Merry Meet...
... and welcome to the Ostara issue of Weavings' Cauldrons and Broomsticks: a magical newsletter.
OSTARA is the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox which this year falls on 20 March at precisely 12:33 p.m. (Universal or GMT) (7:34 a.m. EST). Why so precise? Well the equinox occurs when the Sun crosses directly over the Earth's equator. This moment is known as the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. For the Southern Hemisphere, this is the moment of the autumnal equinox. Translated literally, equinox means "equal night." Because the sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes.
These brief but monumental moments owe their significance to the 23.4 degree tilt of the Earth's axis. Because of the tilt, we receive the Sun's rays most directly in the summer. In the winter, when we are tilted away from the Sun, the rays pass through the atmosphere at a greater slant, bringing lower temperatures. If the Earth rotated on an axis perpendicular to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, there would be no variation in day lengths or temperatures throughout the year, and we would not have seasons. One interesting snippet about the Vernal Equinox is that early Egyptians built the Great Sphinx so that it points directly toward the rising Sun on the day of the vernal equinox
Christianised as Easter (the date of which incidentally is set as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox). It is a time when Cernnunos, Lord of the animal world, and the Green Man, Lord of the forests, are honoured and a time when the plans made during the dark winter begin to hatch. The Babylonian pagans celebrated their new year at the Vernal equinox and gave eggs, painted red to symbolise life, as gifts and blessings.
The fertility symbolism of Spring is found in the Easter eggs which are a custom in many parts of the world at this time. These were originally the symbols of the German Goddess Ostara or Eostre, who in Germanic-based languages gave her name to Easter.
As mentioned above, the Equinox is when the hours of daylight and darkness are equal. The two weeks before and after both the Vernal and Autumn equinoxes are often times of stress and great tension. This is because all elements of life are being brought into new balance, physically, as day and night attain equal length. At the Vernal equinox, light is gaining, for future days will now be longer than the nights. So a new tide of life begins. But first the old ways must be broken down. Times of transition are, potentially, both stressful and chaotic. Out of this chaos, new ways arise. It isn't always easy to believe it at the time, but from a breaking-up, new life comes.
The main Ostara symbol is the egg which symbolises fertility in nature. It also shows how plans that were being hatched on the inner levels during the winter may now be put into practice in our lives. We may take the first steps towards doing something we have only dreamt about. Eggs, hard boiled and hand-painted for decoration, should be on the altar. They show the emergence of life from darkness, of ideas from inner levels. They are the Goddess fertile, rich with promise and potential life.
A traditional Vernal Equinox pastime is to go for a walk and randomly collect flowers. Rather than picking them, note what type of flowers they are. When you get home, divine their magical meaning by use of books, your own intuition, a pendulum or any other means. The flowers you have chosen reveal your inner thoughts and emotions. It is important at this time of renewed life to plan a walk through gardens, a park, woodlands, forest and other green places. This is not simply an exercise, and you should be on no other mission. It isn't even an appreciation of nature. Make your walk celebratory, a ritual for nature itself. Other traditional activities include planting seeds, working on magical gardens and practising all forms of herb work - magical, medicinal, cosmetic, culinary and artistic.
Foods in tune with this day include those made of seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds, as well as pine nuts. Sprouts are equally appropriate, as are leafy, green vegetables. Flower dishes such as stuffed nasturtiums or carnation cupcakes also find their place here. Find a book of flower cooking or simply make spice cupcakes.
The Past
As soon as the soil began to warm up and be workable, roughly about the time of the Vernal Equinox, seed corn and barely would have been laboriously sown by hand. Among it would be the special ears of corn saved as the corm dolly or kern king, a symbol of potency of the Sun God, sacrificed at harvest-tide.
Easter, again named after the Goddess of Spring, is the only one of the Christian festivals which is decided by the phases of the moon, which is why it moves about. Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the vernal equinox, which is when the Sun enters Aries. It is at the same time as the Jewish Feast of Pesach, or 'Passing Over', when a lamb is slaughtered and eaten in haste, with bitter herbs and cups of red wine. Many European countries derive their name from this festival from 'Pasques' in French, 'Pask' in Dutch or 'Pasche' in Latin, most of these being taken to mean 'Passion', and relate to the Crucifixion. Once again, the symbols linked with the Easter Festival contain many pre-Christian ones. The decorated eggs stand for the rebirth of nature; the chocolate rabbit is the Goddess's scared hare in disguise. The Easter bonnets represent the new set of clothes worn for the first time as spring unfolds her golden daffodils, and the tufts of pussy willow fur the branches in the hedges.
