Have you ever experienced Deja Vu or lost time?
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ARPAST - The Arkansas Paranormal and Anomalous Studies Team is a science-based research group dedicated to furthering our measured understanding of anomalous and unexplained phenomena via the utilization of state-of-the-art equipment, methodologies, and techniques. With over 150 members worldwide, ARPAST is also one of the fastest-growing and most widely respected organizations of its kind as well.
Our mission is to document, collect, and analyze environmental and corroborated data surrounding reported paranormal events while ruling out or uncovering any possible explanatory causes for such phenomena. We are NOT "ghost busters," nor do we do "interventions," "cleansings," or "exorcisms." Our goal is not to "prove" or "disprove" the existence of "spirits" or "ghosts." To carry such an agenda would be to presume an understanding of that which is not currently understood within the context of scientific fact.
ARPAST works with other serious, science-based organizations and entities, including major universities and educational foundations, to further the progress of knowledge in this elusive field of study. Our members are extensively trained in the use, operation and understanding of equipment and methodology, and our training curriculum is second to none. We also use an extensive custom-designed database to seek patterns and correlations of data collected from over 200 investigations.
It is the intention of ARPAST to continue to grow and expand, and to stay true to our mission of using solid research and evidence gathering, data corroboration and peer review leading to potential hypotheses that may one day truly explain the "unexplainable."
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We finished up the month of October with a bang! Between investigations, charity and public awareness events, forming our first official ARPAST chapter (NEARPAST) and ultimately culminating in our special live Halloween TV broadcast, ARPAST was BUSY last month! Hold on to your hats because November promises to be just as action packed!
So, with Halloween behind us, it's time to concentrate on another national holiday... and one which is very special for a number of reasons. Thanksgiving is a time when Americans give thanks to Almighty God for all His blessings and mercies toward us throughout the year.
Certainly, we all are blessed with things in our lives which we should be thankful for. Personally, I am incredibly thankful for my family, true friends, and those whom I consider to be real heroes - the soldiers fighting for our freedom, the police officers protecting us from the darker elements of humanity, and the teachers who impart us with invaluable knowledge.
What are you thankful for?
Beyond thankfulness, are you aware of the history of this wonderful holiday in which we stuff our faces with turkey, dressing, cranberries, and pumpkin pie? According to Better Homes and Gardens:
America's first Thanksgiving, in 1621, was a three-day celebration of feasting and recreation. The prior year was the Pilgrims' first winter at Plymouth, and it was so harsh almost half of the colonists perished.
By the second harvest, there was reason to rejoice. A peace treaty was signed with the Wampanoag, the Pilgrims' Native American neighbors. And Massasoit, their leader, shared his agricultural expertise, which resulted in a bumper crop. As was common in England, where the Pilgrims originated, they chose to commemorate their bounty with a harvest festival.
Most accounts of the actual event mention neither turkey nor pumpkin, our modern Thanksgiving staples. Indian corn was plentiful, however. Four valiant Pilgrim housewives supervised the feast that Massasoit and 90 of his people attended, bringing five deer as their contribution to the communal table.
Presumably, the Pilgrims followed the English custom of the day and served their neighbors buffet-style; dishes were placed on the table and guests helped themselves. There were no forks, only knives, spoons, and large napkins that were used to pick up hot oods and to tidy the face and fingers. Food could be eaten directly from the serving dish or you could share a trencher (wooden plate). No meal could begin without saying grace, since the Pilgrims believed that their good fortune was due to their relationship to God.
Similar New England harvest festivals evolved into an annual tradition, officially acknowledged in 1777, when the Continental Congress declared the first national Thanksgiving. President Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863, after 23 years of lobbying by Sarah Josepha Hale, an acclaimed author and editor.
The regional foods of New England, including turkey, cranberries, and pumpkin, came to be identified with the holiday, as did the inspirational story of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe feasting and coexisting in peace.
