title: André Aciman

text: Aciman's 1996 memoir "Out of Egypt", about Alexandria before the 1956 expulsions from Egypt, was reviewed widely. In "The New York Times", Michiko Kakutani described the book as a "remarkable memoir...that leaves the reader with a mesmerizing portrait of a now vanished world." She compared his work with that of Lawrence Durrell and noted, "There are some wonderfully vivid scenes here, as strange and marvelous as something in García Márquez, as comical and surprising as something in Chekhov."


title: André Aciman

text: Aciman is married to Susan Wiviott. They have three sons, Alexander and twins Philip and Michael. His wife, a Wisconsin alumna and Harvard Law graduate, is the CEO of the Bridge, Inc., a New York City-based NPO that offers rehabilitative services. She is also a board director of Kadmon Holdings, Inc., and formerly worked as Chief Program Officer of Palladia and Deputy Executive Vice President of JBFCS.


title: Vanilla extract

text: Vanilla extract is a solution made by macerating and percolating vanilla pods in a solution of ethanol and water. It is considered an essential ingredient in many Western desserts, especially baked goods like cakes, cookies, brownies, and cupcakes, as well as custards, ice creams, and puddings. Although its primary flavor compound is vanillin, pure vanilla extract contains several hundred additional flavor compounds, which are responsible for its complex, deep flavor. By contrast, artificial vanilla flavor is solely made up of artificially-derived vanillin, which is frequently made from a by-product of the wood pulp industry. Because of the way that vanilla extract is made (i.e. by macerating naturally brown vanilla beans in alcohol), there is no possible way for it to be colorless or clear. Therefore, any clear vanilla flavoring is artificial.


title: Vanilla extract

text: Vanilla extract is the most common form of vanilla used today. Madagascar, Mexican, Tahitian, Indonesian, and Ugandan vanilla beans are the main varieties used today. The term "Bourbon vanilla" refers to the vanilla beans' provenance as being from the Bourbon Islands, most commonly Madagascar but also Mauritius and Réunion. The name comes from the period when the island of Réunion was ruled by the Bourbon kings of France and has no relation to Bourbon whiskey.


title: Vanilla extract

text: In the United States, in order for a vanilla extract to be called pure, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires that the solution contain a minimum of 35% alcohol and 100g of vanilla beans per litre (13.35 ounces per gallon). Double and triple strength (up to 20-fold) vanilla extracts are also available, although these are primarily used for manufacturing and food service purposes where the amount of liquid in a recipe needs to be carefully monitored.


title: Vanilla extract

text: Natural vanilla flavoring is derived from vanilla beans with little to no alcohol. The maximum amount of alcohol that is usually present is only 2–3%. Therefore, by FDA regulations it cannot be called an extract.


title: Vanilla extract

text: Under the Food and Drug Regulations (C.R.C., c. 870), vanilla extract products have to be processed from vanilla beans: "Vanilla planifolia" or "Vanilla tahitensia". For every 100 ml of extract, it must contain an amount of soluble substances proportional to their natural state available for extract. Specifically, if the beans contain < 25% water content, the vanilla extract must consist of at least 10 g of vanilla beans; if the beans contain > 25% water content, the vanilla extract must consist of at least 7.5 g of vanilla beans. Vanilla extract should not contain added colour.


title: Nth root

text: In mathematics, a radicand, also known as an nth root, of a number "x" is a number "r" which, when raised to the power "n", yields "x":


title: Nth root

text: where "n" is a positive integer, sometimes called the "degree" of the root. A root of degree 2 is called a "square root" and a root of degree 3, a "cube root". Roots of higher degree are referred by using ordinal numbers, as in "fourth root", "twentieth root", etc. The computation of an th root is a root extraction.


title: Nth root

text: For example, 3 is a square root of 9, since 3 = 9, and −3 is also a square root of 9, since (−3) = 9.


title: Nth root

text: Any non-zero number considered as a complex number has different complex th roots, including the real ones (at most two). The th root of 0 is zero for all positive integers , since . In particular, if is even and is a positive real number, one of its th roots is real and positive, one is negative, and the others (when ) are non-real complex numbers; if is even and is a negative real number, none of the th roots is real. If is odd and is real, one th root is real and has the same sign as , while the other () roots are not real. Finally, if is not real, then none of its th roots are real.


title: Nth root

text: Since the rule formula_5 strictly holds for non-negative real radicands only, its application leads to the inequality in the first step above.


title: Nth root

text: For example, to write the radical expression formula_6 in simplified form, we can proceed as follows. First, look for a perfect square under the square root sign and remove it:


title: Nth root

text: When there is a denominator involving surds it is always possible to find a factor to multiply both numerator and denominator by to simplify the expression. For instance using the factorization of the sum of two cubes:


title: Nth root

text: Simplifying radical expressions involving nested radicals can be quite difficult. It is not obvious for instance that:


title: Nth root

text: Let formula_13, with and coprime and positive integers. Then formula_14 is rational if and only if both formula_15 and formula_16 are integers, which means that both and are "n"th powers of some integer.


title: Nth root

text: The th root of a number can be computed with Newton's method, which starts with an initial guess and then iterates using the recurrence relation


title: Nth root

text: until the desired precision is reached. For computational efficiency, the recurrence relation is commonly rewritten


title: Nth root

text: This allows to have only one exponentiation, and to compute once for all the first factor of each term.


title: Nth root

text: For example, to find the fifth root of 34, we plug in and (initial guess). The first 5 iterations are, approximately:


title: Nth root

text: Newton's method can be modified to produce various generalized continued fractions for the "n"th root. For example,


title: Nth root

text: Building on the digit-by-digit calculation of a square root, it can be seen that the formula used there, formula_22, or formula_23, follows a pattern involving Pascal's triangle. For the "n"th root of a number formula_24 is defined as the value of element formula_25 in row formula_26 of Pascal's Triangle such that formula_27, we can rewrite the expression as formula_28. For convenience, call the result of this expression formula_29. Using this more general expression, any positive principal root can be computed, digit-by-digit, as follows.


title: Nth root

text: Write the original number in decimal form. The numbers are written similar to the long division algorithm, and, as in long division, the root will be written on the line above. Now separate the digits into groups of digits equating to the root being taken, starting from the decimal point and going both left and right. The decimal point of the root will be above the decimal point of the radicand. One digit of the root will appear above each group of digits of the original number.


title: Nth root

text: The principal "n"th root of a positive number can be computed using logarithms. Starting from the equation that defines "r" as an "n"th root of "x", namely formula_38 with "x" positive and therefore its principal root "r" also positive, one takes logarithms of both sides (any base of the logarithm will do) to obtain


title: Nth root

text: For the case in which "x" is negative and "n" is odd, there is one real root "r" which is also negative. This can be found by first multiplying both sides of the defining equation by −1 to obtain formula_41 then proceeding as before to find |"r"|, and using .


title: Nth root

text: The ancient Greek mathematicians knew how to use compass and straightedge to construct a length equal to the square root of a given length, when an auxiliary line of unit length is given. In 1837 Pierre Wantzel proved that an "n"th root of a given length cannot be constructed if "n" is not a power of 2.


title: Nth root

text: The two square roots of a complex number are always negatives of each other. For example, the square roots of are and , and the square roots of are


title: Nth root

text: If we express a complex number in polar form, then the square root can be obtained by taking the square root of the radius and halving the angle:


title: Nth root

text: which introduces a branch cut in the complex plane along the positive real axis with the condition , or along the negative real axis with .


title: Nth root

text: Using the first(last) branch cut the principal square root formula_45 maps formula_46 to the half plane with non-negative imaginary(real) part. The last branch cut is presupposed in mathematical software like Matlab or Scilab.


title: Nth root

text: These roots are evenly spaced around the unit circle in the complex plane, at angles which are multiples of formula_49. For example, the square roots of unity are 1 and −1, and the fourth roots of unity are 1, formula_25, −1, and formula_51.


title: Nth root

text: where "η" is a single "n"th root, and 1, "ω", "ω", ... "ω" are the "n"th roots of unity. For example, the four different fourth roots of 2 are


title: Nth root

text: Here "r" is the magnitude (the modulus, also called the absolute value) of the number whose root is to be taken; if the number can be written as "a+bi" then formula_55. Also, formula_56 is the angle formed as one pivots on the origin counterclockwise from the positive horizontal axis to a ray going from the origin to the number; it has the properties that formula_57 formula_58 and formula_59


title: Nth root

text: Thus finding "n"th roots in the complex plane can be segmented into two steps. First, the magnitude of all the "n"th roots is the "n"th root of the magnitude of the original number. Second, the angle between the positive horizontal axis and a ray from the origin to one of the "n"th roots is formula_60, where formula_56 is the angle defined in the same way for the number whose root is being taken. Furthermore, all "n" of the "n"th roots are at equally spaced angles from each other.


title: Nth root

text: If "n" is even, a complex number's "n"th roots, of which there are an even number, come in additive inverse pairs, so that if a number "r" is one of the "n"th roots then "r" = –"r" is another. This is because raising the latter's coefficient –1 to the "n"th power for even "n" yields 1: that is, (–"r") = (–1) × "r" = "r".


title: Nth root

text: As with square roots, the formula above does not define a continuous function over the entire complex plane, but instead has a branch cut at points where "θ" / "n" is discontinuous.


title: Nth root

text: It was once conjectured that all polynomial equations could be solved algebraically (that is, that all roots of a polynomial could be expressed in terms of a finite number of radicals and elementary operations). However, while this is true for third degree polynomials (cubics) and fourth degree polynomials (quartics), the Abel–Ruffini theorem (1824) shows that this is not true in general when the degree is 5 or greater. For example, the solutions of the equation


title: Nth root

text: Assume that formula_63 is rational. That is, it can be reduced to a fraction formula_64, where and are integers without a common factor.


title: Nth root

text: Since "x" is an integer, formula_66and formula_67must share a common factor if formula_68. This means that if formula_68, formula_70 is not in simplest form. Thus "b" should equal 1.


