WHEN THERE WAS ME AND YOU

From High School Musical

It's funny when you find yourself
Looking from the outside
I'm standing here but all I want
Is to be over there
Why did I let myself believe
Miracles could happen
Cause now I have to pretend
That I don't really care

I thought you were my fairytale
A dream when I'm not sleeping
A wish upon a star
That's coming true
But everybody else could tell
That I confused my feelings with the truth
When there was me and you

I swore I knew the melody
That I heard you singing
And when you smiled
You made me feel
Like I could sing along
But then you went and changed the words
Now my heart is empty
I'm only left with used-to-be's
And once upon a song

Now I know you're not a fairytale
And dreams were meant for sleeping
And wishes on a star
Just don't come true
Cause now even I can tell
That I confused my feelings with the truth
Because I liked the view
When there was me and you

I can't believe that
I could be so blind
It's like you were floating
While I was falling
And I didn't mind

Cause I liked the view
Thought you felt it too
When there was me and you

HOGWARTS: A History

HOGWARTS FOUR

Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago (the precise date is uncertain) by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built Hogwarts together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered severe persecution.

For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out the young who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school.

-- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

WAITING ON THE WORLD TO CHANGE

First of all, I would like to thank Carol for sharing to DAC this wonderful sign language music video... I'm really inspired by this.

http://www.d-pan.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=45

HORCRUXES

During his sixth year at Hogwarts, Harry was given extra lessons with Dumbledore which he gladly accepted. The lessons was not practicing defensive magic useful against Voldemort or brewing useful potions that will help him survive when he confronted the Dark Lord. It was all turned out to be diving deeper into the life of Tom Riddle, the boy who became Lord Voldemort.

As Harry and Dumbledore finally draw to the near end of their lesson, Harry was assigned by Dumbledore an important assignment which was to extract the true and important memory from Horace Slughorn. Harry managed to get it and one of the important parts of the epic series unfolded. Voldemort tore his very own soul into seven or in short, he made seven Horcruxes.

A Horcrux is a "receptacle in which a Dark wizard has hidden a part of his soul for the purposes of attaining immortality.” It is one of the deepest, darkest and most evil branches of dark magic. In addition, Voldemort became less human because of the mentioned seven Horcruxes he had made which he believed will help him revive and achieve immortality.

According to Dumbledore, Voldemort made six where Harry already destroyed one and he also destroyed another which left only four while the seventh and final Horcrux resides with Voldemort himself. The Horcrux which Harry had destroyed was the diary of Tom Riddle. In his second year at Hogwarts encountered Tom Riddle through the mysterious diary owned by Tom himself. The diary was originally handed to Ginny where she confessed to an anonymous friend dwelled inside every pages of the diary her deepest and darkest secrets. Later, the diary found Harry and Tom himself revealed that a part of himself dwells inside that diary. Harry on the other hand managed to destroy it through a basilisk’s fang and the Riddle in the diary was destroyed.

Dumbledore on the other hand, destroyed the ring which owned by Marvolo, a pure descendant of Salazar Slytherin. He’s also the father of Merope, the woman who gave birth to Tom Riddle. However, the cost of destroying the ring was tough because Dumbledore’s right hand (which is his wand hand) was blackened.

The two journeyed to a place where Voldemort concealed another part of his soul or in short, another Horcrux. It was the silver locket owned by Merope Gaunt. Both managed to get the Horcrux but the price was Dumbledore’s death. Harry then realized that the locket was just a duplicate copy and the original locket was stolen by a person who introduced himself through his initials “R.A.B.”

With his greatest protector death, Harry accepted the mission that he must now track the remaining Horcruxes. This is part of the plot of the seventh and final series. Harry didn’t return to Hogwarts in order to seek the four remaining Horcruxes and destroy them before confronting Lord Voldemort. The four remaining Horcruxes are: Hufflepuff’s cup, Slytherin’s true locket, Nagini and something owned by whether Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.

In The Deathly Hallows, we learned that Rowena Ravenclaw’s lost diadem was made into Horcrux by Voldemort himself when he found it somewhere in the forest of Albania. Harry on the other hand, realized that the original locket was stolen by Regulus Arcturus Black (R.A.B.) which was later in possession of Mundungus Fletcher who sold it to Dolores Umbridge. The locket was successfully destroyed using the Sword of Godric Gryffindor by Ron and the locket was no longer a Horcrux.

