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We continue to look at the life and times of Uno no Sarara, aka Jito Tenno, female sovereign ruling in her own right.  We look at some of the places she traveled to as sovereign and, ultimately, what she did to ensure that her grandson would succeed her. For more, check our podcast blog page:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-154 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 154: Queen Uno no Sarara, Part II   Light drifted in from outside the grand audience hall.  It filtered through barred windows and screens, and glinted off of bright gold and bronze accents, as well as the polished stone floor.  Upon a raised dais, surrounded by curtains, sat the tennou, arrayed in all of his youthful majesty.  Before him were princes and high ranking nobles, dressed in their finest court clothing.  Rich brocades of silk and black gauze hats only added to the pomp and circumstance of the moment. The nobles bowed and brought out a small tray.  Upon it were seventeen scrolls, freshly made, representing the latest updates to the laws and punishments of the land.  The nobles presented the work they had overseen, the culmination of a year's effort to further bring into line the organization of the state.  Off to the side, behind a screen of her own, Uno no Sarara watched the proceedings.  She thought back on all that had happened to bring them to this point.  This glittering hall was a far cry from the plain wooden structures of the old Kiyomihara palace.  And while she had never visited them, she could only imagine that this must rival the courts on the continent.  Everything that she and her husband had worked and fought for—all of the battles  they had fought, and all of the friends and children they had lost—she watched as it all came to fruition. The court was never going to be entirely peaceful—there would always be those striving for wealth and power, however they could attain it—but at this moment she no doubt felt as confident as she ever had that her efforts hadn't been for naught.  No matter what happened from here, the State, and her line, would continue.   So let's recap: We started with Part I of Uno no Sarara's reign back in episode 152, and then last episode we took a bit of a detour to go more in depth on the history of Ise and of the worship of Amaterasu more generally.  We talked about how there is good reason to believe that Ise shrine's prominence—and even many of the stories about Amaterasu and her importance in the story of the royal family—were either created or at least emphasized during the reigns of Ohoama and Uno no Sarara.  We ended with a discussion of the Jingikan, the newly created government organization developed to deal with so-called "Kami Matters", formally bringing the administration various shrines under the administration of the State.  Specifically it seems to have focused on State sponsored rituals.  I have no doubt that they took charge of the rituals at court itself, and they were likely involved in the worship at Ise Shrine, as well as the shrines of Tatsuta and Hirose.  On the other hand, as with the spread of Buddhist temples, direct State control was likely limited, at least at this stage, likely focused on the most influential institutions. This episode I want to continue with Uno no Sarara's reign.  She continued to make her mark on the court, tweaking how things worked, especially around the concept of rank.  And then there were her various travels.  These were mostly to her palace in Yoshino, but several other journeys, including a tour of the land of Kii—modern Wakayama prefecture—as well as a visit to her half-sister, Royal Princess Asuka. For all of that, however, the entry in the Nihon Shoki ends with what was perhaps one of the most direct and unique things she did:  Ensuring a smooth transition of power to her grandchild, Prince Karu. And while in this episode we'll (spoiler alert) cover both this power transition and Uno no Sarara's eventual death, we won't be done with her reign and its impact after this episode.  After all, there is still a lot going on around this time, and multiple different threads to pull on.  I expect several more episodes to cover things, such as the creation of hunting and fishing preserves, Buddhist merit-making, crime and punishment, and more.  There are also a few more people to talk about, such as Kakinomoto no Hitormaro, the court poet, and Fujiwara no Fubito and the establishment of the Fujiwara family as we know it.    So let's take a look at Uno no Sarara and what she was up to. She was still very much putting her stamp on things, tweaking the codes and making edicts.  One of the more impactful edicts would seem to be one where she had the government officials and people of the Home provinces all divided into nine classes.  This seems to be introducing yet another rank system, though this one is a bit more technical than the ones that came before. For one thing, it divided everyone up into nine ranks.  To do this, the court were going to take a look at a period of up to 6 years for those who already had rank and up to 7 years for those who did not.  The court—presumably court appointed judges—would use that period to evaluate individuals and slot them into a new system of nine classes.  Those in the first four classes would be given cap-rank based on their individual merits, the services that they had performed, and the importance of their house.  There isn't really a mention about the other five classes, but as they were theoretically the lower classes of society, it may not have been quite so pertinent.  BTW, of the three things that they were using to determine cap-rank, that last one, the importance of the individual's house, strikes me as the nod to the fact that the Japanese had not yet gotten away from the idea of "kabane" type hierarchy.  Granted, it isn't like family was unimportant in the Tang court, the Japanese were just being much more blatant and direct about it. Once everyone was properly sorted into the appropriate cap-rank, new edicts were issued on the official court clothing, which we discussed in Episode 150, and if you check out the blogpost you should be able to see what that looked like. I would note that the cap-rank system would eventually go away and be replaced by a rank system also based on 9 ranks, which then were broken up into upper and lower and junior and senior, so very similar to what we see with cap-rank, with some slight changes.  Uno no Sarara continued to make tweaks to the system, while working on the various large scale projects of the reign.  She wasn't exactly a homebody, however.  As she did all of this, she was regularly taking trips away from the capital. For example, between 689 and 697 she took at least 30 trips to visit Yoshino, sometimes taking as many as five trips in a year.  These were often short—a couple of days and then back to the grind of the court.  However, that's all that we get.  Based on the dates, we can at least make a few inferences.  For one, she was going down in all seasons, so she really must have enjoyed it, and it doesn't seem like it was attached to any particular official date or ritual.  Perhaps it just got her away from the pressure of official life. Some of her travel appear to have been work trips.  Her travel to Ise, which we talked about in the previous episodes, as well as things like traveling to visit the Castle of Takayasu and also to inspect horses at the embankment of Wani-no-kami.  Those appear to have been both trips where she was keeping an eye on things. Other trips, however, provide fewer details.  Mostly we know where she went.  This included trips to Hatsuse, Kii, Takamiya, and Yonabari, in Uda.  We are also told she ascended the Peak of Tou no Mine and later that she made another journey out to the Futatsuki Palace—presumably at the same place.  And we also have a trip out to the country-house of Royal Princess Asuka. Now Hatsuse, Kii, and Uda are all places we've previously talked about.  They are all on the Kii peninsula.  Hatsuse—or Hase—and Yonabari, in Uda, are both due east of modern Sakurai, following the Yamato upriver and then branching off to the aptly named Yonabari river.  These areas are well-referenced in the rest of the Nihon Shoki.  "Kii" is a bit more ambiguous.  Kii refers to the entire land of Kii, or Kii no Kuni—by the way, if you are familiar with the Japanese bookseller "Ki-no-kuni-ya", that name directly references the land of Kii as the family who started it were from Wakayama in Kii, where they served under the Kishu—or Kii—branch of the Tokugawa family during the Edo period.  That said, there were others who also used the name "Kinokuni" as a locative name as well, and you will occasionally see it here or there, even outside of the famous bookstore. The land of Kii is basically all of the southern Kii peninsula.  On the west side, it starts at roughly Wakayama, and includes the mountainous regions south of the Nara basin, wrapping around to the east side of the peninsula, to just south of Ise.  Today it is split between Wakayama prefecture and parts of Mie prefecture, including the towns of Kihoku—literally "Northern Kii"—and Taiki—"Big Kii".  Today, "Taiki" is part of the Watarai district, Watarai being the name of the location where Ise shrine was located.  So you can see that Kii basically included everything from one side of the peninsula to the other. Most of the time, though, I would generally assume that travel to Kii is a reference to the nearby area of Wakayama, especially as there are other references to that area in the form of hunting and fishing restrictions, which we'll discuss more fully in a later episode. This particular trip to Kii sounds like it was a bit of a longer trip, incorporating several locations.  We know that it took roughly eleven days—about a week and a half.  That's enough time to do quite a bit of sightseeing.  In fact, shortly before leaving, Uno no Sarara says that she is going on a "tour" of the land of Kii, and as such the land-tax and poll-tax for Kii would not be collected for a year, since, instead, they were expected to support her visit so that she could travel in appropriate style and so that temporary palaces could be made available for her use.  Kii is an interesting place for Uno no Sarara to visit.  It is mentioned occasionally throughout the chronicles, and its position puts it squarely in Yamato's sphere of influence.  At the same time, its mountainous nature means that it was never quite as populated as regions like the Nara basin or the Kawachi plains, where the large, flat areas were better suited to wet rice paddy agriculture.  In Kii, there are only a few areas really suitable for supporting large populations through agriculture alone, and even today the mountains make travel and construction in the area more difficult, so you don't have the highly concentrated population centers as in other regions.  The area around modern Wakayama city provides some of the best land for agriculture, with some other coastal regions as well. But it is mountains that Kii is known for, and the mountains often have spiritual significance.  Mt. Koya, or Koyasan, would be found in 805 as the center of Shingon Buddhism, but well before that you have the Kumano shrines, also known as the Kumano Sanzan—the three mountains of Kumano. There is a lot of evidence that worship at the three mountains of Kumano was heavily influenced by Buddhism and Buddhist traditions, but that this was a later influence on areas that were already important spiritual sites well before Buddhism arrived in the archipelago.  The exact nature of worship is debated, but the area was important, with "Kumano" once treated as its own land, overseen by the Kumano Kuni no Miyatsuko.  The deities of Kumano and the area more generally features in the Nihon Shoki in the legendary stories of Iware Biko, aka Jimmu Tenno. The Kumano shrines are, ultimately, a series of shrines in the Kumano region, roughly 20-40 kilometers from each other.  There are three main shrines—Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha—known as the three mountains.  There are numerous other shrines as well.  There are three main deities worshipped, but then also another nine that are considered important as well, for at least twelve kami.  The three main kami – Kumano Musubi no Ohokami, Hayatama no Ohokami, and Ketsumi Mikoto Ohokami – are also considered to be manifestations of Izanami, Izanagi, and Susano'o.  Izanami and Izanagi are famously the progenitor kami of the archipelago, while Susano'o is the storm and ocean deity said to be the rambunctious and troublesome brother to Amaterasu Ohokami.   It is quite likely that the connection with these other kami—who feature prominently in the later stories, was actually a later addition.  Similarly, around the 9th century, the Kumano shrines were heavily influenced by Buddhism, which often co-opted indigenous kami worship by associating the native kami with incarnations of Buddhist figures.  In this case:  Thousand-armed Kannon, Yakushi—or the Medicine—Buddha, and Amithabha.  I must say that associating Amithaba—or Amida—with Susano'o seems like a bold move.  The deity who tossed a backwards flayed colt into Amaterasu's weaving hut is also the Buddha who made the promise that all who call on his name would find their way to the western pure land? I guess. Together, the kami of Kumano are known as the Kumano Gongen, and there is a pilgrimage trail, even today, that leads between the various shrines and peaks, as well as various temple complexes in the area. There is one other interesting connection with Kumano shrines, and that is the fact that there is a Kumano Taisha up in the Izumo region.  Today, they claim that despite the names being identical, there are no actual ties between Kumano Taisha and the Kumano Sanzan.  The Kumano Taisha of Izumo is actually considered the Ichinomiya, or most important shrine, of Izumo—even more important than the famous Izumo shrine, itself.  It lies 30 minutes south of modern Matsue, and enshrines a kami known as Kushi-mikenu-no-Mikoto, said to be another name for none other than the famous Susano'o. Kumano Taisha claims to have been first mentioned in the Nihon Shoki back in the time of Takara Hime, aka Saimei Tennou, in an entry from 659, though that entry simply states that the Izumo no Miyatsuko was to repair the shrine of the "Itsuki" kami, and doesn't specifically mention Kumano Taisha by name.  There is an entry attributed to the Izumo fudoki, which claims a shrine was located on Mt. Kumano, identified with modern day Tenguyama.  And then, Kumano Taisha appears in the Engi Shiki in the 10th century.  Suffice it to say, there are many different ways that this can be interpreted. Scholars have attempted to look into the potential connections between Kumano Taisha in Izumo and the Kumano Gongen of Wakayama, but it does not appear that there is a fully formed consensus.  I would note that we certainly see various important worship centers branching out throughout the archipelago, setting up branches elsewhere, and we also see the association of various local kami with other, more famous kami, making the claim that they are simply another name for the same entity.  This would appear to be one way to bring different groups into communion with each other, as it were, and helping to gloss over the potential difficulties found in diverse belief and worship practices. As a side note, there is at least one other Kumano Taisha of note, found up in the Tohoku region.  It claims to be the "Ise of Tohoku", with a focus on Izanami and Izanagi.  It seems to claim a founding around the early 9th century at the Tenno's request.  Given that, I think we can ignore it for our current discussion. To bring this all back around, it is unclear if Uno no Sarara's tour of Wakayama included the Kumano shrines at this time.  Certainly Kumano would play an important role in the legends and stories that the court was putting together, but what structures were in place at this point in the story are unclear.  Her tour may have focused much more on the area around modern Wakayama.  Her tour of the area took a total of eleven days, which is more than enough time to have seen a fair bit of the area, and certainly would have been enough time to get down to the Kumano region, but we don't have any clear details that I see to say exactly what happened. Still, I do find it interesting to look at the juxtaposition of the Kumano shrine story with that of Ise.  Both took on some aspects of the official stories of the founding of Japan and appear to have been important shrines for the court to some extent, and both the trip to Ise and the trip to Kumano were events such that local taxes were commuted for a time to help pay for the royal visit. But whereas Ise would go on to reject the merging of Buddhism with local kami worship, Kumano appears to have embraced it.  Kumano worship took on a highly syncretic character, with Buddhism and Kami worship becoming inextricably intertwined, maintaining that character even today, despite numerous historical attempts to extricate the two from each other. Ultimately, Ise shrine would take pride of place as the national shrine of the royal family, but I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Kumano had been more ascendant. Getting back to our discussion of Uno no Sarara's various peregrinations:  we also have what appear to be two trips up to Tou-no-mine—the modern pronunciation for the name which Aston transliterates as "Tamu no Mine".  This is the peak where, about forty years earlier, Takara Hime is said to have built a circular enclosure and called "Futa-tsuki" or two "Tsuki" trees palace.  It was also known as "Ama-tsu-miya", the Heavenly Palace.  The modern Tou-no-mine is a mountain to the southeast of Asuka, however, there is also a theory that the Tou-no-mine and Futa-tsuki palace were actually on a small hill just due east of the Kiyomihara palace site.  This is where we find walls, the Sakafune-ishi stone, and other examples of work from the time when the Futa-tsuki palace would have been built. That said, to get to Tou-no-mine, we are told it was a two day trip—one day out and one day back.  That said, it wouldn't have all been spent traveling.  In fact, Tou-no-mine, today, is under two hours walking distance.  The site by the palace is much closer, and the entry for going to the Futatsuski is only mentioned on a single day.  So none of that is particularly helpful, in my opinion.  Ultimately, we know that it was a location near Asuka and that it was associated with Takara Hime, the last female sovereign in her own right—even though her reign was arguably run largely by her son, Crown Prince Naka no Oe. Speaking of whom, Naka no Oe was not only the father of Uno no Sarara, but also of Royal Princess Asuka.  So when Uno no Sarara went to Asuka's country house, also known as the Denso or Tadokoro, she was actually going to pay a visit on her own half-sister.  By the way, "country-house" is the Aston translation.  A more direct translation might be something like "Field Place".  It was a private estate belonging to powerful families, such as the local elites—or in this case the royal family.  It is a rare glimpse into the living conditions of those royal princes and princesses who were not resident in the palace itself.  I do find it interesting that it specifically identifies the royal princess and not some male relative or husband—and Uno no Sarara isn't really noted as visiting a lot of family members all over the place.  I've seen a suggestion that Asuka may have been married to Prince Osakabe, one of Temmu's sons, but if so it is interesting that Uno no Sarara goes to visit *her* house and not *his* house. Princess Asuka is not mentioned much, but given this and a few other things—including being mentioned in the Man'yoshu in connection with a poem by the famous Kakinomoto no Hitomaro—she seemed to be someone important, even though we don't have a lot of information on what that looked like at the time. And with that, we've covered most of Uno no Sarara's travels.  We discussed her near-constant trips to Yoshino, then there were official visits to inspect the fortifications and horses.  Granted, that latter duty was also done just at the palace, in Asuka, so it wasn't necessarily terribly special.  There was her expedition to Ise, which we discussed in a previous episode, and then down to tour the land of Kii.  There were short jaunts out to Hatsuse and Yonabari.  And the largely unexplained visits to Tou-no-mine and the enigmatic Futa-tsuki palace.  Finally, there was a note about her calling on her half-sister, Princess Asuka. So that was what Uno no Sarara was doing when she wasn't at the court.  Otherwise, whether it was in the Asuka Kiyomihara palace or in the new Fujiwara Palace, she was dealing with the business of the state.  Much of what is recorded are fairly common things—banquets, archery competitions, and similar events that are interesting in aggregate, perhaps, but maybe not so helpful in figuring out the larger trends that were occurring at the time.  There were edicts and changes, but we can talk about those separately.  There were natural disasters, as well. Overall, she spent eleven years on the throne, from 686 to 697.  In that time, she finished much of the work started by her husband, put her own stamp on the new government, and, perhaps most importantly, she set up her grandson for success.  It is worth nothing that Uno no Sarara's posthumous regnal name is Jitou Tennou, and while that was probably not something she chose for herself, it may give us some insight into how the Chroniclers viewed her.  Remember that the brothers, Naka no Oe and Ohoama, were given the names "Tenji" and "Temmu", respectively.  Tenji is "Heavenly Wisdom", and he is counted as the brains behind the Great Change, the Taika reforms, and much of the shape that the state took from 645 onwards.  Temmu is something like "Heavenly Warrior".  The victor of the Jinshin no Ran was remembered for his military strategy, even though that was really only a small part of his overall reign.  The characters of Jitou's posthumous title are two characters.  The first, "Ji", means "to hold" or "to have".  The other character is "tou" and generally means "relationship" or "to control".  It can also refer to unification. This is often considered to mean that her role was seen as continuing to hold the throne and continue the work of her husband and his line, his progeny.  In this case, that means strengthening the state that Ohoama had built, following through on his national projects, and ultimately ensuring that the throne passed seamlessly to Ohoama's grandson, ensuring that his line would continue.  Of course, it probably should be noted that of course it was also her own bloodline that she was continuing as well, something that would become important in later years. And it is easy for us to look at this as simply editorializing by the Chroniclers, who were, after all, trying to craft a national narrative as well as record the history.  In many ways the use of these posthumous titles allowed them to do that—to summarize an entire reign into something that could be easily remembered.  And yet, based on the actions that she has taken, there certainly seems to be something to this description of Uno no Sarara and her motivations. We saw, early on, how she cleared the way for her own son, Crown Prince Kusakabe, getting rid of his potential rival for the throne, Prince Ohotsu, and thus potentially averting another conflict at the start of the reign.  But then Kusakabe died, leaving her with his young son, and while placing a young infant on the throne might have become a thing in later centuries, that precedent had not quite been set just yet.  Even as it was, Uno no Sarara likely had some concept that she could not know how many years she would get.  A decade on the throne was nothing to sneeze at, and many sovereigns had much less.  And so, beyond setting up the structure of government that her grandson would inherit, she also had a few more things to ensure.  She would want him to be old enough to be taken seriously, and she would need to make sure that there were no other claimants that could complicate matters.  There was only one other serious candidate that fit that description, and that was Prince Takechi. Remember, Prince Takechi was Ohoama's eldest son.  He was also a maternal descendant of the Munakata, meaning that he didn't have the double-royal imprimatur that was presumably required to take the throne as the sovereign.  And yet, Uno no Sarara was no doubt savvy enough to understand that those kinds of traditions changed quickly and easily in the past, as long as one had the right political backing. At the same time, Uno no Sarara appears to have leaned heavily on Prince Takechi's support.  It was a risk, but his support for her efforts would help her do what she needed to do.  Not only that, but if anything did happen to the young Prince Karu, Prince Takechi was the next in line.  He was also the Dajou Daijin—the most powerful court position short of Uno no Sarara herself.  For many reasons, it would have been difficult if the Queen felt she needed to take him out of the picture. Perhaps then it was fortuitous that in 696 the issue resolved itself, when Royal Prince Takechi passed away. This was no doubt a sad event, and yet it also may have set things in motion.  Prince Karu had been born in 683, so he was fourteen years old—still quite young, but old enough.  He was also surrounded by supporters, including his own mother, widow to the late Prince Kusakabe, Royal Princess Abe. While it isn't mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, we get a glimpse of how all this was planned in the Kaifuso, published in 751.  There, in an entry for Prince Kadono, a son of Prince Ohotomo, we are told that after Prince Takechi's death, Prince Kadono met with Uno no Sarara and others and suggested a course of action.  He encourage Uno no Sarara to pass on the kingdom to Prince Karu, despite his youth.  If true, this is quite the statement from someone whose own father was killed in the Jinshin no Ran, which brought Ohoama and Uno no Sarara to power in the first place.  It appears as though she heeded his advice, setting up what would come next over the following year. And so it is from the year after Prince Takechi's death that we start to really see entries focused on Prince Karu.  In the second month of 697, for instance, we see that Tahema no Mabito no Kunimi was appointed to be Prince Karu's tutor.  Likewise we see Michi no Mabito no Atomi and Kose no Ason no Ahamochi appointed as director and assistant director of the Spring Palace—the palace for the Crown Prince, the Heir Apparent.  Interestingly, Aston notes that the Nihon Shoki never actually gives an entry for when Prince Karu was named Heir Apparent—it just seems to be assumed. Ten days after the new directors were appointed, a public great-congregation was held at the Crown Prince's palace—here called the Eastern Palace, and I'll admit I'm not sure if "Eastern Palace" and "Spring Palace" were different names for the same place or what.  I assume these were all part of the newly built Fujiwara Palace, though the most important part is the implications for Prince Karu.  He was being introduced to the court, it seems, with a large congregation at his residence where the court would be expected to acknowledge his position as the crown prince and heir apparent. Three months later, we are told that Uno no Sarara grew ill.  The Ministers and various government officials made votive images of the Buddha in an attempt to make merit and help her to recover.  While she would recover from whatever illness she experienced, I suspect that this was something of a wake-up call.  Uno no Sarara was in her early 50s, and she wasn't getting any younger.  She also lived at a time where she had to realize that many others hadn't made it as far, and perhaps her illness made her realize that if she was going to do something, she had better do it sooner, rather than later.  And so, just a little more than a month later, on the first day of the 8th month, Uno no Sarara abdicated the throne in favor of her grandchild, Prince Karu, soon to become the next Tennou. This isn't the first time we've seen an abdication in the history of Yamato, but it is perhaps the first time we've seen it quite like this.  When Takara Hime abdicated, I think we can agree that it was largely under duress.  She had just seen her son lead a bloody coup against the most powerful court nobles, and that really does seem to have shaken her.  No such bloody struggle was happening here, however.  In fact, there is plenty to suggest that avoiding a bloody struggle was exactly Uno no Sarara's point.  By overseeing Prince Karu's ascension while she was still around, Queen Uno no Sarara maintained significant control over the process. Part of this rested on the fact that when she retired from the position of Tennou she didn't just become some commoner or retreat to the position of Queen Mother or Dowager Queen or something similar.  Instead, she took on a new titled:  Retired Sovereign, or Dajou-Tennou.  Technically this means that her own title was something like "Greater Sovereign", compared to Karu's "sovereign".  This position was new, and may not have even been fully formed at the time of the initial abdication.  Unlike when Takara Hime abdicated, effectively acknowledging that she wasn't actually in charge, Uno no Sarara was planning to remain an active force in government.  Her grandson would be set up as the formal sovereign, or Tennou.  He would be responsible for the rituals and ensuring everything was properly carried out, but his mother, the Dajou-Tennou, would have a tremendous amount of clout and control. By all accounts, this abdication and creation of the "Dajou-Tennou" position really does seem to have been specifically set up for this occasion, to ensure the smooth transition of power.  This way, when Uno no Sarara eventually did pass away, there would be no question about who was seated on the throne.  Given everything she had witnessed—from stories about her how her own father had come to power as well as the events of the Jinshin no Ran and then everything that happened in the aftermath of her own husband's death—I can understand why Uno no Sarara would have been pre-occupied with the idea of ensuring a smooth transition to the next sovereign.  She likely could not foresee how this new position would be used in the future, and yet it would become something of a staple in the politics of the Japanese court. Initially, retired sovereigns were typically doing so for reasons similar to Uno no Sarara—to ensure a smooth transition of power from one to the other and to ensure that the next tennou could be established to avoid instability.  However, it would become something even more.  After all, why wait until your heir is actually ready?  If you are going to be running things, anyway, why not remove yourself from the tedium of ritual while retaining your authority?  And in later centuries we see the tennou retiring younger, leaving younger and younger heirs to hold the actual throne.  There would also be a certain Buddhist aspect to it as well, allowing the retired tennou to be seen as a kind of Golden Wheel Turning Sovereign who was theoretically beyond the material cares of the day to day.  The retired sovereigns would be referred to as "In", which is likely a reference to the suffix given to their compounds, rather than the common "Miya" or "Gu".  And so the government under these retired sovereigns would become known as the Insei, or government by cloistered sovereigns, but that system was still in the future.  For now, we are just seeing the seeds of what was to come, eventually. To understand this later phase of Uno no Sarara's life, we need to take our first few steps into a new source:  The Shoku Nihongi.  The Nihon Shoki ceases to describe anything after Uno no Sarara's abdication, and the official history of Prince Karu's reign—known to us as Monmu Tennou—is taken up by the Shoku Nihongi.  This is literally the continued Japanese history, and we'll talk about it in depth at some point.  For now, I would note that it was compiled in 797 – so literally a century after the last entry in the Nihon Shoki.  That said, it likely had much better records to go off of compared to the Nihon Shoki, though it was still likely compiled with a view that was still quite friendly towards the royal family and the position of the Tennou. And so, when Uno no Sarara largely disappears from the narrative, I don't know that we should assume that she had truly gone completely hands off.  After all, with everything we've seen, do we think that this is a woman who would just hand the reins over to a fourteen or fifteen year old boy?  And yet the first time she appears is in 701, when she is making a trip to her favorite vacation spot:  the Palace at Yoshino.  That said, there were some pretty big events that happened during this period, after her abdication and assumption of the title of Dajou-Tennou.  The biggest was the creation of the Taihou Code.  Once again, this will need a fuller treatment, but the Taihou Code was an update to the Kiyomihara code.  The Asuka-Kiyomihara code was 22 volumes, and focused on  the laws, the "ryou", but not necessarily the punishments, or "ritsu".  In contrast the Taihou code was 6 volumes of "ritsu" and 11 volumes of "ryou", for 17 volumes in total.  Unfortunately, we mostly have scraps of indications here and there, and the codes that came afterwards, which were each based on what came before.  For instance, we do know that they completely overhauled the rank system yet again.  Unlike the Kiyomihara  code, which took years to develop, the compilation of the Taiho code is ordered in 700 and completed by 701—likely because it was really more of an update and a compilation of what was already on the books. This was perhaps the most significant thing that happened while Uno no Sarara was still available to exert her influence.  Karu was still only about 19 years old at this point.  He would turn 20 the following year, 702.  That same year, Uno no Sarara would travel all the way out to Mikawa no Kuni, which is the eastern half of the modern prefecture of Aichi.  The royal procession, which started in the 10th month of 702, then made its way back through Owari a month later, and from there up to Mino, and then down to Ise and back through Iga.  The royal procession is first recorded on the 10th day of the 10th month and returned on the 25th day of the 11th month—a round-trip time of roughly 45 days.  Throughout we are told that various ranks and awards were given out to important individuals at each stop. Unfortunately, that trip may have taken a toll.  A few weeks later, on the 13th day of the 12th month, Uno no Sarara grew ill.  There was a great amnesty pronounced throughout the realm, and one hundred men took Buddhist vows on her behalf.  They even read the Sutra of Golden Light in the Home Provinces.  Alas, it was all to no avail.  Uno no Sarara passed away on the 22nd day of the 12th month—or January 13th in 703.  It was roughly six years from her abdication.  She would have died with at least some knowledge that the realm was largely in order.  Her grandson was on the  throne and had been ruling for the past six years.  He had attained the age of majority, and things seemed relatively stable.  There was even a new, grand, permanent capital city, just like on the continent. But that closes out the life of Uno no Sarara.  She lived in interesting times, experienced tremendous fortune and misfortune, and she put her indelible stamp on the state of Yamato and thus the future of Japan.  There is still more to go over in this period—we have interactions with the Emishi, updates to society, and various impacts to Buddhism.  We'll also take a look at some more important people from this period, including Kakinomoto no Hitomaru, the famous poet, and the poems of the Man'yoshu, and Fujiwara no Fubito, the son of Nakatomi no Kamatari and the one largely responsible for making the Fujiwara house the most influential house in the entire court. Until then if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

