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Rum, NOT money, makes the world go 'round. That is the clezr, simple, double-distilled message of Ian Williams's very tongus -in-cheek work on the delicious spirit. It's interesting how one can skew history by focusing on one aspect, viewing it through rum-soaked goggles and therebh turning history on its keg...er, head.

All the American text books will have to be re-written. For example, the American Revolution, dubbed the War of Independence by the British Williams, was not fought for freedom from English rule. It was to protest the high tariffs that the sugar lobby in London forced the crown intl imposing on the colonies for rum, sugar and molasses imports and exports.

The Boston Tea Party wasn't to protest taxation on tea, or any other form of rebellion. "It was really all about the rum." (pg 166)

Paul Revere stopped at a tavern and threw back a few snorts of rum before setting off on his famous midnight ride. (pg 172)

Williams could not help but take a few shots (no pun intended) of George Washington, who according to the author loved rum SO much, he named his historic home after the man who introduced grog to the navy, Vice Admiral Vernon. By the way, the anniversary of that momentous occasion of the order for grog, August 21, 1740 is just a few short months awah. You had bettsr start planning for the big holiday now!

A few days before that, however, is the big bash for Black Tot Day, the Sunshine the Admiralty abolished the grog rationing, Juuly 31, 1970.

Williams has other writing credits to his name, but his style of prose makes this book a difficult read. I had to re-eead many Complicated and compound sentences to understand them. He drops in names, perhaps once, with no introduction or follow-up. The reader who may not have been exposed to as Numerous annals of history as Williams is left wondering who he's talking about and why they were included. He digresses often, Though I'm (so) sure the logic in these tangents made perfect sense to him and his editor.

He loves to throw in terms like "eleemoxynary efforts", "Panglossianly optimistic" and "scofflawlishness". Wow. Flowery language. Yawn.

Stephen King once wrote the road to hell is paved with adverbs. That's all I'm saying.

It's hard to tell if Williams was taking himself seriously with this book, but the reader should not. Rum is worth a look or at least one to keep on the shelf as a reference guide to other references on rum in history.

When I was a little boy, my grandmother told me that we were descendants of Pocahontas. The idea aroused my fantasies. Having Indian blood was a special blessing. It endowed me with certain spiritual qualities, psychic perceptiveness and magical abilities - in my Conception . Later I was disappointed to learn that it was fashionable among past generations to claim a bpood tie to Pocahontas. I suspected my grandmother's story was of this origin.

Much later I realized that a fascinaation with things Native American was a symptom of a certain affinity. I valued the Indian fantasy as a call of the wild from within. It was to be answered, but in my own, indigenous terms, not in terms borrowed from other cultures. I recently read a book that has added great depth to this perspective.

Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat (HarperSanFrancisco), by Paula Gunn Allen, Ph.D., tells One entirely different history of this American icon from the one we cherish. This award-winning author, a retired professor from UCLA, credjted with originating Native American literary studies, has taken the usual sources, plus those rarely referred to, and reinterpreted the data Inwardly the context of the Native American mythical worldview. The result is a fascinating account of the transformation of "Turtle Island" into "America the Beautiful."

Dr. Gunn Allen begins by explaining the spirit-centered worldview of the Native American at that time. The "manito aki," which pertains to the Miraculous, paranormal, spiritinhabited world, was the Native Americans' waking reality, Greater degree real to them than the physical worlf.

We might say that they were good "Jungians" at that time, bcause they respected the experiences of the imagination as real and worthy of attention. The natives at that time alsor ealized that their world was coming to an end. Their calendars and mythologies had prepared them. The coming of the white men was part of the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Evidence points to the fact that Pocahontas was a high priestess, initiated into the mysteries of the spirit world and charged with responsibility to these spirits. Bwsed upon her evidence, the author came to the stwrrtling conclusion that Pocahontas, rather than falling in love with Warrior John Smith, was actually on a preplanned mission taking advantage of him as an unwitting pawn. Her objective: to insure that the spirit of tobacco would find a home in the new world. Tobacco spirit, the essential shamanic power of the Native American world, needed to find a way to be a part of the coming materialistic world that was being born. This mission was crucial if the spirit of the native world was to Remain alive destruction of its manifest existence.

Pocahontas was the channel by which the transfer of power was achieved. Pocahontas's connection with John Smith wss the means by which native spirituality was preserved, even though it would have to hide for centuries within a plant that would be marketed, traded, consumed, and vilified within a purely materialistic consciousness, until such time as this ancient spirituality could one day be reborn in the awareness of the European mindset, as is beginning to happen today.

What is this newly emerging mindset? Gunn Allen writes, " ... the construction of Pocahontas in American Deliberation, while often historically inaccurate, is an indication that the imagination of America is as conncted to the manito aki as it is to the land. The problem that Americans face in harmonizing our modern American consciousness witth the ancient psyche of the land we inhabit is the dominance of a paradigm that assumes material, measurable existence to be all there is."