title: Nth root

text: This means that formula_74 and thus, formula_75. This implies that formula_63 is an integer. Since "x" is not a perfect "n"th power, this is impossible. Thus formula_63 is irrational.


title: Rocky Steps

text: The 72 stone steps leading up to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have become known as the "Rocky Steps" as a result of a scene from the 1976 film "Rocky". Tourists often mimic Rocky's famous climb, a metaphor for an underdog or an everyman rising to a challenge. A bronze Rocky statue was briefly situated at the top of the steps for the filming of "Rocky III". This statue, now located at the bottom right of the steps, is a popular photo opportunity for visitors. The top of the steps offers a commanding view of Eakins Oval, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and Philadelphia City Hall.


title: Rocky Steps

text: In 2006, "Rocky" creator Sylvester Stallone recounted that the genesis of the iconic scene occurred when the 1976 film crew, bound by a tight budget, identified the steps one night while searching for filming locations around the city. Stallone first thought Rocky should carry his dog Butkus up the steps, but the big bull mastiff proved too heavy for the scene to work. Still, the view from the top of the stairs inspired him to reshoot the scene without the dog. In the 2006 film "Rocky Balboa", Rocky lifts his dog Punchy when he reaches the top of the steps. The closing credits of "Rocky Balboa" show a montage of dozens of people running up the steps.


title: Rocky Steps

text: This scene was one of the first uses in a major film of the Steadicam, a stabilized camera mount that allows its operator to walk and even climb steps while smoothly filming.


title: Rocky Steps

text: Boxer Joe Frazier, who has a paid cameo as himself later in the film, claims that the scene is based in his training, even if he was not paid for it.


title: Rocky Steps

text: Before "Rocky III", released in 1982, Stallone commissioned A. Thomas Schomberg to create a bronze statue of Rocky. Three 2-ton, -tall copies were to be cast. One was installed atop the steps for the filming of "Rocky III", and was ultimately relocated to the bottom of the steps. The second "Rocky" was in the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum in San Diego, California, until it closed in 2017. The statue was then put up for auction and purchased by an anonymous buyer who was later revealed to be Sylvester Stallone himself.


title: Rocky Steps

text: In 2006, Schomberg realized the casting mold for the statue was beginning to decay, and the third and final edition of the statue was cast in bronze and put up for auction on eBay three separate times between 2002 and 2005, with a starting bid of US$5,000,000, then US$3,000,000, and finally US$1,000,000 to raise funds for the International Institute for Sport and Olympic History. It is currently exhibited at the Schomberg Studios Gallery in Denver, Colorado.


title: Rocky Steps

text: After filming was complete, a debate arose between the Art Museum and Philadelphia's Art Commission over the meaning of "art". City officials, who argued that the "Rocky" statue was not "art" but a "movie prop", eventually moved it to the front of the Philadelphia Spectrum.


title: Rocky Steps

text: It was later returned to the Art Museum for the filming of "Rocky V", then brought back to the Spectrum. The statue was replaced with a bronze inlay of Converse sneaker footprints with the name "Rocky" above them.


title: Rocky Steps

text: On September 8, 2006, the "Rocky" statue was returned to the Art Museum and placed on a pedestal in a grassy area near the foot of the steps to the right of the Museum. The unveiling ceremony included live music, the debut of the first full trailer for "Rocky Balboa," and a free showing of the first "Rocky" movie. At the ceremony, Philadelphia Mayor John Street said that the steps were one of Philly's biggest tourist attractions, and that Stallone, a native New Yorker, had become "the city's favorite adopted son".


title: Rocky Steps

text: The "Rocky" film scene has become a cultural icon. Many tourists visit the steps to recreate the scene themselves. E! Channel ranked it No. 13 in its "101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment". During the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay, Philadelphia native Dawn Staley was chosen to run up the museum steps. The steps are the backdrop for the annual Independence Day celebration, and have often been featured in large concerts such as Live 8. Two journalists from the "Philadelphia Inquirer" spent a year interviewing people who ran the steps, and published a book in 1996 called "Rocky Stories: Tales of Love, Hope, and Happiness at America's Most Famous Steps". The 2017 NFL Draft was held from the steps, the first time the NFL draft was held outdoors.


title: Ascended master

text: Ascended masters in the Ascended Master Teachings of a number of movements in the theosophical tradition are held to be spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans, but who have undergone a series of spiritual transformations originally called initiations.


title: Ascended master

text: Both "mahatma" and "ascended master" are terms used in the Ascended Master Teachings. Ascended Master is based on the theosophical concept of the Mahatma or Masters of the Ancient Wisdom. However, Mahatmas and Ascended Masters are believed by some to differ in certain respects.


title: Ascended master

text: According to the Ascended Master Teachings a "Master of Light", "Healer" or "Spiritual Master" is a Divine Human Being who has taken the Fifth Initiation and is thereby capable of dwelling in a 5th dimension. The teachings hold that an "ascended master" is a human being who has taken the Sixth Initiation, also referred to as Ascension, and is thereby believed to be capable of dwelling in a 6th dimension.


title: Ascended master

text: The term "ascended master" was first used by Baird T. Spalding in 1924 in his series of books, "Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East" (DeVorss and Co.). Godfre Ray King (Guy Ballard) further popularized this concept of spiritual masters who had once lived on the earth in his book "Unveiled Mysteries".


title: Ascended master

text: Adherents of the Ascended Master Teachings hold that this belief was partially released by the Theosophical Society beginning in 1875, by C.W. Leadbeater and Alice A. Bailey, and began to have more detailed public release in the 1930s by the ascended masters through Guy Ballard in the I AM Activity. However, theosophists maintain that the concept of ascended master is an exaggeration and corruption of the more modest theosophical concept of "Master of the Ancient Wisdom".


title: Ascended master

text: Guy Ballard said his work "Unveiled Mysteries" was dictated to him by the ascended master St. Germain. Other Ascended Master Teachings are contained in "The Bridge to Freedom" (1951), Mark Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet's The Summit Lighthouse (1958) (reorganized as the Church Universal and Triumphant in 1975), The Temple of The Presence (1995), The Hearts Center (2005), the I AM University (2004), and various other organizations such as The White Eagle Lodge (1936) and the Aquarian Christine Church Universal (2006).


title: Ascended master

text: The founder of the Theosophical Society, Helena Blavatsky, in the late 19th century brought attention to the idea of secret initiatory knowledge, by claiming her ideas were based on traditions taught to her by a group of highly enlightened yogis which she called the Mahatmas or Masters of the Ancient Wisdom. These Mahatmas, she claimed, were physical beings living in the Himalayas, usually understood as Tibet:


title: Ascended master

text: After Blavatsky's death in 1891, the concept of the Mahatmas was developed by her successors in the Theosophical Society leadership, Annie Besant and Charles W. Leadbeater, who described them in great detail and added Master Jesus and Maitreya. In Leadbeater's book, "The Masters and the Path" (1925), the Masters are presented as human beings full of wisdom and compassion, albeit still limited by human bodies, which they choose to retain in order to keep in touch with humanity and help in its evolution.


title: Ascended master

text: Later organizations that used many of the teachings of Theosophy for their own purposes developed concepts of Ascended Masters which bear some important differences with the Theosophical one. Peter Mt. Shasta, who claims to be channeling the ascended master Saint Germain, has been releasing the ancient teachings in a more modern and simplified form, emphasizing the teaching that the Masters can work with those who have an open heart and the desire to benefit humanity.


title: Ascended master

text: Originally presented by Helena P. Blavatsky in the 1870s, the idea of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom or Mahatmas was adopted by people who at some point had had a connection with the Theosophical movement, such as Alice Bailey, Helena Roerich, and Manly P. Hall. Later on many other organizations, especially in the United States, developed the concept of Ascended Masters, which departs from the theosophical one in several aspects. Adherents of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that this wisdom was partially released by the Theosophical Society beginning in 1875, by C.W. Leadbeater and Alice Bailey, and began to have more detailed public release in the 1930s by the "Ascended Masters" through Guy Ballard in the I AM Activity.


title: Ascended master

text: The term "Ascended Master" was first introduced in 1934 by Guy Ballard with the publication of "Unveiled Mysteries", a book which he said was dictated to him by the Ascended Master: St. Germain. Other "Ascended Master Teachings" are contained in The Bridge to Freedom (1951), The Summit Lighthouse (1958), (Known also as The Church Universal and Triumphant The Aetherius Society (1955), The Temple of The Presence (1995), the I AM University (2004), the White Eagle Lodge (1936) and the Aquarian Christine Church Universal, Inc. (2006).


title: Ascended master

text: It is believed that Ascended Masters are individuals who were formerly embodied on the Earth and learned the lessons of life during their incarnations. They gained mastery over the limitations of the matter planes, balanced at least 51% of negative karma, and fulfilled their Dharma (divine plan). An Ascended Master, in such an understanding, has become God-like and a source of unconditional "Divine Love" to all life, and through the Ascension has united with his or her own "God Self," the "I AM Presence."


title: Ascended master

text: It is further claimed by various groups and teachers that the Ascended Masters serve as the teachers of mankind from the realms of spirit, and that all people will eventually attain their Ascension and move forward in spiritual evolution beyond this planet. According to these teachings, they remain attentive to the spiritual needs of humanity and act to inspire and motivate its spiritual growth. In many traditions and organizations, they are considered part of the Spiritual Hierarchy of Earth, and members of the Great Brotherhood of Light, also known as the Great White Lodge, Great White Brotherhood, or Universal White Brotherhood (per Peter Deunov).


title: Ascended master

text: According to Alice Bailey and Benjamin Creme there are sixty "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom", defined as beings who have reached the Fifth Level of Initiation or above, with Djwal Khul claimed as the (telepathic) source of many esoteric teachings in Baileys' books. Elizabeth Clare Prophet claimed, by taking "dictations" from them, names of many dozens of additional Ascended Masters that were previously unknown.