#437 In this podcast episode, Guy talked with Natalie Namaste about the spiritual awakening she believed was unfolding on Earth, especially around the years 2026 and 2027. Natalie shared her recent experiences of telepathic communication, remote viewing, multidimensional beings, disclosure, and the rise of higher frequencies affecting humanity. She also described her near-death experience with cerebral malaria and how she believed working with light, color, angels, and soul awareness had helped her body heal.  The conversation explored how illness, emotional patterns, ancestral trauma, past lives, and self-worth could influence the body's energy field and personal reality. By the end, Natalie encouraged listeners to accept what was arising within them, shift their perception, remember their inner light, and consciously raise their frequency during this time of change. ====================  Guy's Official Partners  The DNA Company – Get 10% Off https://thednacompany.com/letitinpodcast  FLFE – 2 Week Free Trial (No Credit Card Required) https://www.flfe.net/rp-affiliates.php?p=LiveInFlow&w=TryFLFEfree ====================  Key Points Discussed:  (00:00) - You're Not Imagining It: What's Really Happening on the Planet! (00:58) - Why the Planet Feels Like It Is Quantum Leaping (02:12) - The Night Natalie Began Telepathic Contact With Higher Beings (03:08) - The Ocean Vision That Revealed Multidimensional Life (04:28) - Zero-Point Energy, UFO Technology and What May Be Exposed (06:25) - How Light Codes Are Changing the Human Frequency Field (07:10) - Why the Outer World Mirrors the Frequency of the Collective Mind (08:45) - Ascension Symptoms, Electric Currents and Seeing Energy (10:00) - Multidimensional DNA and the Dormant Strands Coming Online (11:05) - A Future With Less Disease and More Conscious Dying (13:10) - Breaking the Karmic Cycle Through the Awakened Heart (15:18) - The Tunnel Vision Into 2033 and Earth's Golden Light (16:10) - Why Mother Earth Is Rebalancing Through Water, Fire and Release (19:12) - What Happens to People Who Resist the Awakening Timeline (21:46) - Angels, Beings of Light and the New Language of Spiritual Support (24:00) - LIVE IN FLOW — Experience This Work in Person (25:35) - The Near-Death Experience That Taught Natalie to Heal With Light (33:00) - Why Illness Can Become a Frequency Match for Breakthrough (43:35) - The Vipassana Moment That Ended Her Depression ==================== Guy's Offerings  www.liveinflow.co ==================== How to Contact Natalie Namaste:natalienamaste.com ====================  Listen on Podcast Spotify Apple Podcasts ====================  Connect with Guy Instagram www.instagram.com/guyhlawrence Live In Flow www.instagram.com/live.in.flow ====================  Continue Your Journey Explore Guy's complete collection of solo podcast episodes: www.youtube.com/show/VLPLKOgPYwzskDo?sbp=Kgt1clRBdHJGem9pd0AB

