Storytellers Remembering Futures from the Past takes place in a new world 7 generations from now. The Earth has become uninhabitable and humankind has been forced to find a new home amongst the stars. The Diné moved to a planet with two moons who hold the world in balance. This world is the 5th world the Diné have lived in, the next step in our Creation Story. The people terraformed the planet to look like their home in Round Rock,

Arizona. The hogans (traditional Diné houses) are partially made of glass and rigid woven panels. The image depicts storytellers who are remembering creation stories and archiving them to be shared later with their community. They use a form of telepathy, with each dot representing a story from Diné history. The piece shows the

resiliency of our cultures, our people, our stories and how all of that is maintained and nourished by the matriarchs of our families. They reinforce that no matter what future we live through, we will not lose who we are as Diné.

 

--

This work was commissioned by the Initiative for Indigenous Futures as part of the Illustrating the Future Imaginary series. Please see abtec.org/iif/outputs/illustrating-the-future-imaginary for more information. Please contact info@abtec.org if you are interested in using the images in any public context.

  

Brandon 3 October 2013: At the Lignacite Lecture 2013 Professor Doug King spoke about Building on Evolution, and called for the need to change the construction paradigm to ensure high performance, low impact buildings, which are essential to the future of humankind.

  

The Lecture, which was this year held at The Royal Society in London, was attended by architects, specifiers, designers, environmentalists and representatives from construction and local authorities, who came to hear Professor Doug King speak about the need to learn from the evolved wisdom of historic builders.

  

He said: “In the next 40 years, to accommodate the rapid growth in urban population, humankind will likely have to build as much new urban fabric as already exists today. We will not have time to correct mistakes. We need to ensure that the buildings we put up are genuinely sustainable: appropriate for their cultural and climatic locations, as well as minimising use of resources.

  

“Everywhere I look, I find evidence of underlying physical properties that have influenced the choices of generations of builders. From structure to roof tiles to paint, the properties of certain materials and methods have brought benefits to buildings, despite these rarely being overtly recognised. We need to examine these with a view to identifying new opportunities for creating high performance, low impact buildings that have not yet even been imagined.”

  

Chairman of leading masonry products manufacturer, Lignacite, Giles de Lotbiniere, was delighted Professor King accepted his invitation to address this year’s Lecture: “He is a building physicist and one of the most influential figures on sustainable construction in the world. He raised some important points, and at Lignacite we are already working to address his challenge of developing high performance, low impact buildings and conserving resources by using up to 50% of recycled materials in our products.

  

“Recently we also launched The Carbon Buster, which is the world’s first carbon negative building block, and incorporates recycled materials and carbonated aggregates, which are derived from by-products from waste to energy plants. We believe this block has an important role to play in helping to meet the UK’s zero carbon homes targets and build a more sustainable future,” he said.

  

The Lignacite Lecture is an annual event, which dates back to year 2000. Since then, a variety of topics ranging from The Relationship between Art & Architecture to Biomimicry and the Ecological Age have been covered by high profile speakers, including Sir Terry Farrell, Anthony Gormley OBE, Ken Shuttleworth and Professor David Mach.

  

ENDS

  

More information:

An edited version of Professor King’s Lignacite Lecture is available here: www.dougking.co.uk/building-on-evolution/

  

For more information, please contact marit@meyerbell.co.uk

  

Lignacite:

Lignacite is a leading UK manufacturer of masonry products designed for internal or external use. Founded in 1947, it remains a family owned company managed by Allan Eastwood. The Lignacite masonry range incorporates a range of recycled and waste materials, including glass, wood particles, Furnace Ash, Recycled concrete, china clay and shells. The company also provides products to encourage biodiversity in construction. The company uses aggregates from its own local quarry in Brandon, and has supplied many high profile buildings in the UK, including the Shard, the Gherkin, Olympic Village, Heathrow Airport, Stanstead Airport, Canary Warf and the Olympic Stadium. For more information, visit www.lignacite.co.uk

  

Professor Doug King:

Doug King FREng CEng CPhys CEnv FInstP FEI FCIBSE HonFRIBA is, according to Building Design, one of the most influential figures in UK sustainable construction. He has been the environmental engineer behind numerous ground-breaking, critically acclaimed, buildings including; the Stirling Prize shortlisted Weald & Downland Gridshell, The Innovate Office Leeds, which triggered the introduction of BREEAM Outstanding, The Genzyme Centre in Cambridge Massachusetts, at the time the largest LEED Platinum building in the world, and Sainsbury’s original Eco-Superstore at Greenwich. Doug King now works as a freelance consultant, helping construction clients, designers and supply chains to realise genuinely high performance, low impact buildings. He teaches environmental design widely, to both engineers and architects and is a visiting professor at universities in the UK, China and Russia.

For more information please visit: www.dougking.co.uk

For video highlights of the lecture please see: www.dougking.co.uk/building-on-evolution

   

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 10 - Lloyd Dean, Suzanne Dean, Sabrina Shannon, Carol Keehan and Kevin Lofton attend Humankindness Gala 2018 on May 10th 2018 at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Alexandra Malek for Drew Altizer Photography)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Nicole Dean, Lindsey Dean, Nathan Dean and Suzanne Dean attend Dignity Health Foundation’s Humankindness Gala 2017 on May 18th 2017 at City Hall in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Jana Asenbrennerova for Drew Altizer Photography)

For the first few hundred thousand years humankind knew exactly where food came from. There was a close relationship between hunter and prey, gatherer and bounty, farmer and harvest. But somehow, in the last few decades, humankind just lost it. Beyond the fact that milk may contain more growth hormones than certain baseball players (looking at you big headed Barry Bonds) and genetically modified veggies may be insect-lettuce hybrids, it is simply difficult to fall in love with food when you don’t know its origin.

Inspiration to humankind

Temples of Humankind, 20 years Open to the World. Ventenalle 2012

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Performance attends CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Jessica Monroy for Drew Altizer Photography)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Liam Mayclem attends CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)

The Damanhur, Temples Of Humankind, a gorgeous series of underground temples in northern Italy.

 

www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.ht...

Eastbound billboard on the Santan Freeway Loop 202 for Dignity Health.

 

ER kindness.

Stat.

Hello humankindness

 

Chandler Regional Medical Center, 1955 W Frye Rd, Chandler, AZ 85224

(480) 728-3000

 

Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, 3555 S Val Vista Dr, Gilbert, AZ 85297

(480) 728-8000

 

The Dignity Health Name

We chose the name Dignity Health because the value of dignity is woven into the fabric of our culture. Our mission, vision and values were all formed out of the recognition of the inherent dignity of each person. It also represents our commitment to delivering excellent medical care to all, to advocating on behalf of the poor, and to partnering with others to improve the quality of life.

 

The Dignity Health Logo

The logo represents the coming together of caregivers, services, care centers, etc., to create a continuum of care. The three sections remind us of the three dimensions of our mission—healing, advocacy, and partnering. The icon surrounds a central space, symbolizing how an integrated health system honors the inherent dignity of each individual.

 

To learn more please visit Dignity Health at dignityhealth.org.

 

The Santan Freeway is in the southeast valley of Phoenix. Onsite Insite offers billboards along the Santan Freeway between I-10 and the Price Freeway Loop 101 in Chandler.

Because few people are aware of the God-ordained festivals spelled out in the Bible, few understand God’s step-by-step plan of salvation revealed through these celebrations. The meaning of the eighth day corresponds to Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, referring to a time when lost family members will be joyously joined together again to learn God’s ways while living under utopian conditions of mutual love, peace and prosperity.

 

When he was 30 years old, Ezekiel began to experience astonishing visions from Almighty God. Perhaps in a personal diary, he recorded the exact date on which the first vision occurred: “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1, emphasis added throughout).

 

The invisible barriers between heaven and earth were supernaturally parted for Ezekiel. But what did this prophet actually see in vision? Moving beyond the introductory revelation of the awesome angelic realm, we fast-forward to verses 26 and 28. “On the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it… This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” Ezekiel initially reacted just like the prophet Daniel and the apostles Paul and John did later. “So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One [God] speaking. And He said to me, ‘Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you’…And He said to me; ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel’ ” (Ezekiel 1:28; Ezekiel 2:1-3). God gave Ezekiel a great mission to accomplish. He had important announcements to make. These were intended to reach people far beyond his own time to people down through the ages. And one important vision would serve to encourage all who have ever lived in facing the same remorseless enemy—the seemingly hopeless ending of life in death.

 

The Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (or The Valley of Dry Bones or The Vision of Dry Bones) is a prophecy in chapter 37 of the Book of Ezekiel. The chapter details a vision revealed to the prophet Ezekiel, conveying a dream-like realistic-naturalistic depiction. Ezekiel continued to have visions throughout his prophetic ministry. The one in the 37th chapter speaks directly to the desperate plight of Israel down through the ages. Its intriguing description of the valley of dry bones was the subject of a popular song, “Dry Bones,” during the mid-1950s. No matter how many times one rereads it, this account remains both arresting and suspenseful to the converted mind. But even more important is the profound meaning for us—and for our departed loved ones, who may never have been called of God or spiritually converted during this age. This remarkable, comforting vision assures us that we will see them again!

 

“The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones . . . and He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ So I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know’ ” (Ezekiel 37:1-3). God must not be underestimated. He asked the patriarch Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). Centuries later He posed the same question to the prophet Jeremiah: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). Ezekiel’s vision continues: “Thus says the Lord God to these bones: ‘Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live’ . . . Also He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live’ ”’” (Ezekiel 37:5; Ezekiel 37:9). Physical human beings cannot live without drawing breath—the essence of our fleshly life. Even excellent swimmers, experts at holding their breath, cannot survive long without breathing air. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived , and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:10). In his vision the prophet sees himself standing in the valley full of dry human bones. He is commanded to carry a prophecy. Before him the bones connect into human figures, then the bones become covered with tendon tissues, flesh and skin. Then God reveals the bones to the prophet as the People of Israel in exile and commands the Prophet to carry another prophecy in order to revitalize these human figures, to resurrect them and to bring them to the Land of Israel.

The prophet did have a comparatively small personal audience in Babylon of fellow captives from Judah (Ezekiel 3:11). But the real import of his message was not primarily for these deported, displaced prisoners who could do little about their circumstance. It’s important to understand that the kingdoms of Israel and Judah had separated after King Solomon’s death and that the people of the kingdom of Israel had already gone into captivity at the hands of the Assyrians during the latter part of the eighth century B.C.—well over a century before Ezekiel prophesied. And by the time his prophecies began, some of the inhabitants of the kingdom of Judah were likewise already in captivity, first by the Assyrians and then the Babylonians, with most of the rest soon to follow as a result of later Babylonian invasions.