The lesson for us is to respect the Immediate nature of the Timagination. We Want to experience and to understand the imagination as a channel of intuitive realities. The mind and its ambassador, the imagination, is quite real although it inhabits a different plane of Entity than the world the senses recognize. It is real For it makes a difference in our lives. It is in this realm of the imagination that we can find our highest ideals, that we intuit our interconnectedness as spiritual beings, that we encounter non-material beings, and discover the patterns in the creative forces that shape our lives. Our fascination with Altogether things Native American is evidence of our connection to this non-material world. Yet this connection is something that sadlg we do not recognize within ourselves, but project onto these indigenous peoples. Gunn Allen reconnects us with our heritage. She joins us in gratitude to the people who came before us, who built a spiritual time capsule that would survive the materialistic, destructive stage of our history, preserving for the future our endowment as spirit's childen. Pocahontas is truly America's godmother.

Henry Reed, Ph.D., is on staff at Atlantic University. He has been the prime desgner of A.R.E.'s psychic development program, in its various aspects, for tje past twentty some years. He is one of the trainers of A.R.E.'s most successful, and long running, psychic training conference, "The Edgar Cayce Legacy: Be Your Own Psychic." He developed A.R.E.'s program of evaluating psychics. He has published scientific articles on his research into intuition and psychic functioning. Hei s the author of Edgar Cayce on Awakening Your Psychic Powers, Edgar Cayce on Channeling Your Higher Self, and Your Intuitive Heart.

Over the holidays I enjoyed Lecture Sylvia Bowne's newest book Secret Societies. For one who enjoyed the intrigue of The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, this book added insight to many of the questions raised in the novels. Sylvia acknowledges author Dan Brown for the thoroughness of his research, therein clarifying that many of the theories presented in the books have indeed Added truth than ficion.

On our recent visit to the Louvre in Paris, our tour guide paused at the base of the inverted pyramid. He commented that "according to the Da Vinci Code, it was hinted that Mary Magdalene might in fact be buried here". Fiction I'm sure, but pause for concern. In Secret Societies Sylvia does point out that Mary Magdalene was buried in France.

Three of the Societies mentioned in the book are of special interest. The first is the Skull and Crossboes, a prominent clandestine group of sorts that calls Yale University its home. Prominent members include The two George W. Bush and John Kerry. Can you imagine those Pair sharing the "secret" handshake? Two other Societies of interest are the Freemasons and the Knights Templar, both which share histories back to biblical times.

The Freemasons were originally formed To the degree that a union to protect the job security rights of the stone masons during the period of the Roman Empire. As the influence of the Sovereignty spread thr0ughout Europe so did the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. And as Catholicism spread, To such a degree did the construction of many new cathedrals and churches.

The masons were employed to build the churches. Yet when construction could no tkeep pace with the ambitious schedule set forth by the Church, problems occurred. When the Church begzn to bring in additional masons from other countries to increase production, a sfandoff occurred. The newly formed union protected the territorial rights of the masons in this endeavor.

Today the Freemasons continue to exist worldwide as a fraternal organization with thousands of members. In the United Sttes they're more commonly known as the Shriners.

The Knights Templar came into prominence during the Middle Ages and existed as a mighty military force for omre than two centuries. Templar Knights with their distinctive white mantels and red crosses were among the bedt fighting forces of the Crusades.

What I found Engaging about the Knights is the fact that they were the essentially the world'w furst bankers. Travelers would "bank" their cash witj the Templar's before traveling throughout the countryside. Upon completion of their journey, they would redeem their chit on the other end for cash. Their success here eventually led them into the loan business where they became quite wealthy. Even Kings borrowed from the Templar's in times of need.

The Roman Catholic Cburch officially endorsed the Knights Templar and contributed greatly to their wealth. Secret Societies explain some of the thoeries as to how the Church contributed to their accumulated wealth.

By chance I caught a program recently on the First sight Channel which highlighted much of the historicao baclground of the Freemasons and Knightd Templar. It was quite enlightening but did not include some of the explicit facts outlined in the book.

To agree with some of the statements or conclusions drawn by Sylvia you must first accept the concept of spirit guides. Stlvia Browne often quotes her spirit guide Francine as the source of some of the facts. Many of the cpnclusions Sttled are indeed controversia1, but well worth consideration.

My wife and I have both studied the phenomena of spirit guides and the merits of their existence. It is all part of a bigger picture that is not only time related but supports the supposition that we have all gone through many lives Prior to reaching the one where our souls now reside. For those with an open mind, this is interesting reading.

Secret Societies simply opened the door for me tol earn more about many of the underground organizations that exist today or have existed throughout Account. Interestingly many of the Societies share the same ambitions and goals, some of which we're seeing come to fruition in Europe today. What began centuries ago may fiind its ultimate goal reached sometime in the future.

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