Calling all writing Industry talent!

We are excited to announce Relic Press, will be launching in April of 2015! We are honored for the opportunity to work with talented Authors and Writers. We will accept submissions from these following genres:
Young Adult
New Adult
Womens Fiction
Historical Romance
Historical Fiction
Romance
(No Erotica)
Paranormal
Mystery Thriller

Please direct any questions or info. to the following email until the site goes public later this month.
relicpresspublishing@gmail.com

We are looking for a few more Acquisition Editors and Illustrators. Please contact Elizabeth for details via:  relicpresspublishing@gmail.com

The Summerland Novel: Conceptualization of the Afterlife By: Elizabeth Cheryl

https://www.facebook.com/walkingasawitchThe Summerland Novel: Conceptualization of the Afterlife By: Elizabeth Cheryl

Conceptualization of the Afterlife By: Elizabeth Cheryl

This entry will explore the Neo-Pagan religions and their views of the afterlife.
The myths, stories and theosophical term “Summerland.”  

We will explore the diverse views of Wicca and other religions wonderments in regards to the astral planes of our souls.

The term “Neo-Pagan” can be a confusing combination of words. It is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of modern religious movements, particularly those that date back to Pre-Christianity

Their beliefs are diverse and no one set of beliefs are shared by all of them, although there are commonalities shared by most.

Theology can be broadly categorized in three streams.

1.     Polytheism – (Belief in many God’s)

2.     Pantheism – (Belief that the whole reality is divine)

3.     Animism – (The belief that spirits are active in all aspects of the environment)

Some religious movements have a connection with the divine feminine (monotheistic) or the feminist goddess orientation. Somewhere under the umbrella, neo-pagan traditions proliferate.The pagan umbrella can also include agnostics, polytheistics, eclectics, druids, shamanists, re-constructionists (Norse, Celtic, Kemetic..ect..) or any of the indigenous religions (American Indian, Australian Aboriginal, African)So as you can see not all Pagan’s faiths are nature (earth) based and not all Pagan’s are Wiccan’s or Witches.So with all of this said the following workshop is to give you information about Neo-Pagan religions and what they believe happens to the soul after death. If your character is pagan or Wiccan or a witch then you might want to focus your questions on the subject of the “Summerland.” If your character falls under another category of the umbrella then we will answer and explore that particular belief system.

Where does the soul go according to Wiccan’s?

Wicca, in common with many other religions, recognizes Deity as dual. The Goddess and the God are equal. Not distant in heaven but omnipresent throughout the universe.

As in Eastern religions, Wicca also embraces the doctrine of reincarnation, although Wicca doesn’t teach that upon death our souls do not reincarnate into anything but another human body. Wicca does also not embrace the theory that our souls existed in any form like a rock, tree, snake or a bird before we evolved. Though these creatures and substances are thought to possess a type of soul, it is not thought to be near what a human might possess.

Reincarnation or Re-birth; the once universal doctrine, which taught that the Ego is born on this earth an innumerable number of times, means only the re-birth of the Ego in another form. One might think that it makes sense to believe in it when we feel like we remember things we have never done in this life. We may ask ourselves why we are attracted to places and people who we have surely never seen before. We may have traits or habits in our life that seem to be present and hard to break. We may feel as if maybe we are working on changing things in ourselves that we know are our own personal demons for a better knowledge and peace for the next go around. It is commonly believed that a soul is not female or male but its own energy. That when a soul is placed in our human shape it brings with it experiences form the past life. Some of those experiences come in the form of lessons. The things that we may not have done correctly in the previous life will now try again in a different human shape. This cycle is thought to continue until we have perfected life. At this point we reach what is called, Nirvana.

Nirvana is a universally accepted term with many religions. According to Sanskrit, it is compared to “blowing-out” like the flame of a candle, the utter extinction of existence. But in the exoteric explanations it is the state of absolute existence and absolute consciousness, into which the Ego of a man who had reached the highest degree of perfection and holiness during life, goes after the body dies, and occasionally, as is the case of Gautama Buddha and others, during life.