The cup owned by Helga Hufflepuff was destroyed by Hermione in the Chamber of Secrets using the remained fang of the basilisk.

Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem was said to be lost but Harry discovered that it was stolen from Rowena herself after the confession of the Grey Lady of Ravenclaw, a ghost in Hogwarts. The Grey Lady confessed that she is Helena Ravenclaw, the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw. Harry found the diadem inside the Room of Requirement and later it was destroyed by Fiendfyre cast by Vincent Crabbe and also killed Crabbe.

Nagini died in the hands of Neville Longbottom when he pulled the Sword of Godric Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat and consequently beheaded Nagini.

But, it is surprising to say that Harry was totally astounded by the revelation from Dumbledore that he is the seventh and final Horcrux. Voldemort is unaware of this or probably the connection between them and Harry. The boy who survived the attack of Lord Voldemort through his mother’s sacrifice became famous and recognizable through the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Voldemort’s defeat brought joys to the Wizarding community and praised the young boy thus called him a hero. However, as Harry grew up, entered Hogwarts and encountered Lord Voldemort his scar prickled with pain for a reason he didn’t fully understand except that the brief explanation or opinion it only hurts when Voldemort is near him.

During his fifth year, he was haunted by terrifying dreams of seeing himself inside Lord Voldemort. He, in addition, able to sees things which Voldemort sees and feels what Voldemort feels. This incomprehensible connection between Harry and the Dark Lord brought Harry to the hands of Snape who taught him Occlumency, another complex branch of magic which deals with blocking the mind of one from being penetrated by another. Dumbledore too had sensed this which is the reason why he kept avoiding Harry during his fifth year because every time he looks upon Harry, he sees Voldemort stir from Harry’s eyes. The scar itself connected Harry to Voldemort; he inherited some powers of Voldemort after the failed attempt to kill him.

When Voldemort cast the Killing Curse to Harry during their final confrontation in the place where Aragog formally resides somewhere deep in the Forbidden Forest, Voldemort was unaware that he destroyed the final part of his soul which resides in Harry himself.

The result, Voldemort once more became mortal.

Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus
(Never Tickle A Sleeping Dragon)

Goodbye

It was 21^st of July and I woke up so early around 5:30am despite my eyes were still too lazy to open widely. I forced myself to get up then ate a simple breakfast, brushed my teeth and took a bath. After an hour, I double checked my things and quickly sprinted towards National Bookstore near the place where I work.

I reached the place but went first to the nearby ATM Machine to withdraw some cash I needed. After that, I quickly went to the bookstore and found myself standing with two ladies and an old man who were also waiting for the bookstore to open. It was 6:45am. You might be probably wondering it was too early for a bookstore to open its doors to their customers at that day since, most bookstores around the city usually opens 9:00am or 10:00am.

But that day was special. It was a special day to not only the four individuals standing outside the door but to another people around the world. Because it was the day when the seventh and final installment of JK Rowling epic tale of Harry Potter was released. The book was titled “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” Yes, it was the last and the long story must end there. Harry’s destiny is at hand.

I admit that excitement crept over me when the release date of the final book was announced. As the date is drawing closer I was restless and couldn’t help myself to consult countless internet sites looking for possible and believable clues of what will happen in the final part of the series. I too busied myself in browsing different interviews on JK Rowling about her final book trying to get some important clues out of her during her interview that I hoped might slip… But she’s very careful with her words—careful enough to prevent spilling direct information related to the final book. It was her style.

With little difficulty of solving the puzzle by connecting her hints to the opinions of others and my opinion, I decided to remain firm in one theory of what will happen in The Deathly Hallows. Harry must (or will) die as well as Voldemort. I remained first on that conclusion and also added to myself that I should also keep my fingers crossed though I disliked the idea that Harry himself must die.

It was 1 minute left to 7:00am and I saw the bookstore ready to open its doors. I straightened myself up and prepared.

“The destiny is finally at hand,” I said to myself.