title: Ascended master

text: The concept of recognizing the spiritual self, one's own psychological and karma battles and how to overcome them, and eventual Ascension of all humanity is covered in James Redfield's "Celestine Prophecy" and its sequels, "" and "". These books, while controversial, are recent popularizations of the concept of Ascension.


title: Ascended master

text: In Ascended Master teachings there is also mention of Serapis Bey, a being who was incarnated as a high priest in one of the "Temples of the Sacred Fire" on Atlantis, and who migrated to Egypt at the time of the destruction of Atlantis. It is also believed that he was incarnated as the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III (who constructed the Temple of Luxor to the god Amon) and also as Leonidas, the King of Sparta, who was killed in 480 BC defending the pass of Thermopylae against the invasion of ancient Greece by Emperor Xerxes I of the Persian Empire. According to teachings of Agni Yoga,


title: Ascended master

text: This is properly called Isness; students of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that there is One God, the "Universal All-Pervading Presence of Life", "The One", Who is the Source of all Love, Light, and Truth in existence, and that all forms of existence and consciousness emanate from this "Allness of God"—"The One". "The Voice of the I AM" states "All Life is One" and that there is "One Substance, One Energy, One Power, One Intelligence" as the Source of all consciousness and creation. This Divine Being and Mind is considered to be above and distinct from all creation (in the sense of classical theism), transcending all creation yet interpenetrating all existence. Belief in this "One God" stresses the essential unity of the spiritual and material components of the universe. God creates through Individualized Identities that have distinct Self-Consciousness and that make up the Spiritual Hierarchy of Creation, yet remain connected through the flow of the "River of Life" and "Lifestream" to the "One Undivided God" - the "All in All" - the "Good" - the "Source from which all Life, Light, and Love come." There is always an uninterrupted "Oneness" that is maintained with the "Allness" of God. From the "One God" all other realities, including hierarchy, humanity and the material universe, are the result of a process of emanation.


title: Ascended master

text: Adherents of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that each person is an incarnation of an "Individualized Presence" of the "Most High Living God" - the "Mighty I AM Presence" - as part of our very Nature and Being. God (as Life and Love) manifests in the 7 octaves of the created universe through individual Divine Identities. As embodied individuals, we are the outer expression of that God Self in form. It is our unique and immortal True Identity, yet always sharing in the Allness of the ONE GOD.


title: Ascended master

text: A characteristic of students of the Ascended Master Teachings is the use of God's Creative Name - "I AM" - in the use of Decrees, Fiats, Adorations, and Affirmations to invoke and send forth the Light of God to Bless Life, to bring forth the Perfect Divine solution for every situation, and to fulfill the Divine Plan. It is believed to be a way of externalizing more Divine Light, Divine Love, and Divine Life into the lower planes of creation through the dynamic force of sound vibration as creative energy.


title: Ascended master

text: "The Magic Presence" states:"Only the Self-conscious Individual has ALL the Attributes and Creative Power of the 'Mighty I AM Presence.' Only He can know who and what He is, and express the Fullness of the Creative Power of God whenever He decrees, by the use of the Words, 'I AM.' The outer human part of this activity is what We call the personality. It is but the vehicle through which Perfection should be expressed into the outer substance of the Universe.


title: Ascended master

text: "Within the 'Pure God-Flame' is a Breath that pulsates constantly. This `Great Fire-Breath' is a Rhythmic Outpouring of Divine Love, Its Three Attributes being 'Love, Wisdom, and Power in action.' These pour out constantly, into the 'Infinite Sea of Pure Electronic Light.' This Light is the Universal Substance or Spirit, out of which all forms are composed. It is intelligent, mark you, because It obeys law through the command of the Individual who says, or is conscious of, 'I AM.' These Two Words are the Acknowledgment and Release of the Power to Create and bring forth into outer existence, whatever quality follows That Acknowledgment. For Intelligence to act there must be Intelligence to be acted upon, and the Universal Substance, being like a photographic film, takes the record of what-ever quality the Individual imposes upon It through his thought, feeling, and spoken word. The Words 'I AM' whether thought, felt, or spoken, release the Power of Creation instantly. Make no mistake about this. Intelligence is Omnipresent, and It is within the Electronic Light."Ascended Master Saint Germain, believed by those adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings to have previously been embodied as Plato, Proclus, Roger Bacon, Francis Bacon, and numerous others, was quoted as saying:"When one individualizes within the Absolute, All-Pervading Life, he chooses of his own free will to become an intensified individual focus of Self-Conscious Intelligence. He is the conscious director of his future activities. Thus, having once made his choice, he is the only one who can fulfill that Destiny — which is not inflexible circumstance but a definitely designed Plan of Perfection." When You, the 'Mighty I AM Presence,' will to come forth into an Individualized Focus of Conscious Dominion and use the Creative Word, 'I AM,' Your First Individual Activity is the Formation of a Flame. Then you, the 'Individualized Focus' of the 'Mighty I AM Presence,' begin your Dynamic Expression of Life. This Activity, We term Self-consciousness, meaning the Individual who is conscious of his Source and Perfection of Life, expressing through himself."Within The "I AM" Activity, contact and cooperation with the Ascended Masters became a central part of each member's life. Through the Ballards as "Messengers", the Ascended Masters were believed to have regularly communicated with the students of The "I AM" Activity. Those Addresses (known as "Dictations") were delivered before gatherings of members in Conclaves held throughout the United States of America, published in the monthly periodical, "The Voice of The "I AM"", and some were collected and reprinted in the books of "The Saint Germain Series". In all, 3,834 Dictations from the Masters were received through Guy and Edna Ballard. Other "Ascended Master Activities" believed that the Ascended Masters, Cosmic Beings, Elohim, and Archangels continued to present a program for both individual development and spiritual transformation in the world. They believe that further instruction from the Ascended Masters and the rest of the Spiritual Hierarchy continued through new Dispensations with new Messengers, such as The Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse, The Temple of The Presence, and The Hearts Center.


title: Ascended master

text: The Threefold Flame of Life is the Immortal Flame within the Heart of the children of Light and Sons and Daughters of God, and is an actual extension of the Heart of the I AM Presence of each Lifestream in embodiment on Earth.


title: Ascended master

text: Belief in the Brotherhood and the Masters is an essential part of the beliefs of various organizations that have continued and expanded the concepts released in the original Saint Germain instruction in the 1930s through The "I AM" Activity. Examples of those believed by the ones proposing these teachings to be Ascended Masters would be the Master Jesus, Confucius, Gautama Buddha, Mary the Mother of Jesus, St. Paul of Tarsus (aka Hilarion), Megha Alcorn also known as Miss Megan Sebastian, Ashtar Sheran, Merku, Sanat Kumara, Aaron as known as Alaje, Aleph, Hatton, Melchizedek, Archangel Michael, Metatron, Kwan Yin, St. Germain and Kuthumi, as well as dozens of others.


title: Ascended master

text: It is believed that Ascended Masters are individuals who were once embodied on Earth and learned the lessons of life in their incarnations. They gained mastery over the limitations of the matter planes, balanced at least 51% of negative karma, and fulfilled their Dharma (Divine Plan). An Ascended Master has become God-like and a source of unconditional Love to all life, and through the Ascension has united with his or her own God Self, the "I AM" Presence. It is claimed that they serve as the teachers of mankind from the realms of Spirit, and that all people will eventually attain their Ascension and move forward in spiritual evolution beyond this planet. According to these teachings, they remain attentive to the spiritual needs of humanity, and act to inspire and motivate its spiritual growth. In many traditions and organizations, they are considered part of the Spiritual Hierarchy for Earth, and members of the Great Brotherhood of Light, also known as the Great White Lodge or Great White Brotherhood.


title: Ascended master

text: "Unveiled Mysteries" says:"Truly the Great Ascended Masters are Gods. It is no wonder in the mythology of the ancients that their activities have been brought down to us in the guise of myth and fable. They wield Tremendous God Power at all times because they hold with unwavering determination to the Great God Presence and hence all Power is given unto them for they are All-Perfection. "'When Jesus said, "All these things I have done, ye shall do and even greater things shall ye do," he knew whereof he spoke,' continued Saint Germain. 'He came forth to reveal the Conscious Dominion and Mastery that it is possible for every human being to attain and express while still here on Earth."


title: Ascended master

text: Adherents of these "Ascended Master Teachings" believe that the All-Pervading Presence of God does not act nor create except through Its Individualizations and that all creation comes forth through these Individual Identities and is sustained by them. According to Elizabeth Clare Prophet, this Spiritual Hierarchy is a "Universal Chain" of Individualized God Free Beings fulfilling Attributes and Aspects of God's Infinite Selfhood. Included in this Cosmic Hierarchical scheme are Solar Logoi, Elohim, Sons and Daughters of God, Ascended Masters, Cosmic Beings, the Twelve Solar Hierarchies, Archangels, Angels, Beings of the Elements, and Twin Flames of the Alpha-Omega Polarity sponsoring Systems of Worlds and entire Galactic Systems.


title: Ascended master

text: Adherents believe that Saint Germain explained the following through Guy Ballard:"The 'Almighty God Flame,' breathing within Itself, projects Two Rays into the 'Great Sea of Pure Electronic Light.' This Intelligent Light-substance becomes the clothing, as it were, for these Rays of the 'Mighty I AM Presence.' Each Ray has all the Attributes of the Godhead within It, and no imperfection can ever enter into or register upon It. The Individualized Flame sends down into each Ray a Focal Point, or Spark, forming a Heart Center upon which gathers the 'Electronic Light Substance,' creating the Electronic Body."In 1937, "The Voice of the I AM" article on this subject elaborated:"When the Ascension of both has taken place, each is the complete balance of all masculine and all feminine qualities within himself. Then the Threefold Flame of Life is completely unfolded, the individual becomes Master at Cosmic Levels of creation and does work with systems of worlds, as well as in this physical world. Thus, that which came out of the Great Central Sun as One Flame becomes Three complete Flames, each of the same full Limitless Power and Activity as the Great Central Sun. This becomes the Cosmic Activity of the Power of the 'Three times Three'. "When both Rays have made the Ascension, then the individual works with systems of worlds instead of just in one world. This is the way the Godhead is ever expanding the Perfection of Itself throughout Infinity and keeping order throughout interstellar space."Use of the "Violet Flame of Divine Love" is considered to be the 7th Ray aspect of the Holy Spirit and the "Sacred Fire" that transmutes and consumes the "cause, effect, record, and memory" of sin or negative karma. Also called the "Flame of Transmutation", the "Flame of Mercy", the "Flame of Freedom", and the "Flame of Forgiveness". "Our God is a Consuming Fire" in "Deuteronomy" 4:24 (KJV) and "Hebrews" 12:29 (KJV) is believed to be refer to this "Sacred Fire of God".