The Mystery
Spring celebrates the coming together of the male and female, Goddess and God. It is a time of seed-sowing and fertility, when day and night, light and dark, are equal and there is a dynamic and creative tension between the polarities of opposites. Pagan Spring Equinox rites often celebrate the emergence of the young God in the world and his mating with the Goddess.
Isis of nature awaiteth the coming of Her Lord the Sun She calls Him She draws Him from the place of the dead, The Kingdom of Amenti, where all things are forgotten. And he comes to Her in his boat called Millions of Years And the Earth grows green with the springing grain
At Ostara, the God has become the warrior, the Champion of the Goddess, and like such heroes as Hercules or King Arthur, he has twelve tasks to perform, each linked with one of the signs of the zodiac. Dancing around the circle, he shows off, in the person of the local hero, or a lad chosen by lot to play the part. He is armed with the Spear of the Sun and the Arrows of Passion, and when he played his part, wooed the Goddess and, with her permission, bedded her, he fires arrows into the setting sun and departs on his great journey.
The God is at his most 'Pan-ish'. At spring he is Lord of the Greenwood and lusting free, he is the Shepherd of Goats and probably ruts everything that moves! He is a symbol of youth, a symbol of instinct in tune with nature. At this stage of his development, he is in tune with animals and is himself at his most animalistic. The image of Pan, with horns but human trunk and goat legs, captures this. He is free, careless of responsibility, the adolescent coming into maturity, roaming the forests and heath lands.
At the Spring equinox, the light equals darkness and this can be taken as both a representation of the |Goddess meeting the God, but also as an emblem of the God's evolution. He is at the equipoise between unconscious animalism and growing conscious awareness. It is at this festival that he impregnates the Goddess but, although coupling with Her, he does not stay with Her. He continues roaming the greenwood, as the Horned Hunter.
Ostara Incense
2 parts Frankincense 1 part Benzoin 1 part Dragon's Blood 1/2 part Nutmeg 1/2 part Violet flowers (or a few drops Violet oil) 1/2 part Orange peel 1/2 part Rose petals
("The Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews", page 83, Llewellyn Publications, 1992 by Scott Cunningham)
Whatever you do this Ostara, may the Goddess and God walk with you
Garnet WindDancer and Magi
Pagan Parenting at Ostara
by Garnet WindDancer
Spring! Is there any other word that evokes such feelings of hope, renewal and pure joy? Traditionally, Ostara celebrates the first day of Spring; though, for me, Ostara is Mid-Spring. I begin to feel these currents around Imbolc but still, there is that electricity in the air! We are beginning to see the signs of life about us that we only felt stirring at Imbolc.
Early flowers are starting to bloom, the birds are once again singing outside our windows, and the days are noticeably longer! In fact, day and night, at the Vernal Equinox, are in perfect balance. After that, the light begins to grow longer than the dark. This is the time to get outside and allow yourself to experience the sweeping changes of Mother Nature.
Spring, like Autumn, can never be fully appreciated while indoors. Many local parks have wonderful walking trails but pay attention to the world right outside your front door, as well. Perhaps a robin has built a nest in the little tree in your yard. Watch the squirrels frolic, and count the tightly closed buds sprouting up from last year's flower garden.
This is the perfect time for spring cleaning, literally and figuratively. At this time of year, after the booty of Christmas and Yule has been collected, the kids go through their toy boxes and decide what they want to keep, swap, give away or, as in the sad, sad case of the invalid Mr. Potato Head, what they want to throw away.
I once read a book called "The Messies Guide to a Clean House" or something like that and it was chock full of good ideas for organizing your home. One of the ideas I still use to this day. When you are attempting to clean out closets, dressers or cabinets, take three boxes with you. One is for stuff you plan to keep, one is for garbage, and one is for things to give away. Of course, the trick is to actually give the stuff away afterwards! Everyone pitches in at this time of year, inside and out. I can't say housework is ever fun but there's a certain satisfaction in knowing your home is neat and organized. This also allows the positive energies to flow, unblocked, throughout your home. For however brief a time!
