Douglass received a High John root from an enslaved conjurer named Sandy Jenkins for protection against slaveholders.[6]
High John the Conqueror has its earliest known roots in Congolese culture with the folk hero thought to have originated from stories of a Congolese Prince who was sold into slavery. Symbolizing luck and strength, the “High John root” has strong connections to use in hoodoo, with some even believing High John’s spirit could be summoned and used for guidance and even protection on plantations. African-American Hoodoo practitioners place High John roots inside mojo bags for protection, victory, empowerment, good luck, love, and protection from evil spirits. “…practitioners do this out of their reverence for or worship of the spirit (or in this case, John de Conquer, who also symbolizes ties to their enslaved ancestors through the land or ‘soil of the South.’)” …”we not only find that the spirit of John de Conquer inhabits or ‘possesses’ a root, but he is also woven into a mojo bag that practitioners wear on their persons or store in a ‘secret place’ of their house.”[7][8][9] The root was used during slavery in the Southern United States by enslaved African-Americans to protect from slaveholders. Frederick Douglass and Henry Bibb used the High John root to prevent whippings and protection from slaveholders.[2][3] In an Arkansasslave narrative, ex-slave Marion Johnson used High John roots to conquer his enemies and receive protection from conjure.[10]
Cultural appropriation
In the twentieth century, white drug store owners appropriated Hoodoo and put a white man on High John the Conqueror product labels. As a result, some people do not know of the cultural and historical origins of the African-American folk spirit John the Conqueror in the enslaved Black community and in present day Black American culture. In 2012, Rob Cleveland, an African-American stage performer, created a play about High John the Conqueror to demystify the folk spirit to audiences. The play focuses on John the Conqueror as an enslaved man whose spirit of resistance could never be broken and who outwitted his enslavers. The spirit of resistance in John the Conqueror encouraged enslaved people to resist their slaveholders to gain their freedom.[11] In 2022 MadameNoire, an online magazine geared toward the lifestyles of African-American women, interviewed Black Hoodoo practitioners who voiced their concerns about the appropriation of Hoodoo. “‘White-washed Hoodoo doesn’t even acknowledge John the Conqueror that much because he’s been white-washed to be the type of Spirit that helps men with their virility, help men get women, help gamblers get lucky, and he’s so much more than that…’”[12][2][3] Storyteller Diane Ferlatte performed the African-American folk tale about High John Conqueror that tells the victories of John the Conqueror on the plantation and how he unified the slave community to escape from slavery.[13] Ferlatte tells other African-American folk stories about Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Uncle Remus. African-American scholars explain that High John the Conqueror symbolized freedom from slavery. High John the Conqueror was a trickster and was able to outsmart his enslavers.[14][15]
Folk hero
Zora Neale Hurston and unidentified man 1935 Belle Glade, Florida. Hurston documented stories about High John the Conqueror from African-Americans in the Southern United States.
Sometimes, John is an African prince (son of a king of Congo), said to have ridden a giant crow called “Old Familiar.” He was sold as a slave in the Americas. Despite his enslavement, his spirit was never broken. He survived in folklore as a reluctant folk hero, a sort of trickster figure, because of the tricks he played to evade those who played tricks on him. Joel Chandler Harris‘s Br’er Rabbit of the Uncle Remus stories is a similar archetype to that of High John the Conqueror, outdoing those who would do him in. Zora Neale Hurston wrote of his adventures (“High John de Conquer”) in her folklore collection The Sanctified Church.[7][8][16]
In one traditional John the Conqueror story told by Virginia Hamilton, and probably based on “Jean, the Soldier, and Eulalie, the Devil’s Daughter“, John falls in love with the Devil‘s daughter. The Devil sets John a number of impossible tasks: he must clear sixty acres (25 ha) of land in half a day and then sow it with corn and reap it in the other half a day. The Devil’s daughter furnishes John with a magical axe and plow that get these impossible tasks done, but warns John that her father the Devil means to kill him even if he performs them. John and the Devil’s daughter steal the Devil’s own horses; the Devil pursues them, but they escape his clutches by shape-shifting.
In “High John De Conquer”, Zora Neale Hurston reports that:[17]
like King Arthur of England, he has served his people. And, like King Arthur, he is not dead. He waits to return when his people shall call him again … High John de Conquer went back to Africa, but he left his power here, and placed his American dwelling in the root of a certain plant. Only possess that root, and he can be summoned at any time.
This is from Hurston’s published article in American Mercury magazine in 1943. In this article, she relates a few stories about High John, enough to define him, but not an exhaustive survey of the folklore. The purpose was to present the nation with the hope-building and the power of this inspiring figure during the darkest days of World War II. The article ends with:
So the brother in black offers to these United States the source of courage that endures, and laughter. High John de Conquer. If the news from overseas reads bad, if the nation inside seems like it is stuck in the Tar Baby, listen hard, and you will hear High John de Conquer treading on his singing-drum. You will know then, that no matter how bad things look now, it will be worse for those who seek to oppress us. … White America, take a laugh from out of our black mouths, and win! We give you High John de Conquer.