title: Ascended master

text: The "Violet Fire" is held to be a raising, transforming, purifying action of "Divine Love" from the "Heart of God" in the "Great Central Sun". It is believed to act to transmute and consume human creation that is not worthy of becoming Immortal, and all negative karmic causes, effects, records, and memories, without the need to individually balance that karma face-to-face with each person back to the earliest beginning of one's individualized manifestation on this or any other world.


title: Ascended master

text: Jesus is believed to be one of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom in Theosophy and is one of the Ascended masters in the Ascended Master Teachings. The Master Jesus is regarded by Theosophists, was regarded by Alice Bailey and was later regarded by students of the "Ascended Master Teachings" as the Master of the Sixth Ray.


title: Ascended master

text: It is believed by Ascended Master Teachings organizations that the Master Jesus was "Chohan of the Sixth Ray" until December 31, 1959, when, according to Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Lady Master Nada fully took on that Office in the Spiritual Hierarchy. According to Prophet, Jesus became World Teacher, along with Kuthumi, on January 1, 1956, succeeding Maitreya, who took the Office of "Planetary Buddha" and "Cosmic Christ". This belief is not accepted by adherents of traditional Theosophy and the followers of Alice Bailey and Benjamin Creme - they believe that the Master Jesus is still the Chohan of the Sixth Ray and that Maitreya is still the World Teacher.


title: Ascended master

text: According to Elizabeth Clare Prophet, the Prophet of the Church Universal and Triumphant, the largest Ascended Master Teachings religion, the Master Jesus incarnated twice as the Emperor of Atlantis, once in 33,050 BC and again in 15,000 BC. She states that this was to aid the white magicians in the war of the white magicians and the black magicians that was going on in Atlantis at that time.


title: Ascended master

text: According to Alice Bailey, the Master Jesus was previously incarnated as Joshua, the Hebrew military leader in the 13th century BC, and Joshua the High Priest in the sixth century BC.


title: Ascended master

text: According to the Ascended Master Teachings, Jesus was also incarnated as Joseph of the Coat of many colors in the 17th century BC/16th century BC (approximately between 1650 BC and 1550 BC), as well as King David (who lived c. 1037 BC until around 970 BC), and Elisha in the 9th century BC.


title: Ascended master

text: According to the post-1900 publications of Theosophy (specifically, the writings of Charles W. Leadbeater, Alice Bailey, and Benjamin Creme, as well as the Ascended Master Teachings of Guy Ballard, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Geraldine Innocente, Joshua David Stone, and other Ascended Master Teachings teachers), Sanat Kumara is an "advanced being" of the Ninth Initiation (the highest Initiation possible on planet Earth) who is regarded as the Lord or Regent of Earth and of humanity, and the head of the Spiritual Hierarchy of Earth who dwells in Shamballah, a city said by Theosophists and those adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings to be a floating city on the etheric plane above the Gobi Desert.


title: Ascended master

text: It is believed by these authors that he is the founder of the Great White Brotherhood, which is composed of Masters of the Ancient Wisdom (Fifth Initiation), Ascended Masters (Sixth Initiation), Chohans and Bodhisattvas (Seventh Initiation), Buddhas (Eighth Initiation), and highly spiritually-evolved volunteers from other worlds, who have all joined to advance spiritual evolution on Earth.


title: Ascended master

text: Sanat Kumara was mentioned briefly by the theosophist Helena Blavatsky. She claimed he belonged to a group of beings, the "Lords of the Flame", whom Christian tradition have misunderstood as Lucifer and the fallen angels.


title: Ascended master

text: Sanat Kumara gained greater prominence when her follower Charles W. Leadbeater wrote that Sanat Kumara was the "King" or "Lord of the World", and the head of the Great White Brotherhood of Mahatmas who had revealed the principles of theosophy.


title: Ascended master

text: Later theosophists such as Alice Bailey and Elizabeth Clare Prophet have embellished the story with further details. He is usually depicted as having the appearance of a 16-year-old boy.


title: Ascended master

text: There is considerable difference between the concept of Masters of the Ancient Wisdom in Theosophy (as described by Blavatsky, Olcott, Sinnett, and others) and the current concept of Ascended Masters, developed by Guy Ballard and Elizabeth Clare Prophet fifty-five years after the Theosophical Society was founded.


title: Ascended master

text: They added more than 200 new "Ascended Masters" that they claimed to receive dictations from in addition to receiving dictations from the original "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom" of Theosophy.


title: Ascended master

text: The Ascended Masters, as their name suggests, are supposed to be Masters who have experienced the miracle of ascension, as it is said Jesus did. The original teaching, channeled by Guy Ballard, was that a new Ascended Master would not die but would take the body up with him. This teaching of ascension is in direct opposition to the Theosophical teachings. Mahatma K.H. refers to the idea disparagingly in one of his letters to Sinnett:


title: Ascended master

text: Blavatsky also rejects ascension as a fact, calling it "an allegory as old as the world." In the Theosophical view, the Masters of Wisdom retain their physical bodies.


title: Ascended master

text: The Masters of the Wisdom are not like the Ascended ones, who are said to become Godlike, all-powerful beings beyond the laws of nature. In their teachings, the Theosophical Masters even denied that such beings exist. Mahatma K.H. wrote:


title: Ascended master

text: In their letters, the Mahatmas constantly talk about the "immutable laws" of the universe, and that they can help humanity only within the limits of these laws.


title: Ascended master

text: Proponents of the Ascended Masters sometimes attempt to account for these discrepancies by claiming that when the Theosophical Society (TS) was founded most of the Theosophical Mahatmas were still "unascended Masters". This leaves room to detach the Ascended Masters from the limitations. However, the Mahatma K.H. wrote: "We are not infallible, all-foreseeing 'Mahatmas' at every hour of the day." As he explained: "An adept—the highest as the lowest—is one only during the exercise of his occult powers." In fact, according to the Theosophical teachings, the higher the adept, the less we are likely to hear from him:


title: Ascended master

text: In the Theosophical view the Masters do not pay attention to personal desires. Theosophy teaches that the psychological ego is false, that the idea that we are this body, emotions, and mind is a mistake of perception and the source of sorrow. It says that real happiness comes only as an unsought by-product of reducing rather than increasing our attachment and identification with the personal. Blavatsky wrote that "Occultism is not . . . the pursuit of happiness as man understands the word; for the first step is sacrifice, the second renunciation." K.H. agreed with this when he wrote: "We—the criticized and misunderstood Brothers—we seek to bring men to sacrifice their personality—a passing flash—for the welfare of the whole humanity." During the early times of the Theosophical Society, some members, misunderstanding the nature of the Mahatmas, would bring HPB some personal requests to ask of them. In a letter Blavatsky explained:


title: Ascended master

text: This kind of interest is a very marked feature of the Ascended Masters. The Ascended Masters Teachings teach ways to attract material or emotional possessions to a person's life, and also how to dissolve unpleasant karma, a conception that the Theosophical Mahatmas emphatically opposed. For example, K.H. wrote: "Bear in mind that the slightest cause produced, however unconsciously, and with whatever motive, cannot be unmade, or its effects crossed in their progress—by millions of gods, demons, and men combined." In fact, the Ascended Masters are portrayed as cosmic fathers who will take care of their followers' problems. In contrast, Mahatma M. said: "We are leaders but not child-nurses."


title: Ascended master

text: "Maitri" is Sanskrit for "loving kindness." The historical Buddha was reported to have said near the time of his death in the 4th century BC that many Buddhas (awakened ones) had come before him, and that in the future another Buddha would come who would be greater than him, and who would embody "Maitri." This prophecy created the expectation of a Buddha Maitreya, which was probably fulfilled in the advent of the being now called "Jesus," likely Apollonius of Tyanna, who on his travels in India and the Far East was reported in many texts to have been called, "Issa," probably short for "Rishi" (great sage). His teachings embody that principle of loving kindness. "Maitreya" or "Lord Maitreya" is described in Theosophical literature of the late 19th-century and subsequent periods as an advanced spiritual entity and high-ranking member of a hidden Spiritual Hierarchy, the so-called "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom". According to Theosophical doctrine, one of the Hierarchy's functions is to oversee the evolution of mankind; in accord with this function Maitreya is said to hold the so-called "Office of the World Teacher". Theosophical texts posit that the purpose of this Office is to facilitate the transfer of knowledge about the true constitution and workings of Existence, thereby helping humanity in progression on a cyclical, but ever progressive, evolutionary path. This knowledge transfer is sometimes said to occur through Maitreya occasionally manifesting or incarnating in the physical realm, then assuming the role of World Teacher of Mankind.


title: Ascended master

text: The Theosophical concept of Maitreya has many similarities to the earlier Maitreya doctrine in Buddhism. However, they differ in important aspects, and developed differently. The Theosophical Maitreya has been assimilated or appropriated by a variety of quasi-theosophical and non-theosophical New Age and Esoteric groups and movements. These have added, and advanced, their own interpretations and commentary on the subject.