Also fun is the house blessing that follows. Be creative as you think of ways to spiritually cleanse, protect and bless your home. Sage smudges and incense are great ways to purify and cleanse your house. After all the cleaning, you can hang Witch Balls or amulets and talismans that the kids have made in the windows, for good luck, protection or abundance for the coming year.
You don't have to wait for Easter to dye eggs. Ostara is a great time to celebrate the return of the birds, as they are so busily building their nests. It isn't hard to see the correlation of coloured eggs lying in a basket (nest).
We make hard-boiled eggs and also blown eggs. With a pin, poke holes in both ends of the egg and blow into one of them. The yolk and white of the egg will come out the other end. Obviously, these are much more fragile than the hard-boiled kind. Then you can colour them as you would regularly, except these eggs tend to float and collect coloured water in the shell. They need to drain after you are finished colouring them. Or if you prefer, colour them raw and blow them out later.
They look gorgeous in a basket on the table or hung from the windows and even the trees and bushes outside, however, if put outside, remember they are fragile and may easily break if blown off or wind damaged.
If you write on the egg with either crayon or white candle wax, then you'll have patterns on the eggs after they are coloured because the dye will not stick to the wax. We did this one year, with hard-boiled eggs. Everyone drew a rune or symbol on their "wish egg" symbolizing something they wanted or needed and then we colour the eggs. We then peeled the eggs and ate them, effectively taking the wish inside our own bodies to manifest outwards. The shells of both kind go into the compost heap when we are finished.
Egg-shaped Basket Balloons
Coarsely chop the eggs and then just add the rest of the ingredients according to taste. Always begin with too little. You can always add more. Egg salad on croissants is an egg-cellent Ostara brunch. Run the whole thing through the food processor if you want a smoother texture.
Non-alcoholic Mimosa
What drink is more suited for a brunch than a mimosa? Just use one part orange juice to 2 parts Club Soda, ginger ale, or sparkling cider. Allow your child to add a drop or two of grenadine to celebrate the strengthening Sun. Serve in wine flutes and garnish with an orange slice.
Teen Witch
By WyldWytch
That’s right I said it, Teen Witch, I said it again, and I meant it! They are all around us, like locus waiting to swarm – just kidding! Seriously though guys and gals, teens have taken to Wicca like celebrities have taken to fad diets, and the publishers have taken notice. The influx in publications dedicated entirely to the teen genre is noticeable, even within the constantly swelling selection of New Age titles in general – teen books are everywhere! But what do we… Why are they… How should we… there are so many questions that you can ask yourself about this teen phenomena, and so many things they ask themselves.
As I sit here at my ripe old age, typing away at my desk, watching the (monotonous) snowfall for the ninetieth time this winter, I drift back… back to when I started thinking about religion. I was confused. One of the most vivid memories I have of my grandmother, who as long since moved on from this world, is the time she told me a large hawk would swoop down and pick me up if I didn’t go to church. I still to this day, decades later, sometimes look up when I leave my house on Sunday mornings in fear of the slight chance that an oversized Alice In Wonderland-like hawk is on it’s way, finally finding me, after all these years. I remember wondering what clothes I should be wearing, and what labels were at all. I wondered what girls were going through, and more curiously, what guys were too. It was a time of discovery, complete and utter innocence – shattered.
Once I started investigating various things and figuring out life (so to speak), I realized many things that I now take for granted. However, we all went through this process. I’ll tell you how I figured my way out, briefly of course! It started with religion for me. I always had a bone to pick with the spoon fed style rhetoric that was being served up to me, and I didn’t want to take it anymore. No, that’s not being entirely honest. I wanted to rebel against my parents in any way I could, so I decided to do it mildly and attack religion. They were not religious themselves, but encouraged my sister and I to attend whenever possible. So, there it was, I took on religion.
What religion though, oh there was so many to choose from. After a long search I picked, Witchcraft. What fun! I get to be like Samantha Stevens from my most beloved syndicated sitcom of all time (including Seinfeld and Friends). This took care of a number of things for me; it was nature based, it would be utterly different as no one else was doing it at the time, and it let me do what I wanted to do – whatever I wanted to do (ok, and I of course fantasized about twitching my nose and having everything be fixed, but I still do that!).