— The American Mercury, October 1943, pp. 450-458[18]
High John the Conqueror is a powerful figure in African American folklore, particularly within the practices of hoodoo. He is often depicted as a clever and resourceful trickster who uses his wit and cunning to overcome adversity and oppression, particularly during the era of slavery. High John also refers to a plant root, also known as John the Conqueror root, which is used in hoodoo rituals to symbolize luck, strength, and the ability to conquer obstacles.
Here’s a more detailed look at High John:
Folklore Figure:
High John is a legendary figure, believed to be a former African prince who was enslaved in America.
He is portrayed as a symbol of resistance and resilience against oppression.
His stories often involve him outsmarting his enslavers and using his intelligence to survive and thrive.
He is seen as a source of hope and inspiration for those who are struggling.
Some believe he ascended to a deity-like status after his death and continues to offer guidance and protection.
Root and Rituals:
The High John the Conqueror root is a tangible symbol of the folklore figure.
It’s used in hoodoo to attract luck, prosperity, personal power, and protection.
It can be carried on the person, used in spells, or burned as incense.
Different rituals involve anointing the root with oils or using it in conjunction with other magical items.
The root is believed to help individuals overcome obstacles, gain control over their lives, and achieve their goals.
In summary, High John the Conqueror is a powerful figure in African American folklore and hoodoo, embodying resilience, resistance, and the ability to conquer adversity. The High John root is a tangible representation of these qualities and is used in rituals to attract luck, prosperity, and personal power.
This video explains who High John the Conqueror is:
MONTREAL – The nation’s top sleep researchers made a joint statement earlier today announcing that they too have no goddamn idea what to do with their arms when trying to sleep.
Dr. Fran McMatton of McGill University told the press that though she and her colleagues had hoped for more positive news, the evidence was overwhelmingly to the contrary: “There’s really no two ways about it: these meat noodles we call “arms” are a tyranny that modern medicine is woefully ill-equipped to handle.”
Her associate Dr. Hank Jarvis, speaking from his research facility in Winnipeg agreed, saying, “We gave it our best shot but some things, like time travel or the appeal of Adam Levine, are bigger than science.”
McMatton and Jarvis led a team of researchers who explored numerous options for arm placement but ultimately found flaws in every possibility. For example, when lying on one’s side – a favourite pose among many amateur sleepers – one could keep the arm pinned between the torso and the mattress, a style that works for a maddeningly brief period before the arm goes completely numb.
Sleeping on the stomach provided some opportunities for comfort but at the expense of other parts of the body. If this is your chosen method of rest, Dr. Jarvis recommends having a eulogy prepared for your neck, as it will be rendered completely inoperative.
“Our results were just as confusing when considering sleeping on the back,” he added. “Do you keep the arms resting alongside the body as though lying in state? Or crossed over your chest also like your lying in state? Either way, you look like a fucking clown.”
Fascinatingly, they also found that in the rare event a subject found a comfortable position for their arms, it only ever occurred exactly three minutes before their alarm was set to go off. Dr. McMatton summed up the implication of these findings by stating, “No option is comfortable, you’ll never be comfortable, and what does it even matter? Eventually death comes for us all.”
The team’s efforts were not all in vain, however, as they were able to confirm that anyone who sleeps with socks on is absolutely a sociopath.
WASHINGTON—Describing it as one of the most disturbing scenes they have ever been called upon to investigate, horrified officers from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department told reporters Wednesday they had found an unresponsive legislative body in the U.S. Capitol building.
At approximately 11:30 a.m., after receiving multiple tips from concerned citizens, law enforcement officials dispatched patrolmen to an address at the corner of East Capitol Street and First Street. According to police sources, many of those who entered the building were overwhelmed by what they discovered inside, and onlookers reported that officers walking out of the property appeared visibly shaken and pale.
“Responding officers found the lawmaking body on the floor of the congressional chambers, completely rigid and making no movements of any kind,” said Chief Detective Mike Logan, explaining that it was evident to those on the scene that efforts to revive the subject would be futile. “In addition to being completely inert, the body showed signs of advanced decay.”
“I personally can say that during my time in this city I’ve never seen anything as deeply unsettling as this.”
“Preliminary forensic tests suggest it has been in this state for months, perhaps even years,” he added.
Upon learning what transpired in the Capitol building, residents admitted they were saddened but ultimately unsurprised given the bicameral legislature’s condition in recent years. It had reportedly begun to display symptoms of deterioration, not just moving slower, but exhibiting decreased problem-solving skills, poor judgment, and an inability to complete routine tasks.
“Obviously, no one wants to see something like this happen, let alone see it up close,” said Logan, adding that it was especially gut-wrenching knowing that such an outcome could have likely been easily prevented if appropriate actions had been taken sooner. “A lot of the guys on the force are still dealing with this. It’s hard to look at a thing like that, especially when you know there’s nothing you can do about it now. It’s the kind of thing that stays with you.”
“I personally can say that during my time in this city I’ve never seen anything as deeply unsettling as this,” he continued.
At press time, detectives stated that as many as 220 million eligible voters were currently being investigated as possible suspects in the case.
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