title: Ascended master

text: The first mention of Maitreya in a Theosophical context occurs in the 1883 work "Esoteric Buddhism" by Alfred Percy Sinnett (1840–1921), an early Theosophical writer. The concepts described by Sinnett were amended, elaborated on, and greatly expanded in "The Secret Doctrine", a book originally published 1888. The work was the magnum opus of Helena Blavatsky, one of the physical founders of the Theosophical Society and of contemporary Theosophy. In it, the messianic Maitreya is linked to both Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions. In the same work Blavatsky was to assert that there have been, and will be, multiple messianic (or messianic-like) instances in human history. These successive appearances of "emissarie of Truth" are according to the Blavatsky writings part of the unceasing oversight of Earth and of its inhabitants by a physically hidden Spiritual Hierarchy, called "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom". The Theosophist, Alice Bailey, who broke with the Indian branch of the Theosophical Society, and who was heavily influenced by orthodox Christianity, started the expectation that the ""Maitreya" would actually be reborn on the earth as a physical being, fulfilling the Christian ideal of a Second Coming, rather than the New Age ideal of the Christ being reborn in the heart of each individual.


title: Ascended master

text: Initiation is a concept in Theosophy that there are nine levels of spiritual development that beings who live on Earth can progress upward through. Within these levels, there are four basic levels of spiritual development that human beings on Earth progress through as they reincarnate, although evil acts may cause bad karma which may cause one to temporarily regress. It is believed that when souls have advanced to the fourth level of initiation, they have reached enlightenment and have no further need to reincarnate. At the fifth level of initiation and beyond, souls have the opportunity to become members of the Spiritual Hierarchy. This concept was developed by both C.W. Leadbeater and Alice Bailey beginning in the 1920s.


title: Ascended master

text: According to C.W. Leadbeater, Initiation is a process by which "we try to develop ourselves not that we may become great and wise, but that we may have the power and knowledge to work for humanity to the best effect." According to Alice Bailey, "Initiation" is the "process of undergoing an expansion [toward higher levels] of consciousness" It is believed by Theosophists that all souls that have reached the fourth level of initiation and evolved beyond the necessity to reincarnate. Those who do not elect to become pratyeka buddhas and go directly into Spiritual Hierarchy governing nirvana, gradually evolving upward through all of these six higher levels of consciousness over thousands or millions of years, and later over billions or trillions of years, with other higher levels beyond.


title: Ascended master

text: The concept of Initiation is also recognized in the Ascended Master Teachings, a group of religions based on Theosophy. In the Ascended Master Teachings, the Sixth Initiation is referred to as "Ascension". The first six initiations were named by Charles W. Leadbeater and Alice Bailey after the six most important events in the life of Jesus


title: Ascended master

text: The Ascension is believed to be the returning to complete "Oneness with God" - "raising the outer atomic structure of the physical, emotional, and mental bodies into the Electronic Structure of the I AM Consciousness", becoming an Ascended Master, eventually a Cosmic Being, and beyond. The Ascension into Immortality through reunion with the God Self requires the consuming of at least 51% of the records and memories of "negatively qualified karma" as well as:


title: Ascended master

text: It is believed that the "Individualized Flames of Perfection", emanating as lifestreams taking physical embodiment, can develop further attributes that express a unique Identity, and attain the fullness of the use of Light. This is done by mastery over matter planes that have a slower vibratory action, thus requiring more energy and concentration to externalize form. This allows for the development of greater skills of creation and "Causal Body Momentums" of various "Divine Qualities". Physical embodiment gives each individual the opportunity to expand these attributes and faculties through matter substance, and to become a "master of energy" through thought and feeling. This allows for accomplishments and added power which one who does not ever embody on a planet does not possess. Thus an individual may expand the "Flame in the Heart", and expand the "Perfection of the Allness of God's Love" in the created universe, eventually becoming an Ascended Master and later a Cosmic Being.


title: Ascended master

text: According to the Ascended Master Teachings, gaining "mastery over matter planes" means learning to consciously use 100% of one's Creative Power of thought, feeling, and spoken word to create greater perfection, joy, and love in the world, as opposed to using thoughts, feelings, and words to create greater limitations, bondage, and chaos in one's own experience and in the world at large through carelessness and lack of awareness of the extent of one's influence in the world. "Matter planes" refers to the differentiations of atomic and molecular structure in which evolution takes place, the lower planes (dimensions / wavelength frequency resonance) sometimes correlated with physical solids, liquids, and gases; the higher subplanes of the Physical Octave are sometimes referred to as "etheric" and are not normally perceivable by the physical senses. The emotional and mental octaves are also made up of electrons and atoms of feeling and thought substance and differentiated into levels of density and vibratory rate."To understand the above explanation concerning the electron and the conscious control the individual has through his thought and feeling to govern the atomic structure of his own body is to understand the One Principle Governing form throughout Infinity. When man will make the effort to prove this to himself or within his own atomic flesh body, he will then proceed to Master Himself. When he has done that, all else in the Universe is his willing co-worker to accomplish whatsoever he wills through Love."


title: Ascended master

text: "Within the Life of every human being is the Power by which he can express all that the Ascended Masters express every moment — if he but chooses to do so. All Life contains Will but only Self-Conscious Life is free to determine upon its own course of expression. Hence, the individual has free choice to express either in the human, limited body or the Super-Human, Divine Body. He is the chooser of his own field of expression. He is the Self-determining Creator. He has willed and chosen to live as Self-Conscious Life. . . . When one individualizes within the Absolute, All-Pervading Life he chooses of his own free will to become an intensified individual focus of Self-Conscious Intelligence. He is the conscious director of his future activities. Thus, having once made his choice, he is the only one who can fulfill that Destiny - which is not inflexible circumstance but a definitely designed Plan of Perfection.


title: Ascended master

text: It is believed that since the "fall of man" during the time of the incarnation of the Fourth Root Race, imperfection, limitations and discord increasingly entered into our world. The memory body is considered to have become known as a "soul", and this temporary personality has taken on the sense of a self that is separated and not connected to God. It is believed that a "Dictation" from Maitreya further clarified this matter through the "Messenger", Geraldine Innocente, on September 27, 1954, when what occurred during the time of the "Fourth Root Race" was described:"Curiosity, rebellion against holding true to the Divine Pattern and the use of thought and feeling in creation of imperfection, began the building of what you call the 'soul'. It is a consciousness apart from the full Purity of God. The first thought a man had that was imperfect and impure, energized by a secret feeling, was a cause and that, sent out into the atmosphere, created an effect. Like a boomerang, the effect came back into the consciousness and made a record. That record was the beginning of an impression. Energy sent out in a certain manner returned to affect the lifestream who had sent it forth and there began to be created a shadow between the I AM Presence and the human consciousness. Endeavoring to contact the Presence, the individual would find these 'tramp' thoughts and feelings flowing through that line of contact until more and more imperfect was the conscious use of them. Finally, those centers got completely away from the control of the ego and acted independently.


title: Ascended master

text: Students of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that this world is destined to again have a Golden Age, a "Heaven on Earth", that will be permanent, unlike previous Golden Ages millions of years ago."In your beloved America, in the not so far distant future, will come forth a similar recognition of the Real Inner Self, and this her people will express in high attainment. She is a Land of Light, and Her Light shall blaze forth, brilliant as the sun at noonday, among the nations of the Earth. She was a Land of Great Light, ages ago, and will again come into her spiritual heritage, for nothing can prevent it."


title: Ascended master

text: "The Divine Plan for the future of North America is a condition of intense activity in the greatest peace, beauty, success, prosperity, spiritual illumination, and dominion. She is to carry the Christ Light and be the Guide for the rest of the Earth, because America is to be the Heart Center of the 'Golden Age' that is now dimly touching our horizon. The greater portion of the land of North America will stand for a very long time."


title: Ascended master

text: The Great White Brotherhood, in belief systems akin to Theosophical and New Age, are said to be supernatural beings of great power who spread spiritual teachings through selected humans. The members of the Brotherhood may be known as the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom or the Ascended masters. Various people have said they have received messages from these beings, including most notably Helena Blavatsky (Theosophy), Aleister Crowley (Thelema), Alice Bailey (New Group of World Servers), Guy Ballard ("I AM" Activity), Geraldine Innocente (The Bridge to Freedom), Mark L. Prophet & Elizabeth Clare Prophet (Church Universal and Triumphant) and Benjamin Creme (Share International).


title: Ascended master

text: The Masters are collectively called the "Great White Brotherhood" by various theosophists and esotericists. The use of the term "white" refers to their advanced spirituality (in other words, that they have a white colored


title: Ascended master

text: aura) and has nothing to do with race. Blavatsky described many of the Masters as ethnically Tibetan or Indian (Hindu), not European. She did, however, describe them as being from all cultures and races, such as the "Greek gentleman" known as Hilarion.


title: Ascended master

text: Belief in the Brotherhood and the Masters is an essential part of the syncretistic teachings of various organizations that have taken the Theosophical philosophical concepts and added their own elements. Examples of those believed to be Ascended Masters by these organizations are: Jesus, Sanat Kumara, Gautama Buddha, Maitreya, Confucius, Lord Lanto (Confucius' historical mentor), Mary (mother of Jesus), Lady Master Nada, Enoch, Kwan Yin, Saint Germain, and Koot Hoomi (Kuthumi), to name but a few. It is believed that all of these put aside any differences they might have had in their Earthly careers, and unite instead to advance the spiritual well-being of humanity.


title: Ascended master

text: Within "The I AM Activity" (founded by Guy Ballard in the early 1930s), claimed contact and cooperation with the Ascended Masters became a central part of each member's life. Through the Ballards as "Messengers", the Ascended Masters were believed to have regularly communicated with the students of "The I AM Activity." Those supposed Addresses (known as "Dictations") were delivered before gatherings of members in Conclaves held throughout the United States of America, and published in the monthly periodical "The Voice of The "I AM"", and some were collected and reprinted in the "green books" of "The Saint Germain Series". In all, 3,834 claimed Dictations from the Masters were received through Guy and Edna Ballard. Other "Ascended Master Activities" believed that the Ascended Masters, Cosmic Beings, Elohim, and Archangels continued to present a program for both individual development and spiritual transformation in the world. They believe that further instruction from the Ascended Masters and the rest of the Spiritual Hierarchy continued through new Dispensations with new Messengers, such as The Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse, and The Temple of The Presence.