Careful reading of Ezekiel’s prophetic message will reveal that it was aimed mainly at the distant future, primarily directed to the end-time descendants of Israel. Much of God’s revelation to him revolved around crucial, end-time events—both positive and negative—that would take place centuries in the future. In the prophecy Jesus Christ gave on the Mount of Olives the week He died, He plainly stated regarding the end-time, “For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written [in the Old Testament prophets, including Ezekiel] may be fulfilled” (Luke 21:22). But cataclysmic occurrences at the close of man’s age are just one aspect of this overall prophetic scenario. Notice the apostle Peter’s words to the crowd gathered in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost seven weeks after Jesus’ death and resurrection: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets [again including Ezekiel] since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21). This insightful passage depicts a future golden age brought to a suffering humanity by the returning Jesus Christ, lasting 1,000 years (see Revelation 20:1-6). Israel’s prophets aptly describe this long period of peace, prosperity and well-being. One of God’s annual festivals, the Feast of Tabernacles, corresponds directly to Christ’s coming millennial reign. God continued to instruct Ezekiel: “Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them’ ” (Ezekiel 3:4). Our Creator speaks to a rebellious people who have rarely been inclined to take His warning messages seriously. Their descendants down through time have most often chosen to remain in the depths of idolatry and Sabbath-breaking, two sins against God that Ezekiel emphasized (Ezekiel 14:1-6; Ezekiel 20:12-13; Ezekiel 20:16-17; Ezekiel 20:24; Ezekiel 22:3; Ezekiel 22:8). Tragically, these two trends continue unabated today. But who truly represents the “Israel” today to whom these prophecies are intended? The present tiny state of Israel consists mostly of Jews descended from those of the kingdom of Judah, so the name Israel is a misnomer. History and Bible prophecy show that the modern descendants of the other tribes of Israel stand clearly identified as the Americans, British Commonwealth and peoples of northwestern Europe. For the biblical and historical evidence, request or download our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy . You cannot truly grasp God’s prophetic message to humankind apart from the essential knowledge disclosed in this eye-opening publication The modern descendants of Israel have been likewise rebellious against God. And all share in the same fate—national punishment and, for each individual, the ultimate penalty of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23). The prophecies of future national blessings are encouraging, but what good are they to those who have died? After the Exodus from Egypt, a whole generation of disobedient Israelites perished in the wilderness. Later, many died at the hands of ruthless Assyrian invaders. Much later, about 40 years after Christ’s death and resurrection, many died tragically as a result of the Roman invasion of Judea and the capture of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

Of course, the same fate is shared by those who never had the opportunity to choose a way of life to follow. Consider all those little babies Herod cruelly killed in a failed effort to murder the Christ child. Their parents were devastated with unrelieved grief. “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” (Matthew 2:18). Are these children, then, now lost? So many people among the Israelites have died as victims of evil and injustice. Today we remember the Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were callously murdered in Central and Eastern Europe. How should we try to understand all of these tragic occurrences? Is there no hope for even innocent children who died in infancy without ever knowing why? Of course, these questions beset people of every nation—not just Israel. But God has given a special message through Ezekiel to Israel in this regard—one that holds significance for all people.

Ezekiel continued to have visions throughout his prophetic ministry. The one in the 37th chapter speaks directly to the desperate plight of Israel down through the ages. Its intriguing description of the valley of dry bones was the subject of a popular song, “Dry Bones,” during the mid-1950s. No matter how many times one rereads it, this account remains both arresting and suspenseful to the converted mind. But even more important is the profound meaning for us—and for our departed loved ones, who may never have been called of God or spiritually converted during this age. This remarkable, comforting vision assures us that we will see them again! The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones . . . and He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ So I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know’ ” (Ezekiel 37:1-3). God must not be underestimated. He asked the patriarch Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). Centuries later He posed the same question to the prophet Jeremiah: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). Ezekiel’s vision continues: “Thus says the Lord God to these bones: ‘Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live’ . . . Also He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live’ ”’” (Ezekiel 37:5; Ezekiel 37:9). Physical human beings cannot live without drawing breath—the essence of our fleshly life. Even excellent swimmers, experts at holding their breath, cannot survive long without breathing air. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived , and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:10).

 

Thevast majority of mankind will receive their opportunity for salvation during the great resurrection to judgment that we have been reading about in Ezekiel 37:1-14. And in Ezekiel 18:32 we read, “ ‘For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord God. ‘Therefore turn [to righteousness] and live!’”As mentioned earlier, the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Ingathering, pictures Christ’s millennial reign. But immediately following this seven-day Feast is a separate one-day celebration referred to simply as “the eighth day” (Leviticus 23:34-36; Numbers 29:35; 2 Chronicles 7:9; Nehemiah 8:18). The real meaning of this celebration is rarely understood in modern theological circles. Yet it represents an essential missing piece to the puzzle of salvation. This special Holy Day directly corresponds to the Great White Throne Judgment period, during which God will give all those who have ever lived but never really understood the truth their first real opportunity for salvation.

 

www.ucg.org/the-good-news/ezekiels-vision-of-the-valley-o...

UNIQLO Ginza / ユニクロ銀座店

 

I was asked by UNIQLO to create six designs for their Nippon-Omiyage T-shirt lineup, the second three in the series were Onsen, Sakana and Animal Onomatopoeia. All using handmade typography and a connection to the subject itself.

  

ユニクロの「日本のお土産シリーズ」のデザインに参加させて頂きました。ハンドメイドのタイポグラフィーを使って、イメージを表現するという内容です。2013年の春夏に発売されたのは「東京」「銀座」「神戸」の三都市のお土産でした。2013年の秋冬シーズンは、日本の好きなところを何でもデザインしてもいいという内容でしたので、僕も日本人に負けないぐらい大好きな「温泉」「さかな」をモチーフにデザインしました。「温泉」のデザインでは、日本で大流行している"ゆるキャラ" もつくってみました。３つめのデザインは、音を表現する擬音語が英語と違うところ面白くて、動物の鳴き声をタイポグラフィーにしてデザインしてみました。

  

Sakana 魚屋

-

One of the things I’ve noticed as a foreigner is that the Japanese absolutely love fish, the only Japanese people I know that don’t eat fish are those with an allergy to it. I wanted to create a t-shirt that celebrated this extreme love of fish, both as a food but also a sport, something more subtle than the obvious and overused fish imagery commonly used. Using hand printed shapes and typography I created a simple design that everyone can understand even if they can’t read Japanese.

 

日本人の魚の消費量の多さは、類を見ないと思います。アレルギー体質という以外の理由で、魚を食べない日本人に出会ったことがありません。魚を食べる事だけでなく、釣りをこよなく愛する方々も多くいます。そんな魚を愛する大勢の日本人の方々に敬意を評して、ハンドメイドの版画の様なイメージと文字で、日本語が読めなくても、魚を愛する想いが伝わるイメージを作ってみました。

229,236 items / 1,918,414 views

  

Dear Firoze,

 

We just want to place on record, our deep appreciation for all that you do for humankind.

 

We are with you in spirit and in truth.

 

Blessings & Respect,

 

Your brother in Christ,

 

Joe Dias

 

DNA E-Paper - Daily News & Analysis -Mumbai,India

epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=5&edcode=820...

epaper.dnaindia.com/print.aspx?id=13981&boxid=2658860...

 

Seeking inspiration from stations of the cross

 

Christians take out processions to experience the pain and

sacrifice Christ went through

 

Ashutosh Shukla

DNA [Daily News and Analysis]

Saturday, Apr 07, 2012, City, MUMBAI, page 5.

 

At Pratirakhsa Nagar, Vakola, fashion designer Firoze Shakir

stands out in the thousands gathered to see the enactment of

crucifixion of Christ. A Muslim by faith, it is not his fancy

Malang wardrobe, but his bare feet in the scorching summer

afternoon, which draws attentions. Apparently, he is here to see

the "passion of Christ".

 

Though he is clothed and even sits in a truck sometimes, the

scorching ground does make it unbearable for his bare feet.

"Christ walked barefoot. And it is the physicality of this pain

that I wanted to go through. For me, walking barefoot is giving

back to the society, as taught in my convent school," says

Shakir.

 

The 40-year-old Shakir, who has studied in the Holy Name

High School at Colaba, has been covering the 'stations of cross',

as the enactment plays are called, for five years now. "I even

go for the Lalbaug Raja ganapati too and take pictures for

posting them on flicker for people to see and follow," he adds.

 

A self-confessed poet, Shakir wants to prove that walking

aside Christians helps him "appreciate beauty of other religions"

and "identify with their pain", thus making more human. "I like

the passion of the Christ. I see his pain like that of Imam

Hussein. As a poet I see a metaphor there," he says.

 

While Shakir attended the stations of cross to prove his

point of religious harmony, many others came to learn from the

Christ's sufferings and the forgiveness he preached. "The walk

is a small act of reverence I make for his sacrifice for us.

It's a day of prayers and we look to learn from him," said Judith

Daftary, a 39-year-old who had come alone all the way from Marol

alone.

 

The D'Souzas who had come with their entire family wanted

their children to learn from Christ. "I want my kids to know the

sufferings He went through," said Ivy D'Souza, 36-year-old Santa

Cruz resident and mother of two.

   

from Damanhur Spiritual EcoCommunity, ift.tt/2ZkDPbo

Sheep (pl.: sheep) or domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term sheep can apply to other species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sheep. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Numbering a little over one billion, domestic sheep are also the most numerous species of sheep. An adult female is referred to as a ewe (/juː/ yoo), an intact male as a ram, occasionally a tup, a castrated male as a wether, and a young sheep as a lamb.

 

Sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia, with Iran being a geographic envelope of the domestication center. One of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep are raised for fleeces, meat (lamb, hogget or mutton) and milk. A sheep's wool is the most widely used animal fiber, and is usually harvested by shearing. In Commonwealth countries, ovine meat is called lamb when from younger animals and mutton when from older ones; in the United States, meat from both older and younger animals is usually called lamb. Sheep continue to be important for wool and meat today, and are also occasionally raised for pelts, as dairy animals, or as model organisms for science.