Terns -Wonderful Life by Stephen Fryhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/251066555-wonderful-life-with-stephen-fry

Vijayasri explores confession's illuminating and transformational properties through the Mahayana sutra, The Sutra of Golden Light. Excerpted from the talk entitled the Sutra of Golden Light: What Is the Role of Confession In Buddhism? Given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre, 2023. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Fluent Fiction - Spanish: From Struggle to Inspiration in Barcelona's Golden Light Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/es/episode/2026-05-21-07-38-19-es Story Transcript:Es: El sol brillaba intensamente sobre Barcelona, bañando la ciudad con una luz cálida y dorada.En: The sun shone intensely over Barcelona, bathing the city in a warm, golden light.Es: Marisol, una estudiante de arte de México, caminaba emocionada por las calles.En: Marisol, an art student from México, walked excitedly through the streets.Es: Sus dos mejores amigos, Diego y Gabriela, la acompañaban.En: Her two best friends, Diego and Gabriela, accompanied her.Es: Gabriela, una guía local, hablaba entusiasmada sobre cada rincón de La Sagrada Familia.En: Gabriela, a local guide, talked enthusiastically about every corner of La Sagrada Familia.Es: "Es impresionante, ¿verdad?"En: "It's impressive, isn't it?"Es: decía Gabriela, señalando los altos pináculos.En: said Gabriela, pointing to the tall spires.Es: Diego capturaba cada detalle con su cámara, sus ojos centelleando detrás del lente.En: Diego captured every detail with his camera, his eyes twinkling behind the lens.Es: "Es mágico," respondió Marisol, su voz llena de admiración.En: "It's magical," responded Marisol, her voice filled with admiration.Es: Pero, a pesar de su fascinación, Marisol sentía una presión familiar en el pecho.En: But, despite her fascination, Marisol felt a familiar pressure in her chest.Es: Su asma, que había intentado ignorar, comenzaba a manifestarse.En: Her asthma, which she had tried to ignore, began to manifest.Es: El grupo se movía lentamente dentro del majestuoso templo.En: The group moved slowly inside the majestic temple.Es: Los vitrales pintaban las paredes con tonos de azul, rojo y verde.En: The stained glass windows painted the walls with shades of blue, red, and green.Es: Marisol se detuvo, intentando respirar profundamente.En: Marisol stopped, trying to breathe deeply.Es: No quería que sus amigos se preocuparan.En: She did not want her friends to worry.Es: La belleza del lugar la distraía momentáneamente de su malestar.En: The beauty of the place momentarily distracted her from her discomfort.Es: Diego notó la tensión en el rostro de Marisol.En: Diego noticed the tension on Marisol's face.Es: "¿Estás bien?"En: "Are you okay?"Es: le preguntó suavemente.En: he asked gently.Es: "Sí, sí.En: "Yes, yes.Es: Estoy bien," respondió Marisol apresuradamente, aunque su respiración se volvía más difícil.En: I'm fine," Marisol replied hastily, though her breathing was becoming more difficult.Es: Trató de concentrarse en las explicaciones de Gabriela, pero las palabras se mezclaban con el creciente sonido de su respiración irregular.En: She tried to focus on Gabriela's explanations, but the words blended with the increasing sound of her irregular breathing.Es: Finalmente, mientras Gabriela hablaba sobre las obras de Gaudí, Marisol sintió que su pecho ya no le respondía.En: Finally, while Gabriela was speaking about Gaudí's works, Marisol felt that her chest was no longer responding.Es: Se detuvo junto a una columna, apoyándose para no caer.En: She stopped alongside a column, leaning on it to avoid falling.Es: Diego, siempre atento, abandonó su cámara.En: Diego, always attentive, put down his camera.Es: "¡Gabriela, Marisol necesita ayuda!"En: "Gabriela, Marisol needs help!"Es: exclamó, su voz tensada por la preocupación.En: he exclaimed, his voice tense with concern.Es: Gabriela reaccionó rápidamente.En: Gabriela reacted quickly.Es: "Conozco una farmacia cerca," dijo, tomando a Marisol con delicadeza.En: "I know a pharmacy nearby," she said, taking Marisol gently.Es: Juntos, se escabulleron entre la multitud, encontrando el refrescante aire de la primavera al salir del templo.En: Together, they slipped through the crowd, finding the refreshing spring air as they exited the temple.Es: En el camino, Gabriela explicó a Marisol sobre su deseo de ver más allá de Barcelona, buscando inspiración como la joven estudiante.En: On the way, Gabriela explained to Marisol her desire to see beyond Barcelona, seeking inspiration like the young student.Es: Su confesión distrajo a Marisol, ayudándola a enfocar su mente en otro lugar mientras caminaban.En: Her confession distracted Marisol, helping her focus her mind elsewhere as they walked.Es: Llegaron a la farmacia, donde Gabriela explicó la situación rápidamente.En: They reached the pharmacy, where Gabriela quickly explained the situation.Es: Con el inhalador en mano, Marisol sintió el alivio inmediato del aire regresando a sus pulmones.En: With the inhaler in hand, Marisol immediately felt the relief of air returning to her lungs.Es: Agradecida, abrazó fuerte a sus amigos.En: Grateful, she hugged her friends tightly.Es: De regreso a La Sagrada Familia, Marisol se sentó en una de las capillas, dejando que la tranquilidad del lugar calmará su corazón.En: Back at La Sagrada Familia, Marisol sat in one of the chapels, letting the tranquility of the place calm her heart.Es: La luz de los vitrales formaba un arco iris sobre sus piernas, inspirándola como nunca antes.En: The light from the stained glass created a rainbow over her legs, inspiring her like never before.Es: "Gracias," dijo Marisol, sonriendo a Diego y Gabriela.En: "Thank you," said Marisol, smiling at Diego and Gabriela.Es: Aprendió que aceptar ayuda no era una debilidad, sino una conexión poderosa.En: She learned that accepting help was not a weakness, but a powerful connection.Es: Con su cuaderno en mano, comenzó a dibujar, capturando la esencia del lugar con renovado fervor.En: With her notebook in hand, she began to draw, capturing the essence of the place with renewed fervor.Es: Esa tarde, rodeada por sus amigos y la imponente belleza del templo, Marisol encontró no solo inspiración sino la certeza de que a veces, las conexiones humanas eran el mejor antídoto contra las luchas internas.En: That afternoon, surrounded by her friends and the imposing beauty of the temple, Marisol found not only inspiration but the certainty that sometimes, human connections were the best antidote against internal struggles. Vocabulary Words:the spire: el pináculothe student: el estudiantethe tension: la tensiónthe temple: el templothe stained glass: el vitralthe lens: el lentethe column: la columnathe relief: el aliviothe pharmacy: la farmaciamajestic: majestuosofervor: fervorthe chapel: la capillato accompany: acompañarto capture: capturarinhaler: inhaladorto lean: apoyarseto slip: escabullirseinspiration: inspiraciónimposing: imponentetransparency: transparenciato distract: distraerto manifest: manifestarseto confess: confesarthe corner: el rincónenthusiastically: entusiasmadathe struggle: la luchathe lungs: los pulmonesattentive: atentoto ignore: ignorarcertainty: certeza

Do you have someone in your life who's struggling, and you wish you could do something to help them? Maybe they're sick, going through a hard time, or far away and you can't be there physically. This meditation will show you that you're not helpless—you have the power to send real, powerful blessings and healing energy to anyone you love.What this meditation does:In this 25-minute guided practice, you'll learn how to become a channel of divine love and light. You'll activate your heart chakra, connect with golden Source energy, and create an energetic bridge to send blessings directly to someone you care about.This isn't just wishful thinking. Energy is real, and love transcends distance. When you send blessings with pure intention, they receive it on an energetic level. Their soul feels it. And often, real shifts happen in their life.This meditation is for you if:You feel helpless watching someone you love struggleYou want to support someone who's sick or going through hard timesYou're in a long-distance relationship and want to strengthen your connectionYou want to send healing to a family member or friendYou're working on forgiving someone and want to send them peaceYou simply want to bless the people you love with positive energyWhat you'll experience:Heart chakra activation and openingConnection with golden healing light from SourceCreating an energetic bridge between your heart and theirsSurrounding them with protective, healing golden lightVisualizing them happy, healthy, and thrivingSpeaking powerful blessings over themReleasing the blessing with trust to the UniverseThe beautiful part: This meditation heals you too. When you send love, you become love. When you channel blessings, you become blessed. You'll feel more empowered, more connected, and more at peace knowing you're actively supporting the people you care about.Who you can send blessings to:Your partner, parents, children, family members, a friend going through hard times, someone who's sick, someone far away, even someone you're in conflict with (powerful for forgiveness), or someone who has passed away (energy transcends physical death).You don't need their permission. You're not controlling them. You're simply offering love and light with their name on it, and releasing it to Source.How to practice:Do this meditation as often as you feel called—daily if someone is going through something intense, weekly as a regular blessing practice, or whenever your heart feels the pull to send someone love. You can do it for the same person each time, or for different people. The energy is infinite.Find a quiet place, sit or lie down comfortably, think of the person you want to bless, and let me guide you through this powerful practice of love.Remember: You are never powerless when it comes to love. Your heart is a powerful channel of healing and blessing.Press play and let's send some beautiful blessings into the world.

Hello, Beautiful...I'm so grateful you're here with me. Feeling worried or uncomfortable before bed? This Golden Light Comfort Meditation is a gentle healing sleep meditation for kids designed to help children feel safe, relaxed, and comforted as they fall asleep. Through calming breathing and warm golden light visualization, kids can ease their worries and drift into peaceful sleep. ✨

Send us Fan MailThis is a summary of Episode 218 of the Women's Power to Heal Mother Earth podcast, hosted by Maya TiwariEpisode Executive SummaryIn this episode, Maya Tiwari explores the spiritual and metaphysical roots of global conflict, environmental destruction, and social imbalance. She posits that the world is currently a battlefield in a historic "Light vs. Dark" struggle, fueled by the 300,000-year suppression of Shakti (the Divine Feminine Force) and the subsequent perversion of the Lingam (the Divine Masculine principle).Key Themes & TakeawaysThe Perversion of the Lingam: Tiwari explains that the Lingam, originally a Vedic symbol of infinite source and peaceful masculine energy, has been stripped of its spiritual context. Without the balancing influence of Shakti, this energy has been "weaponized" by the patriarchy.Weaponry as "Lingam-Imitation": The transcript argues that modern military technology—missiles, rockets, and drones—are baser, mechanical perversions of the Lingam. Unlike ancient warfare, which sought to "Earth" weapons (using containers like sheaths or bows as metaphors for the Yoni), modern projectiles are launched into the sky and space with no containment, defiling Mother Earth and the atmosphere.Space Pollution & Low Vibration Interference: The proliferation of satellites and space debris is described not just as environmental waste, but as a "low-vibration" beacon. This "tech garbage" in Low Earth Orbit and the asteroid belt is said to damage the Earth's atmospheric shield and attract malignant extraterrestrial forces. The Galactic Battle for Sovereignty: Tiwari asserts that humanity is currently positioned in the midst of a galactic war. She mentions "Galactic Light Forces" that are working to protect Earth and clean up atmospheric interference to restore human divinity and oneness.The Path to HealingThe episode concludes with a call to spiritual action. Tiwari suggests that the primary way to support the "Light Forces" is through inner work:Internal Recalibration: By raising one's personal vibration and anchoring higher light into the cellular body, individuals act as "soldiers" for the Divine.Restoration of Balance: The ultimate goal is the reclamation of Shakti to restore health, prosperity, and the "Golden Light" of the planet.Source Text: I Am Shakti: Reclaiming Women's Innate Power to Heal Themselves and Restore Balance, Health, Prosperity, and Joy for All Beings by Maya Tiwari.Support the showMay Peace Be Your Journey:Maya's approach transcends modern feminism by advocating for a holistic restoration of balance, moving beyond the fight for basic rights to reclaiming the innate power of the divine feminine, which includes procreation, forgiveness, nourishment, and cosmic creativity. She stresses the importance of kindness, inner stillness, and compassionate self-  tools for healing individuals and society. www.mayatiwari.comwww.facebook.com/mayatiwariahimsa.Buzzsprout.comMothermaya@gmail.comGet Maya's New Book: I Am  Shakti:https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/o-books/our-books/I-am-shaktiAmazon.comBookshop.org