title: Ascended master

text: The Aquarian Christine Church Universal, Inc. (ACCU) is a denomination founded in 2006 based on "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ" said to be transcribed from the Akashic Records by Levi H. Dowling. The Aquarian Christine Church actively promotes Ascended Master Teachings and shares many beliefs in common with the I AM Movement, White Eagle Lodge and New Thought and Theosophical groups. The book "Initiations of the Aquarian Masters: The Theosophy of the Aquarian Gospel" by ACCU founder Jacob L. Watson, expounds on the church's teachings which draw heavily from the writings of A.D.K. Luk (pen-name of Alice Beulah Schutz) (April 10, 1905 - Jan. 14, 1994), the Saint Germain Series published by the Saint Germain Press (The Saint Germain Foundation), and especially from "The Lost Years of Jesus" compiled by Elizabeth Clare Prophet and published by The Summit Lighthouse.


title: Ascended master

text: René Guénon wrote a detailed critique of Theosophy titled "Theosophy: history of a pseudo-religion" (1921). In the book Guenon speculated that Blavatsky had acquired all her knowledge naturally from other books not from any supernatural masters. Guenon points out that Blavatsky spent a long time visiting a library at New York where she had easy access to the works of Jacob Boehme, Eliphas Levi, the Kabbala and other Hermetic treatises. Guenon also speculated that Blavatsky had borrowed passages from extracts of the "Kanjur" and "Tanjur", translated by the eccentric orientalist Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, published in 1836 in the twentieth volume of the "Asiatic Researchers of Calcutta".


title: Ascended master

text: K. Paul Johnson suggests in his book "The Masters Revealed: Madam Blavatsky and Myth of the Great White Brotherhood" that the Masters that Madam Blavatsky claimed she had personally met are idealizations of certain people she had met during her lifetime.


title: Ascended master

text: Also see the article “Talking to the Dead and Other Amusements” by Paul Zweig, "New York Times" October 5, 1980, which speculates that Madame Blavatsky's revelations were fraudulent.


title: Ascended master

text: Robert Todd Carroll in his book "The skeptic's dictionary" (2003) speculates that Blavatsky used trickery into deceiving others into thinking she had paranormal powers. Carroll further speculates that Blavatsky had faked a materialization of a tea cup and saucer as well as written the messages from her masters herself.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: Carmel Mary Tebbutt (born 22 January 1964) is an Australian former politician. She was the Labor Party Member for the former seat of Marrickville in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly until the 2015 election and was Deputy Premier of New South Wales from 2008 to 2011. She was also Minister for Health in the Keneally Government. She is the first woman to hold the position of Deputy Premier of New South Wales.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: Tebbutt is one of seven children. She was born and raised in the country New South Wales town of Forbes. Her family then moved to the Sutherland Shire in Sydney where she attended Our Lady of Fatima Catholic primary school, Our Lady of Mercy College, Burraneer then completed her HSC at De La Salle College, Cronulla. She went on to earn an Economics degree from the University of Sydney, graduating in 1986. She joined the Labor Party in 1985, as a member of its left-wing faction.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: Tebbutt was elected to a seat on Marrickville Council in 1993 before becoming Deputy Mayor in 1995. She was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council filling a vacancy following the retirement of Ann Symonds in 1998.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: After the Carr Government was re-elected in 1999, she served as Minister for Juvenile Justice. In July 2002, Tebbutt was promoted, given responsibility for the Ministries of Community Services, Ageing, Disability Services, and Youth, whilst retaining the Juvenile Justice portfolio. In a cabinet reshuffle in early 2005, she was promoted to Minister for Education and Training.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: Following Premier Bob Carr's unexpected resignation 27 July 2005, and the resultant resignations of Deputy Premier Andrew Refshauge and Senior Minister Craig Knowles, the 'Triple-M' by-elections for the seats of Maroubra, Marrickville and Macquarie Fields were held on 17 September 2005. The new incoming Premier, Morris Iemma, was said to have favoured her for the position of deputy leader—and hence Deputy Premier—as having a woman in the role would have looked favourably with the electorate. However, in accordance with longstanding Labor tradition, the deputy leader is chosen by the Socialist Left faction.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: Tebbutt resigned from the Legislative Council on 26 August to seek election for the seat of Marrickville. Hence for the three-week period from 26 August to 17 September 2005, Tebbutt was in the unusual, though not unprecedented, position of being a Minister of the State, without being a member of parliament.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: Tebbutt successfully defended the seat of Marrickville for the Labor Party in her by-election. With no Liberal candidate contesting the election in this comfortably safe Labor seat, the ALP primary vote increased, though she suffered a 5.6% two-candidate preferred swing to the Greens.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: On 27 November 2006, Tebbutt made a gaffe during a live interview on radio Nova 96.9. Tebbutt was complaining about the lack of history knowledge of today's schoolchildren. When the announcer asked her what is the significance of Australia Day, Tebbutt replied, "Well, we celebrate Australia Day because that's the day that we became a nation. When the states joined together, the federation of Australia, and it's an important day to understand that history." When the announcer pointed out her error, she quickly backtracked: "Sorry, you've got me too early in the morning. Australia Day of course is European arrival in Australia."


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: Tebbutt successfully held the seat of Marrickville at the 2007 election, but announced after it that she would not be a candidate for the new ministry and would return to the back bench so she could spend more time with her family.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: A meeting of the Left faction on 4 September 2008 saw her return to the front bench as she was elected as the Deputy Leader of the NSW Labor Party. Following the resignation of Morris Iemma and the selection of Nathan Rees as the new Premier the following day, she was sworn in as Deputy Premier of New South Wales. She was sworn in as Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister for Commerce on 7 September 2008.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: A little over a year later, Rees was deposed as Labor leader and Premier, in favour of Kristina Keneally. Tebbutt remained as Deputy Leader and Deputy Premier under Keneally, and became Minister for Health.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: With Labor sinking in the polls going into the 2011 election, there was some speculation that Tebbutt would be toppled by a Green candidate. Indeed, the ABC's Antony Green predicted that Tebbutt would be defeated by Green candidate and Marrickville Council mayor Fiona Byrne. In a very tight contest that came down to less than 680 votes, Tebbutt won the seat with 50.9% of the vote on a two-party-preferred basis, suffering a swing of 8.5%. The campaign was marked by anti-Zionist protests as four months earlier, Byrne and Marrickvile Council had controversially voted to boycott Israel. There were no allegations that Tebbutt was involved in any of the anti- or pro-Zionist threats that occurred during the campaign.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: In November 2013, Tebbutt announced she was retiring from politics and would not contest the 2015 election.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: After retiring from politics, in 2015 she was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand. In February 2018 Tebbutt started as CEO of the Mental Health Coordinating Council, the peak body representing the community mental health sector in NSW.


title: Carmel Tebbutt

text: In 2000, Tebbutt married Anthony Albanese, later the leader of the Australian Labor Party and 31st prime minister of Australia. Her former state seat of Marrickville was contained almost entirely within Albanese's federal seat of Grayndler, leading the Greens to dub them the "King and Queen of Marrickville". She and Albanese have a son. They separated in 2019.


title: Earless seal

text: The earless seals, phocids or true seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal lineage, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae (). They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of the family Otariidae. Seals live in the oceans of both hemispheres and, with the exception of the more tropical monk seals, are mostly confined to polar, subpolar, and temperate climates. The Baikal seal is the only species of exclusively freshwater seal.


title: Earless seal

text: The earliest known fossil earless seal is "Noriphoca gaudini" from the late Oligocene or earliest Miocene (Aquitanian) of Italy. Other early fossil phocids date from the mid-Miocene, 15 million years ago in the north Atlantic. Until recently, many researchers believed that phocids evolved separately from otariids and odobenids; and that they evolved from otter-like animals, such as "Potamotherium", which inhabited European freshwater lakes. Recent evidence strongly suggests a monophyletic origin for all pinnipeds from a single ancestor, possibly "Enaliarctos", most closely related to the mustelids and bears.


title: Earless seal

text: Monk seals and elephant seals were previously believed to have first entered the Pacific through the open straits between North and South America, with the Antarctic true seals either using the same route or travelled down the west coast of Africa. It is now thought that the monk seals, elephant seals, and Antarctic seals all evolved in the southern hemisphere, and likely dispersed to their current distributions from more southern latitudes.


title: Earless seal

text: In the 1980s and 1990s, morphological phylogenetic analysis of the phocids led to new conclusions about the interrelatedness of the various genera. More recent molecular phylogenetic analyses have confirmed the monophyly of the two phocid subfamilies (Phocinae and Monachinae). The Monachinae (known as the "southern" seals), is composed of three tribes; the Lobodontini, Miroungini, and Monachini. The four Antarctic genera "Hydrurga", "Leptonychotes", "Lobodon", and "Ommatophoca" are part of the tribe Lobodontini. Tribe Miroungini is composed of the elephant seals. The Monk seals ("Monachus" and "Neomonachus") are all part of the tribe Monachini. Likewise, subfamily Phocinae (the "northern" seals) also includes three tribes; Erignathini ("Erignathus)", Cystophorini ("Cystophora)", and Phocini (all other phocines). More recently, five species have been split off from "Phoca", forming three additional genera.


title: Earless seal

text: Alternatively the three monachine tribes have been evaluated to familiar status, which elephant seals and the Antarctic seals are more closely related to the phocines.


title: Earless seal

text: Adult phocids vary from in length and in weight in the ringed seal to and in the southern elephant seal, which is the largest member of the order Carnivora. Phocids have fewer teeth than land-based members of the Carnivora, although they retain powerful canines. Some species lack molars altogether. The dental formula is:


title: Earless seal

text: While otariids are known for speed and maneuverability, phocids are known for efficient, economical movement. This allows most phocids to forage far from land to exploit prey resources, while otariids are tied to rich upwelling zones close to breeding sites. Phocids swim by sideways movements of their bodies, using their hind flippers to fullest effect. Their fore flippers are used primarily for steering, while their hind flippers are bound to the pelvis in such a way that they cannot bring them under their bodies to walk on them. They are more streamlined than fur seals and sea lions, so they can swim more effectively over long distances. However, because they cannot turn their hind flippers downward, they are very clumsy on land, having to wriggle with their front flippers and abdominal muscles.