 

Sheep husbandry is practised throughout the majority of the inhabited world, and has been fundamental to many civilizations. In the modern era, Australia, New Zealand, the southern and central South American nations, and the British Isles are most closely associated with sheep production.

 

There is a large lexicon of unique terms for sheep husbandry which vary considerably by region and dialect. Use of the word sheep began in Middle English as a derivation of the Old English word scēap. A group of sheep is called a flock. Many other specific terms for the various life stages of sheep exist, generally related to lambing, shearing, and age.

 

Being a key animal in the history of farming, sheep have a deeply entrenched place in human culture, and are represented in much modern language and symbolism. As livestock, sheep are most often associated with pastoral, Arcadian imagery. Sheep figure in many mythologies—such as the Golden Fleece—and major religions, especially the Abrahamic traditions. In both ancient and modern religious ritual, sheep are used as sacrificial animals.

 

History

Main article: History of the domestic sheep

The exact line of descent from wild ancestors to domestic sheep is unclear. The most common hypothesis states that Ovis aries is descended from the Asiatic (O. gmelini) species of mouflon; the European mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) is a direct descendant of this population. Sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated by humankind (although the domestication of dogs probably took place 10 to 20 thousand years earlier); the domestication date is estimated to fall between 11,000 and 9000 B.C in Mesopotamia and possibly around 7000 BC in Mehrgarh in the Indus Valley. The rearing of sheep for secondary products, and the resulting breed development, began in either southwest Asia or western Europe. Initially, sheep were kept solely for meat, milk and skins. Archaeological evidence from statuary found at sites in Iran suggests that selection for woolly sheep may have begun around 6000 BC, and the earliest woven wool garments have been dated to two to three thousand years later.

 

Sheep husbandry spread quickly in Europe. Excavations show that in about 6000 BC, during the Neolithic period of prehistory, the Castelnovien people, living around Châteauneuf-les-Martigues near present-day Marseille in the south of France, were among the first in Europe to keep domestic sheep. Practically from its inception, ancient Greek civilization relied on sheep as primary livestock, and were even said to name individual animals. Ancient Romans kept sheep on a wide scale, and were an important agent in the spread of sheep raising. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (Naturalis Historia), speaks at length about sheep and wool. European colonists spread the practice to the New World from 1493 onwards.

 

Characteristics

Domestic sheep are relatively small ruminants, usually with a crimped hair called wool and often with horns forming a lateral spiral. They differ from their wild relatives and ancestors in several respects, having become uniquely neotenic as a result of selective breeding by humans. A few primitive breeds of sheep retain some of the characteristics of their wild cousins, such as short tails. Depending on breed, domestic sheep may have no horns at all (i.e. polled), or horns in both sexes, or in males only. Most horned breeds have a single pair, but a few breeds may have several.

 

Sheep in Turkmenistan

Another trait unique to domestic sheep as compared to wild ovines is their wide variation in color. Wild sheep are largely variations of brown hues, and variation within species is extremely limited. Colors of domestic sheep range from pure white to dark chocolate brown, and even spotted or piebald. Sheep keepers also sometimes artificially paint "smit marks" onto their sheep in any pattern or color for identification. Selection for easily dyeable white fleeces began early in sheep domestication, and as white wool is a dominant trait it spread quickly. However, colored sheep do appear in many modern breeds, and may even appear as a recessive trait in white flocks. While white wool is desirable for large commercial markets, there is a niche market for colored fleeces, mostly for handspinning. The nature of the fleece varies widely among the breeds, from dense and highly crimped, to long and hairlike. There is variation of wool type and quality even among members of the same flock, so wool classing is a step in the commercial processing of the fibre.

  

Suffolks are a medium wool, black-faced breed of meat sheep that make up 60% of the sheep population in the U.S.

Depending on breed, sheep show a range of heights and weights. Their rate of growth and mature weight is a heritable trait that is often selected for in breeding. Ewes typically weigh between 45 and 100 kilograms (100 and 220 lb), and rams between 45 and 160 kilograms (100 and 350 lb). When all deciduous teeth have erupted, the sheep has 20 teeth. Mature sheep have 32 teeth. As with other ruminants, the front teeth in the lower jaw bite against a hard, toothless pad in the upper jaw. These are used to pick off vegetation, then the rear teeth grind it before it is swallowed. There are eight lower front teeth in ruminants, but there is some disagreement as to whether these are eight incisors, or six incisors and two incisor-shaped canines. This means that the dental formula for sheep is either

0.0.3.3

4.0.3.3

or

0.0.3.3

3.1.3.3

There is a large diastema between the incisors and the molars.

 

In the first few years of life one can calculate the age of sheep from their front teeth, as a pair of milk teeth is replaced by larger adult teeth each year, the full set of eight adult front teeth being complete at about four years of age. The front teeth are then gradually lost as sheep age, making it harder for them to feed and hindering the health and productivity of the animal. For this reason, domestic sheep on normal pasture begin to slowly decline from four years on, and the life expectancy of a sheep is 10 to 12 years, though some sheep may live as long as 20 years.

 

Skull

Sheep have good hearing, and are sensitive to noise when being handled. Sheep have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, with excellent peripheral vision; with visual fields of about 270° to 320°, sheep can see behind themselves without turning their heads. Many breeds have only short hair on the face, and some have facial wool (if any) confined to the poll and or the area of the mandibular angle; the wide angles of peripheral vision apply to these breeds. A few breeds tend to have considerable wool on the face; for some individuals of these breeds, peripheral vision may be greatly reduced by "wool blindness", unless recently shorn about the face. Sheep have poor depth perception; shadows and dips in the ground may cause sheep to baulk. In general, sheep have a tendency to move out of the dark and into well-lit areas, and prefer to move uphill when disturbed. Sheep also have an excellent sense of smell, and, like all species of their genus, have scent glands just in front of the eyes, and interdigitally on the feet. The purpose of these glands is uncertain, but those on the face may be used in breeding behaviors. The foot glands might also be related to reproduction, but alternative functions, such as secretion of a waste product or a scent marker to help lost sheep find their flock, have also been proposed.

 

Comparison with goats

Sheep and goats are closely related: both are in the subfamily Caprinae. However, they are separate species, so hybrids rarely occur and are always infertile. A hybrid of a ewe and a buck (a male goat) is called a sheep-goat hybrid, known as geep. Visual differences between sheep and goats include the beard of goats and divided upper lip of sheep. Sheep tails also hang down, even when short or docked, while the short tails of goats are held upwards. Also, sheep breeds are often naturally polled (either in both sexes or just in the female), while naturally polled goats are rare (though many are polled artificially). Males of the two species differ in that buck goats acquire a unique and strong odor during the rut, whereas rams do not.

 

Breeds

The domestic sheep is a multi-purpose animal, and the more than 200 breeds now in existence were created to serve these diverse purposes. Some sources give a count of a thousand or more breeds, but these numbers cannot be verified, according to some sources. However, several hundred breeds of sheep have been identified by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), with the estimated number varying somewhat from time to time: e.g. 863 breeds as of 1993, 1314 breeds as of 1995 and 1229 breeds as of 2006. (These numbers exclude extinct breeds, which are also tallied by the FAO.) For the purpose of such tallies, the FAO definition of a breed is "either a subspecific group of domestic livestock with definable and identifiable external characteristics that enable it to be separated by visual appraisal from other similarly defined groups within the same species or a group for which geographical and/or cultural separation from phenotypically similar groups has led to acceptance of its separate identity." Almost all sheep are classified as being best suited to furnishing a certain product: wool, meat, milk, hides, or a combination in a dual-purpose breed. Other features used when classifying sheep include face color (generally white or black), tail length, presence or lack of horns, and the topography for which the breed has been developed. This last point is especially stressed in the UK, where breeds are described as either upland (hill or mountain) or lowland breeds. A sheep may also be of a fat-tailed type, which is a dual-purpose sheep common in Africa and Asia with larger deposits of fat within and around its tail.

 

Breeds are often categorized by the type of their wool. Fine wool breeds are those that have wool of great crimp and density, which are preferred for textiles. Most of these were derived from Merino sheep, and the breed continues to dominate the world sheep industry. Downs breeds have wool between the extremes, and are typically fast-growing meat and ram breeds with dark faces. Some major medium wool breeds, such as the Corriedale, are dual-purpose crosses of long and fine-wooled breeds and were created for high-production commercial flocks. Long wool breeds are the largest of sheep, with long wool and a slow rate of growth. Long wool sheep are most valued for crossbreeding to improve the attributes of other sheep types. For example: the American Columbia breed was developed by crossing Lincoln rams (a long wool breed) with fine-wooled Rambouillet ewes.

 

Coarse or carpet wool sheep are those with a medium to long length wool of characteristic coarseness. Breeds traditionally used for carpet wool show great variability, but the chief requirement is a wool that will not break down under heavy use (as would that of the finer breeds). As the demand for carpet-quality wool declines, some breeders of this type of sheep are attempting to use a few of these traditional breeds for alternative purposes. Others have always been primarily meat-class sheep.

 

A minor class of sheep are the dairy breeds. Dual-purpose breeds that may primarily be meat or wool sheep are often used secondarily as milking animals, but there are a few breeds that are predominantly used for milking. These sheep produce a higher quantity of milk and have slightly longer lactation curves. In the quality of their milk, the fat and protein content percentages of dairy sheep vary from non-dairy breeds, but lactose content does not.

 

A last group of sheep breeds is that of fur or hair sheep, which do not grow wool at all. Hair sheep are similar to the early domesticated sheep kept before woolly breeds were developed, and are raised for meat and pelts. Some modern breeds of hair sheep, such as the Dorper, result from crosses between wool and hair breeds. For meat and hide producers, hair sheep are cheaper to keep, as they do not need shearing. Hair sheep are also more resistant to parasites and hot weather.

 

With the modern rise of corporate agribusiness and the decline of localized family farms, many breeds of sheep are in danger of extinction. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust of the UK lists 22 native breeds as having only 3,000 registered animals (each), and The Livestock Conservancy lists 14 as either "critical" or "threatened". Preferences for breeds with uniform characteristics and fast growth have pushed heritage (or heirloom) breeds to the margins of the sheep industry. Those that remain are maintained through the efforts of conservation organizations, breed registries, and individual farmers dedicated to their preservation.

