Prescribed forms of ceremony used to mark and celebrate significant events in the life stages of an individual; birth, puberty, marriage, ordination of a special role, death, etc.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 04, 2010
Get the Rites of Passage mug.A wooden Japanese sword used for training, usually the size and shape of a katana, but sometimes shaped like other swords, such as the wakizashi and tanto. Bokken is a term synonymous with bokutō in Japan, but is more widely used in the west.
Traditionally, the character Ken is used at the beginning of a word, for terms having to do with the sword, for example in Kendō (way of the sword) and Kenjutsu (art of the sword). In contrast, tō is used primarily as a suffix, for example, in shōtō (short sword) and daitō (long sword). Thus, in Japan, the word bokuto (wood sword) is more commonly used.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ December 03, 2009
Get the Bokuto mug.The Shimabara Rebellion was a peasant revolt (consisting of mostly Japanese Catholics) against Matsukura Katsuie of the Shimabara Domain and Terasawa Katataka of the Karatsu Domain.
Fought between December 17, 1637 and April 15, 1638, the Shimabara Rebellion lasted four months. It lead to a Tokugawa victory and Christianity in Japan was driven underground.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 23, 2011
Get the Shimabara Rebellion mug.Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians who believe that the Bible is God's word and that Jesus is their Savior. This Christian denomination dates back to the late 19th century. Charles Taze Russel is credited with organizing the first Bible study groups that later gave origin to the Jehovah's Witness sect; these groups focused on Bible prophecy and the second coming of Christ. This second coming is said to have happened invisibly in 1914 - a date that was originally thought to mark the end of the world or Armageddon. Their name comes from the Bible, the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 43, Verses 10 and 11. The meaning behind the name is rather clear. It indicates that they bear witness to Jehovah - Jehovah being the personal name of God. There are about 16.6 million Jehovah's Witnesses around the world, with only three countries (US, Brazil, and Mexico) holding a population of over half a million. Of that number, approximately 6.7 million Jehovah's Witnesses are involved in active preaching and are part of the official statistic count. They believe in a supreme God - a spirit which has a body, but not a human body. Jesus is the Lord and Savior but He is not a part of God. They do not believe in the Trinity - the father, son and holy spirit - as, for example, Catholics do. Rather, Jesus is separate from God and was God's servant on Earth. Jesus is also said to have been given an exalted status in heaven to a higher level than angels.
Because they believe Jesus is not God, that prayer is a form of worship, and that one must not worship false gods, they pray to God, not Jesus. They believe that after the end of the world, which is imminent, 144,000 people will get a chance to go to heaven. The rest will have a chance to be resurrected and live on a permanent paradise on Earth, as long as they are virtuous in life. Those judged unrighteous will cease to exist. Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in a remaining soul after death. They believe all other religions to be false and are deeply involved in preaching as a way to impart the hope of resurrection to humanity. Politics is not an important part of life, as they believe governments will also be destroyed imminently. They rarely vote, and they do not take part in anything that has to do with national politics, including the singing of the national anthem or saluting the flag. They also do not celebrate birthdays or Christmas, and most avoid Thanksgiving, which they consider to be a Pagan holiday. Weddings and funerals are observed, and celebrating anniversaries is not forbidden. They tend to be conservative. Homosexuality, premarital sex, and abortion are considered sins. They do not accept blood transfusions, even if it means death. However, more and more hospitals are now using bloodless techniques in surgery, often crediting Jehovah's Witnesses as their push to research alternatives.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ September 13, 2010
Get the Jehovah's Witnesses mug.Attempts to create a naturalistic cosmogony are subject to two separate limitations. One is based in the philosophy of science and the epistemological constraints of science itself, especially with regards to whether scientific inquiry can ask questions of "why" the universe exists. Another more pragmatic problem is that there is no physical model that can explain the earliest moments of the universe's existence because of a lack of a consistent theory of quantum gravity. Also of interest are supernatural creation accounts, as in ancient Greek myth or in the Creationism of the Abrahamic religions.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 04, 2010
Get the Cosmogony mug.Ask any two artists, fans, or other assorted members of the rap/hip-hop community to explain the precise difference between the two terms, and odds are you'll get different answers. Even so, most would probably agree that rap describes a type of music while hip-hop refers to a cultural phenomenon that includes graffiti, breakdancing, and fashion in addition to music -- or as rapper social theorist KRS-One says, "Rap is something you do, hip-hop is something you live." Musically, the only difference between the two is that rap always contains the vocal element of rhythmically spoken rhymes while hip-hop can be purely instrumental in nature. Rap in its earliest stages consisted of DJs mixing records and juggling beats and breaks for block parties while emcees rhymed over the rhythms. This practice of adapting, dissecting, and transforming pre-recorded music to create new songs could be hip-hop's most significant contribution to modern music.
Rap/Hip-Hop: The Game, Nas, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Big L, Big Pun, Eazy-E, N.W.A., MC Ren, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Ice T, Immortal Technique, KRS-One, C-Murder, Public Enemy, EPMD, Mobb Deep, 50 Cent, Kanye West, The D.O.C., The Diplomats Aka Dipset, Jim Jones, Cam'Ron, Juelz Santana, Wu-Tang Clan, MC Eiht, Compton's Most Wanted, Eric B. & Rakim, Common, DMX, Asheru & Blue Black Of The Unspoken Heard, People Under The Stairs, Onyx, Jay-Z, Grand Daddy I.U., Big Daddy Kane, Lil Scrappy, Lil Jon, Lil Wayne, Westside Connection, Mack 10, W.C., Too $hort, Audio Two, One Be Lo, R.A. The Rugged Man, Naughty By Nature, Cypress Hill, B-Real, Delinquent Habits, A Lighter Shade Of Brown, Omar Cruz, JV, Ludacris, Run-D.M.C., Channel Live, Warren G, Kurupt, Kam, King Tee, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Black Star, Jay Rock, Ya Boy, Snoop Dogg, Canibus, Zion I
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ October 06, 2009
Get the Rap/Hip-Hop mug.Sake is pronounced Sah-Kay.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 23, 2011
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