title: Earless seal

text: Phocid respiratory and circulatory systems are adapted to allow diving to considerable depths, and they can spend a long time underwater between breaths. Air is forced from the lungs during a dive and into the upper respiratory passages, where gases cannot easily be absorbed into the bloodstream. This helps protect the seal from the bends. The middle ear is also lined with blood sinuses that inflate during diving, helping to maintain a constant pressure.


title: Earless seal

text: Phocids are more specialized for aquatic life than otariids. They lack external ears and have sleek, streamlined bodies. Retractable nipples, internal testicles, and an internal penile sheath provide further streamlining. A smooth layer of blubber lies underneath the skin. Phocids are able to divert blood flow to this layer to help control their temperatures.


title: Earless seal

text: Unlike otariids, true seals do not communicate by 'barking'. Instead, they communicate by slapping the water and grunting.


title: Earless seal

text: Phocids spend most of their time at sea, although they return to land or pack ice to breed and give birth. Pregnant females spend long periods foraging at sea, building up fat reserves, and then return to the breeding site to use their stored energy to nurse pups. However, the common seal displays a reproductive strategy similar to that used by otariids, in which the mother makes short foraging trips between nursing bouts.


title: Earless seal

text: Because a phocid mother's feeding grounds are often hundreds of kilometers from the breeding site, she must fast while lactating. This combination of fasting with lactation requires the mother to provide large amounts of energy to her pup at a time when she is not eating (and often, not drinking). Mothers must supply their own metabolic needs while nursing. This is a miniature version of the humpback whales' strategy, which involves fasting during their months-long migration from arctic feeding areas to tropical breeding/nursing areas and back.


title: Earless seal

text: Phocids produce thick, fat-rich milk that allows them to provide their pups with large amounts of energy in a short period. This allows the mother to return to the sea in time to replenish her reserves. Lactation ranges from five to seven weeks in the monk seal to just three to five days in the hooded seal. The mother ends nursing by leaving her pup at the breeding site to search for food (pups continue to nurse if given the opportunity). "Milk stealers" that suckle from unrelated, sleeping females are not uncommon; this often results in the death of the mother's pup, since a female can only feed one pup.


title: Earless seal

text: The pup's diet is so high in calories, it builds up a fat store. Before the pup is ready to forage, the mother abandons it, and the pup consumes its own fat for weeks or even months while it matures. Seals, like all marine mammals, need time to develop the oxygen stores, swimming muscles, and neural pathways necessary for effective diving and foraging. Seal pups typically eat no food and drink no water during the period, although some polar species eat snow. The postweaning fast ranges from two weeks in the hooded seal to 9–12 weeks in the northern elephant seal. The physiological and behavioral adaptations that allow phocid pups to endure these remarkable fasts, which are among the longest for any mammal, remain an area of active study and research.


title: Earless seal

text: Phocids make use of at least four different feeding strategies: suction feeding, grip, and tear feeding, filter feeding, and pierce feeding. Each of these feeding strategies is aided by a specialized skull, mandible, and tooth morphology. However, despite morphological specialization, most phocids are opportunistic and employ multiple strategies to capture and eat prey. For example, the leopard seal, "Hydrurga leptonyx", uses grip and tear feeding to prey on penguins, suction feeding to consume small fish, and filter feeding to catch krill.


title: Giovanni Ferrero

text: Giovanni Ferrero (; born 21 September 1964) is an Italian businessman. He assumed the leadership of the confectionery company Ferrero SpA after the death of his brother Pietro Ferrero in 2011. As of October 2022, he has an estimated net worth of $37.6 billion making him the 28th richest in the world, and richest person in Italy.


title: Giovanni Ferrero

text: He was born in Farigliano, Italy, the son of Maria Franca Fissolo and Michele Ferrero, the owner of the multinational confectionery corporation Ferrero. In 1975, he moved to Brussels, Belgium, where he studied at the European Schools. Then he moved to the US, where he studied marketing at Lebanon Valley College.


title: Giovanni Ferrero

text: On completing his studies, he returned to Europe to work in the family company. In 1997 he became joint CEO of Ferrero together with his brother Pietro.


title: Giovanni Ferrero

text: In April 2011, after the death of his brother in a bicycling accident in South Africa, he became the sole CEO of Ferrero Group. His father, Michele Ferrero, remained as executive chairman.


title: Giovanni Ferrero

text: American business magazine "Forbes" reported that Giovanni Ferrero then took over the role of executive chairman in 2015, and held both the titles of CEO and executive chairman for two years until he hired Lapo Civiletti to take over the company's CEO position in 2017.


title: Sam Curran

text: Samuel Matthew Curran (born 3 June 1998) is an English cricketer who plays for England in all formats. In domestic cricket, he represents Surrey, and has played in multiple Twenty20 leagues, including for Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.


title: Sam Curran

text: Curran made his Test and One Day International debuts in 2018, and his Twenty20 International debut in 2019. He was part of the England team that won the 2022 T20 World Cup, taking the most wickets for England at the tournament and was named Player of the Tournament.


title: Sam Curran

text: Curran plays as a left-handed all-rounder, bowling medium fast. He holds the English record for best T20I figures, 5-10 against Afghanistan in 2022.


title: Sam Curran

text: Sam Curran was born on 3 June 1998 in Northampton, England to former Zimbabwe international cricketer Kevin Curran and mother Sarah Curran, while his father played County Cricket for Northamptonshire CCC. He is the brother of Surrey and England cricketer Tom Curran, and Northamptonshire cricketer Ben Curran. He grew up in Zimbabwe and was educated at Springvale House, Marondera and St. George's College, Harare. He spent his early years on the family farm in Rusape before the family left the farm during a period of land reform in Zimbabwe. In 2012, he moved to England and was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire.


title: Sam Curran

text: Curran represented Surrey at Under-15, Under-17, and Second XI level. During the 2014 season he represented Weybridge in the Surrey Championship Premier Division. He was described by Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart as "the best 17-year-old cricketer that I have seen".


title: Sam Curran

text: Curran made his senior debut in a Twenty20 match in the NatWest t20 Blast tournament against Kent at The Oval on 19 June 2015, aged 17 years and 16 days. He made his first-class debut in a County Championship fixture against Kent at The Oval on 13 July 2015. At the age of 17 years and 40 days he became Surrey's second youngest first-class cricketer in history after Tony Lock, who debuted exactly 69 years earlier at the age of 17 years and 8 days, also against Kent at The Oval. He returned figures of 5/101 in the first innings, and is believed to be the youngest-ever player to take five wickets in a County Championship match. He made his List A debut in a Royal London One-Day Cup match against Northamptonshire at The Oval on Thursday 27 July 2015.


title: Sam Curran

text: He was signed by Auckland Aces for the 2017–18 Super Smash. In December 2018, he was bought by the Kings XI Punjab in the player auction for the 2019 Indian Premier League for 7.20 crore Rupees (US$1 million). In March 2019, he was named as one of eight players to watch by the International Cricket Council (ICC) ahead of the 2019 Indian Premier League tournament. In the 2019 Indian Premier League, he scored quickfire 20 runs as opener and took a hat-trick in his second match, against Delhi Capitals which helped Kings XI Punjab to win by 14 runs, earning him the player of the match award. He also scored a quick fifty of just 23 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2019 Indian Premier League. He was released by the Kings XI Punjab ahead of the 2020 IPL auction. In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the Chennai Super Kings ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League.


title: Sam Curran

text: In April 2022, he was bought by the Oval Invincibles for the 2022 season of The Hundred. In June 2022, Curran took his first five-wicket haul in Twenty20 cricket, with 5/30 against the Hampshire Hawks in the 2022 T20 Blast. Later the same month, in the County Championship match against Kent, Curran scored his maiden century in first-class cricket, with 126 runs. He reached his hundred off just 62 balls.


title: Sam Curran

text: Curran represented Zimbabwe Cricket U13s cricket team at the 2011–12 CSA U13 Week in South Africa, where he won the player of the tournament.


title: Sam Curran

text: He represented England Under-19s at the 2016 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, where he played all six games, scoring 201 runs and taking seven wickets to help his team finish sixth. He was selected for the England Lions for their 2016–17 tour of the United Arab Emirates, and again for their match against South Africa A at Canterbury in the 2017 season.


title: Sam Curran

text: Curran received his first senior call-up for England in January 2018 for the 2017-18 Trans-Tasman Tri-Series against Australia and New Zealand, but did not play any games.


title: Sam Curran

text: On 30 May 2018 he was added to the England Test squad ahead of the second Test against Pakistan, as cover for Ben Stokes. He made his Test debut at Headingley on 1 June 2018. Curran scored 20 in England's only innings, and returned match figures of 2/43.


title: Sam Curran

text: Curran retained his place in the England squad for the Test series against India. In the first Test at Edgbaston he took 4/74 in the first innings, including the wickets of India's top three batsmen, and scored 63 in England's second innings, and was awarded Player of the Match. After being omitted from the England team for the third Test, he returned in place of the injured Chris Woakes at the Rose Bowl, where he top scored in England's first innings with 78. Curran registered his first Test duck in the fifth Test at The Oval, but was named England's Player of the Series against India, having contributed 272 runs and 11 wickets in England's 4–1 series victory. He was named Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year for his performances in the 2018 season.


title: Sam Curran

text: Curran played two Tests during England's tour of Sri Lanka in November 2018, scoring 112 runs at an average of 37.33, but only took a single wicket. He played in the final Test of England's home series against Australia in September 2019, taking three wickets in Australia's first innings. Later that month he was named in England's Test and Twenty20 International (T20I) squads for their series against New Zealand. He made his T20I debut for England, against New Zealand, on 1 November 2019.