Then, the clock announced that it’s 7:00am and the security guard opened its doors. I looked back before entering; there were not so many people there. In my own opinions, maybe because the place was not popular as I heard that there’ll be going a whole day celebration in Fort Bonifacio Global City where Harry Potter fans will gather to celebrate the release of The Deathly Hallows.

I quickly walked towards the Customer Service corner and presented my reservation receipt and finally… the final installment of the series is clutching tightly in my hands. But a weird sensation crawled over my whole self. I felt that something was not right within me as I’m holding the book.

I looked upon its covers and it was exactly the same one I saw over the internet. Then, I opened a few pages to read the different names of its chapters and looked shortly at the drawing on the first chapter. Then, I closed the book and left.

While I was sitting in the canteen lingering my eyes to the front cover of the book, I felt a different sensation inside my own mind as it was like I’m seeing the whole thing clearly as I’m looking to the cover of the book. I saw Harry smiling, standing proud and waving goodbye later joined by his two closest friends Ron and Hermione both of them waving goodbyes too followed by the students, faculty and staff of Hogwarts next by the Wizarding community and finally Albus Dumbledore. Together they disappeared slowly beneath the front cover of the seventh and final book which I’m holding. What I felt at all was half joy and half terrible sadness.

A single tear came out of my right eye. I felt the bitterness of parting from the book which I loved. It is the book that pushed me into reading and taught me to love reading. The feeling was like I’m parting to one of my closest friend.

I do not know when I will read stories about Hogwarts or the Wizarding community again as the author already laid down her pen to rest after long years of hard work.

But I will keep the memories of this enchanted world always alive in my mind.

The magical world I entered is now at peace.

“All is well.”

DRACO DORMIENS NUNQUAM TITILLANDUS

Finally the long wait is over... million Harry Potter fans around the world dashed to their favorite bookstores to get their own copy of the seventh and final installment of JK Rowling's epic tale about the boy wizard. This 21st of July the book HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS is finally released.

The destiny is finally at hand after the long wait when I first opened and read the first installment six years ago. I was totally enchanted by this boy wizard and allowed me to dive deeper into his full and complex world. As the story progress from one sequel to another the wizarding world is starting to plunge again into another darkness as the avid readers of this book realized that the most powerful dark wizard who haunted Harry's dreams came back. When the author announced the release date of the final installment, many theories and speculations spread through the internet and by hearsay about the events that will lead to conclusion of the epic tale of Harry Potter.

There were few theories that Harry himself will die in the end which followed by million protests from the fans around the globe begging Rowling to save the boy from the hands of death and Lord Voldemort. Rowling later mentioned that one of our favorite character dies. She just hinted the favorite character which the readers of her book already loved and the one who should say farewell. The author also added that she might definitely kill Harry to avoid others authors to write about the world she created. In addition, Rowling also hinted that she might return to Hogwarts or probably will write another story after giving herself adequate time to relax and brew another story that will captivate the minds of her readers.

In line of the seventh book, Harry with his two loyal friends Ronald Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jane Granger will embark on a dangerous journey to track the remaining Horcruxes of Lord Voldemort which will turn him into human again when Harry and Voldemort duel. However, the story will also take us to the complex biography of Albus Dumbledore.

What happened next is what I will post next to this blog...

FOR BOOK LOVERS

Just got the idea from Ms. Nicky's multiply site...

The rules are simple. In the following list of a hundred books, copy and paste it in your multiply blog.

Bold the ones you’ve read, mark in blue the ones you want to read, mark in red the ones you don’t want to read, italicize the ones you’ve never heard of, and don’t do anything with the ones you feel indifferent towards or that you wouldn’t mind reading but aren’t dying to.