Until the Ego can reach Nirvana, it is believed to rest in somewhere in the Milky Way of existence called, “The Summerland.” Summerland is a fancy, theosophical term given by the spiritualists to the abode of their disembodied spirits. This place is not darkness and oblivion, but rest from the toils of physical existence. It is human existence between incarnations. Some describe it as the land of eternal summer, with fields of flowers and flowing rivers, perhaps the earth before humans. Maybe a place where energy swirls and co-exist with their Goddess and God’s in their celestial identities.

 

Now that Mabon has past here is here is the definition of what is to come..Mabon marks the middle of harvest, it is a time of equal day and equal night, and for the moment nature is in balance. It is a time to reap what you have sown, of giving thanks for the harvest and the bounty the Earth provides. For finishing up old projects and plans and planting the seeds for new enterprises or a change in lifestyle. Mabon is a time of celebration and balance.

This is the time to look back not just on the past year, but also your life, and to plan for the future. In the rhythm of the year, Mabon is a time of rest and celebration, after the hard work of gathering the crops. Warm autumn days are followed by chill nights, as the Old Sun God returns to the embrace of the Goddess.

The passing of Mabon is inevitable and The Sun God should be mourned. We too, must remember that all things must come to an end. So the Sun God journeys into the lands of winter and into the Goddess' loving arms, but endings are a good time to celebrate our successes, thank our selves and those who helped us, and take part in the balance of life!

Sugar, Cancers Best Friend

Sugar, Cancers Best Friend

Posted by elizabethcheryl ⋅ January 29, 2013 ⋅ 2 Comments

With the new year under way and the past behind us one thing that we may have brought with us into 2013 is not something any of us want to think about, cancer cells. Women tend to be more vigilant with their health than men do but that is not always enough. It has been scientifically proven that cancer thrives in an acidic environment. Cancer cells also crave and need sugar which happens to be in most foods we eat daily. We may not exactly have a cure for cancer, but what if I told you that it is preventable to an extent. Now I am not a doctor nor do I claim that this article will save your life but I will say that after reading what I have to say; your life is worth researching this information and finding out on your own. Only you can take charge of your own health and it all starts with being proactive, not reactive. I could not stress to you more that after losing my mom and many other people I love to cancer it prompted me to do extensive research and visited some of the best clinics in the country with incredible results in curing cancer. When it was realized that cancer needs sugar and an acidic environment to thrive it is only common sense to create an environment that does not promote those two combinations. There are many foods that encourage an acidic body. You can google acidic and alkaline diets to find more information on what foods are acidic and what foods are alkaline. It is advised that we create a Ph level of about 80 percent alkaline and 20 percent acidic in our bodies. Sugar will fall into an acidic category, in fact cancer cells love sugar so much that an Oncologist Doctor in Reno named Dr. Forsythe at Century Wellness Clinic has created a type of chemo that mimics sugar in the body. When the cancer cell absorbs the chemo presenting itself as sugar, it annihilates it. But thats only a small portion of what Dr. Forsythe does for his patients. He is a Renaissance man in the area of cancer treatment. You can read about him in a book by Suzanne Somers, called Knockout, Interviews with Doctors who are curing cancer. His website is www.drforsythe.com.
Along with learning about the miracles and visiting Dr. Forsythe’s clinic in Reno, I also took a trip to the world renown Bio-Medical Center in Tijuana, Mexico. Since 1963 The Hoxsey Clinic has been treating and curing patients from around the globe. The treatment is comprised of a liquid elixir containing many herbs and several topical salves, the clinic may also use other supplements, diet, nutrition and chelation therapy, according to the website www.cancure.org. Some of the theory behind the Hoxsey method is to keep the body in a more alkaline state, therefore making the environment unsuitable for the reproduction of cancer cells. The Hoxsey clinic will teach you how to eat and provide the elixirs to keep the body at the proper PH level.
With the information on how the body can fight cancer it may not be a cure but maybe that cure lies in the form of putting into our bodies what we want to get out of it. If we give ourselves a fighting chance in keeping our sugar levels low or obsolete and maintaining an alkaline environment then we are being proactive with reducing our odds of getting cancer in the first place. Its very important to pay attention to the input of chemicals and refined sugars that are dumped into our systems every day. As our society continues to move into the “quick fix” or the on the go packaged lunches and dinners we are increasing our chances of providing the very breeding ground for cancer to grow and eventually destroy it’s host. Some of the warning signs of cancer are the following according to Web.Md’s Common Cancer Signs Overlooked….