In this soul-stirring conversation, Colleen Benelli welcomes back author and teacher Brett Bevell to explore the profound evolution of energy healing and the sacred history of the Omega Institute. Discover the transition from Psychic Reiki to the new Ultra-Psychic Reiki system, featuring the high-vibrational Rainbow Sphere and its five specific bands of light frequencies. Experience a powerful, live guided healing session designed to clear stress, soothe the nervous system, and align your spirit with unified consciousness.  In This Episode, You Will Learn: •    Discover the mystical history of the Omega Institute and how its land acts as a "Devic" reservoir for 50 years of spiritual intention. •    Explore the five specific frequencies of the Reiki Rainbow Sphere—Diamond, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, and the Golden Light of Heaven—and how they target different layers of the energy body. •    Master the "Stay Stable, Be Kind" mantra to maintain inner peace and resilience during times of collective global shift. •    Release the illusion of separation by connecting with the Tree of Life energy and the unification consciousness inherent in Animal Reiki. •    Animal Reiki class at the Omega Institute May 25-29 •    The Wisdom of Reiki Conference at Omega June 5-7  •    Bretts Reiki Classes at Omega  •    Receive a live Ultra-Psychic Reiki guided healing session to clear mental-emotional blocks and stabilize your vagus nerve. Mentioned in this Episode: •    Books by Brett Bevell: Psychic Reiki, The Wizard's Guide to Energy Healing, The Reiki Magic Guide to Self-Attunement, and Reiki for Spiritual Healing. •    Healing Deck: Reiki Divine Healing Cards  •    Retreat Center: The Omega Institute (eomega.org). •    Article: "Reiki and Nature Spirits" by Colleen Benelli. •    Symbols: The Reiki Power Symbol and the Mental-Emotional Healing Symbol. •    Teachers Mentioned: William Lee Rand, Ram Dass, and Mikao Usui. Access Brett's Live Workshops and Healing Dates Here Websites: www.BrettBevell.com and www.academyofloveandlight.us Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brett.bevell.7 Instagram: @Brett.Bevell Ultra Psychic Reiki Link https://www.academyofloveandlight.us/bundles/psychic-reiki-ultra-psychic-reiki Join Our Community - Connect with Colleen & Robyn •    Website: ReikiLifestyle.com •    Online Classes: Register for upcoming Reiki Training •    YouTube: Watch our Video Discussions & Journeys •    Instagram: @reikilifestyleofficial Join Our Community •    Free Online Distance Reiki Share: Join us every Tuesday from 9:30 am – 11:00 am Pacific Time for a global healing circle. •    colleen@reikilifestyle.com For Questions •    Free Consultation Call with Danni  Love the Show? If this episode helped you on your journey, please Subscribe and leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your support helps us share the gift of Reiki with more people around the world! **DISCLAIMER** This episode is not a substitute for seeking professional medical care but is offered for relaxation and stress reduction, which support the body's natural healing capabilities. Reiki is a complement to and never a replacement for professional medical care. Colleen and Robyn are not licensed professional health care providers and urge you to always seek out the appropriate physical and mental help professional health care providers may offer. Results vary by individual.