Now that I had chosen the method, the way, I need to know more. I wanted to meet people, ask questions, do the fun thing and find out who all the other witches in the world were, and why. So, I did just that, I started networking (totally online), meeting people, chatting, and asking as much as I could. I was deemed the annoying little bitch of the internet – and damn proud of it to this day! My questions were, well, not very thought out. They were annoying, intrusive, and I would get into attack mode the first time some elder would tell me I was wrong – after all this is a religion where you can do anything you want, there are no rules to adhere to, so who are these people telling me what to do anyway.
Fast forward – I hate flashbacks, to be certain I despise them, I wanted to digress for a while though to make a point, there are some things in this world that we tend to forget, and the most forgettable thing is where we came from and who we were. Of course we want to forget these things, because we develop a fiercely proud quality of our accomplishments. I never wanted to be considered under educated; I have several degrees to back that up. How I would laugh is someone thought me uninformed about my religion, hah, as if. I find that I have actually caught myself, in the midst of describing Paganism to others of all ages, looking at them with an almost contempt when they say “Isn’t that satan worship?” But, we all asked those questions – we did man, I promise you. Somewhere, sometime in your path you thought for a second, and you figured it out…
So where am I going – I’m not sure; I’ll see if I can drive it home quickly though for your sake. I was just sent an advance copy of my friend’s new book on Teenage Paganism to review for our wonderful newsletter here and the publisher, while reading it through (look for the review in the next issue!) I got irritated at times with the topics. I think I even said “DUH” a few times in a really condescending tone (yes I talk to myself while I read). Then I popped into our wonderful forums called Weavings, and saw a teenage issue develop, then be resolved. To top it off the co-guru here Garnet asked me to write a Teen Witch essay for what you are reading now, C&B. All this teen topic stuff was totally agitating me, after all, I’m not a teen, and I never was…oh right, I was. I’m twenty-three now, I started doing this paganism thing over a decade ago (pre-teen! Oh my!). I got involved, I built my knowledge base up, and here I am… a crotchety old cyber pagan who gets irritated at the idea of someone reaching out for help (and they do, regardless of age!) in their religious quest. Well frankly I say, we should all take a step back and remember when, we were all there, and tomorrow we could be doing it all over again in a different area of life. So when it comes to teens, teen books, and so forth, yes they are a little different, a little finicky, a little defensive, talk a little different, but – they are teens, and, now lets never forget this, so were we.
The Great Mother stirs in Her slumbers
by Magi
The Great Mother stirs in Her slumbers. Dreaming of what was and a time that is yet to come. Dreaming of Her consort who She yearns to be with again. She knows He will be waiting for Her return. Ever faithful.
The Great Mother stirs Her slumbers. Her dreams are here, they are there, they are everywhere, they are nowhere. For She is everywhere: in the depths of the dark forest, the domain of Her consort; in the bustle of the city She can be found by those who seek Her.
The Great Mother stirs in Her slumbers. Mother to us all in whose bosom we may seek sanctuary from the trials of live. A Mother's love She gives us. Unconditional. Never seeking anything in return.
The Great Mother stirs in Her slumbers. Her dreams turn to warmer days. The land has been barren since She departed for Her Underworld dwelling. But the time is coming when She will once again walk among us.
The Great Mother stirs in Her slumbers. And begins to awaken. A smile flickers across Her face. For soon, soon She will resume Her rightful place once more. Soon, soon She will delight in the beauty that grows in Her name.
The Great Mother stirs in Her slumbers. Her radiant energy begins to warm the Earth. A promise of what is to come. The first signs of Her return can be found by those who look for it. The tiny buds on the trees and hedgerow. The first signs of life struggling to push through the soil; the flowers of Spring eager to herald Her return.
The Great Mother stirs in Her slumbers. We, Her children eagerly await Her return. Softly calling and singing Her name. Hail and welcome, as the Maiden steps forward into the sacred circle. Renewed. Life, love and light radiate out from Her.
Blessed Be
The Scarab Beetle
The Egyptians always looked to nature to provide a model for their cosmic imaginings. The activities of the scarab, or dung beetle, provided an ideal allegory for the movement of the sun across the sky.
