Northern Fall has arrived--and that means it's aurora season. For reasons not fully understood, the weeks around the autumnal equinox produce, on average, more geomagnetic storms than any other time of year. Even the mildest solar wind stream brushing against Earth can ignite auroras. The spectacle was fueled by a high-speed solar wind stream that hit Earth's magnetic field on Sept. 21st. Earth is still inside this stream and high-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras tonight. (Tip: Local midnight is often the best time to watch.)

September 2007 Aurora Gallery
[August 2007 Aurora Gallery] [Aurora Alerts]

Below: Venus is so bright, it actually casts shadows. You just have to stare a while to see them. This 6-minute exposure at ISO 800 comes from Tenho Tuomi of Lucky Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada:

"Venus projected the shadow of my telescope on the house wall," he marvels.

To experience your own Venus shadow, chose a dark place--very dark--away from city lights. Go there just before dawn. No sky map is necessary to find Venus glaring in the east. Let your eyes fully dark-adapt as the silvery light of the Morning Star illuminates your face. Now turn around. What do you see?

BONUS: Got a backyard telescope? Point it at Venus. Like the Moon, Venus has phases, and at the moment it is a beautifully slender crescent. Take a look!

Lost book of Nostradamus
A mysterious book of cryptic prophecies has been discovered at the National Library in Rome, and there is evidence to suggest that it is the final work of the most famous and controversial prophet in the history of the world, Nostradamus.

UC Davis statistician analyzes validity of paranormal predictions
Did you ever dream about an event before it happened to you? Or, perhaps you knew what another person was going to say before they said it? These events, examples of anomalous cognition, are part of our everyday experience but still remain to be understood scientifically. Jessica Utts, professor of statistics at UC Davis, has been one of the few statisticians to work in the field of parapsychology, analyzing data and helping with experimental design.

The Haunted Mortuary's Paranormal Observatory, Lab, and Museum set to open in New Orleans
New Orleans: The City's new multi-million dollar paranormal center, the haunted mortuary, wants to showcase the world's new breed of paranormal investigators, researchers, ghost hunters and clairvoyants.

Britain legalizes Nephilim resurrection plan
In the study of the Old Testament Book of Genesis, beings of great stature called "giants" appear, which some scholars believe came into existence after powerful angels known as 'Watchers' descended to earth and used women (or their biological matter) to construct bodies of flesh, which they used to "extend" themselves into the material world.

Hauntings: what are shadow people?
Reports of shadow people have existed throughout history. The observer generally reports seeing a dark shadow that resembles the form of a human which appears and moves of its own accord. The figures does not have distinguishable facial features and may be either much smaller or larger than a human. They are often noticed as movement from the corner of the eye, sometimes disappearing when the observer turns to investigate.

Henry Cornelius Agrippa

The birth anniversary of Henry Cornelius Agrippa was recently celebrated, the man who quite literally wrote the book on magic and the occult. Born in the same town as the Knights Templar Grand Master Jaques de Molay, Agrippa was an accomplished, brilliant genius who pursued successive careers in law, politics, philosophy, and medicine, as well as dabbling in a host of other occupations. Agrippa's exploits in magic were legendary, inspiring the tale of Faust and even the "Sorceror's Apprentice." An early feminist, Agrippa argued for female equality and even successfully defended a woman from a charge of witchcraft.

His three volume epic De Occulta Philosophia (Occult philosophy), remains one of the most important occult works ever published.

Well, fall equinox arrived like a gentle breeze...at least for me. I have been working towards completion of three different writing projects and am reasonably pleased with my progress. This is actually huge for me because it marks a turn in my path towards an unknown destination, one that I've seen glimpses of at odd moments and it is going to result in a very significant change in my life and lifestyle. Still working without a break but my boss recently interviewed sonmebody that looked promising and was just waiting to hear back from his references and police check. If you can, I would greatly appreciate a quick remembrance in your prayers regarding this situation. I cannot go on indefinitely as I have, working every single evening and weekend. Other than this, I have absolutely nothing to really complain about.

See you in the ether !

Hiya Jay! We love seeing the auroras here in my part of the world. It's very unusual for them to be seen so far south, but once in awhile, we do get the privilege. Very often, they glow red and green around our house and northward - it really is something to see.

On a different note, Manic Monday is back. This week doesn't seem to be doing so good, but maybe next week will have better results. It's been awhile since I ran the weekly feature, so I'm thinking I'm just a weeeeeeeeeeee bit rusty.

Have a great week, my friend, and thanks for a great post!

That shadow from Venus looks amazing!

I didn't mean to hit "post" straight away.

I was going to tell you that while things are still difficult at work, the end is sight. Meanwhile I've got a week off work, so I'm intending to enjoy it :)

Atronomy is a wonderful pastime. We learn different constellations and phenomena in the Southern Hemisphere than I did back in NB. How goes your astral dreaming? I wrote about this in my blog.