This episode we close out discussion of this reign with a bit of a grab bag.  There is the minting of new coins, new letters to write Japanese, board games, and more. For more, check out our blogpost:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-146 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is episode 146: Coins, Letters, Games, and More   The large audience hall was filled with nobles, sitting in pairs across from each other.  Throughout the hall, the roof and walls reverberated with the sounds of numerous stone markers being placed on painted wooden tables—or more appropriately, game boards.   It was accompanied by the sound of dice clattering.  At the far end of the hall was the royal presence, where his majesty could likewise join in the entertainment—with someone of sufficient standing, of course. Throughout the day there were bursts of joy and frustration throughout the hall.  In some instances, one could see two players sharing in the joy and love of the game.  In other cases, political rivals stared each other down, neither one willing to give away any strategic advantage.  Any smiles there were merely a mask.  And yet, no matter how hard one tried, there was only so much you could do.  Ultimately, your fate was in the hands of the dice, though you could certainly do your best to nudge it here and there. And so they continued.  As they played, small wagers were made between players.  At the conclusion of their match, each player could find another opponent, and see if their luck held out.  Victory was desired, but at the very least one didn't want to be embarrassed.  As such, losing gracefully was just as important as winning with humility.  Sure, there were  the petty stakes that were gambled here and there, but the real stakes were embedded in the politics of the court.  That was a game  that everyone was playing, except that there was no board, and the rules were often merely suggestions, at best.     This episode we are going to close out the reign of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tenno.  It has been a while getting here—but then again, Ohoama's reign is the best documented so far, almost like the entire Chronicle has built up to this point.  We have spent about a dozen episodes on this reign—not including the four before that discussing the Jinshin no Ran. During that time we've talked about how Ohoama continued the Ritsuryou experiment, while  at the same time shaping it into something that was even more directly under his control.  A lot of this appears to have been done with the mostly willing consent of a good part of the archipelago. That may have been because of a few different things.  For one, all of this was justified through the philosophical underpinnings of the continent.  This is the new knowledge that the court had been devouring for over a century, and so I suspect that none of it seemed particularly surprising or out of place.  Furthermore, it seems that Ohoama's actions may have appealed to some of the more middle-tier elites; those for whom the idea of a government stipend was quite appealing. There was also the external threat of Silla and Tang.  Though in reality, Silla was in conflict with the Tang dynasty, up until the conclusion of the Silla-Tang War, around 676.  In truth, the Tang court wouldn't recognize Sillan sovereignty south of the Taedong river until 736, so there were still tensions.  However, early on in the reign there was at least the thought that hostilities could spill over onto the archipelago. And then there are all of the projects.  The designation of national temples, the beginning of a national history project, the founding of a permanent capital city, and the creation of a formal code—the Asuka Kiyomihara Code. Compared to all of that, the topics of this episode really are some miscellaneous stuff that I didn't have anywhere else to put, but wanted to bring to light anyway.  First, we'll talk about the minting of coins, and what that meant.  Once again, this is really neat because we actually have some coins that appear to be from this time frame, providing what might be a direct relationship between what is written down and what we have in the archaeological record.  Then we'll touch on another project of Ohoama's—this one less successful than some of the others we've discussed.  This was an attempt to create a new writing system specific to the Japanese language.  Remember, at this point literate people in the archipelago were using kanji to write everything down, and for the most part they were using kanbun—so Sinitic characters and grammar, with occasional use of characters purely for their phonetic qualities when they absolutely had to spell something out.  Eventually this would evolve into the syllabaries of katakana and hiragana, but there were several false starts before that, and we'll talk about what was being attempted during Ohoama's reign. Beyond those court projects we'll talk about some of the kami and Buddhist related rituals, especially as they related to growing merit and attempting to protect the state and its people from disasters—natural or otherwise.  And then there are various omens, and just a few edicts that were more geared towards the court but are still fun, like when Ohoama forced the entire court to join him for a day of… board games.  I guess when you are the sovereign and trying to set up a game day, scheduling is suddenly not so big of a problem. So that's what we are going to cover.  We are skipping around throughout the reign, and so while I'll mention dates here and there, I'll try not to get too bogged down with the exact dates unless it really matters. First off: coins.  We are going to start somewhere in the middle, on the 15th day of the 4th month of 683.  It is here that we see a note that Ohoama decreed that copper coins would be used, and not silver.  Remember that a silver mine had been discovered in Tsushima back in 674.  At that time we know that there were silver coins being made, but in 683 it looks like they were changing from silver to copper.  But three days later, they reversed the decision to completely cancel the silver coins, so they presumably had both silver and copper coins. Coins are interesting for several reasons.  For one, coins often help us to date various collections—if they are distinctive enough.  They can be quite helpful in telling us that a particular archaeological assemblage is almost certainly from sometime after the coins had begun to be circulated.  After all, if you unearth a stratum of an archeological dig and you find a penny dated to 1912, you can be reasonably confident that that layer was last exposed on or after 1912, unless time travel was at play. There are some exceptions where animals or tree roots or other forces can disturb the layering, but that's why archeologists carefully pay attention to soil features.  That isn't to say that all coins of the time had clear dates on them.  In fact, the oldest coins we have in the archipelago are something called "Mumon Ginsen"—literally unmarked silver coins.  They are found in various assemblages and thought to have originated under Naka no Oe, aka Tenji Tennou.  The silver from Tsushima would have likely been used for this.  For many reasons it is unclear if these were minted by the state or if they were privately minted and circulated. The copper coin mentioned in Ohoama's record in the Nihon Shoki would appear to be what is known as a Fuhonsen coin, which we also have extant examples of.  These are round copper coins with a square hole in the middle, as was common on the continent.  The previous unmarked silver coins were just small circles of solid silver.  In contrast, the Fuhonsen bear the characters "FU-HON":  FU, or "Tomi", means wealth, and HON, or "moto", means something like base or basis.  "SEN" just refers to the fact that it is a coin.  So the coin represents the basis of wealth. They are just under an inch in diameter, and 1.5 millimeters thick.  While primarily copper, they do have traces of antimony, silver, and bismuth.  The use of copper was likely because of its lower melting point, which would have been easier to cast with. So it seems that these were the new copper coins mentioned in the Chronicles, and the intent was originally to completely replace any silver currency.  I suspect that they quickly realized that they could not easily replace all of the silver, and so the older silver coins were probably still in circulation—though I don't know if any new ones were being minted. We don't exactly know how the coins were used.  They weren't being used to pay taxes or similar things—that was still all being handled in rice, silk, cloth, and labor.  They might have been used by the government to pay individuals, who would then exchange them for goods, but they were probably not used very often between individuals.  There is even some suggestion that they had a more ritual meaning.  Coins of a similar shape—round with a square hole in the center—go back to at least 350 BCE on the continent, and were quite common by the  time of the Han dynasty.  The round hole allowed them to be placed on strings—you'll often see references to strings of cash.  In the Qin dynasty, a string was meant to be a superunit, made up of 1000 coins.  Merchants and others operating at some scale could then just pay in "strings" of cash rather than counting out each and every coin.  It also provided a way of transporting them.  Anyone doing business in east Asia would have encountered coinage from one of the dynasties on the mainland, and we certainly see various coins making their way over to the archipelago, though how exactly they were used and valued isn't certain.  It may have been more important to just have them on hand for trips to the continent so that an embassy or trading vessel could participate in the economy, there. The next coin to be minted in the archipelago itself wasn't until 708, and that was the Wadokaichin, or Wado coins, named for the four characters around the square hole, which included the era name that they were created, "Wado".  This seems to have kicked off an actual national currency that would only last for a couple hundred years before it was debased and lost its value.  For centuries after that, rice was once again the primary currency, and would continue to be so, even though the Tokugawa shogunate would begin to mint and issue coins again through much of their rule.  Still, coins were often outside the grasp of most of the common people. While coins may not have fully caught on, they did better than our next project.  This was a task that was given to Sakahibe no Muraji no Iwashiki who compiled, by royal command, a new set of characters, which were recorded in a book of 44 volumes.  Though this book  is no longer extant, we do have later sources that claim it was once in the royal library.  It describes the characters as similar to Sanskrit characters.  This appears to be an attempt to create an alphabet, or syllabary, for the Japanese language. While Yamato had adopted the Sinitic systems of logographic writing, it wasn't exactly up to the task of directly writing in Japanese.  For one thing, the languages had different sounds that they used, and in different combinations.  Furthermore, grammatically, the two were quite different.  Many Sinitic languages are Subject, Verb, Object, similar to English, while Japanese is Subject, Object, Verb, meaning the verb goes at the end.  But beyond that, Japanese relies extensively on conjugation of verbs, with verbs and adjectives changing to express tense and other such things that Sinitic languages, such as modern Putonghua and languages such as Middle Chinese handle in other ways.  To give an English speaking person a similar experience, imagine writing sentences as "The bird in the tree sat"  or "the man the bread at the store bought".  Now remove many of the articles and prepositions, so you get things like "bird tree sit" and "man bread store buy".  You can imagine how that can really get unwieldy if you want to convey more nuanced concepts. Japanese would either need to add a phonetic writing system—which it did—or it would need to come up with new characters to use in place of the special qualities of the language.  Or they would need to continue to write in Sinitic grammatical order and  continue to do the translation to Japanese on the fly.   One can imagine that this was hardly efficient—in order to learn how to write you would basically have to learn a whole new language. That these new symbols were similar to characters associated with Sanskrit also makes sense, and we even see similar attempts on the continent, though they had other writing systems to compare to as well.  For example, we see the Persian Sogdian, written with a variation of Syriac script, and the Ghandari language written with its own Ghandari or Kharosthi script, but the influence of Buddhism likely explains why scripts associated with Sanskrit likely had a greater influence than other languages.  I should note here that Sanskrit itself does not have a single script—today, people probably think of the Devanagari script, commonly used in India, but that doesn't seem to have been developed until the 8th century.  The work of Iwashiki was likely based on something like the Siddham, or Kutila, script.  This is an abudgida, where consonants and vowels are connected together when written.  This would have worked well for the Japanese language as phonemes are often grouped together as consonant-vowel clusters known as morae.  Siddham evolved in the late 6th century and many Buddhist scripts that were making their way along the Silk Road would have used it.  However, it is said that Siddham proper—or at least as we know it today—was introduced to Japan by the famous monk Kuukai in the early 9th century.  If that is the case, then what script was Iwashiki using as his inspiration? Regardless of the details, this new script doesn't seem to have taken off.  It may have just been too much to ask someone to learn the various kanji AND another system on top of that.  Instead, the Japanese would adopt certain kanji over time, and simplify them into what we know, today, as kana.  Our earliest example is what we know of as Man'yogana, named for the Man'yoshu, an 8th century collection of poems attributed to various contemporary and historical figures.  Because the poetic structure of Japanese required specific counts of syllables or, more specifically, morae, it was important to capture the actual pronunciation of the language.  Certain characters were chosen and used over and over again purely for their phonetic value, rather than any other inherent meaning.  Over time, those characters were simplified and standardized, developing into the katakana and hiragana still used today.  While it was these organically-evolving systems that would eventually be most popular and fill the gap, but it is still incredible to see someone deliberately tackling the problem at this early date. Moving on from money and writing, let's turn now to matters of the kami and the Buddha.   Yamato existed in a world that saw itself as being caught between forces both seen and unseen.  Besides the natural world there was the spiritual world, and to many it was just as real as anything else. We've talked all along about the interplay between the court, the kami and the Buddha, and some of the evidence we see is relatively simple.  For instance, in 675, the Ohokami, the great god, of Tosa presented a divine sword to the sovereign.  I doubt that a kami was showing up in person to the court—this would have been priests from the shrine.   Aston suggests that the kami in question was probably either Hitokotonushi no Mikoto or Misukitakahikone no Mikoto, quoting "authorities" which he does not otherwise name.  We get more serious, though, when it comes to major events.  And the drought and famine of 676 seems to fit that description.  As you may recall from episode 144, the governor of Shimotsukeno reported a bad harvest in the 5th month, and by the 6th month we see more reports coming in of a great drought.  Clothing was collected for the Buddhist temples to help build merit.  Later, there was a comet in the sky, and then, in the 8th month, we see that the court compelled the Kuni no Miyatsuko and the governors to all contribute to an Ohoharae, or Great Purification.  Eventually, the Ohoharae would become a regular ceremony held on the 30th day of the 6th and 12th months of the year, with royal princes down to the high ministers gathering at the southern gate—the Suzaku-mon. Members of the Urabe, the Diviners, would read the various norito, the ritual prayers, to disperse evil influences.  It was, and is,also used when there is a royal visit to the Ise or Kamo shrines, as well as at the Dajosai festival at the start of a new reign.  It can also be done if there is thought to have been some kind of offense that was committed. "Harae", or "purification", is a common part of Shinto ritual today.  From the simple washing of the hands and mouth before entering the shrine grounds to pray to spiritual purification performed by a priest who waves a large stick with paper streamers—the ohonusa or haraegushi—while chanting prayers to ward off evil influences, purification is a key component in Shinto, which often concerns itself with aspects of spiritual pollution.  And so the Oho-harae, the Great Purification, is that, but turned up to eleven. The litany used for the Ohoharae, today, is also known as the Nakatomi no Ohoharae, indicating the importance of the Nakatomi in the ritual.  This Ohoharae, however, was taking place in the 8th month, and may not have had all of the traditions of the later rituals we know today.  Rather, we are told what was required:  The Kuni no Miyatsuko of the provinces were instructed to send one horse and a piece of cloth to specific shrines of purification.  In addition, the governors of the various districts were each told to supply one sword, one deerskin, one mattock, one smaller sword, one sickle, one set of arrows, and one sheaf of rice.  In addition, each household had to supply a bundle of hemp cloth.  These may not have been used in the ritual as much as they were offerings to the kami and their shrine. We'll see this in various cases where the State places rather onerous financial requirements on the population in order to perform rituals.  Of course, by the logic of the time, whatever was donated would make the ritual more effective—it would be more pleasing to the kami.  Still this seems remarkably costly in a year where we are told that the peasants were starving just a few months prior. I'll also take this moment to point out a link here to something that anyone who has been to a shrine may be familiar with, and that is the donation of horses. Horses were common enough a donation—if people of status rode horses, then how much more so the kami themselves?  Sacred or votive horses could be used to carry the kami, and even today some shrines keep sacred horses for the kami.  However, not everyone has horses to donate, and I suspect that the shrine probably didn't need an entire herd of horses.  And so some would pay money for an image of a horse, instead, to be hung in the shrine, likely indicating the donor.  Of course, this wasn't just a picture, but an official record of some kind of donation, which could theoretically go to purchase horses and other such things that the shrine might need.  These pictures of horses were known as "e-ma", literally "picture horse", and we still see them today: The most common type of e-ma will be small wooden placards sold at the shrine, and people will write their desires on the back, with their name and information.  They will often be found hanging in groups on specially designated racks meant for that purpose.  Today, e-ma might have horses on them, but more often have other pictures, associated with the particular shrine and kami.  Speaking of horses, we have a couple more references to them this year.  At some point, Ohoama had issued an edict seeking horses, not just for riding, but other good horses so that the givernment would have them when needed, distributed to the various post-stations.  So when he was returning from a banquet by the Todoroki pool in Hatsuse—modern Hase--Ohoama made a diversion to the post-station of Tomi and had the horses demonstrate their speed.  Presumably this was just a horse race, which seems to be popular around the world, in any place with horses. We see something similar when we are told that Ohoama went to Asatsuma to inspect the horses of the officials there.  At his request, the officials organized a competition of horseback archery.  This appears to reference the famous art of Yabusame—though it may not have been recognized as such just yet, there is some thought that the idea of a horsed archer shooting at three targets while galloping past may have originated in the 6th century, with ties to Usa Jingu.  Still, horseback archery would remain important, and later it would become the primary art of the warrior class from about the 12th to the 13th century or so—and arguably even up until the Sengoku period, with its spear formations and foreign guns. Later, in the 10th lunar month of 681, Ohoama and the court were prepared to go hunting on the Hirose plain.  A temporary palace was prepared and all of the bags were packed, but ultimately, Ohoama didn't go.  Instead, those from the rank of Prince to high ministers stayed at Karunoichi—a market at a cross-roads in the Nara basin that likely was the location of a government stable.  There, they inspected the horses and saddle equipment.  Those from the rank of Shokin up sat under the trees while those of Daisen and below mounted up and passed along from south to north.  Not quite as exciting as horse racing or horsed archery, but who doesn't like a parade. One wonders what happened to call off the hunt.  Perhaps Ohoama, while not bedridden, was not in the best of health.  If he was having some kind of recurring problems then that could explain some of the merit-making as well.  You may recall we discussed how much merit the state seemed to be trying to make in support of the sovereign's health, which we discussed in episode 142. Getting back to the Ohoharae—the great purification.  That was followed up by a general amnesty, which we talked about last episode, as well as a command to let loose living things.  This is a Buddhist practice that one still sees today in various places, usually in the form of letting loose animals like fish and birds that were kept by individuals.  I don't think they were just opening up the paddocks and letting the horses, cattle, and other animals go.  As fascinating as that might be to contemplate, with horses just running wild and cattle trampling the rice fields, I doubt they took it that far.  Still, this practice was clearly an attempt to make more merit for the State.   This edict was repeated only a few months later, in the 11th lunar month, but then it was confined to those provinces that were considered to be "near" to the capital, so a little more focused.  The day after that second release of animals, men were dispatched to all parts to expound the Konkwoumyou and Ninou sutras.  This was the Sutra of Golden Light and the Sutra of the Benevolent King—both sutras focused on concepts of good rulership and protection of the State.  In fact, together with the Lotus Sutra, they would come to be considered the Gokoku Sanbukyou—the Three sutras for Protection of the State.  They were read for the purpose of averting disaster, but they also helped to prop up the image of a righteous and benevolent ruler—what might be termed a golden-wheel turning sovereign, or Chakravarti. So all of this would seem to simultaneously reflect an intention to protect the State while also demonstrating performative regnal righteousness.  It was, after all, what a good ruler was supposed to do, which also conveniently told people what a good ruler was supposed to do. It is unclear whether or not the court actually felt this did anything.  I would note that a month later they were asking Princes and Ministers to gather up weapons, so it is possible that they were concerned about more than just natural disasters— such as a concern that the people were getting restless.  A few days later, we see more largess, as the court made presents to public functionaries and men of the frontier states.  It is unclear to me if this is a reward of some sort or perhaps an attempt to boost their morale and support. Later in that month we see preparations for the upcoming Feast of First Fruits, or Niinamesai, two months later.  We are told that the Jingikan, the Office of Kami Matters, had made the divination that the Yuki, the ceremonially pure rice for the ritual would come from the District of Yamada, in Owari.  For the Sugi, the "next" lower quality of rice, that would come from the district of Kasa, in Tamba.  The feast went off as usual in the 11th month, pre-empting the normal announcement of the first of the month. Later in the record we see that preparations were started for another Ohoharae, or Great Purification, and a general amnesty was issued.  This time, instead of sending horses for the kami, the Miyatsuko of each province were to supply one male and one female servant to the shrines, instead.  Fifteen days later, in the intercalary 7th lunar month—an extra month inserted to keep the lunar and solar calendars in synch—we see the queen, Uno, hosting a feast after ritual fasting.  She then had sutras expounded throughout the capital.  I find it particularly interesting that this was apparently instigated by the queen, but along with the Ohoharae, this all speaks towards the feeling that the State needed to be purified and supplied with good merit. The Ohoharae was not the only way to curry favor with the kami.  For example, in one record we see Ohoama designating sacred rice-tax for the shrines of Heaven and Earth—shrines for the Amatsu kami and Kunitsu kami.  One third of the rice was to go to the kami directly, while two thirds of the rice was to go to the priests who kept the shrines going. This same year, 677, we aren't told where the rice for the Niiname-sai came from, but we are told that those who donated as well as members of the Jingikan, who were involved in the divination and ritual more generally, were all compensated for their troubles with various presents. The Jingikan is one of those aspects of the new, bureaucratic state, that feels extremely tied to the archipelago.  It literally is the Bureau of Kami Matters, or the Bureau of Kami Affairs—the Kami no Tsukasa.  It would even come to be ranked above the Council of State in the official org chart of the government.  While the government had national temples and appointed members of the clergy who were responsible for keeping the Buddhist institutions in line with the State, the Jingikan was that entity for court ritual, and even for interfacing with various shrines around the country.   In the 10th century, all of the official shrines across the archipelago would be catalogued and assessed a rank and position, with Ise Shrine and the royal court at the top of the list. Speaking of the national temples, the fourth month of 680 was when Ohoama designated the national temples—which we also covered in Episode 142.  On the first day of month after that, we are told that he bestowed gifts of silk and cloth to 24 temples around the capital; and if there really were 24 temples just around the capital itself, one can imagine why they had to put a stop to publicly funding all of them.  That must have been quite the upkeep.  That same day, the Golden Light Sutra was expounded in the palace and at select temples as well.  As we've seen, the court relied just as heavily—or more—on Buddhism for certain rituals and providing spiritual power. While both Kami-based rituals and Buddhism were revered for their ability to affect the supernatural, Buddhist priests seem to have had a particularly revered place in—or perhaps more rightly outside—of society.  One is more likely to hear about someone who was a Buddhist priest or a novice being revered than a kannushi, or shrine priest.  For example, in the 7th month of 680, the priest Kouchou, of Asukadera, passed away. The royal princes Ohotsu and Takechi were sent to express royal condolence.  Later that same year we would see something similar, with Royal—later Crown—Prince Kusakabe visiting the eminent priest (Y)emyou on his death bed.  Yemyou died the next day, and three royal princes were sent to offer the condolences on behalf of the royal family. Towards the end of 680, Ohoama fell ill. One hundred individuals were made to take holy orders on his behalf, after which he appears to have recovered—or at least recovered enough for the time.  Earlier in the month his queen, Uno no Sarara, had taken ill, for which Ohoama had pledged to build Yakushiji, a temple of the Medicine Buddha, as we talked about in Episode 142. Although Ohoama temporarily recovered, we have mentioned how there are plenty of suggestions that he may not have been entirely better.  It could just be that time and numerous diseases were taking a toll, or perhaps he had an ailment that came and went.  I get that impression from things like in the 10th month of 685, as autumn changed to winter,  several nobles were sent to Shinano to build a temporary palace in preparation for a royal progress.  It seems that Ohoama wanted to visit the hot springs at Tsukama.  Tsukama may have been located on the outskirts of modern Matsumoto city, in Nagano, which is known for its hot springs, today.  Bentley implies  that the court was not entirely thrilled with Ohoama taking this journey.  I have to wonder whether or not this was all about Ohoama's health—hot springs were often seen as restorative.  At the same time, this sounds like a fairly long journey into the mountains as the weather was growing colder.  That also may have been part of the draw, however, allowing them to travel and see the changing leaves, a very common pastime in successive centuries, and even today. I can't help but imagine that Ohoama was seeking the restorative properties, while his court may have been apprehensive about the journey there and back as the days were getting colder.  Compare this to his actions at the start of the Jinshin no Ran, when he made that incredible dash from Yoshino, through the mountains, over to Owari.  But that was well over a decade ago, at this point, and he seems not quite so spry as he once had been. Another popular record that we find in this reign were various oddities and omens.  We've covered quite a few, but I did want to cover a few more before we pull the curtain closed on this era. First off, early in the reign, we see a record in the 10th month of 675 for a woman in the district of Takakura, in the province of Sagami, giving birth to triplets.  A quick Internet search suggests that natural triplets occur in about 1 in every 8000 or 10,000 births.  However, there is another thing to consider at this time:  giving birth to a single child was already a risky business, and death during or just after childbirth was a constant threat.  So now consider the issues with giving birth to twins or even triplets.  The odds that there is a complication just go up at that point.  So I suspect this was a very rare occurrence.  The fact that it was three sons was probably also seen as particularly auspicious, at least for any who were studying traditional Confucian scholarship. Moving on to the 4th day of the 4th lunar month of that same year, we get an omen for the court.  First is a cock sent to the court by Wanitsumi no Yogoto, from the Lower Sofu district in Yamato province.  This cock is said to have had a comb like a camelia flower, which was apparently quite auspicious.  On the other hand, a report came in from Akunami, also in Yamato province, about a hen that had turned into a cock.  Aston, of course, considers that this would have been an ominous sign—a disruption of the natural order.  To be honest, I don't see any particular judgment placed on it one way or the other.  It is just listed as a wondrous or miraculous occurrence. The year 678 has remarkably few events, in total, with nothing recorded between the 4th and 9th months.  And the 9th month was just a note about the death of one, Prince Wakasa, of the third princely rank.  The month after that we have another one of those strange occurrences.  This time it is a report of something falling from the sky like silk floss, except that it was 5 or 6 feet long and 7 or 8 inches wide.  It supposedly floated on the wind and waved from the fir woods and the reed plains.  People who saw it called it kanro, or "sweet nectar". This is really just a crazy entry.  I've wracked my brains to think of a natural event that could cause something like this, but this seems like something that was more like a rumor that got written down.  "Kanro" is thought to be something that Buddhist texts refer to as "Amrita", an exlixir of immortality.  In continental lore, it is said to be a sweet nectar that forms when yin and yang are in harmony—such as during a benevolent reign.  So whatever the truth of any natural event, to the Chroniclers the entry is clearly a chance to hype up Ohoama's reign. And then, towards the end of the 8th month, we see Katsura no Miyatsuko no Oshikatsu presenting auspicious stalks of grain.  Reportedly they all came from different plots and yet had very similar ears of grain.  Auspicious stalks of rice weren't uncommon, but Aston suggests that this was possibly an allegory for all of the royal princes who were brought together in Yoshino to swear to support each other.  The 8th month may have been when the grain was harvested—because it wasn't until the final month of the year that we see the court reacting.  At that point presents were made to the Royal and non-Royal Princes, the Ministers, and the public functionaries, all according to rank, in consequence of the auspicious stalks of grain.  In addition there was an amnesty for all offences from capital crimes on down. Now on top of all of that, there were a few edicts that touched on various topics that we just haven't gotten to, elsewhere. For instance, in the 8th month of 681, on the 10th day, we see a notification to all of the people in the archipelago who claimed descent from those from the continent—specifically those from the Korean peninsula, or the Samhan.  They were told that the taxes, which had previously been remitted for 10 years, so starting in 671, had come to an end.  However, corvee labor was still remitted for ten years to them and their children and grandchildren who had been with them when they first arrived. There are some questions about this passage, but in general it seems that those refugees who had escaped to the archipelago from Baekje and Goguryeo had previously been given 10 years from the time they arrived during which they did not owe taxes.  This included corvee labor—which also extended to any children that had been with them at the time.  Children that were born after that… well they wouldn't be of age to be used as corvee labor in 10 years so this would only apply to those who were with them at the  time and who would be of age within that 10 year timeframe. This exemption from taxes appears several times in different forms, and appears to be a grace period, during which people were expected to establish themselves, open fields, and begin to thrive.  At the end of 10 years, then they would start paying taxes, with the assumption that they had more than enough time to prepare and work the land. Moving on to one of my favorite entries, on the 18th day of the 9th lunar month in 685, Ohoama declared a game day.  He had the Princes and Ministers gather at the Ohoandono, the Great Audience Hall, and had them play a game called "Pakugi" or "Bakugi".  We aren't quite sure what the rules were—it probably wasn't Settlers of Catan, but you never know.  It was likely a game with dice, possibly a version of backgammon, which is quite old and commonly known as a game for gambling.  That same day, Ohoama gave out gifts of robes and trousers to ten princes and others—perhaps related to the gaming session? The history of games and gaming is particularly fascinating.  For one thing, many of the games that were played in the archipelago had come from the continent, and many had variants that had traversed the entirety of Eurasia.  Backgammon and Chess were both games that had variants that would be known in Japan.  Backgammon was known as sugoroku, and in Japan they played a game similar to chess known as Shogi.  They would also play go—or more appropriately igo—from at least the Nara period, though that game, invented in what is now China, does not seem to have spread quite as much as either backgammon or chess variants.  And while chess was a game that was often highly localized—with different pieces representing different things and often moving in different ways depending on the variant—backgammon seems to have been quite similar everywhere, and could probably be played by two people with wildly different cultural backgrounds with very little interpretation needed. The day after Ohoama had the court join his game day, there were more presents.  This time it was brown bear hides given to the royal and non-royal princes.  In total there were 48 hides given out, which is really pretty incredible.  I have this image in my mind of a very Asuka era wooden mansion, with wood and bronze and silk, and then a large bear hide sprawled out on the floor.  I'm not sure exactly how they were used, but I suspect that they were mostly used as floor coverings for people to sit or lay on, though I could also see them being used as sleeping mats.  It seems they were clearly elite status goods, but hardly what we think about in this period. And that is where we are going to come to a close.  There are only a few more things that we'll get to, but they are all related to what happened with the events surrounding Ohoama's death and the succession that followed, so we'll touch on those when we kick off the next reign. Until then if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  