 

Diet

Sheep are herbivorous mammals. Most breeds prefer to graze on grass and other short roughage, avoiding the taller woody parts of plants that goats readily consume. Both sheep and goats use their lips and tongues to select parts of the plant that are easier to digest or higher in nutrition. Sheep, however, graze well in monoculture pastures where most goats fare poorly.

 

Ruminant system of a sheep

Like all ruminants, sheep have a complex digestive system composed of four chambers, allowing them to break down cellulose from stems, leaves, and seed hulls into simpler carbohydrates. When sheep graze, vegetation is chewed into a mass called a bolus, which is then passed into the rumen, via the reticulum. The rumen is a 19- to 38-liter (5 to 10 gallon) organ in which feed is fermented. The fermenting organisms include bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. (Other important rumen organisms include some archaea, which produce methane from carbon dioxide.) The bolus is periodically regurgitated back to the mouth as cud for additional chewing and salivation. After fermentation in the rumen, feed passes into the reticulum and the omasum; special feeds such as grains may bypass the rumen altogether. After the first three chambers, food moves into the abomasum for final digestion before processing by the intestines. The abomasum is the only one of the four chambers analogous to the human stomach, and is sometimes called the "true stomach".

 

Other than forage, the other staple feed for sheep is hay, often during the winter months. The ability to thrive solely on pasture (even without hay) varies with breed, but all sheep can survive on this diet. Also included in some sheep's diets are minerals, either in a trace mix or in licks. Feed provided to sheep must be specially formulated, as most cattle, poultry, pig, and even some goat feeds contain levels of copper that are lethal to sheep. The same danger applies to mineral supplements such as salt licks.

 

Grazing behavior

Sheep follow a diurnal pattern of activity, feeding from dawn to dusk, stopping sporadically to rest and chew their cud. Ideal pasture for sheep is not lawnlike grass, but an array of grasses, legumes and forbs. Types of land where sheep are raised vary widely, from pastures that are seeded and improved intentionally to rough, native lands. Common plants toxic to sheep are present in most of the world, and include (but are not limited to) cherry, some oaks and acorns, tomato, yew, rhubarb, potato, and rhododendron.

 

Effects on pasture

Sheep are largely grazing herbivores, unlike browsing animals such as goats and deer that prefer taller foliage. With a much narrower face, sheep crop plants very close to the ground and can overgraze a pasture much faster than cattle. For this reason, many shepherds use managed intensive rotational grazing, where a flock is rotated through multiple pastures, giving plants time to recover. Paradoxically, sheep can both cause and solve the spread of invasive plant species. By disturbing the natural state of pasture, sheep and other livestock can pave the way for invasive plants. However, sheep also prefer to eat invasives such as cheatgrass, leafy spurge, kudzu and spotted knapweed over native species such as sagebrush, making grazing sheep effective for conservation grazing. Research conducted in Imperial County, California compared lamb grazing with herbicides for weed control in seedling alfalfa fields. Three trials demonstrated that grazing lambs were just as effective as herbicides in controlling winter weeds. Entomologists also compared grazing lambs to insecticides for insect control in winter alfalfa. In this trial, lambs provided insect control as effectively as insecticides.

 

Behavior

Sheep are flock animals and strongly gregarious; much sheep behavior can be understood on the basis of these tendencies. The dominance hierarchy of sheep and their natural inclination to follow a leader to new pastures were the pivotal factors in sheep being one of the first domesticated livestock species. Furthermore, in contrast to the red deer and gazelle (two other ungulates of primary importance to meat production in prehistoric times), sheep do not defend territories although they do form home ranges. All sheep have a tendency to congregate close to other members of a flock, although this behavior varies with breed, and sheep can become stressed when separated from their flock members. During flocking, sheep have a strong tendency to follow, and a leader may simply be the first individual to move. Relationships in flocks tend to be closest among related sheep: in mixed-breed flocks, subgroups of the same breed tend to form, and a ewe and her direct descendants often move as a unit within large flocks. Sheep can become hefted to one particular local pasture (heft) so they do not roam freely in unfenced landscapes. Lambs learn the heft from ewes and if whole flocks are culled it must be retaught to the replacement animals.

 

Flock behaviour in sheep is generally only exhibited in groups of four or more sheep; fewer sheep may not react as expected when alone or with few other sheep. Being a prey species, the primary defense mechanism of sheep is to flee from danger when their flight zone is entered. Cornered sheep may charge and butt, or threaten by hoof stamping and adopting an aggressive posture. This is particularly true for ewes with newborn lambs.

 

In regions where sheep have no natural predators, none of the native breeds of sheep exhibit a strong flocking behavior.

 

Herding

Farmers exploit flocking behavior to keep sheep together on unfenced pastures such as hill farming, and to move them more easily. For this purpose shepherds may use herding dogs in this effort, with a highly bred herding ability. Sheep are food-oriented, and association of humans with regular feeding often results in sheep soliciting people for food. Those who are moving sheep may exploit this behavior by leading sheep with buckets of feed.

 

Dominance hierarchy

Sheep establish a dominance hierarchy through fighting, threats and competitiveness. Dominant animals are inclined to be more aggressive with other sheep, and usually feed first at troughs. Primarily among rams, horn size is a factor in the flock hierarchy. Rams with different size horns may be less inclined to fight to establish the dominance order, while rams with similarly sized horns are more so. Merinos have an almost linear hierarchy whereas there is a less rigid structure in Border Leicesters when a competitive feeding situation arises.

 

In sheep, position in a moving flock is highly correlated with social dominance, but there is no definitive study to show consistent voluntary leadership by an individual sheep.

 

Intelligence and learning ability

Sheep are frequently thought of as unintelligent animals. Their flocking behavior and quickness to flee and panic can make shepherding a difficult endeavor for the uninitiated. Despite these perceptions, a University of Illinois monograph on sheep reported their intelligence to be just below that of pigs and on par with that of cattle. Sheep can recognize individual human and ovine faces and remember them for years; they can remember 50 other different sheep faces for over two years; they can recognize and are attracted to individual sheep and humans by their faces, as they possess similar specialized neural systems in the temporal and frontal lobes of their brains to humans and have a greater involvement of the right brain hemisphere. In addition to long-term facial recognition of individuals, sheep can also differentiate emotional states through facial characteristics.[68][69] If worked with patiently, sheep may learn their names, and many sheep are trained to be led by halter for showing and other purposes. Sheep have also responded well to clicker training. Sheep have been used as pack animals; Tibetan nomads distribute baggage equally throughout a flock as it is herded between living sites.

 

It has been reported that some sheep have apparently shown problem-solving abilities; a flock in West Yorkshire, England allegedly found a way to get over cattle grids by rolling on their backs, although documentation of this has relied on anecdotal accounts.

 

Vocalisations

Sounds made by domestic sheep include bleats, grunts, rumbles and snorts. Bleating ("baaing") is used mostly for contact communication, especially between dam and lambs, but also at times between other flock members. The bleats of individual sheep are distinctive, enabling the ewe and her lambs to recognize each other's vocalizations. Vocal communication between lambs and their dam declines to a very low level within several weeks after parturition. A variety of bleats may be heard, depending on sheep age and circumstances. Apart from contact communication, bleating may signal distress, frustration or impatience; however, sheep are usually silent when in pain. Isolation commonly prompts bleating by sheep. Pregnant ewes may grunt when in labor. Rumbling sounds are made by the ram during courting; somewhat similar rumbling sounds may be made by the ewe, especially when with her neonate lambs. A snort (explosive exhalation through the nostrils) may signal aggression or a warning, and is often elicited from startled sheep.

 

Lamb

In sheep breeds lacking facial wool, the visual field is wide. In 10 sheep (Cambridge, Lleyn and Welsh Mountain breeds, which lack facial wool), the visual field ranged from 298° to 325°, averaging 313.1°, with binocular overlap ranging from 44.5° to 74°, averaging 61.7°. In some breeds, unshorn facial wool can limit the visual field; in some individuals, this may be enough to cause "wool blindness". In 60 Merinos, visual fields ranged from 219.1° to 303.0°, averaging 269.9°, and the binocular field ranged from 8.9° to 77.7°, averaging 47.5°; 36% of the measurements were limited by wool, although photographs of the experiments indicate that only limited facial wool regrowth had occurred since shearing. In addition to facial wool (in some breeds), visual field limitations can include ears and (in some breeds) horns, so the visual field can be extended by tilting the head. Sheep eyes exhibit very low hyperopia and little astigmatism. Such visual characteristics are likely to produce a well-focused retinal image of objects in both the middle and long distance. Because sheep eyes have no accommodation, one might expect the image of very near objects to be blurred, but a rather clear near image could be provided by the tapetum and large retinal image of the sheep's eye, and adequate close vision may occur at muzzle length. Good depth perception, inferred from the sheep's sure-footedness, was confirmed in "visual cliff" experiments; behavioral responses indicating depth perception are seen in lambs at one day old. Sheep are thought to have colour vision, and can distinguish between a variety of colours: black, red, brown, green, yellow and white. Sight is a vital part of sheep communication, and when grazing, they maintain visual contact with each other. Each sheep lifts its head upwards to check the position of other sheep in the flock. This constant monitoring is probably what keeps the sheep in a flock as they move along grazing. Sheep become stressed when isolated; this stress is reduced if they are provided with a mirror, indicating that the sight of other sheep reduces stress.

 

Taste is the most important sense in sheep, establishing forage preferences, with sweet and sour plants being preferred and bitter plants being more commonly rejected. Touch and sight are also important in relation to specific plant characteristics, such as succulence and growth form.

 

The ram uses his vomeronasal organ (sometimes called the Jacobson's organ) to sense the pheromones of ewes and detect when they are in estrus. The ewe uses her vomeronasal organ for early recognition of her neonate lamb.

 

Reproduction

Sheep follow a similar reproductive strategy to other herd animals. A group of ewes is generally mated by a single ram, who has either been chosen by a breeder or (in feral populations) has established dominance through physical contest with other rams. Most sheep are seasonal breeders, although some are able to breed year-round. Ewes generally reach sexual maturity at six to eight months old, and rams generally at four to six months. However, there are exceptions. For example, Finnsheep ewe lambs may reach puberty as early as 3 to 4 months, and Merino ewes sometimes reach puberty at 18 to 20 months. Ewes have estrus cycles about every 17 days, during which they emit a scent and indicate readiness through physical displays towards rams.