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling)
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)
6. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling)
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
10. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
11. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
12. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
13. The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)
14. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew (C.S. Lewis)
15. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)
16. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and his Boy (C.S. Lewis)
17. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (C.S. Lewis)
18. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C.S. Lewis)
19. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair (C.S. Lewis)
20. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis)
21. Inheritance Trilogy: Eragon (Christopher Paolini)
22. Inheritance Trilogy: Eldest (Christopher Paolini)
23. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
24. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
25. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint Exupery)
26. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
27. The Vampire Lestat (Anne Rice)
28. Queen of the Damned (Anne Rice)
29. The Pearl (John Steinbeck)
30. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexander Dumas)
31. The Romanov Prophecy (Steve Berry)
32. The Alexandria Link (Steve Berry)
33. The Amber Room (Steve Berry)
34. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
35. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
36. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
37. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
38. The Man in the Iron Mask (Alexander Dumas)
39. Brave New World Revisited (Aldous Huxley)
40. Movers and Shakers: Deaf People Who Changed the World (Cathryn Caroll and Susan M. Mather)
41. Living Legends: Six Stories about Successful Deaf People (Darlene Toole)
42. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
43. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
44. Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens)
45. David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)
46. Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
47. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
48. Memories of My Melancholy Whores (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
49. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
50. Six Characters in Search of an Author and Other Plays (Luigi Pirandello)
51. Dora: Fragment of an Analysis of a Case Hysteria (Sigmund Freud)
52. The Interpretation of Dreams (Sigmund Freud)
53. The Metaphysics of Morals (Immanuel Kant)
54. Oedipus Rex (Sophocles)
55. Brokeback Mountain (Annie Proulx)
56. Swann's Way (Marcel Proust)
57. Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)
58. The Uses of Literature (Italo Calvino)
59. Girl Interrupted (Susana Kaysen)
70. The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie)
71. The Ilidad (Homer)
72. The Quest of the Holy Grail
73. After Eden (Arnold Arre)
74. The Mythology Class (Arnold Arre)
75. V for Vendetta (Alan Moore)
76. Ang Kagilas-gilas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsa Zsa Zaturrnah (Carlo Vergara)
77. Bulaklak ng Maynila (Domingo Landicho)
78. Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Edgardo Reyes)
79. The Trilogy of St. Lazarus (Cirilo F. Bautista)
80. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
81. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
82. Ulysses (James Joyce)
83. Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
84. Arabian Nights
85. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (Eleanor Coerr)
86. The Devil Wears Prada (Lauren Weisberger)
87. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
88. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
89. Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie)
90. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
91. The Historian (Elizabeth Kustova)
92. Diary of a Madman (Nikolai Gogol)
93. The House of the Spirits (Isabel Allende)
94. Dekada '70 (Lualhati Bautista)
95. Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
96. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
97. A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
98. The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail (Michael Baigent,Richard Leigh,Henry Lincoln)
99. The Poe Shadow (Matthew Pearl)
100. THE BIBLE (unfinished...)

Let the fun begin...

Behind the Superstition

Days are traveling fast. The sixth month in our calendar finally arrived. Many may have noticed or probably not noticed the date of the second Friday of the sixth month. Yes, you’re probably starting to look up on your calendar now and glanced the number 1 and 3 which is the number 13 is Friday on second week of July.

Superstitions in different parts of our country and maybe around the globe believed that Friday the 13^th is unlucky day. For believers, the forbid or warn others to be careful on this day because something unexpected or “unlucky” might befall them or their loved ones. We might start to ask ourselves: why Friday the 13^th is unlucky day? Where the belief originally came from? What different myths, legends or stories which believed as origin of the said worldwide superstition? Is Friday the 13^th unlucky?

The Historical Context

There are no historical records identified or explained regarding the beginnings of Friday the 13^th. It was just; the number 13 was considered unlucky number. In some cultures, Japan for an example believed that the number 4 was unlucky number also the number 9. Why it is so? In Japanese language, the number 4 (“four”) is pronounced “shi” which means “death.” On the other hand, the number 9 (“nine) is pronounced as “ku” which means “suffering” or “torture.” For the mentioned reasons, the numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky by Japanese people. Aside from this, some Japanese also inherited the beliefs of many Christians around the world that the number 13 is unlucky. In line with this belief, Japanese people avoid putting the numbers 4, 9 and 13 in any rooms, elevators or even seats.

The Wikipedia explains that Friday the 13^th was first documented in the early 1900s. It might be probably during the dawn of the 20^th century, different stories, theories, myths and legends regarding the origin of Friday the 13^th began to circulate elsewhere. We will first turn our attention to Norse Mythology.