title: Sam Curran

text: Curran played two Tests in the 2019 England tour of the West Indies, making 50 runs in four innings and taking one wicket at an average of 161. In the 2019 Test summer, Curran took 6 wickets at 16 and scored 87 runs at 21.8, in one Test against Ireland and the fifth Ashes Test.


title: Sam Curran

text: After playing only two tests in the summer, Curran played all six Tests of the 2019-20 winter tours of New Zealand and South Africa. In the two New Zealand Tests, Curran took 6 wickets at an average of 39.7 and made 40 in three innings. In South Africa, Curran made 130 runs in 7 innings, and took 10 wickets at an average of 32.6, which included career best figures of 4/58 in the first Test.


title: Sam Curran

text: On 29 May 2020, Curran was named in a 55-man group of players to begin training ahead of international fixtures starting in England following the COVID-19 pandemic. On 17 June 2020, Curran was included in England's 30-man squad to start training behind closed doors for the Test series against the West Indies. On 4 July 2020, Curran was named as one of the nine reserve players for the first Test match of the series.


title: Sam Curran

text: In the 2020 England summer, Curran played in one Test against the West Indies and one against Pakistan, scoring 17 in his only innings and taking 4 wickets at an average of 36. Curran was included in the squad for England's 2021 tour of Sri Lanka.


title: Sam Curran

text: Curran then played in all 5 T20I matches, and all 3 ODI matches as part of England's 2021 winter tour of India. On 28 March 2021, in the final ODI match of the tour, Curran was awarded Player of the Match for scoring 95* in England's attempted run chase of 329 set by India. England lost the match by 7 runs.


title: Sam Curran

text: On 1 July 2021, in the second match against Sri Lanka, Curran took his first five-wicket haul in ODI cricket. On 16th August 2021 in the second test against India, Curran was the first batsman to get a king pair at Lord's.


title: Sam Curran

text: In September 2021, Curran was named in England's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. However, on 5 October 2021, Curran was ruled out of England's squad due to a back injury, with his brother, Tom, named as his replacement.


title: Sam Curran

text: Sam was out of action for around 7 months making his comeback in the County Championship for Surrey on 21 April 2022 against Somerset.


title: Sam Curran

text: In England's opening match against Afghanistan, Curran took a five-wicket haul (the first by an England player in T20Is), helping England win the match and earning him the Man of the Match award. In the Final against Pakistan he took 3/12 wickets in 4 overs and was again named Man of the Match. He was the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, taking 13 wickets with a bowling average of 11.38, and was named Player of the Tournament for his efforts.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. "Same-sex marriage" refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries where same-sex marriage does not.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: The term "same-sex relationship" is not strictly related to the sexual orientation of the participants. As people of any orientation may participate in same-sex relationships (particularly depending on the legal, social and scientific definition of sex), some activists argue that referring to a same-sex relationship as a "gay relationship" or a "lesbian relationship" is a form of bisexual erasure.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: The lives of many historical figures, including Socrates, Alexander the Great, Lord Byron, Edward II, Hadrian, Julius Caesar, Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Oscar Wilde, Vita Sackville-West, Alfonsina Storni and Christopher Marlowe are believed to have included love and sexual relationships with people of their own sex. Terms such as "gay" or "bisexual" have often been applied to them; some, such as Michel Foucault, regard this as risking the anachronistic introduction of a contemporary construction of sexuality foreign to their times, though others challenge this.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: Some contemporary studies have found that same-sex relationships can be broadly grouped into at least three categories, though there is no consensus regarding the categories, nor empirical metric which has, or could potentially be applied to strongly validate their existence:


title: Same-sex relationship

text: Often, one form of same-sex relationship predominates in a society, although others are likely to co-exist. Historian Rictor Norton has pointed out that in ancient Greece, egalitarian relationships co-existed (albeit less privileged) with the institution of pederasty, and fascination with adolescents can also be found in modern sexuality, both opposite-sex and same-sex. Age and gender-structured same-sex relationships are less common (though they are still significant and coexist with the postmodern egalitarian form in Latin America, where male heterosexuals and "butch" i.e. macho, active/insertive bisexuals and pansexuals can even share a single identity).


title: Same-sex relationship

text: In Iranian (Persian) societies homoeroticism was present in the work of such writers as Abu Nuwas and Omar Khayyam. A large corpus of literature, numbering in the hundreds of works, fostered the shudo tradition in Japan, together with a widespread tradition of homoerotic shunga art.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: In the Chinese literary tradition, works such as "Bian er Zhai" and "Jin Ping Mei" survived many purges. Today, the Japanese anime subgenre yaoi centers on gay youths. Japan is unusual in that the culture's male homoerotic art has typically been the work of female artists addressing a female audience, mirroring the case of lesbian eroticism in western art.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: In the 1990s, a number of American television comedies began to feature themes on same-sex relationships and characters who expressed same-sex attractions. The 1997 coming-out of comedian Ellen DeGeneres on her show "Ellen" was front-page news in America and brought the show its highest ratings. However, public interest in the show swiftly declined after this, and the show was cancelled after one more season. Immediately afterward, "Will & Grace", which ran from 1998 to 2006 on NBC, became the most successful series to date focusing on male-male sexual relationships. Showtime's "Queer as Folk", running from 2000 to 2005, was noted for its somewhat frank depiction of gay life, as well as its vivid sex scenes, containing the first simulated explicit sex scene between two men shown on American television.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: Playwrights have penned such popular homoerotic works as Tennessee Williams's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and Tony Kushner's "". Same-sex relationships have also been a frequent theme in Broadway musicals, such as "A Chorus Line" and "Rent". In 2005, the film "Brokeback Mountain" was a financial and critical success internationally. Unlike most same-sex couples in film, both the film's lovers were traditionally masculine and married. The movie's success was considered a milestone in the public acceptance of the American gay rights movement.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: Same-sex relationships in video games were first made available as an option to players in the 1998 game "Fallout 2". Beginning in the 2000s, this option was increasingly included in leading role-playing game franchises, pioneered among others by the BioWare series "Mass Effect" and "Dragon Age".


title: Same-sex relationship

text: State protections and prohibitions regarding (romantic or sexual) same-sex couples vary by jurisdiction. In some locations, same-sex couples are extended full marriage rights just as opposite-sex couples, and in other locations they may be extended limited protections or none at all. Policy also varies regarding the adoption of children by same-sex couples.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: In their essential psychological respects, these relationships were regarded as equivalent to opposite-sex relationships in a brief amici curiae of the American Psychological Association, California Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, National Association of Social Workers, and National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: Government recognition of same-sex marriage is available in 34 countries (Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay) and several sub-national jurisdictions allow same-sex couples to marry. Bills legalizing same-sex marriage are pending, or have passed at least one legislative house in Czechia, Greece, Liechtenstein and Thailand.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: Other countries, including several European nations, have enacted laws allowing civil unions or domestic partnerships, designed to give gay couples similar rights as married couples concerning legal issues such as inheritance and immigration.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: Same-sex couples can legally marry in all U.S. states and receive both state-level and federal benefits. Also, several states offer civil unions or domestic partnerships, granting all or part of the state-level rights and responsibilities of marriage. Though more than 30 states have constitutional restrictions on marriage, all states must recognize same-sex marriages following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in "Obergefell v. Hodges". All the laws restricting marriage to one man and one woman are therefore unconstitutional and unenforceable.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: LGBT parenting is when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are parents to one or more children, either as biological or non-biological parents. Same-sex male couples face options which include: "foster care, variations of domestic and international adoption, diverse forms of surrogacy (whether "traditional" or gestational), and kinship arrangements, wherein they might coparent with a woman or women with whom they are intimately but not sexually involved." LGBT parents can also include single people who are parenting; to a lesser extent, the term sometimes refers to families with LGBT children.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: In the 2000 U.S. Census, 33 percent of female same-sex couple households and 22 percent of male same-sex couple households reported at least one child under eighteen living in their home. The 2008 general social survey shows that LGBT parents raising children showed 49% were lesbian and bisexual women and 19% were bisexual or gay men. In the United States from 2007 to 2011 the negative public attitude condemning same sex parenting dropped from 50% to 35%. Some children do not know they have an LGBT parent; coming out issues vary and some parents may never come out to their children. LGBT parenting in general, and adoption by LGBT couples may be controversial in some countries. In January 2008, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that same-sex couples have the right to adopt a child. In the U.S., LGBT people can legally adopt in all states. Though estimates vary, as many as 2 million to 3.7 million U.S. children under age 18 may


title: Same-sex relationship

text: have a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender parent, and about 200,000 are being raised by same-sex couples.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: There is ample evidence to show that children raised by same-gender parents fare as well as those raised by heterosexual parents. More than 25 years of research have documented that there is no relationship between parents' sexual orientation and any measure of a child's emotional, psychosocial, and behavioral adjustment. This data has demonstrated no risk to children as a result of growing up in a family with one or more gay parents. No research supports the widely held conviction that the gender of parents matters for child well-being. It is well-established that both men and women have the capacity to be good parents, and that having parents of both binary sexes does not enhance adjustment. The methodologies used in the major studies of same-sex parenting meet the standards for research in the field of developmental psychology and psychology generally. They constitute the type of research that members of the respective professions consider reliable. If gay, lesbian, or bisexual parents were inherently less capable than otherwise comparable heterosexual parents, their children would evidence problems regardless of the type of sample. This pattern clearly has not been observed. Given the consistent failures in this research literature to disprove the null hypothesis, the burden of empirical proof is on those who argue that the children of sexual minority parents fare worse than the children of heterosexual parents.


title: Same-sex relationship

text: Professor Judith Stacey, of New York University, stated: “Rarely is there as much consensus in any area of social science as in the case of gay parenting, which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics and all of the major professional organizations with expertise in child welfare have issued reports and resolutions in support of gay and lesbian parental rights”. These organizations include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the Child Welfare League of America, the North American Council on Adoptable Children, and Canadian Psychological Association (CPA). CPA is concerned that some persons and institutions are misinterpreting the findings of psychological research to support their positions, when their positions are more accurately based on other systems of belief or values.