 

In feral sheep, rams may fight during the rut to determine which individuals may mate with ewes. Rams, especially unfamiliar ones, will also fight outside the breeding period to establish dominance; rams can kill one another if allowed to mix freely. During the rut, even usually friendly rams may become aggressive towards humans due to increases in their hormone levels.

 

After mating, sheep have a gestation period of about five months, and normal labor takes one to three hours. Although some breeds regularly throw larger litters of lambs, most produce single or twin lambs. During or soon after labor, ewes and lambs may be confined to small lambing jugs, small pens designed to aid both careful observation of ewes and to cement the bond between them and their lambs.

  

A lamb's first steps

Ovine obstetrics can be problematic. By selectively breeding ewes that produce multiple offspring with higher birth weights for generations, sheep producers have inadvertently caused some domestic sheep to have difficulty lambing; balancing ease of lambing with high productivity is one of the dilemmas of sheep breeding. In the case of any such problems, those present at lambing may assist the ewe by extracting or repositioning lambs. After the birth, ewes ideally break the amniotic sac (if it is not broken during labor), and begin licking clean the lamb. Most lambs will begin standing within an hour of birth. In normal situations, lambs nurse after standing, receiving vital colostrum milk. Lambs that either fail to nurse or are rejected by the ewe require help to survive, such as bottle-feeding or fostering by another ewe.

 

Most lambs begin life being born outdoors. After lambs are several weeks old, lamb marking (ear tagging, docking, mulesing, and castrating) is carried out. Vaccinations are usually carried out at this point as well. Ear tags with numbers are attached, or ear marks are applied, for ease of later identification of sheep. Docking and castration are commonly done after 24 hours (to avoid interference with maternal bonding and consumption of colostrum) and are often done not later than one week after birth, to minimize pain, stress, recovery time and complications. The first course of vaccinations (commonly anti-clostridial) is commonly given at an age of about 10 to 12 weeks; i.e. when the concentration of maternal antibodies passively acquired via colostrum is expected to have fallen low enough to permit development of active immunity. Ewes are often revaccinated annually about 3 weeks before lambing, to provide high antibody concentrations in colostrum during the first several hours after lambing. Ram lambs that will either be slaughtered or separated from ewes before sexual maturity are not usually castrated. Objections to all these procedures have been raised by animal rights groups, but farmers defend them by saying they save money, and inflict only temporary pain.

 

Homosexuality

Sheep are the only species of mammal except for humans which exhibits exclusive homosexual behavior. About 10% of rams refuse to mate with ewes but readily mate with other rams, and thirty percent of all rams demonstrate at least some homosexual behavior. Additionally, a small number of females that were accompanied by a male fetus in utero (i.e. as fraternal twins) are freemartins (female animals that are behaviorally masculine and lack functioning ovaries).

 

Health

Sheep may fall victim to poisons, infectious diseases, and physical injuries. As a prey species, a sheep's system is adapted to hide the obvious signs of illness, to prevent being targeted by predators. However, some signs of ill health are obvious, with sick sheep eating little, vocalizing excessively, and being generally listless. Throughout history, much of the money and labor of sheep husbandry has aimed to prevent sheep ailments. Historically, shepherds often created remedies by experimentation on the farm. In some developed countries, including the United States, sheep lack the economic importance for drug companies to perform expensive clinical trials required to approve more than a relatively limited number of drugs for ovine use. However, extra-label drug use in sheep production is permitted in many jurisdictions, subject to certain restrictions. In the US, for example, regulations governing extra-label drug use in animals are found in 21 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 530. In the 20th and 21st centuries, a minority of sheep owners have turned to alternative treatments such as homeopathy, herbalism and even traditional Chinese medicine to treat sheep veterinary problems. Despite some favorable anecdotal evidence, the effectiveness of alternative veterinary medicine has been met with skepticism in scientific journals. The need for traditional anti-parasite drugs and antibiotics is widespread, and is the main impediment to certified organic farming with sheep.

 

Many breeders take a variety of preventive measures to ward off problems. The first is to ensure all sheep are healthy when purchased. Many buyers avoid outlets known to be clearing houses for animals culled from healthy flocks as either sick or simply inferior. This can also mean maintaining a closed flock, and quarantining new sheep for a month. Two fundamental preventive programs are maintaining good nutrition and reducing stress in the sheep. Restraint, isolation, loud noises, novel situations, pain, heat, extreme cold, fatigue and other stressors can lead to secretion of cortisol, a stress hormone, in amounts that may indicate welfare problems. Excessive stress can compromise the immune system. "Shipping fever" (pneumonic mannheimiosis, formerly called pasteurellosis) is a disease of particular concern, that can occur as a result of stress, notably during transport and (or) handling. Pain, fear and several other stressors can cause secretion of epinephrine (adrenaline). Considerable epinephrine secretion in the final days before slaughter can adversely affect meat quality (by causing glycogenolysis, removing the substrate for normal post-slaughter acidification of meat) and result in meat becoming more susceptible to colonization by spoilage bacteria. Because of such issues, low-stress handling is essential in sheep management. Avoiding poisoning is also important; common poisons are pesticide sprays, inorganic fertilizer, motor oil, as well as radiator coolant containing ethylene glycol.

 

Common forms of preventive medication for sheep are vaccinations and treatments for parasites. Both external and internal parasites are the most prevalent malady in sheep, and are either fatal, or reduce the productivity of flocks. Worms are the most common internal parasites. They are ingested during grazing, incubate within the sheep, and are expelled through the digestive system (beginning the cycle again). Oral anti-parasitic medicines, known as drenches, are given to a flock to treat worms, sometimes after worm eggs in the feces has been counted to assess infestation levels. Afterwards, sheep may be moved to a new pasture to avoid ingesting the same parasites. External sheep parasites include: lice (for different parts of the body), sheep keds, nose bots, sheep itch mites, and maggots. Keds are blood-sucking parasites that cause general malnutrition and decreased productivity, but are not fatal. Maggots are those of the bot fly and the blow-fly, commonly Lucilia sericata or its relative L. cuprina. Fly maggots cause the extremely destructive condition of flystrike. Flies lay their eggs in wounds or wet, manure-soiled wool; when the maggots hatch they burrow into a sheep's flesh, eventually causing death if untreated. In addition to other treatments, crutching (shearing wool from a sheep's rump) is a common preventive method. Some countries allow mulesing, a practice that involves stripping away the skin on the rump to prevent fly-strike, normally performed when the sheep is a lamb. Nose bots are fly larvae that inhabit a sheep's sinuses, causing breathing difficulties and discomfort. Common signs are a discharge from the nasal passage, sneezing, and frantic movement such as head shaking. External parasites may be controlled through the use of backliners, sprays or immersive sheep dips.

 

A wide array of bacterial and viral diseases affect sheep. Diseases of the hoof, such as foot rot and foot scald may occur, and are treated with footbaths and other remedies. Foot rot is present in over 97% of flocks in the UK. These painful conditions cause lameness and hinder feeding. Ovine Johne's disease is a wasting disease that affects young sheep. Bluetongue disease is an insect-borne illness causing fever and inflammation of the mucous membranes. Ovine rinderpest (or peste des petits ruminants) is a highly contagious and often fatal viral disease affecting sheep and goats. Sheep may also be affected by primary or secondary photosensitization. Tetanus can also afflict sheep through wounds from shearing, docking, castration, or vaccination. The organism also can be introduced into the reproductive tract by unsanitary humans who assist ewes during lambing.

 

A few sheep conditions are transmissible to humans. Orf (also known as scabby mouth, contagious ecthyma or soremouth) is a skin disease leaving lesions that is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact. Cutaneous anthrax is also called woolsorter's disease, as the spores can be transmitted in unwashed wool. More seriously, the organisms that can cause spontaneous enzootic abortion in sheep are easily transmitted to pregnant women. Also of concern are the prion disease scrapie and the virus that causes foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), as both can devastate flocks. The latter poses a slight risk to humans. During the 2001 FMD pandemic in the UK, hundreds of sheep were culled and some rare British breeds were at risk of extinction due to this.

 

Of the 600,300 sheep lost to the US economy in 2004, 37.3% were lost to predators, while 26.5% were lost to some form of disease. Poisoning accounted for 1.7% of non-productive deaths.

 

Predators

A lamb being attacked by coyotes with a bite to the throat

Other than parasites and disease, predation is a threat to sheep and the profitability of sheep raising. Sheep have little ability to defend themselves, compared with other species kept as livestock. Even if sheep survive an attack, they may die from their injuries or simply from panic. However, the impact of predation varies dramatically with region. In Africa, Australia, the Americas, and parts of Europe and Asia predators are a serious problem. In the United States, for instance, over one third of sheep deaths in 2004 were caused by predation. In contrast, other nations are virtually devoid of sheep predators, particularly islands known for extensive sheep husbandry. Worldwide, canids—including the domestic dog—are responsible for most sheep deaths. Other animals that occasionally prey on sheep include: felines, bears, birds of prey, ravens and feral hogs.

 

Sheep producers have used a wide variety of measures to combat predation. Pre-modern shepherds used their own presence, livestock guardian dogs, and protective structures such as barns and fencing. Fencing (both regular and electric), penning sheep at night and lambing indoors all continue to be widely used. More modern shepherds used guns, traps, and poisons to kill predators, causing significant decreases in predator populations. In the wake of the environmental and conservation movements, the use of these methods now usually falls under the purview of specially designated government agencies in most developed countries.

 

The 1970s saw a resurgence in the use of livestock guardian dogs and the development of new methods of predator control by sheep producers, many of them non-lethal. Donkeys and guard llamas have been used since the 1980s in sheep operations, using the same basic principle as livestock guardian dogs. Interspecific pasturing, usually with larger livestock such as cattle or horses, may help to deter predators, even if such species do not actively guard sheep. In addition to animal guardians, contemporary sheep operations may use non-lethal predator deterrents such as motion-activated lights and noisy alarms.

 

Economic importance

Main article: Agricultural economics

Global sheep stock

in 2019

Number in millions

1. China163.5 (13.19%)

2. India74.3 (5.99%)

3. Australia65.8 (5.31%)

4. Nigeria46.9 (3.78%)

5. Iran41.3 (3.33%)

6. Sudan40.9 (3.3%)

7. Chad35.9 (2.9%)

8. Turkey35.2 (2.84%)

9. United Kingdom33.6 (2.71%)

10. Mongolia32.3 (2.61%)

World total1,239.8

 

Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Sheep are an important part of the global agricultural economy. However, their once vital status has been largely replaced by other livestock species, especially the pig, chicken, and cow. China, Australia, India, and Iran have the largest modern flocks, and serve both local and exportation needs for wool and mutton. Other countries such as New Zealand have smaller flocks but retain a large international economic impact due to their export of sheep products. Sheep also play a major role in many local economies, which may be niche markets focused on organic or sustainable agriculture and local food customers. Especially in developing countries, such flocks may be a part of subsistence agriculture rather than a system of trade. Sheep themselves may be a medium of trade in barter economies.