The Legends

Freyja is the Norse goddess of fertility. She was also the goddess of war, death, magic, prophesies and magic. Additionally, Freyja was also said to be the bringer of fruitfulness to fields and wombs. Friday is the sacred day for Freyja as well as the number 13. For Christians who reject the idea of polytheism considered both Friday and the number 13 as unlucky because it is related to the belief which they do not accept.

In Christian world, it was said that Jesus Christ himself has twelve apostles. When the day of his crucifixion is approaching, he gathered his apostles into one small room where they celebrated together the Passover. But, the Holy Scriptures explained that Judas himself was not present during that time. He had gone away to betray Christ and sold him into his enemies for 30 pieces of silver. In popular Christian belief, Jesus died on the stake on Friday where many Catholics yearly celebrate during the Lent and which was popularly known as “Good Friday.” In addition, Jesus himself has twelve apostles and if Jesus is added to the twelve, they’ll be thirteen. Therefore, Friday and the number 13 was again considered unlucky.

The last example is taken from the popular fiction of Dan Brown which was titled “The Da Vinci Code.” According to the book, the Knights Templar was originally formed to protect the tomb and secrets of Mary Magdalene, the sacred feminine. In addition, the Quest for the Holy Grail means a quest to kneel in front of Magdalene’s bones. The Knights Templar was hunted down by France’s King Philip IV and by the Church because they become powerful, rich and opposed the Church. They are condemned as heresy because the Church feared that if the Templars reveal the secrets of sacred feminine and the ancient truth which the Church itself denied will bring an end to the Church and since it was the Templars who guarded the secret, they decided to eliminate them so the secret will die with them. It was October 13, 1307 when the Knights Templar was tortured and executed. It was Friday.

Coloring the Legends

After exploring some selected related myths, we can start asking ourselves whether to believe that Friday the 13^th is unlucky day. Could that day and date was considered unlucky just because it is special to a belief which Christians condemn? Different religions and cults around the world have various special celebrations of their own in different days and dates. For an example, in Nick Joaquin’s The Summer Solstice the Feast of the Tadtarin is yearly celebrated in Obando, Bulacan every Feast of St. John the Baptist which is every 24^th of June. The Tadtarin is celebrated in three consecutive days and always started at the feast of a Catholic saint. Women dances during the procession of the Tadtarin where they gain supremacy over men. The story also explained that those women are the dominant figure while men were just slaves. It reminds us of the sacred feminine in the books published like Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

We clearly see that the celebration which took yearly at Obando is blended with non-Christian tradition. Why we Christians didn’t condemn it as we see clearly that it is intertwined with a non-Christian belief. We criticized the Norse mythology by considering Friday the 13^th unlucky because it is special to their goddess Freyja without looking into our own celebrations with non-Christian traditions.

On the other hand, do we really need to consider Friday the 13^th unlucky because our Savior was betrayed by the 13^th person (Judas Iscariot) and consequently died on Friday? When Christ was resurrected, he didn’t condemn the day he was crucified or his betrayer. In addition, Christ himself is aware that he must shed his blood in ransom for the sins of many. He was sent to the world to preach the Word and died as a ransom for our sins which opened a new covenant between us and the Almighty God. Moreover, the Holy Bible doesn’t mention that the Friday the 13^th is unlucky or even condemned it.

In connection with the Knights Templar, is the Friday the 13^th considered unlucky because of its connection to the murder of the guardians of Mary Magdalene seven hundred years ago? If Mary Magdalene is an important person then her death should be considered more important than the death of her protectors. There were countless persons in all fields of learning like history, science, medicine, technology and others who changed our world died on different days and dates but we never considered the dates of their deaths unlucky nor it become a widely superstition like what many believed about the Friday the 13^th as unlucky day.

There are so many myths regarding why Friday the 13^th was considered unlucky. But would we allow ourselves to live the modernized life believing that Friday the 13^th is a cursed day? Superstitions may be a hindrance to our life’s development and progress. From various sources that I’ve read there are no strong reason mentioned on why Friday the 13^th is unlucky, not even one. Most of my sources just tell fictions which is probably or surely from myth-makers.

Therefore, Friday the 13^th is just a product of different fictions made by man.

(Michael T. Vea)