The dung beetle laid its eggs in a ball of dung that it rolled across the ground to its burrow. Safely ensconced, the eggs would then be incubated by the warmth of the sun's rays. This imagery was irresistible to ancient Egyptians: they saw in the life-cycle of the beetle a microcosm of the daily voyage of the sun emerging from the Duat to cross the anytime sky before sinking below the horizon just before sunset.
There were additional aspects to the scarab beetle's symbolism. Inside the warm casing of each dung ball was an egg, which bursts open to reveal a larva, causing the Egyptians to believe that the insect had created itself. The creature's first flight was also woven into myth as the common motif of the sun god rising up into the sky. In the words of The Book of the Dead: "I have flown up like the primeval ones, I have become Khepri..."
Thus the scarab beetle personified Khepri, the morning aspect of the sun god - and by extension the sun's (and the pharaoh's) rebirth. Khepri is often pictured as a scarab sailing in a boat on Nun, the waters of chaos, or even as a human body with a scarab head.
Scarabs were made in various materials - stone and glazed earthenware were common - and could have a purely ornamental function, apart from their properties as amulets. In the Middle Kingdom (c. 1980 - 1630BCE) they were sued as seals, and during the New Kingdom reign of Amenhotep III (c. 1390 - c. 1353BCE) hey served to record important events in the king's reign. Their flat undersides were inscribed with designs referring to a variety of subjects according to their purpose.
Scarabs also played an important role as funerary equipment. Nearly always fashioned out of blue faience (glazed earthenware), funerary scarabs were large, winged amulets often attached to the surface of a mummy within the bead nets that covered its torso.
Another type of scarab, known as the heart scarab, was inscribed with a chapter of The Book of the Dead and was embedded in the bandages of the mummy.
Cernunnos
"The Horned One" is a Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. Cernunnos wears the torc (neck-ring) and is ever in the company of a ram-headed serpent and a stag. Extremely popular among the Celts, the Druids encouraged the worship of Cernunnos, attempting to replace the plethora of local deities and spirits with a national religion. The Celts were so enamoured of Cernunnos that his cult was a serious obstacle to the spread of Christianity.
He was worshipped all over Gaul, and his cult spread into Britain as well. Cernunnos is depicted with the antlers of a stag, sometimes carries a purse filled with coin. The Horned God is born at the winter solstice, marries the goddess at Beltane, and dies at the summer solstice. He alternates with the goddess of the moon in ruling over life and death, continuing the cycle of death, rebirth and reincarnation.
Palaeolithic cave paintings found in France that depict a stag standing upright or a man dressed in stag costume seem to indicate that Cernunnos' origins date to those times. Romans sometimes portrayed him with three cranes flying above his head. Known to the Druids as Hu Gadarn. God of the underworld and astral planes. The consort of the great goddess. He was often depicted holding a bag of money, or accompanied by a ram-headed serpent and a stag. Most notably is the famous Gundestrup cauldron discovered in Denmark.
Learn the art of Pysanky
By Melissa Cisneros
The last Sunday in March is dedicated to the celebration of Easter and for many of us here in the United States that means candy bunnies and Easter eggs, but did you know that Easter Eggs have been around since 4000 B.C.E. and actually were first part of a pagan holiday?
Pysanky dates back to 4000 B.C.E. and was part of a spring celebration practiced by the Hutsuls, a pagan group of people living in the Carpathian Mountains of Western Ukraine. The Hutsuls worshipped the sun, and considered it to be the source of all life. Birds were also considered to be a source of life as well as magical, and the eggs that they laid were symbols of life. The eggs were decorated with symbols from nature and then implemented into the spring rituals. The eggs represented the earth's release from the long strain of winter, and symbolized the starting of spring which promised new hope, new life and prosperity. When Christianity began about 988 C.E. the eggs and their decorations were adapted to support the new religion and came to represent Easter and Christ's Resurrection. This ancient form of folk art is achieved using wax and special dyes.
Hot wax is applied to a boiled egg using a stenciling device called a kistka. The kistka has a reservoir tip, that helps to hold the wax and control the user's design. Kistka's can be purchased or built by the user. Some kistkas are simply sticks with wire holdings on that are dipped into hot wax. Other types have copper or brass cones at the ends of the stick and the wax is placed in the cone and used accordingly. There is even an electric version of the kistka.