1. Unexplained weight loss
2. Bloating
3. Breast Changes
4. Between period bleeding or unusual bleeding
5. Skin Changes
6. Difficulty swallowing
7. Blood in the wrong place
8. Gnawing abdominal pain and depression
9. Indigestion
10. Mouth changes
11. Pain
12. Changes in the lymph nodes
13. Fever
14. Fatigue
15. Persistent cough

Now not all of these mean cancer and or maybe one or two can indicate a worthy checkup. Either way I hope you found some of this information helpful. If you would like more information on Dr. Forsythe or the Hoxsey Clinic please feel free to email me or leave comments on this article. I did visit and have many stories of the journey to the Hoxsey Clinic in Tijuana, Mexico that you might find fascinating.

Origin Coffee Shop Article I wrote in Kool Fire Magazine

A Cup for a Cause

“Can you bind yourself to a shift for a 3 month time frame for those that have no freedom can go free?”

On January 22, 2011 something changed in our community that would impact lives around the globe. It all started with casual conversations between friends, a conversation that doesn’t normally take place in most households.  A conversation about a topic most find hard to discuss, not because we don’t care but because most have no idea how to make a difference or help fight to change the problem. But Co-Founders of Origin Coffee & Tea, Mark South and Chad Salstrom came up with a concept that is doing just that, impacting the world with one cup of coffee at a time. When we hear about a young girl who is missing on television or read about her in the paper most are saddened and concerned for her safety. We stare at her picture and study her face for a moment and imagine if it was our child that was missing, taken or sold. But where does one start to help fight the brutal and most heinous life of sex trafficking. More and more children every year are drug into the life of slavery, “like a disposable cup,” Mark South said, one of the co-founders of Origin. He told us about a story of a young girl about the age of sixteen taken off the street in El Dorado Hills in 2009. She was held in Rocklin for eight days until she was sold off to sex slavery in the Bay Area. After hearing that story of the young girl and many others Mark and Chad decided to build something that would “bring awareness to create a culture of this reality,” and constant revenue in the aid Child Sex Trafficking. They said that one check in any amount of money wouldn’t even stop the 32 billion dollar a year industry of child sex slavery. Awareness and perception was the only way to really make a long lasting impact on an act that will take decades to bring down. Origin opened its doors in 2011 and with this concept; they have created story tellers and abolitionists, a city wide collaborative, non-profit business that impacts not only our children locally but worldwide. There are many people since opening in 2011 that have given their life to this. Traveling overseas and donating their time to help save a child’s life. There have come by to visit Origin just to see where it all starts. Like most successful things in life it is a give and take. When you have this many people fighting for these girls it’s good to see that some know they need to fight for themselves, Mark explained. Of course there is the reality that some just can’t see the hope and end up right back where they were rescued from, but the success stories outweigh the tragedies. With all this effort being put out it takes a city to save these children so Origin has partnered with some incredible resources. One of the most wonderful resources out there is the Grace Network.  www.thegracenetwork.org

They are a list of anonymous angels who when an email is sent out to share about a child in need these people from all walks of life and carriers step up and provide the necessary funds to help the cause against child exploitation to truly birth lasting change and transformation with this issue. Most of all the money collected from these resources and from Origin goes to homes in these countries like Cambodia. Another small example is tattoo removal for the brandings that are carved into these girls displaying that they have been bought or owned. The process of saving a child from slavery starts with Rescue. IJM (International Justice Mission) www.ijm.org based in Washington DC is a big part of why we have seen thousands saved by the action of this organization. The next step in the process is Recovery starting with a safe home in cities like Calcutta where on home can house up to 17 girls or more that have been rescued. Cultural development on the ground is crucial to changing the perspective on how slavery is viewed in other countries. Origin Coffee works with resources like The Grace Network and IJM in fighting for an end in child sex slavery.

When you visit Origin one of the things you can expect to find is a delicious cup of “Fair Trade Organic” coffee, made by professional baristas. The coffee is locally farmed and roasted here locally in the city. Their hand crafted coffee has won awards with a throwback old school coffee style all topped with striking late art. In an effort to raise more money for the cause Origin also hosts Open Mic night every 3^rd Saturday, showcasing local artists and talent. Origin also offers two conference rooms available for meetings or any other needs you might have. They do not charge for the use of the facility and only ask that %75 of your party purchase a drink. Another creative way to help in the financial backing needed to donate to these organizations is the sale of handmade purses, wallets and jewelry and other unique products made directly from the girls that have been rescued.