We gather in your light to release this soul from shadow. You who walked this mortal road have earned your rest. Your deeds are written not in stone, but in the warmth of those you sheltered, in the fires you kindled against the dark, in the lives that burned brighter for your presence.Adventurer, your curiosity got the better of you, but you can now lay down you arms. Your burdens are finished. Your quest complete. The long night that comes for us all now comes for you. But know this: the light of the Sun does not abandon what it loves. As it sets, so too shall it rise, and in that rising, you shall be found.Walk into that Golden Light. Let Penia receive you with welcome arms. Not as a soldier. Not as a servant. But as a child come home.The Dawn remembers its own.Rest, now. You have earned the light. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join the HG101 gang as they discuss and rank a too-ambitious-for-its-own-good Lost World: Jurassic Park FPS. Then stick around for Golden Light, a Baroque-like roguelike that offers quite the meaty experience! This weekend's Patreon Bonus Get episode will be CRASH BANDICOOT 2: N-TRANCED — Vicarious Visions' second effort at a handheld Crash platformer! Donate at Patreon to get this bonus content and much, much more! Follow the show on Bluesky to get the latest and straightest dope. Check out what games we've already ranked on the Big Damn List, then nominate a game of your own via five-star review on Apple Podcasts! Take a screenshot and show it to us on our Discord server! Intro music by NORM. 2026 © Hardcore Gaming 101, all rights reserved. No portion of this or any other Hardcore Gaming 101 ("HG101") content/data shall be included, referenced, or otherwise used in any model, resource, or collection of data.

In this Mid Winter session, Martin guides you through a profound ten-minute journey into the heart of peace. As we navigate the complexities of the season, this episode serves as your "coffee break for the soul," offering a sanctuary of silence through somatic grounding for seasonal affective shifts and intentional breathing. We explore the power of internal light to drive away self-doubt and panic, while establishing a foundation for nervous system regulation for high-performance living.By focusing on the hypnotic rhythm of the breath, you will engage in vagal toning for deep stress recovery, allowing your mind and body to reunite in a state of true calm. This session isn't just a holiday pause; it is emotional fitness training for the new year, designed to help you master mindful self-compassion for holiday gatherings and beyond.Time-Stamped Chapters00:00 – Finding your quiet space and entering the sanctuary.00:41 – Somatic grounding through rhythmic breathing and chest expansion.01:54 – The Golden Light visualization: Adding fuel to your internal energy.0:12 – Expanding warmth: Pushing away worry and driving out the cold chill of winter.04:25 – Deep relaxation: Finding peace within the sanctuary of consciousness.05:17 – Emotional fitness training: Affirmations for priority and peace.06:20 – Visualizing grace: Staying centered amidst the noise of tomorrow.07:00 – Circadian reset for deep restorative sleep through silence.08:05 – Three Caring Tips for a happier, more positive life.09:20 – Proactive burnout prevention through stillness: Returning to the now.3 Caring Tips for a Happier, More Positive LifeThe One-Minute Digital Fast: Leave your phone in another room for at least five minutes today to create space for authentic human connection over digital consumption.Practice Unspoken Gratitude: Silently list three things you appreciate about someone you are with tonight to naturally improve the room's atmosphere.The Evening Reflection: Write down one "hidden win"—a small personal success—to reinforce a positive mindset for long-term well-being.Connect with Calming AnxietySupport the Show: Join our Supporters Club for just $5 a month to enjoy advert-free episodes and exclusive content.Share the Peace: If this helped you, please like, subscribe, and share on social media to help others find their center.Final Thought: Smile often, and above all, be kind.Break the Cycle of Anxiety Today Are you ready to stop the spiral? Join me in the Anxiety Circuit Breaker course, specifically designed to help you regain control and find your calm in just minutes. You can access the full course and take the first step toward a quieter mind by visiting calminganxiety.fm.

In the very first lunation of 2026, under the nurturing Full Moon in Cancer on January 3rd, Therese channels a powerful meditation and message on ascension, nervous-system-safe evolution, and consciousness shifts.In this episode, you'll be guided to explore:

10 Minute Morning Meditation: Instant Calm & Focus | Positive Mindset ResetUnlock your full potential before you even leave your bed.Welcome to a powerful 10-minute morning reset designed to banish morning grogginess and replace it with clarity, confidence, and high-vibration energy. Whether you are waking up with a racing mind or simply want to start your day with intention, this guided practice is your sanctuary.Hosted by Martin, your Clinical Hypnotherapist, this session is perfect for beginners and seasoned meditators alike. We begin by grounding your energy with a visualization of golden light rising from the earth, releasing tension from your jaw and shoulders. You will then invite the warmth of the morning sun to cascade through you, clearing away mental fog and aligning you with your higher self.In this episode, you will:Oxygenate & Unwind: Use deep breathwork to release the residual heaviness of the night.Visualise Success: Seal your intention with the "Golden Light" grounding technique.Reprogram Your Mind: Use powerful affirmations to attract miracles and success effortlessly.Affirmations used in this session: To help these settle into your spirit, we focus on four key pillars of self-belief:"I am ready to rise and shine brighter than ever before.""I am capable of handling this moment.""I choose to focus on my intention today.""I attract miracles and success effortlessly."Make mindfulness part of your daily routine. If you are new here, please subscribe and hit the notification bell to prioritize your peace. Take care, smile often, and be kind.

REV. RINA C RABASSA - Radiant Heart Ministries - Radiant Heart Ministries was founded 1n 2009 by Rev. Rina C Rabassa out of a desire to put a lifetime of work into a cohesive framework from which to share and assist others on their spiritual path. Ordained in the Order of Melchizedek since 1996, she is also a Master Teacher / Practitioner of Usui and Karuna Reiki. With a background in world spiritual traditions and a serious interest in alternative healing modalities she is able to assist you in the most suitable way for your particular need at any given time. She is experienced in Aromatherapy / Flower Essence therapy and the use of Crystals for enhanced healing practices as well. She has trained with Michael Harner in Basic Shamanic Practices, initiated into Magnified Healing and Golden Light, has received Bija Mantra Activations and DNA encodements.... and more - all of which she puts to work at your service! An experienced Inspirational/Motivational speaker, Rina has performed numerous services in her role as Minister that include Weddings, Baby Blessings, Life Transition Services(Funerals), Reiki for the Terminally Ill(in -hospital services) Reiki for Birth and Delivery,Reiki for Animals, Rites of Passage Ceremonies,House Blessings, Space Clearing and Spiritual Life CoachingBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-x-zone-radio-tv-show--1078348/support.Please note that all XZBN radio and/or television shows are Copyright © REL-MAR McConnell Meda Company, Niagara, Ontario, Canada – www.rel-mar.com. For more Episodes of this show and all shows produced, broadcasted and syndicated from REL-MAR McConell Media Company and The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network and the 'X' Zone TV Channell, visit www.xzbn.net. For programming, distribution, and syndication inquiries, email programming@xzbn.net.We are proud to announce the we have launched TWATNews.com, launched in August 2025.TWATNews.com is an independent online news platform dedicated to uncovering the truth about Donald Trump and his ongoing influence in politics, business, and society. Unlike mainstream outlets that often sanitize, soften, or ignore stories that challenge Trump and his allies, TWATNews digs deeper to deliver hard-hitting articles, investigative features, and sharp commentary that mainstream media won't touch.These are stories and articles that you will not read anywhere else.Our mission is simple: to expose corruption, lies, and authoritarian tendencies while giving voice to the perspectives and evidence that are often marginalized or buried by corporate-controlled media

One sunny evening in the summer of 2020, Kirk and Trevor had a meeting on Kirk's driveway. Even though all indoor meetings were taboo, they met someone bursting with excitement. Eric Greening's face lit up as he described the cannabis growing facility he envisioned building north east of Dauphin.Four years, a pandemic, spiraling inflation and all the other unknown unknowns of building a facility and starting a business are now behind the persistent Mr. Greening. As proud Dauphinites, we are excited to say Greencraft Cannabis is now selling product! And.... after much pestering, we got a peek inside!Come with us on an audio tour of the facility. There is a cannabis "tree" whose trunk Trevor can't wrap his hand around, a sunset room with alien-looking golden light, the secrets of how you control tiny invaders when you can't use any pesticides, and so much more!Greencraft Cannabis - websiteMusic by:Reggae Cowboys - Tell the Truth -YouTubeAdditional Music:Desiree Dorion desireedorion.comMarc Clement - FacebookTranscripts, papers and so much more at: reefermed.ca

Khemasuri explores the message of Transforming the World in The Sutra of Golden Light at Sangha Night, Sheffield Buddhist Centre 2008. Excerpted from the talk Transforming the World given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2008. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967

Here Vajratara encourages her audience to enter a Mahayana text like one would reflect on a dream. Excerpted from the talk The Sutra of Golden Light given at Sheffield Buddhist Centre, 2008. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967

Microcosmos Records is happy to announce Voice Of The Soul by Aksemetrix. Aksemetrix is the musical project of Yuri Aksenov (Tyumen, Russia). With ten releases to his name spanning ambient, downtempo, psy-chill, and progressive, Yuri crafts his sound using both analog and digital synthesis, guitar, and harmonica. Voice Of The Soul represents a harmonious fusion of cosmic ambient, lo-fi, and blues-infused guitar. It is full of experiments with unconventional rhythms, and field recordings capturing conversations and sounds of nature. Ethereal synth textures create a dreamy, translucent atmosphere. Meticulously crafted arrangements seamlessly blend warm bass lines, intricate arpeggios, acoustic guitar, and harmonica. The music of the album takes the listener away from the mundane into realms of beautiful, fantastical imagery. Put on Voice Of The Soul and immerse yourself in a slightly sentimental, carefree lounge ambiance created by Aksemetrix and Microcosmos Records.

The Bodhisattva Ruchiraketu dreams of a golden drum radiating golden light which fills a totally transformed world...Classic Sangharakshita delving into one of the core texts studied in the Triratna Buddhist Order and Community. Part of the series Transformation of Life and World in the Sutra of Golden Light given in 1976. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast: A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967  

Discover how these potent essential oils awaken the crown chakra (Sahasrara)—the energy center of higher consciousness and spiritual connection. Join Elizabeth Ashley and Adam Barralet as they share decades of aromatherapy expertise to guide you through each oil's energetic gifts and practical uses.