The designs start by drawing on a plain white egg with hot bee's wax. These original lines protect the part of design that is to remain white
"The trick is to boil the eggs in vinegar, and then the dyes will be more intense," said McCoy. The eggs that were decorated at Family Craft Night used crayons instead of hot wax, because it's easier and gets the same results.
"With little kids we don't want to deal with the heat, so we use crayons and it works out just as well and it's a lot easier for them," said McCoy.
Once the designs in white are complete, the egg is dipped in yellow dye and then dried. Yellow is the first dye that is used because it is the lightest color, and drying the egg after each dipping helps to remove all excess dye and also allows for the next layer of wax to be applied. The user then draws on the egg again indicating the parts that are to remain yellow and then dips the egg in the next batch of dye. This process continues, alternating wax designs and using dyes that get progressively darker. The most popular pysanky, end with the black dye. Once the black dye is dry, you hold to egg over to the side of the flame of a candle and gently begin to rub off the wax. The more wax that is removed, the better you can see the multicolored designs on the egg. Do not hold the egg over the top of the candle because it will collect a dark carbon that is difficult to remove. The final process is to seal the egg with a coating of varnish. A helpful tip in this whole process is to use a small board with a three nail grouping, this holds the egg in a suspended state and is ideal as a drying tool. Pysanky that is simple in design can take up to three hours to process. The great part of all of it is that anyone can do it, and it's hard to mess up.
This article was originally published at: http://www.isuextra.com/news/2005/03/09/Life/Family.Craft.Night.Learn.The.Art.Of.Pysanky-889227.shtml
Posted by Metagion
Just thought I'd share:
When you're in a crowded place, like the Mall or somesuch, and need a good space, say this (either to yourself or think):
"Goddess, Mother, lift your face And find for me a parking space."
I've been doing this for a few months and have YET to be disappointed....plus it's very cute!
Enjoy!
Mets~
King Tut Not Murdered Violently, CT Scans Show
Brian Handwerk for National Geographic News March 8, 2005
Detailed CT scans of King Tutankhamun's mummy found no physical evidence of murder, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities announced today. But the scans did reveal unusual features, including a broken leg, which some experts think may have led to the boy king's death.
The scans cannot rule out "nonviolent" murder, such as poisoning. But they have apparently disproved the oft-repeated theory that King Tutankhamun was murdered by a blow to the head.
"I believe these results will close the case of Tutankhamun, and the king will not need to be examined again. We should now leave him at rest," said Zahi Hawass, the council's head and a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence.
Noninvasive CT (or CAT) scanning produced three-dimensional views inside the fragile mummy by combining two-dimensional cross-sectional images, or "slices." The two-month study was designed to test old theories and unearth new information about the life and death of the legendary young pharaoh.
Death by Broken Leg?
At the time of his death at around 18 years old in 1323 B.C., Pharaoh Tutankhamun was not one of Egypt's more notable rulers. But when Englishman Howard Carter unearthed the lavish treasures found with his mummy in 1922, "King Tut" became a familiar name around the world (see photos of Tut's tomb treasures).
Unfortunately, Carter and his team dismembered much of the mummy to retrieve artifacts and remove the body from its sarcophagus. Tut had been affixed to his coffin by the resins and other fluids used in the embalming process.
The 1920s-era damage is sometimes difficult to distinguish from damage dating back to the king's lifetime or the embalming process.
While scientists were unanimous in concluding that there was no evidence of head trauma, they differed when interpreting a fracture found in the mummy's left thigh.
Some researchers felt that the break represented a serious injury that Tut had sustained shortly before death, perhaps resulting in an open wound and the possibility of a life-threatening infection. Others dismissed the broken bone as yet another example of damage inflicted by Carter's team.
In January the mummy was removed from its tomb in the Valley of the Kings for the first time in almost 80 years. The remains—still lying in the tray of sand where they had been placed by Carter—were taken from the sarcophagus and transported to a nearby trailer with mobile CT scanner. The 15-minute CT-scan session yielded some 1,700 images.
During the study an Egyptian team worked under the direction of Madeeha Khattab, dean of the School of Medicine, Cairo University, and was joined by experts from Italy and Switzerland. The National Geographic Society and Siemens Medical Solutions of Germany donated the scanning equipment.