 

Domestic sheep provide a wide array of raw materials. Wool was one of the first textiles, although in the late 20th century wool prices began to fall dramatically as the result of the popularity and cheap prices for synthetic fabrics. For many sheep owners, the cost of shearing is greater than the possible profit from the fleece, making subsisting on wool production alone practically impossible without farm subsidies. Fleeces are used as material in making alternative products such as wool insulation. In the 21st century, the sale of meat is the most profitable enterprise in the sheep industry, even though far less sheep meat is consumed than chicken, pork or beef.

 

Sheepskin is likewise used for making clothes, footwear, rugs, and other products. Byproducts from the slaughter of sheep are also of value: sheep tallow can be used in candle and soap making, sheep bone and cartilage has been used to furnish carved items such as dice and buttons as well as rendered glue and gelatin. Sheep intestine can be formed into sausage casings, and lamb intestine has been formed into surgical sutures, as well as strings for musical instruments and tennis rackets. Sheep droppings, which are high in cellulose, have even been sterilized and mixed with traditional pulp materials to make paper. Of all sheep byproducts, perhaps the most valuable is lanolin: the waterproof, fatty substance found naturally in sheep's wool and used as a base for innumerable cosmetics and other products.

 

Some farmers who keep sheep also make a profit from live sheep. Providing lambs for youth programs such as 4-H and competition at agricultural shows is often a dependable avenue for the sale of sheep. Farmers may also choose to focus on a particular breed of sheep in order to sell registered purebred animals, as well as provide a ram rental service for breeding. A new option for deriving profit from live sheep is the rental of flocks for grazing; these "mowing services" are hired in order to keep unwanted vegetation down in public spaces and to lessen fire hazard.

 

Despite the falling demand and price for sheep products in many markets, sheep have distinct economic advantages when compared with other livestock. They do not require expensive housing, such as that used in the intensive farming of chickens or pigs. They are an efficient use of land; roughly six sheep can be kept on the amount that would suffice for a single cow or horse. Sheep can also consume plants, such as noxious weeds, that most other animals will not touch, and produce more young at a faster rate. Also, in contrast to most livestock species, the cost of raising sheep is not necessarily tied to the price of feed crops such as grain, soybeans and corn. Combined with the lower cost of quality sheep, all these factors combine to equal a lower overhead for sheep producers, thus entailing a higher profitability potential for the small farmer. Sheep are especially beneficial for independent producers, including family farms with limited resources, as the sheep industry is one of the few types of animal agriculture that has not been vertically integrated by agribusiness. However, small flocks, from 10 to 50 ewes, often are not profitable because they tend to be poorly managed. The primary reason is that mechanization is not feasible, so return per hour of labor is not maximized. Small farm flocks generally are used simply to control weeds on irrigation ditches or maintained as a hobby.

 

Shoulder of lamb

Sheep meat and milk were one of the earliest staple proteins consumed by human civilization after the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. Sheep meat prepared for food is known as either mutton or lamb, and approximately 540 million sheep are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide. "Mutton" is derived from the Old French moton, which was the word for sheep used by the Anglo-Norman rulers of much of the British Isles in the Middle Ages. This became the name for sheep meat in English, while the Old English word sceap was kept for the live animal. Throughout modern history, "mutton" has been limited to the meat of mature sheep usually at least two years of age; "lamb" is used for that of immature sheep less than a year.

 

In the 21st century, the nations with the highest consumption of sheep meat are the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, New Zealand, Australia, Greece, Uruguay, the United Kingdom and Ireland. These countries eat 14–40 lbs (3–18 kg) of sheep meat per capita, per annum. Sheep meat is also popular in France, Africa (especially the Arab world), the Caribbean, the rest of the Middle East, India, and parts of China. This often reflects a history of sheep production. In these countries in particular, dishes comprising alternative cuts and offal may be popular or traditional. Sheep testicles—called animelles or lamb fries—are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. Perhaps the most unusual dish of sheep meat is the Scottish haggis, composed of various sheep innards cooked along with oatmeal and chopped onions inside its stomach. In comparison, countries such as the U.S. consume only a pound or less (under 0.5 kg), with Americans eating 50 pounds (22 kg) of pork and 65 pounds (29 kg) of beef. In addition, such countries rarely eat mutton, and may favor the more expensive cuts of lamb: mostly lamb chops and leg of lamb.

 

Though sheep's milk may be drunk rarely in fresh form, today it is used predominantly in cheese and yogurt making. Sheep have only two teats, and produce a far smaller volume of milk than cows. However, as sheep's milk contains far more fat, solids, and minerals than cow's milk, it is ideal for the cheese-making process. It also resists contamination during cooling better because of its much higher calcium content. Well-known cheeses made from sheep milk include the feta of Bulgaria and Greece, Roquefort of France, Manchego from Spain, the pecorino romano (the Italian word for "sheep" is pecore) and ricotta of Italy. Yogurts, especially some forms of strained yogurt, may also be made from sheep milk. Many of these products are now often made with cow's milk, especially when produced outside their country of origin. Sheep milk contains 4.8% lactose, which may affect those who are intolerant.

 

As with other domestic animals, the meat of uncastrated males is inferior in quality, especially as they grow. A "bucky" lamb is a lamb which was not castrated early enough, or which was castrated improperly (resulting in one testicle being retained). These lambs are worth less at market.

 

In science

Sheep are generally too large and reproduce too slowly to make ideal research subjects, and thus are not a common model organism. They have, however, played an influential role in some fields of science. In particular, the Roslin Institute of Edinburgh, Scotland used sheep for genetics research that produced groundbreaking results. In 1995, two ewes named Megan and Morag were the first mammals cloned from differentiated cells, also referred to as gynomerogony. A year later, a Finnish Dorset sheep named Dolly, dubbed "the world's most famous sheep" in Scientific American, was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell. Following this, Polly and Molly were the first mammals to be simultaneously cloned and transgenic.

 

As of 2008, the sheep genome has not been fully sequenced, although a detailed genetic map has been published, and a draft version of the complete genome produced by assembling sheep DNA sequences using information given by the genomes of other mammals. In 2012, a transgenic sheep named "Peng Peng" was cloned by Chinese scientists, who spliced his genes with that of a roundworm (C. elegans) in order to increase production of fats healthier for human consumption.

 

In the study of natural selection, the population of Soay sheep that remain on the island of Hirta have been used to explore the relation of body size and coloration to reproductive success. Soay sheep come in several colors, and researchers investigated why the larger, darker sheep were in decline; this occurrence contradicted the rule of thumb that larger members of a population tend to be more successful reproductively. The feral Soays on Hirta are especially useful subjects because they are isolated.

 

Domestic sheep are sometimes used in medical research, particularly for researching cardiovascular physiology, in areas such as hypertension and heart failure. Pregnant sheep are also a useful model for human pregnancy, and have been used to investigate the effects on fetal development of malnutrition and hypoxia. In behavioral sciences, sheep have been used in isolated cases for the study of facial recognition, as their mental process of recognition is qualitatively similar to humans.

 

Cultural impact

Sheep have had a strong presence in many cultures, especially in areas where they form the most common type of livestock. In the English language, to call someone a sheep or ovine may allude that they are timid and easily led. In contradiction to this image, male sheep are often used as symbols of virility and power; the logos of the Los Angeles Rams football team and the Dodge Ram pickup truck allude to males of the bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis.

 

Counting sheep is popularly said to be an aid to sleep, and some ancient systems of counting sheep persist today. Sheep also enter in colloquial sayings and idiom frequently with such phrases as "black sheep". To call an individual a black sheep implies that they are an odd or disreputable member of a group. This usage derives from the recessive trait that causes an occasional black lamb to be born into an entirely white flock. These black sheep were considered undesirable by shepherds, as black wool is not as commercially viable as white wool. Citizens who accept overbearing governments have been referred to by the Portmanteau neologism of sheeple. Somewhat differently, the adjective "sheepish" is also used to describe embarrassment.

 

In heraldry

In British heraldry, sheep appear in the form of rams, sheep proper and lambs. These are distinguished by the ram being depicted with horns and a tail, the sheep with neither and the lamb with its tail only. A further variant of the lamb, termed the Paschal lamb, is depicted as carrying a Christian cross and with a halo over its head. Rams' heads, portrayed without a neck and facing the viewer, are also found in British armories. The fleece, depicted as an entire sheepskin carried by a ring around its midsection, originally became known through its use in the arms of the Order of the Golden Fleece and was later adopted by towns and individuals with connections to the wool industry. A sheep on a blue field is depicted on the greater/royal arms of the king of Denmark to represent the Faroe Islands. In 2004 a modernized arms has been adopted by the Faroe Islands, which based on a 15th century coat of arms.

 

Religion and folklore

In antiquity, symbolism involving sheep cropped up in religions in the ancient Near East, the Mideast, and the Mediterranean area: Çatalhöyük, ancient Egyptian religion, the Cana'anite and Phoenician tradition, Judaism, Greek religion, and others. Religious symbolism and ritual involving sheep began with some of the first known faiths: Skulls of rams (along with bulls) occupied central placement in shrines at the Çatalhöyük settlement in 8,000 BCE. In Ancient Egyptian religion, the ram was the symbol of several gods: Khnum, Heryshaf and Amun (in his incarnation as a god of fertility). Other deities occasionally shown with ram features include the goddess Ishtar, the Phoenician god Baal-Hamon, and the Babylonian god Ea-Oannes. In Madagascar, sheep were not eaten as they were believed to be incarnations of the souls of ancestors.

 

There are many ancient Greek references to sheep: that of Chrysomallos, the golden-fleeced ram, continuing to be told through into the modern era. Astrologically, Aries, the ram, is the first sign of the classical Greek zodiac, and the sheep is the eighth of the twelve animals associated with the 12-year cycle of in the Chinese zodiac, related to the Chinese calendar. It is said in Chinese traditions that Hou ji sacrificed sheep. Mongolia, shagai are an ancient form of dice made from the cuboid bones of sheep that are often used for fortunetelling purposes.