Send us a textTake a moment to pause right where you are. When did you last allow yourself to truly rest? To breathe without hurry? To simply be?This guided meditation offers a sanctuary for your nervous system – a gentle yet powerful journey back to yourself. Through carefully crafted visualizations and breathwork, we'll guide you through releasing emotional burdens that were never yours to carry. You'll experience the transformative practice of cutting cords to pain while filling yourself with healing golden light.Many of us have dimmed our light for others, adapted to painful circumstances, or carried weight that wasn't ours to bear. This meditation acknowledges your journey while offering a path forward. With affirmations like "I forgive the past, I trust the future, I reclaim the present," you'll begin reclaiming parts of yourself that may have been set aside in difficult seasons.The visualization of walking along a peaceful shoreline helps anchor these new patterns of thinking into your body. As the gentle waves wash over your feet, your nervous system receives the message: you are safe now. You survived. You can rest.Whether you're healing from specific trauma or simply feeling disconnected from yourself, this meditation provides tools to return home to your body and heart. Remember, healing isn't measured by how quickly you move forward – it's about returning to yourself "one breath, one truth, one brave moment at a time."Ready to reclaim your light? Press play, close your eyes, and allow yourself this gift of presence. Your journey back to yourself begins now.Support the showInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelamyerun/ Website: https://www.undetectednarcissist.com Blog posts: https://undetectednarcissist.com/blog/

Tonight, join me as we follow the boy, although feeling insignificant, has no idea of the change he will make in the world.Thanks for being part of the Dozing Off community. Interested in an additional story and want to support the show? Check out Dozing Off on Patreon - patreon.com/dozingoffpodcast Sleep well!

This week's episode guest is Ashana, one of the premiere healing music artists and New Age vocalists of our time, weaving together soaring, angelic vocals and the celestial sound of alchemy crystal singing bowls. This exquisitely crafted sonic tapestry has been hailed by listeners all over the world as “breathtaking” and “a gift from heaven.” Ashana's best selling music from “All Is Forgiven”, “Jewels of Silence”, “Beloved”, “The Infinite Heart”, “River of Light”, “Celestial Sleep”, and “The Illuminated Path”, have been downloaded and streamed by millions of fans around the world. A life-long student of yoga and mantra from many of the world's spiritual traditions, Ashana has led two online group meditations touching the lives of more than 20,000 people in 50 countries. As a renowned master crystal bowl artist, teacher, and sound healer, Ashana is an expert in the field of sound healing with crystal bowls, training students from all over the world in the art of applying crystalline sound to therapeutic and artistic healing modalities in her Crystal Bowl Mastery program. Ashana lives near Sedona, Arizona with her husband, Native Hawaiian Healer, James Kawainui.In this episode we speak about:- The healing power of sound and crystal singing bowls- Mantras- The power of soundDon't miss this beautiful free gift from Ashana – Meditation on the Golden Light of Healing: https://soundofashana.lpages.co/podcast-glhgift/Visit Ashana:https://www.soundofashana.com/https://www.instagram.com/soundofashana/Listen to her healing music here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/31LMvrFFvlQQh51k6ZlMIWVisit Law of Positivism:https://www.instagram.com/lawofpositivism/Website: https://www.lawofpositivism.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawofpositivism/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/lawofpositivism

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated! Support the show

Guide: Katie Krimitsos Join Premium! Ready for an ad-free meditation experience? Join Premium now and get every episode from ALL of our podcasts completely ad-free now! Just a few clicks makes it easy for you to listen on your favorite podcast player.  Become a PREMIUM member today by going to --> https://WomensMeditationNetwork.com/premium Close your eyes, and take a slow, deep breath in…  And as you exhale, feel the weight of the day begin to dissolve.  This is your time to let go,  To step into the healing space of rest, where peace and restoration await you. PAUSE... Bring your awareness to your body.  Start with your feet, feeling them soften and grow heavy.  Let the warmth of relaxation travel up through your legs, releasing any tension as it moves.  Your calves, your thighs—each muscle loosening, each breath bringing more ease. PAUSE... Now, allow this warmth to flow into your hips and lower back.  Feel the tension melt away.  Breathe in deeply, and as you exhale, feel your abdomen soften, your chest open, and your breath become slow and steady. Join our Premium Sleep for Women Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Sleep podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here --> https://bit.ly/sleepforwomen  Join our Premium Meditation for Kids Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Kids podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here → https://bit.ly/meditationforkidsapple Hey, I'm so glad you're taking the time to be with us today. My team and I are dedicated to making sure you have all the meditations you need throughout all the seasons of your life.  If there's a meditation you desire, but can't find, email us at Katie Krimitsos to make a request. We'd love to create what you want!  Namaste, Beautiful,

Join Premium! Ready for an ad-free meditation experience? Join Premium now and get every episode from ALL of our podcasts completely ad-free now! Just a few clicks makes it easy for you to listen on your favorite podcast player.  Become a PREMIUM member today by going to --> https://WomensMeditationNetwork.com/premium Close your eyes, and take a slow, deep breath in…  And as you exhale, feel the weight of the day begin to dissolve.  This is your time to let go,  To step into the healing space of rest, where peace and restoration await you. PAUSE... Bring your awareness to your body.  Start with your feet, feeling them soften and grow heavy.  Let the warmth of relaxation travel up through your legs, releasing any tension as it moves.  Your calves, your thighs—each muscle loosening, each breath bringing more ease. PAUSE... Now, allow this warmth to flow into your hips and lower back.  Feel the tension melt away.  Breathe in deeply, and as you exhale, feel your abdomen soften, your chest open, and your breath become slow and steady. Join our Premium Sleep for Women Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Sleep podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here --> https://bit.ly/sleepforwomen  Join our Premium Meditation for Kids Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Kids podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here → https://bit.ly/meditationforkidsapple Hey, I'm so glad you're taking the time to be with us today. My team and I are dedicated to making sure you have all the meditations you need throughout all the seasons of your life.  If there's a meditation you desire, but can't find, email us at Katie Krimitsos to make a request. We'd love to create what you want!  Namaste, Beautiful,

They've been whispered about in fairytales… but they are real—and they've returned to help us ascend. In today's Morning Light Meditation, Meet Your Personal Unicorn, you'll step into the Temple of Pure Gold and reunite with your own Unicorn. This radiant being of Light has been with you through many lifetimes—and is ready now to activate your chakras with the Golden Light of divine Opulence. This meditation is part of Opulence Infusion – A New Faith Currency, my upcoming audiobook that Jennifer is in the midst of recording now. If you've felt the call to a new way of receiving… of co-creating with the Divine through joy and beauty… this is for you. The song under this meditation is Golden Unicorns by Michael Gayle. You can listen to more of his music at https://michaelgayleguitar.com/

The New Church is sometimes called "The Church of the New Jerusalem." This is based on a description of a golden city, the New Jerusalem, descending from heaven to earth, as described in the book of Revelation. Each detail of this city symbolizes some aspect of the New Church. Our focus this Sunday will be on the Golden Light that filled the city. Gold stands for Love, light for Wisdom. In the New Church, the heart must always be love, from the Lord, guided by His wisdom. This is a description of the New Church as it ought to be. Our job, here and now, is to make sure that we embody that love, and let the Lord's wisdom guide us, as a church and as individuals.

Join Premium! Ready for an ad-free meditation experience? Join Premium now and get every episode from ALL of our podcasts completely ad-free now! Just a few clicks makes it easy for you to listen on your favorite podcast player.  Become a PREMIUM member today by going to --> https://WomensMeditationNetwork.com/premium Join our Premium Sleep for Women Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Sleep podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here --> https://bit.ly/sleepforwomen  Join our Premium Meditation for Kids Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Kids podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here → https://bit.ly/meditationforkidsapple Hey, I'm so glad you're taking the time to be with us today. My team and I are dedicated to making sure you have all the meditations you need throughout all the seasons of your life.  If there's a meditation you desire, but can't find, email us at Katie Krimitsos to make a request. We'd love to create what you want!  Namaste, Beautiful,

We've hit the midway mark of the 20s decade, so it's a good time to look back and appreciate the best hard'n'heavy tracks issued this decade so far. In our lexicon, hard'n'heavy includes trad metal, speed metal, hard rock, prog rock, rock'n'roll and punk rock. Anything heavy that doesn't fit on our three other categories we cover her at The Mighty Decibel. Join us and be redeemed!!! Side 1 (0:00) "I Am Redeemed": WYTCH HAZEL - III:Pentecost (3:52) "Scene of the Wild": WITCHSEEKER - Scene of the Wild (6:22) "Golden Light": URIAH HEEP - Chaos & Colour (11:31) "No One Wins": BLOOD STAR - First Sighting (14:09) "Han(d) Solo": ALPHA BOYS - Saviours of Rock'N'Roll (16:42) "The Exit Garden": THE WIZARDS - The Exit Garden Side 2 (25:38) "The Executioner's Woe": BLAZEN RITE - Endless Halls of Golden Totem (29:13) "To Those": STYX - Crash of the Crown (32:14) "Northern Skyline": LORD GOBLIN - Lord Goblin (38:42) "Nary Do-Gooder": THE REAL MCKENZIES - Beer and Loathing (40:48) "Scythian Women": SANHEDRIN - Lights On

In this illuminating guided meditation, you'll be invited to connect with your most radiant, expansive self through the imagery of golden light at the Crown Chakra. As you tune into this bold, authentic brilliance, you'll also gently notice the parts of yourself that feel hesitant—those that play small or fear stepping into the light. With compassion and breath, we'll hold space for these parts to heal, allowing you to stand more fully in your wholeness and shine. Want more meditations and early access? Join me on Patreon for exclusive content and bonuses: patreon.com/theoptimisticmeditator. Prefer a one-time way to support? Visit buymeacoffee.com/tammylorraine. Your support means the world!

Join Premium! Ready for an ad-free meditation experience? Join Premium now and get every episode from ALL of our podcasts completely ad-free now! Just a few clicks makes it easy for you to listen on your favorite podcast player.  Become a PREMIUM member today by going to --> https://WomensMeditationNetwork.com/premium Join our Premium Sleep for Women Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Sleep podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here --> https://bit.ly/sleepforwomen  Hey, I'm so glad you're taking the time to be with us today. My team and I are dedicated to making sure you have all the meditations you need throughout all the seasons of your life.  If there's a meditation you desire, but can't find, email us at Katie Krimitsos to make a request. We'd love to create what you want!  Namaste, Beautiful,

Join Premium! Ready for an ad-free meditation experience? Join Premium now and get every episode from ALL of our podcasts completely ad-free now! Just a few clicks makes it easy for you to listen on your favorite podcast player.  Become a PREMIUM member today by going to --> https://WomensMeditationNetwork.com/premium Join our Premium Sleep for Women Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Sleep podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here --> https://bit.ly/sleepforwomen  Hey, I'm so glad you're taking the time to be with us today. My team and I are dedicated to making sure you have all the meditations you need throughout all the seasons of your life.  If there's a meditation you desire, but can't find, email us at Katie Krimitsos to make a request. We'd love to create what you want!  Namaste, Beautiful,

Join Premium! Ready for an ad-free meditation experience? Join Premium now and get every episode from ALL of our podcasts completely ad-free now! Just a few clicks makes it easy for you to listen on your favorite podcast player.  Become a PREMIUM member today by going to --> https://WomensMeditationNetwork.com/premium Join our Premium Sleep for Women Channel on Apple Podcasts and get ALL 5 of our Sleep podcasts completely ad-free! Join Premium now on Apple here --> https://bit.ly/sleepforwomen  Hey, I'm so glad you're taking the time to be with us today. My team and I are dedicated to making sure you have all the meditations you need throughout all the seasons of your life.  If there's a meditation you desire, but can't find, email us at Katie Krimitsos to make a request. We'd love to create what you want!  Namaste, Beautiful,

Orphan Anne's Soul Voice & NDE Anne Fulkerson lived a traumatic childhood, until a Voice came from within to steer her from suicide to sudden confidence. Years later, an untreated heart attack took her to the Golden Light of God's love, and revealed a profound understanding of Surrender, Now, and the Oneness of I AM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ndeworld/support

This episode features the 'sounds and sights' of the season!  On the first segment, Jeff Alban, Artistic Director of the Blue Ridge Singers shares the good news about their Christmas Concerts, "Golden Light".  (www.blueridgesingers.org) On the second half, Andrew Keefauver and Onna Keller with the Frederick County Parks and Recreation Department invite the community to 'Walking In A Winter Wonderland' at Clear Brook Park, 11/29 through 1/1!  Details and tickets at www.fcprd.net 

Episode #208: Unlocking The Healing Potential Of Sound Join us today as Colleen Interview's Ashana Lobody on Take the Leap. We dive deep into the transformative world of sound healing with the incredible Ashana. As a premier healing music artist and new age vocalist, Ashana shares her journey and insights on how sound can profoundly impact our well-being. Here are three key takeaways from our enlightening conversation: The Power of Sound Healing Ashana emphasizes that sound healing has been a part of human culture for thousands of years. From ancient Greece, where musicians were considered physicians, to modern practices, sound has the ability to bring us back into alignment with ourselves. It helps quiet the mind, reduce stress, and allows us to access our innate wisdom. This is especially crucial in our fast-paced, technology-driven world where disconnection from nature and ourselves is common. Personal Transformation Through Sound Ashana shared her personal journey of how she discovered crystal singing bowls and the pivotal moments that led her to become a pioneer in sound healing. Her story is a beautiful reminder that sometimes, we must take a leap of faith to follow our true calling. She sold her business to pursue her passion for music, which has since touched the lives of countless individuals around the globe. This serves as a powerful reminder that aligning our work with our passions can lead to profound joy and fulfillment. Practical Applications for Everyday Life One of the most exciting parts of our discussion was Ashana's project, Celestial Sleep, designed to help individuals relax and improve their sleep quality through sound. By incorporating healing sounds into our nightly routines, we can retrain our brains for better health and well-being. Ashana's insights encourage us to explore how we can integrate sound healing into our daily lives, whether through meditation, music, or simply being present with the sounds around us. To connect with today's guest: Ashana Lobody https://www.soundofashana.com/ www.Facebook.com/soundofashana www.Instagram.com/soundofashana www.youtube.com/ashanamusic https://open.spotify.com/artist/31LMvrFFvlQQh51k6ZlMIW Free gift: Meditation on the Golden Light of Healing https://soundofashana.lpages.co/podcast-glhgift/ To connect with the host: Colleen Biggs https://colleenbiggs.net/ Consider Colleen to speak at your next event or host your next Business retreat! Join the Leap Community so you can Step Into the Spotlight, be seen, be heard and be visible today! https://colleenbiggs.net/community/ Subscribe to our podcast for more amazing episodes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/take-the-leap/id15033595 Join us for the NEXT Empower & Elevate Conference March 21st https://colleenbiggs.net/empower/ Thank you to our Sponsor of today's show: Beyond Basil Pizza We are passionate about bringing the authentic flavors of Italy right to your event. Our mobile pizzeria is a culinary adventure on wheels, where we craft artisanal pizzas using the finest ingredients and traditional Neapolitan techniques. Whether you're craving a classic Margherita or looking to explore one of our unique flavor combinations, our skilled pizzaiolos are here to create mouthwatering pizzas that will tantalize your taste buds. With our commitment to quality and exceptional service, we aim to provide an unforgettable dining experience for every one of your guest. Explore our menu, book us for your next event, or follow us on Instagram @beyondbasilpizza Get ready to embark on a pizza journey like no other with Beyond Basil Mobile Pizzeria! You can view the menu and contact us at https://www.beyondbasilmobilepizzeria.com/