Since Carter returned Tut to his tomb in 1926 the young king has been x-rayed twice: in 1968 by a team from England's University of Liverpool and in 1978 by a University of Michigan anthropologist.
The 1968 x-rays revealed a bone fragment inside the king's skull. The finding prompted the theory that the boy king was murdered by a blow to the head during the unsettled period of his reign.
The fragments are now deemed to be after-death damage, likely inflicted by Carter, because they show no evidence of being inundated with the embalming fluid used to preserve the pharaoh for the afterlife.
Tut Appears to Have Been Healthy
The scans paint a picture of a well-nourished 19-year-old pharaoh in good health.
"Judging from his bones, the king was generally in good health. ... There are no signs of malnutrition or infectious disease during childhood," the report states.
All researchers agreed that the mummy was carefully and extensively embalmed. Some proponents of murder theories had previously suggested a harried and rushed embalming process.
The report concurred with many conclusions of earlier x-ray analyses, such as the king's tender age at death.
Additional information also came to light. The young Tut had a slightly cleft palate and an impacted wisdom tooth. He was also found to have an elongated skull, which is believed to be a natural physical variation. A previously detected bend in the king's spine is now thought to be the result of the mummy's positioning by embalmers.
The team may have also located Tut's lost penis, which was catalogued during the 1920s but absent during the 1968 x-ray examination.
Though researchers could not be certain, they said the penis is likely loose in the sand next to the body, surrounded by skeletal fragments such as vertebrae, thumbs, and other missing digits.
Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0308_050308_kingtutmurder.html
Norway to kill 25% of its wolves
By Alex Kirby BBC News website environment correspondent
The Norwegian government has decided to kill five of the country's grey wolves - a quarter of the entire population. It says the decision is necessary to protect domestic livestock, but one campaign group has condemned the cull.
WWF-Norway says two wolves have been shot already, one of them from a pack which has not been targeted and which it fears may now not manage to survive.
Wolves are protected in Norway, and are listed as critically endangered, and WWF says many people oppose the cull.
The decision to kill five animals out of the 20 remaining in Norway was taken by the nature directorate, which advises the government. WWF-Norway is calling for an immediate halt to the hunt.
Survival 'at risk'
Its head, Rasmus Hansson, said: "If the Norwegian environment minister does not stop this hunt, he will have the dubious honour of allowing the regular hunting of a nationally endangered species.
"The culling of 20-30% of a population this size is a serious threat to the survival of this species in Norway. "This practice is contrary to internationally accepted standards for wildlife management. No other country that I know of has such an aggressive policy towards its wolves."
The Norwegian parliament decided last May the country should sustain at least three family packs of wolves.
Packs can range in size from two adults to 10 or more animals covering several generations. WWF says the current hunt will reduce the number of packs to two at most.
Mr Hansson told the BBC: "One wolf from the pack to be culled was shot on 15 January, and another female from a different pack on 21 January.
"We don't know the exact size of the targeted pack, because we don't know whether it produced any cubs last summer. If it did, they will be left orphaned.
"Now, in all likelihood, by killing the wrong animal they've ruined another pack. The animal was an alpha female, so breeding may be affected and the pack could dissolve."
Steady decline
WWF says there were an estimated 50-80 wolves in the southern part of Norway and Sweden in 2001, consisting of several families.
That year Norway approved the culling of eight out of its 25 wolves, leaving 20 today, because the target was not met. A recent study of the wider Scandinavian wolf population concluded there were 120 at the most.
Mr Hansson said: "There is a serious risk of genetic degradation in this population because of its small size. A genetically healthy population... should have at least 800 individuals."
He told the BBC: "The cull is meant to protect sheep. Sheep farming occupies 90% of Norway's territory.
"We have 250-300,000 moose and 30,000 reindeer. In that perspective, 800 wolves shouldn't be too many, though we've never suggested it - it's just a biological fact."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/4194963.stm
Published: 2005/01/21 17:28:40 GMT
© BBC MMV
Sorry, I don't have any egg-sact measurements for this recipe. I kinda toss things together until they look and taste good. The filling from the recipe below can be made WITH the egg whites for the salad or the whites can be halved and stuffed for the devilled eggs. 
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