With all that this shop has to offer it’s no surprise that they are the talk of the town and that’s exactly what they want, a discussion about a global issue that needs to be talked about over and over again.

Origin Coffee & Tea is open every day from 6:30am- 10:30pm Free Wi-Fi is offered to their customers. They are located at 2168 Sunset Boulevard #105 Rocklin, CA 95675
(916) 787-5676

www.origincoffee.org

www.thegracenetwork.org

www.ijm.org

Elizabeth Cheryl

Children of the Night

Children of the Night

            As I sit here to write this week’s article I am filled with anger and severe sadness. The 49ers just won their spot in the playoffs and San Francisco and many other cities around the country are in celebration, for that I am thankful and elated. I love something that brings people together in celebration. How lucky we are to live in a country where our children can enjoy the moment of celebration with their parents as they won. But in Africa thousands of children right now are being stolen in the middle of the night. No Television, dinner with family or even a bed to lay on tonight.  They are the victims of the LRA and are now being trained and sent into a meaningless war. A war that is not a war by any regards other than Joseph Kony and his sickening attempt to destroy. The children of the night are forced to murder their parents, rape their sisters and eat body parts of the bloodied innocent to show their loyalty. On October 9^th 1996, 139 girls between the ages of 12 & 15 were taken in the dark of the night as they slept. They were students of St. Mary’s College of Northern Uganda.

Those young girls were forced to become sex slaves for Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA. The girls were not only sex slaves but also made to fetch water miles away from camps, most bloodied by rape and physical torture. Ayako, survived a vicious attack from Kony and the LRA as she was forced to watch the brutal murder of her husband and two children. Kony burned down her house and plucked one of her eyes out with a wire. Her lips and nose were cut off as she was forced to eat them. If she cried they would slit her throat.

This is one of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of torturous deaths since Joseph Kony started his sadistic rampage in 1987 but the group has no political party. He claims to be fighting under God's orders to establish a society based on the Bible's Ten Commandments. He has led a campaign and committed atrocities throughout Northern Uganda, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

As you read this article children are being abducted, raped, physically and mentally tortured.  As you ponder that thought, hundreds just exhaled their last breath. These are children, innocent beings that are guilty of nothing more than being born in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is no lesson in this for these children, no great message that will inspire them to see the silver lining. These children only know death, fear and despair. Kony’s children and victims literally live what we would only call the epitome of hell on earth. The organization is believed to have murdered tens of thousands of people, abducted at least 30,000 children to work as sex slaves or soldiers and forced more than 1.5million people to flee their homes. As of this date the numbers are much higher.

Uganda's army has theoretically hunted the organization’s leaders but Kony has continually evaded capture - at times arrogantly even emerging from the jungle to give interviews to journalists before disappearing again. Last October American president Barack Obama announced he was sending troops to help the hunt for the LRA. Around 100 US soldiers have since been deployed in the region to help local officials trace the mass killer, but more needs to be done. This is no longer a pilgrimage or war about freeing these children from the grips of satan himself but merely a plea to all of humanity to not forget what is not in front of their face every day. Everyone was on the Kony train back in March when the movie “Invisible Children” by Jason Russell was released on YouTube. It gained huge popularity with movie stars and Facebook. I was even someone who posted “Kony 2012” on my Facebook, and I was one of the people who forgot as quickly as the football season started and winter grew upon us. I too forgot about the children and the cause, the torture and the death. But we can’t forget about humans. Not when the cost of a cup of coffee can save a life or when children like Malala Yousafzai fight for their education. As young children are being traded for sex unfolding in our own backyards we need to pay attention. I know one person cannot save a population of human suffering and need, but one person can plant a seed that will grow and embrace all that stands under its shade, just as an old oak provides shelter to all that seeks it. It takes every one of us to remember and act to make a difference. Please visit the following sites to see how you can help by planting one little seedling giving them a chance to be the Children of the Light.

http://www.aidforafrica.org/member-charities/invisible-children/

http://www.unicefusa.org/work/

Elizabeth Cheryl