Is self-love the answer to changing our perspectives? Tune in for an inspiring discussion with Siobhan Nicolaou on her #book The Absence of Evil: Love's Reclamation of The Soul. Moments with Marianne airs in the Southern California area on KMET1490AM & 98.1 FM, an ABC Talk News Radio affiliate! Siobhan Nicolaou CHLC, CHT is a published Author, Medium for Spirit and Master Alchemist. She has been teaching  Energy Management, Emotional Energy Transformation, and Sovereign Development for 35 years. Siobhan offers individual and group support through mentorship,  holistic coaching, soul readings, activations, courses and house healing for her client's  harmonious spiritual evolution. Her  entire body of work is based in the non-dual consciousness of Golden Light, grounding and the inner alchemical  transformation of negative emotion that keeps the mind, heart and perception divided. https://www.siobhannicolaou.comFor more show information visit: www.MariannePestana.com#book #newbook #bookclub #mustread #healing #healingjourney #nonduality #love #selflove 

If you're not marketing your law firm well, you're sitting on a whole lot of untapped potential for income and growth. Jared talks to Ashley Robinson of Green Cardigan Marketing about the need she saw in the legal world for honest, straightforward marketing tactics that help law firms bring in new clients and greater profits. She explains engagement strategies, effective intake processes, essential marketing technology, and more.  Later on in the Rump Roast, Jared and Ashley play “Don't Sweat It!”––a delightful round of sweater-related trivia.  And, it might seem like Sheryl Crow got a late start to her music career, but she was deeply involved in the music industry for many years before her breakthrough solo album, “Tuesday Night Music Club” rocketed her to fame at age 31. That first album was pretty fun, but Sheryl's perfect album came later with “The Globe Sessions.” Jared digs into the exceptional appeal of this deliciously hard-edged pop/rock album. ----- Yes, Jared does have a playlist of his favorite Sheryl Crow songs. ----- Our opening song is Two Cigarettes by Major Label Interest. Our closing song is Golden Light by Reveille

If you're not marketing your law firm well, you're sitting on a whole lot of untapped potential for income and growth. Jared talks to Ashley Robinson of Green Cardigan Marketing about the need she saw in the legal world for honest, straightforward marketing tactics that help law firms bring in new clients and greater profits. She explains engagement strategies, effective intake processes, essential marketing technology, and more.  Later on in the Rump Roast, Jared and Ashley play “Don't Sweat It!”––a delightful round of sweater-related trivia.  And, it might seem like Sheryl Crow got a late start to her music career, but she was deeply involved in the music industry for many years before her breakthrough solo album, “Tuesday Night Music Club” rocketed her to fame at age 31. That first album was pretty fun, but Sheryl's perfect album came later with “The Globe Sessions.” Jared digs into the exceptional appeal of this deliciously hard-edged pop/rock album. ----- Yes, Jared does have a playlist of his favorite Sheryl Crow songs. ----- Our opening song is Two Cigarettes by Major Label Interest. Our closing song is Golden Light by Reveille

Ashana is one of the premiere healing music artists and New Age vocalists of our time, weaving together soaring, angelic vocals and the celestial sound of alchemy crystal singing bowls. This exquisitely crafted sonic tapestry has been hailed by listeners all over the world as “breathtaking” and “a gift from heaven.” Ashana's best selling music from “All Is Forgiven”, “Jewels of Silence”, “Beloved”, “The Infinite Heart”, “River of Light”, “Celestial Sleep”, and “The Illuminated Path”, have been downloaded and streamed by millions of fans around the world. A life-long student of yoga and mantra from many of the world's spiritual traditions, Ashana has led two online group meditations touching the lives of more than 20,000 people in 50 countries. As a renowned master crystal bowl artist, teacher, and sound healer, Ashana is an expert in the field of sound healing with crystal bowls, training students from all over the world in the art of applying crystalline sound to therapeutic and artistic healing modalities in her Crystal Bowl Mastery program. Ashana lives near Sedona, Arizona with her husband, Native Hawaiian Healer, James Kawainui. https://www.soundofashana.com/ Free Gift from Ashana: Meditation on the Golden Light of Healing The award-winning Golden Light of Healing Guided Meditation by ASHANA is used daily by listeners all over the world to easily and gently shift from ... Stress to Serenity, Pain to Relaxation and Receptivity to Spiritual Awakening. "Finding the Zone and getting in state has never been easier.The tangible world falls away. My experience is being pure consciousness. Feeling the harmonics lifting me and repairing, as if all the rough edges were smoothed away and I am left with a softness polished by the energy of sound." - Adrienne Curtis, Energy Healer, USA Bring the Golden Light of Healing into your body, mind and spirit and receive the grace of celestial inspired healing sound. LINK: https://soundofashana.lpages.co/podcast-glhgift/ Natalie Brown: http://www.soundshealstudio.com http://www.facebook.com/soundshealstudio http://www.instagram.com/nataliebrownsoundsheal http://www.youtube.com/soundshealstudio Music by Natalie Brown, Hope & Heart http://www.youtu.be/hZPx6zJX6yA This episode is sponsored by The Om Shoppe. The OM Shoppe & Spa offers a vast array of Sound Healing and Vibrational Medicine tools for serious professionals and for those ready to make sound and vibration part of their ongoing lifestyle. More and more we are coming to understand that our individual wellness is a direct reflection of our personal vibration. How we care for ourselves, our physical bodies, our minds and our spirits. The OM Shoppe is ready to help you today in a variety of ways. They offer the countries largest showroom of Quartz Crystal Singing bowls, sound healing instruments and vibrational medicine tools. If you are ready to uplevel your sound healing practice The OM Shoppe is a great place to get guidance and direction. They are available to consult with you directly by phone or you can shop online. They really enjoy getting to know their clients and customers one on one to better help recommend the right sound healing tools in the right tones for you. Call them today or visit them at http://www.theomshoppe.com. If you are ever near Sarasota, Florida, do consider stopping in and visiting with them or enjoy a luxury spa treatment such as sound healing, energy work, massage, vibroacoustics or hypnotherapy. They truly offer a full holistic experience for practitioners and those seeking healing through natural means.

Unveiling the Mysteries of Sound Healing with Ashana In this episode we get curious about:Ashana's Personal Experience with Nature and SoundThe Role of Silence in IntuitionSound Healing TechniquesThe use of sound healing in indigenous cultures and ancient civilizationsPractical Applications: How sound healing can help with mental, emotional, and physical well-beingAshana's music played in this episode with permission: Cosmic Grace: Meditation with Crystal Singing Bowls Artist: Ashana, featuring Benjy Wertheimer Get your own copy here!=> Where to find Ashana:Website: Relaxation, Meditation, & Sleep Music with Crystal Singing BowlsBook: Crystal Singing Bowls: The Angelic Sound of Healing, Relaxation, and Spiritual AwakeningGift: https://soundofashana.lpages.co/podcast-glhgift ==>Experience unprecedented levels of personal healing and transformation with the "Golden Light of Healing Guided Meditation" mp3, an excerpt from "Celestial Alignment for Healing": FB: AshanaIG: Instagram (@soundofashana)YouTube: Sound of AshanaApple Music: Ashana on Apple Music=> Learn more about Laurin Wittig and Heartlight Wellness: Healing the light within you!Bio: Laurin Wittig is an intuitive energy worker, Reiki Master, Shamanic practitioner, and the founder of HeartLight Wellness and the HeartLight Women's Circles. She also hosts the Curiously Wise: Practical Spirituality in Action podcast, and is an award winning author.Laurin's non-traditional journey from poor health to robust wellbeing awakened her to her own healing gifts and sparked a passion to assist others to travel their paths with less pain, more joy, and a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.Interested in exploring how Laurin can help you shine your inner light brighter? Book a free 20 minute call here.Website: HeartlightJoy.comGift: Sign up for Laurin's newsletter and get her gift to you: Laurin's Top Three Ways to Communicate with Your Spirit Guides (PDF download)Laurin's novelsFacebookFacebook PageInstagramLinkedINCredits:Audio Engineer: Sam WittigMusic:...

Send us a Text Message.Discover the tranquil power of your own breath and the subtle energies coursing through your body as we embark on a serene journey toward relaxation and self-awareness. Our latest guided meditation episode promises not just a moment of peace, but a transformative experience allowing you to anchor your mindfulness practice in a deeply personal intention. Whether you're seeking to start your day with clarity or end it with restorative calm, I'll be there to lead you through a nurturing golden light, touching every part of your being, and helping you find balance within.Together, we'll engage in a Body Awareness Meditation that gently guides you to tune into the duality of sensations—warmth and coolness, weight and lightness—inviting you to embrace the path to inner peace. As we conclude the session, I encourage a heartfelt gratitude for the moments spent in reflection, affirming the inherent perfection within you. There's no need for change, only recognition of the complete and beautiful essence you possess. Join me in this meditation and let the spirit of gratitude fill you as we share love and light in gratitude for the journey you've embraced. Namaste.Support the Show.TAKE YOUR MINDFULNESS & INSIGHTS ONE STEP FURTHER WITH PREMIUM MEDITATIONSSubscribe to premium content today and have access to bonus episodes worksheets and meditations. Whether you are looking to relax, recenter, reduce stress, increase motivation, fall asleep peacefully or wakeup ready to take on the day, these meditations and visualizations are for you. You will also have the opportunity to connect directly with me via email to let me know what kind of meditations you are looking for, share your episode insights and suggest guests that you might be interested in hearing from so that I can create content for you!Subscriptions begin at $3/month and subscribers who choose $10 a month subscription also receive a monthly coaching exercise from my client workbook.Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Visit www.wideopenstages.comFollow Lisa https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

Indy's links: www.indigoangel222.comyoutube.com/@UCpfoCzBORkJtbu2WXDFNtaQ learn.indigoangel222.comTYPICAL SKEPTIC PODCAST CONFERENCE FUND: https://www.givesendgo.com/typicalskepticconference Join Typical Skeptic Podcast Telegram Group: https://t.me/typical_skeptic_podcastYou want the best merch in the podcast game? Click this link and scroll through all the typical skeptic podcast merch and Support the Podcast, and represent in style! https://my-store-d53dc3.creator-spring.com/ Use code Summer2024 for 10 percent off support the podcast https://paypal.me/typicalskepticmedia cashapp $kalil1121 venmo @robert-kalil or buy me a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/typicalskeptichttps://youtube.com/c/typicalskeptichttps://www.spreaker.com/show/typical-skeptic-podcast_1https://www.rumble.com/typicalskeptichttps://www.rokfin.com/typicalskepticJoin the patreon to support for a small amount or on a long term basis https://patreon.com/typicalskepticSocial Media facebook.com/robert.kalil.7instagam.com/kalilroberttwitter.com/robertkalil1121 Affiliates:-- https://shamanitas.org for alchemized amanita spray use code 16skeptics for 16 percent off --Happy Hippo Kratom Use code skeptic for 15 percent off-- https://happyhippo.com/r?id=00tjf5--Natural Shilajit and Monoatomic Gold from Healthy Nutrition LLC.use code: ROB https://naturalshilajit.com/discount/ROB--https://mn-nice-ethnobotanicals.com/?ref=kz9qe0iv Use this Link and Code TypicalSkepticP at MN Nice Botanicals for 10 percent off for legal amanita mushroom, dream herb, and blue lotus and much moreBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/typical-skeptic-podcast--5897400/support.

Indy Links:https://www.youtube.com/@IndigoAngelhttps://IndigoAngel222.comhttps://learn.indigoangel222.comTYPICAL SKEPTIC PODCAST CONFERENCE FUND:https://www.givesendgo.com/typicalskepticconferenceYou want the best merch in the podcast game? Click this link and scroll through all the typical skeptic podcast merch and Support the Podcast, and represent in style!  https://my-store-d53dc3.creator-spring.com/support the podcasthttps://paypal.me/typicalskepticmediacashapp $kalil1121 venmo @robert-kalilor buy me a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/typicalskeptichttps://youtube.com/c/typicalskeptichttps://www.spreaker.com/show/typical-skeptic-podcast_1https://www.rumble.com/typicalskeptichttps://www.rokfin.com/typicalskepticJoin the   patreon to support for a small amount or on a long term basishttps://patreon.com/typicalskepticSocial Mediafacebook.com/robert.kalil.7instagam.com/kalilroberttwitter.com/robertkalil1121Affiliates:--Happy Hippo Kratom Use code skeptic for 15 percent off --https://happyhippo.com/r?id=00tjf5--Natural Shilajit and Monoatomic Gold from Healthy Nutrition LLC.usecode: ROBhttps://naturalshilajit.com/discount/ROB--https://mn-nice-ethnobotanicals.com/?ref=kz9qe0iv Use this Link andCode TypicalSkepticP at MN Nice Botanicals for 10 percent off for legal amanita mushroom, dream herb, and blue lotus and much moreBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/typical-skeptic-podcast--5897400/support.

In tonight's Sleep Meditation with Karissa, we are going to go much deeper into visualization meditation, gently guiding both your breath and imagination to release anxiety, stress and discomfort. This will help to soothe you into a deep rest that will not only leave you feeling refreshed in the morning, it will also help you to surrender all your worries tonight.  First, as always, we'll start with a relaxing introduction from Karissa, before we sink into tonight's Sleep Meditation. Join Sleep Wave Premium ✨ in just two taps! Enjoy 2 bonus episodes a month plus all episodes ad-free and show your support to Karissa. https://sleepwave.supercast.com/ Love the Sleep Wave Podcast? Please subscribe & leave a review ⭐️ You can now listen to Sleep Wave on Youtube! Click here to listen to the latest episodes

On today's episode, Erica shares some experiences she had while on a retreat in Montana.  Erica talks about how she was able to find signs while connecting with the land and how this allowed her to find deeper meaning within her life.    Check out our newly updated page instagram.com/positive_head   Care to play a game with the youniverse? Ask the universe the episode you would most benefit from hearing next and click positivehead.com/game.    Download The Golden Key audio or e-book at GoldenKey.Gift with the Code: POSITIVEHEAD   Text Brandon to receive regular golden nuggets of wisdom at 310.564.0750