The Maori people wept with joy. They celebrated their beloved river being granted the same rights as a human being by the New Zealand government. This means the river now has a legal right to exist. Defenders of the river can now use the courts to sue anyone who seeks to harm it.
Koreans Practice Dying in Living Funerals
Hyowon is not your run of the mill funeral company. In addition to traditional ceremonies, they also offer mass funerals for the living.
Participants in the living funeral service wear traditional burial clothes. First, they take funeral photos. Next, they are led up a dark staircase by a man dressed as a Korean grim reaper. They enter a room filled with coffins and chrysanthemums.
The Amazing Randi
Professional skeptic, James Randi, has made it his life’s mission to expose phony psychics everywhere. As a young man, Randi made a name for himself as a magician called The Amazing Randi. In his teenage years, he toured with a carnival and had a popular mind-reading act. He also claimed to see the future.
The Psychic ‘Policewoman’
At the age of 65, Dorothy Alison announced she would not live to see 75. In 1999, four weeks before her 75th birthday, she died of heart failure. When Dorothy was 14, she had a vision of her father’s death. He died of pneumonia a few weeks later. Neighbors thought she was a witch. Her mother knew better. She told her daughter she had a special gift. One she should use for good and never for profit.
Humbling The King
The ancient Babylonian ritual of humbling the king happened every year during the New Year festival called Akitu. On the fifth day of the festival, the Babylonian king would surrender his crown and scepter to the head priest. The priest would then drag the king by the ear in front of an image of the Babylonian god. The king knelt to pray for forgiveness. Then the priest would slap him in the face as hard as he could. If tears fell from his eyes, it was a sign that God still favored the king. If the king failed to cry, it was a sign that God was angry.
Robot Spreads Peace and Compassion
A new priest is causing a stir at a 400-year-old Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. Named Mindar, she teaches about compassion and the dangers of desire, ego, and anger. But this is no run of the mill human priest; she’s an android robot. Standing at 195 centimeters, Mindar is able to move her body, arms, and head. Only her hands, face, and shoulders are covered in silicone, to look like human skin.
The Near Death Experience Of Carl Jung
In 1944, world famous psychologist Carl Gustav Jung slipped on some ice and broke his foot. While in the hospital he suffered a heart attack. Jung hung on the edge of death as the doctors battled to save him. A nurse described Jung’s unconscious body as being surrounded by a strange glow. When he regained his senses, Jung spoke of a vivid series of visions. He believed he had experienced a near death experience, also known as an NDE.
Joan d’Arc
At the age of 13, a French peasant girl named Joan D’Arc began hearing voices and having visions. The voices told her to go on an important mission to save France. It was the 1400s, and England was occupying much of France, forcing many French people to leave their homes.