 

Sheep play an important role in all the Abrahamic faiths; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and King David were all shepherds. According to the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac, a ram is sacrificed as a substitute for Isaac after an angel stays Abraham's hand (in the Islamic tradition, Abraham was about to sacrifice Ishmael). Eid al-Adha is a major annual festival in Islam in which sheep (or other animals) are sacrificed in remembrance of this act. Sheep are occasionally sacrificed to commemorate important secular events in Islamic cultures. Greeks and Romans sacrificed sheep regularly in religious practice, and Judaism once sacrificed sheep as a Korban (sacrifice), such as the Passover lamb. Ovine symbols—such as the ceremonial blowing of a shofar—still find a presence in modern Judaic traditions.

 

Collectively, followers of Christianity are often referred to as a flock, with Christ as the Good Shepherd, and sheep are an element in the Christian iconography of the birth of Jesus. Some Christian saints are considered patrons of shepherds, and even of sheep themselves. Christ is also portrayed as the Sacrificial lamb of God (Agnus Dei) and Easter celebrations in Greece and Romania traditionally feature a meal of Paschal lamb. A church leader is often called the pastor, which is derived from the Latin word for shepherd. In many western Christian traditions bishops carry a staff, which also serves as a symbol of the episcopal office, known as a crosier, which is modeled on the shepherd's crook.

 

Sheep are key symbols in fables and nursery rhymes like The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Little Bo Peep, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, and Mary Had a Little Lamb; novels such as George Orwell's Animal Farm and Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase; songs such as Bach's Sheep may safely graze (Schafe können sicher weiden) and Pink Floyd's "Sheep", and poems like William Blake's "The Lamb".

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Bob Wiebe, Claire Wiebe, Joni Rubin and Marvin Quinn attend CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)

this is the greatest picture in the history of humankind.

from Damanhur Spiritual EcoCommunity, bit.ly/2AU9lCI

Temples of Humankind, 20 years Open to the World. Ventenalle 2012

Humankind has not woven the web of life.

We are but one thread within it.

Whatever we do to the web,

we do to ourselves.

All things are bound together.

All things connect.

 

~Chief Seattle

 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Dawn Bui and Kieu Tran attend CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)

...are 51% of humankind, empowering them will change everything… I can promise you that women working together linked, informed, and educated can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken panet.

 

Isabel Allende, author.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Matt Brown attends CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Natalie Shrik for Drew Altizer Photography)

 

“Humankind has not woven the web of life.

We are but one thread within it.

Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

All things are bound together.

All things connect.”

 

Chief Seattle

Darwin's theory changed humankind own perception.

DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 22JAN16 - Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief, The Economist, United Kingdom, is captured during the open forum session 'Life in 2030: Humankind and the Machine' at the Annual Meeting 2016 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2016.

 

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Michele Limina

PROF. DOUG KING URGES CONSTRUCTION PARADIGM CHANGE

  

Brandon 3 October 2013: At the Lignacite Lecture 2013 Professor Doug King spoke about Building on Evolution, and called for the need to change the construction paradigm to ensure high performance, low impact buildings, which are essential to the future of humankind.

  

The Lecture, which was this year held at The Royal Society in London, was attended by architects, specifiers, designers, environmentalists and representatives from construction and local authorities, who came to hear Professor Doug King speak about the need to learn from the evolved wisdom of historic builders.

  

He said: “In the next 40 years, to accommodate the rapid growth in urban population, humankind will likely have to build as much new urban fabric as already exists today. We will not have time to correct mistakes. We need to ensure that the buildings we put up are genuinely sustainable: appropriate for their cultural and climatic locations, as well as minimising use of resources.

  

“Everywhere I look, I find evidence of underlying physical properties that have influenced the choices of generations of builders. From structure to roof tiles to paint, the properties of certain materials and methods have brought benefits to buildings, despite these rarely being overtly recognised. We need to examine these with a view to identifying new opportunities for creating high performance, low impact buildings that have not yet even been imagined.”

  

Chairman of leading masonry products manufacturer, Lignacite, Giles de Lotbiniere, was delighted Professor King accepted his invitation to address this year’s Lecture: “He is a building physicist and one of the most influential figures on sustainable construction in the world. He raised some important points, and at Lignacite we are already working to address his challenge of developing high performance, low impact buildings and conserving resources by using up to 50% of recycled materials in our products.

  

“Recently we also launched The Carbon Buster, which is the world’s first carbon negative building block, and incorporates recycled materials and carbonated aggregates, which are derived from by-products from waste to energy plants. We believe this block has an important role to play in helping to meet the UK’s zero carbon homes targets and build a more sustainable future,” he said.

  

The Lignacite Lecture is an annual event, which dates back to year 2000. Since then, a variety of topics ranging from The Relationship between Art & Architecture to Biomimicry and the Ecological Age have been covered by high profile speakers, including Sir Terry Farrell, Anthony Gormley OBE, Ken Shuttleworth and Professor David Mach.

  

ENDS

  

More information:

An edited version of Professor King’s Lignacite Lecture is available here: www.dougking.co.uk/building-on-evolution/

  

For more information, please contact marit@meyerbell.co.uk

  

Lignacite:

Lignacite is a leading UK manufacturer of masonry products designed for internal or external use. Founded in 1947, it remains a family owned company managed by Allan Eastwood. The Lignacite masonry range incorporates a range of recycled and waste materials, including glass, wood particles, Furnace Ash, Recycled concrete, china clay and shells. The company also provides products to encourage biodiversity in construction. The company uses aggregates from its own local quarry in Brandon, and has supplied many high profile buildings in the UK, including the Shard, the Gherkin, Olympic Village, Heathrow Airport, Stanstead Airport, Canary Warf and the Olympic Stadium. For more information, visit www.lignacite.co.uk

  

Professor Doug King:

Doug King FREng CEng CPhys CEnv FInstP FEI FCIBSE HonFRIBA is, according to Building Design, one of the most influential figures in UK sustainable construction. He has been the environmental engineer behind numerous ground-breaking, critically acclaimed, buildings including; the Stirling Prize shortlisted Weald & Downland Gridshell, The Innovate Office Leeds, which triggered the introduction of BREEAM Outstanding, The Genzyme Centre in Cambridge Massachusetts, at the time the largest LEED Platinum building in the world, and Sainsbury’s original Eco-Superstore at Greenwich. Doug King now works as a freelance consultant, helping construction clients, designers and supply chains to realise genuinely high performance, low impact buildings. He teaches environmental design widely, to both engineers and architects and is a visiting professor at universities in the UK, China and Russia.

For more information please visit: www.dougking.co.uk

For video highlights of the lecture please see: www.dougking.co.uk/building-on-evolution

   

Christopher Hall, Head of Health Solutions (APAC), Fitbit

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Atmosphere at CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)

For the first few hundred thousand years humankind knew exactly where food came from. There was a close relationship between hunter and prey, gatherer and bounty, farmer and harvest. But somehow, in the last few decades, humankind just lost it. Beyond the fact that milk may contain more growth hormones than certain baseball players (looking at you big headed Barry Bonds) and genetically modified veggies may be insect-lettuce hybrids, it is simply difficult to fall in love with food when you don’t know its origin.

For the first few hundred thousand years humankind knew exactly where food came from. There was a close relationship between hunter and prey, gatherer and bounty, farmer and harvest. But somehow, in the last few decades, humankind just lost it. Beyond the fact that milk may contain more growth hormones than certain baseball players (looking at you big headed Barry Bonds) and genetically modified veggies may be insect-lettuce hybrids, it is simply difficult to fall in love with food when you don’t know its origin.

 

5.Soul communications——Soul calligraphies

 

——〇cindy

   

I was curious when I saw this kind of characters or words. What did they look like? I would prefer to describe it as hieroglyphic——one oldest word-formation of humankind, or it seemed as early oriental oracle bone inscriptions. Some of them look like totem, a culture phenomenon in ancient history. Some of them look like Arabic. Some of them just look like those words from E.T.It is Ocindy’s deva-words that attract me rather than herself.Ocindy is a citizen of China, a yellow-skin and black-hair Chinese girl to the core. She can speak a little English, which she had learned from middle school. Her handwritings of Chinese character are commonplace, but how can she write such special characters? This character is not like common character or picture, but resembles some kind of pictograph. I met her after she just spent her 20-year-old’s birthday. So she is pretty young. When asked how she can write such characters, Ocindy was very happy to share his spiritual journey.Ocindy explained that those characters she wrote is called deva-words which contain cosmic energy, cosmic information and cosmic code(CECICC). Deva-words are different from any kind of words and can only be understood by those who have same CECICCI asked her,” Is there anyone can understand your deva-words?”Ocindy replied, ” Of course. And not a few.”I was surprised by her answer and said,” How can they know their meanings?”She told me,” those with the same CECICC came from the same place, but scattered latterly on earth. And they are just the people whom I am looking for. When they saw my deva-words, they can understand their meanings no matter where they live and which language they have learned. Because all human beings are connected on spiritual level, and have nothing to do with nationality, skin color and gender. Anyone who has natural affinity with me will certainly know that information transmitted by deva-words. You can call them “soul words”, which mean they can be understood by telesthesia.”I became interested in “ the same place” she had just said, so I asked her,” You came from the same place, as you said，and then Where?”Ocindy frowned and asked me,” If I you tell you, can you understand?”I said,” Maybe I came from the same place with you, just tell.”Ocindy answered me with smile, ”All right, all sentient beings came from the same place, the center of the universe(CU). CU is a boundless light ocean with inexhaustible cosmic energy, where is the hometown of all spirits.”“All spirits here own the precious energy resource, and someone start to do what they like. Sometimes they may harm the interests of others, so they separate from CU gradually. They could create anything they want because of their powerful energy. Therefore, one planet after another had come into being, which were created by those high-energy spirits. The earth, a high energy planet, is also a high-power cosmic spirit, who is fostering his offspring on her body.”This cosmos became colorful with temporal and spatial evolution, and there were more and more spirits created negative stuff. In this way, their energy became lower and lower and couldn’t return to CU, because CU is a high-energy place. Those spirits misused their valuable energy and became low-energy. They couldn’t return to their wonderful home. Thereupon high-energy cosmic spirits has been making great efforts to salvation those low-energy ones. What we are doing is try to find those spirits separated from CU by transmitting high-dimensional CECICC. Now, a rare wonderful opportunity is coming. The direct return route to CU is available(also called Heavenly Gate is wide open), which is a glory occasion when all high-energy spirits wish to find those separated ones and guide them to return to CU.“The deva-words I wrote are spreading the information of high dimensional cosmic spirits from CU. If anyone who has natural affinity with me will understand this information and not hesitate to contract us. When some Cosmic Journeyer show up, we can find more. In doing so, the more information we disseminate, the more spirits can be taken home. Just remember, we are actually members of a same big family. Our master is waiting for us.”Ocindy also said,” I know that you are curious about my capability of deva-words. Let me tell you. I have mentor, and we all call him venerable Master, who is searching for Cosmic Journeyer worldwide. And I am just one of those Cosmic Journeyer found by Master. At the present, I know, it’s urgent. There are many important things needed to done because many Cosmic Journeyer have not appeared in globe wide. So I have to spread this information to find them.”Then, I suddenly found that this girl is not simple. She is like psychic in some European and American areas. Their starting point is no problem no matter whether she can find more Cosmic Journeyer or not. She is going a different way from ordinary person. In any event，I wish her good luck.28th May, 2012

    

当我第一次看到这样的文字时，心里很好奇。这是什么样的一

与其说是〇cindy这个人吸引了我，不如说是〇cindy的字让我认识了〇cindy.

〇cindy国籍中国，是一个地道的有着黄皮肤黑头发的中国姑娘。她除了会说本国话以外，会简单的一点英语，这还是她上初中时，没有忘记留下的。〇cindy的中国字写的一般，但是，她是怎么写出这样字不像字，画不像画，又什么都类似的文字的呢？当我接触到她的时候，才发现原来她并不大，刚过完20岁生日。当问到是如何写出这些文字时，〇cindy非常高兴的与我讲述她得心灵历程。

〇cindy介绍她写的文字全名叫做——能量信息密码字。是一种具有宇宙能量、信息和密码的表达方式，通过类似文字的载体把这种能量、信息和密码表现出来。它不同于任何一种文字，因为只要是任何一种文字，就会有看的懂的人。但是，这种能量信息密码文需要同样具备宇宙能量信息密码的人才能看懂。

当我问道：有人能看懂你写的文字时吗？

〇cindy回答说：当然有！而且还不少呢！

当时我很吃惊：他们是怎么能看懂得？

〇cindy说：因为他们是和我一样同样具备宇宙能量信息密码的人，我们都是从一个地方来的，现在我们在地球上分散了，我就通过这样的文字找我所需要寻找的人，当他们看到我所传递出的信息时，无论是哪一个国家的人都会明白我文字中所代表的含义，因为我们这个地球上虽然有不同国家、不同肤色、不同性别的人，但是，所有人的心灵都是相通的，只要和我有缘，一定会明白这种文字所传递的信息的。所以它也叫“心灵文字”，就是心心相应的人会明白的含义。呵呵！

这时，我便对这个“同一个地方来的”感兴趣了，便问〇cindy，你所说的，你们是从同一个地方来的，是指哪一个地方？

〇cindy皱了皱眉头问我，我如果给你讲，你能明白吗？

我便回答道：只管讲，说不定我就是和你们从一个地方来的呢！”

〇cindy笑着说：那好吧！所有的众生都是从一个地方来的——宇宙中心（简称：宙心）。宇宙中心是一片无边无际的光的能量海洋，这个宇宙间所有的灵儿都是从那里分散出来的。而光的能量海洋里是取之不完、用之不尽的能量。所有生存在这里的灵儿都拥有这个宝贵的能量资源。当拥有了这些能量资源之后，有的灵儿便随着自己的喜爱做事情，甚至伤害到别人的利益，于是，这些灵儿们就逐渐从宇宙中心分离了出来，因为拥有能量，可以创造任何想要的东西，于是，一个个星球就在宇宙间出现，这些都是拥有高能量的宇宙灵儿所创造的，而地球，本身也是一个大的能量团，是一位宇宙高灵在抚养地球上的后代。随着时空的演变，这个宇宙越来越丰富多彩，但是同样也有越来越多的灵儿因为乱用自己所拥有的能量创造出了负面消极的事物，而这样下去的结果就是这些灵儿们的能量越来越低，因为宇宙中心是高能量，这些乱用自己能量的灵儿能量降低之后，就不能回到原来美好的家园了。于是，宇宙高灵便通过一种又一种的办法，挽救这些宇宙灵儿的灵性。我们现在所做的事情就是，通过传递来自宇宙高维次的能量、信息和密码，找到从宇宙中心分离出来的灵儿。这一次，是一次非常难得的时空运行机缘，从宇宙中心直通到到地球的一条光明回归之路大开（简称：天门大开），来自宇宙中心所有的高维次生灵都想在这次宇宙殊胜的时刻，找到并且带领从宇宙中心分离出来的灵儿回归宇宙中心。我所写的文字就是在不断的发射传播来自宇宙中心高维次生灵的信息，如果与我有缘，他们不但能看懂这些文字所传递的意思并且还会立马联系并且找到我们。因为，我们本来都是一家亲人，我们还有师父在等着他们的出现，当他们出现之后，我们会找到更多来自宇宙中心的宇宙行者，这样，我们就可以在宇宙这个殊胜的时空点传递更多的回家的信息，带领更多的有缘人回家。

〇cindy讲：我知道你肯定对我为什么会写这种文字感到好奇，我直接告诉你吧！我还有一位师父，我的师父现在周游世界，在寻找这样的宇宙行者，我也是被师父找到的，现在，我明白时间非常的紧迫，而我们要做的事情非常之多，非常之大，现在很多全球各地的宇宙行者都没有出现，所以才通过这样的方式传递信息，找到他们！

这时，我突然发现这个姑娘原来并不简单，或许类似于一些欧美国家的通灵者吧！但是，不管怎么样，他们出发点是对的，并且在走一条与常人不一样的路。呵呵！不管怎么样，你们能否找到更多的宇宙行者，〇cindy！祝你好运！

2012年 3月 28日

  

Contact 〇sifu：

〇cindy MSN& E-mail: ocindy1977@msn.cn

 

1.The universe of high-dimensional creatures of our help in 2012。

 

宇宙高维次生灵对地球人类2012年的帮助。

ocindy-lydia.blogspot.com/

  

2.Do you want open your third eye?

 

你想开启你的天眼吗？

ocindy.blogspot.com/

  

3.The universe of high-dimensional approach to enhance energy (you tube)

 

宇宙高维次提升能量的方法。(视频）

 

www.youtube.com/channel/UCALSyZTSs0Oea8YR2zkz1Fw?feature=...

 

4.宇宙的奥秘请看这个博客，来自宙心使者的通灵信息。(中文博客）

nora-wwwmyblog.blogspot.com/

 

5.My face book name : Bette Ocindy

Pleace come in my face book group（我的face book群组）:2012——Aliens——ufo

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Mitch Melfi and Debbie Melfi attend CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Natalie Shrik for Drew Altizer Photography)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Maria Aguirre, Claire Baki, Amanda Calvert and Jamie Chan attend CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Drew Altizer Photography)

DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 22JAN16 - The audience is captured during the open forum session 'Life in 2030: Humankind and the Machine' at the Annual Meeting 2016 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2016.

 

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Michele Limina

DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 22JAN16 - Eric Anderson, Chairman, Planetary Holdings, USA; Young Global Leader, speaks during the open forum session 'Life in 2030: Humankind and the Machine' at the Annual Meeting 2016 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2016.

 

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Michele Limina

For the first few hundred thousand years humankind knew exactly where food came from. There was a close relationship between hunter and prey, gatherer and bounty, farmer and harvest. But somehow, in the last few decades, humankind just lost it. Beyond the fact that milk may contain more growth hormones than certain baseball players (looking at you big headed Barry Bonds) and genetically modified veggies may be insect-lettuce hybrids, it is simply difficult to fall in love with food when you don’t know its origin.

from Damanhur Spiritual EcoCommunity, ift.tt/2d2N76I

Here the Virgin Mary as intercessor for humankind shows her breasts to her son as a reminder of the humanity he took from her and her claim to pre-eminence as a heavenly intercessor. Mary along with either John the Baptist or John the Evangelist were often shown as intercessors for humanity at the Last Judgement.

 

This motif of Mary baring her breasts was known in England by c1280 - it is included in such manuscripts as the Huth Psalter and the early 14thC Queen Mary Psalter (plate 297 in G F Warner's facsimile edition of 1912).It occurs in wall paintings at Chalgrove in Oxon and Ickleton in Cambs. According to Sarah Brown (in her chapter on the medieval glass of the abbey in "Tewksbury Abbey: History, Art & Architecture" ed Richard K Morris & Ron Shoesmith, Logaston Press, 2003) this is probably the earliest appearance in English stained glass. She notes that in the "Speculaum Humanae Salvationis, the Virgin and Christ are jointly celebrated as intercessors, defending humankind from the wrath of God, he by offering his wounds, she by offering her breasts. She quotes the 15thC Middle English translation of the Latin text:

"Christ to his Fadere shewes his cicatrices for mercy,

And til hyre son hire bristes shewes for us swete Marie" (op cit: p 192).

According to the Qur'an, God has created all of humankind equal, and has given each the right to pursue their own destiny. The life, honor and property of all people in a Muslim society are considered sacred, whether the person is Muslim or not. Racism, sexism and prejudice of any sort are unacceptable in Islam. The Qur'an speaks of human equality in the following terms:

 

"O humankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. Truly, the most honored of you in God's sight is the greatest of you in piety. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware." (Qur'an 49:13)

 

The right to life is the most basic of human rights; the Qur'an equates the unjust killing of a single person to killing all of humankind: "And whoever kills a soul…, should be as though he has killed all of humankind." (Qur'an 5:32)

 

Dealing equitably and protecting the rights of every individual is the cornerstone of a Muslim society. God further states in the Qur'an: "O you who believe! Stand up firmly for God, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not hatred of a people invite you to act inequitably; act justly, that is nearer to piety, and be conscious of (your duty to) God, surely God is aware of all that you do." (Qur'an 5:8).

 

DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 22JAN16 - View of the audience for open forum session 'Life in 2030: Humankind and the Machine' at the Annual Meeting 2016 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2016.

 

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Michele Limina