A to Z Challenge - J for JOE!

I've been thinking what to write about for the letter "J." Since we don't much use this letter in our language, I'm some kind of foreign to this letter, so initially nothing came up in my mind. But then, I saw this clip on a friend's wall on facebook, and it came like an answer to my challenge.

Joe Satriani always stands up among many other virtuosos when it comes to musical quality. However, I admire and respect him for his stance about life, symbols, meanings, and the people that deserves respect. He's never been a snob, and proved this once again. At first sight, a Turkish folk poet might seem too far from rock music; however, Satriani knows quality and real depth when he sees one. Thank you as a Turk, Joe, and hail to your musical talent once again! Coming from Satriani: Tribute to Asik Veysel!

A to Z Challenge - I for Internet

I think it's one of the most important inventions in the entire history of mankind. As an artist, I love it most because it enabled us to get rid of some idiotic mediators, and reach our followers and fans directly with our works. No need to eleborate it more. Everything's out there. Hail to Internet!

A to Z Challenge - H for Heart of Steel and Heavy Metal

God, Creation and Micro-Man

While at university, I was in an intense quest. There was a huge difference between the Islamic doctrine we were taught, and the one that I could embrace with all my heart and soul, so much that, with a strong need of embracing the notion of God with awe, instead of fear, I began to say, “If all these people around are Muslims, then I’m not, and I don’t want to be.”

When I was just three years old, I asked Mom a question, and got angry because I couldn’t get a satisfying explanation:

“Mom, God created us, right?”

“Right.”

“We need Him for everything, don’t we?”

“Yes, we do.”

“But He doesn’t need us, does He?”

“No, He doesn’t.”

Now, I thought to myself in a childish way: It doesn’t matter God or human; why to create something that You don’t need, but that needs you, and perhaps that will prove to be a pain in the ass? continue reading...

A to Z Challenge - G for Galileo

Galileo Galilei 17th Century

Galileo Galilei was born on February 15^th, 1564 and died on January 8^th, 1642. He was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism. Galileo has been called the “father of modern observational astronomy,” “the father of modern physics,” “the father of science,” and “the Father of Modern Science.”

His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honor), and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments.

Galileo's championing of heliocentrism was controversial within his lifetime, when most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system. He met with opposition from astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism due to the absence of an observed stellar parallax. The matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615, and they concluded that it could only be supported as a possibility, not as an established fact. Galileo later defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which appeared to attack Pope Urban VIII and thus alienated him and the Jesuits, who had both supported Galileo up until this point. He was tried by the Inquisition, found “vehemently suspect of heresy,” forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. It was while Galileo was under house arrest that he wrote one of his finest works, Two New Sciences. Here he summarized the work he had done some forty years earlier, on the two sciences now called kinematics and strength of materials.

Aquarian people are mostly beyond their time, like Galileo proved as one. What made him prominent in history wasn’t his success in his career as a scientist (because in the end of his life, he was casted out by the society), but his amazing visionary personality. He proved, I guess, something much more important than planet’s spherical nature; he proved a notion held true by many, in fact, may be wrong: It doesn’t mean something is right just because it’s accepted by the majority, or by all other people; all the mankind may be wrong about something, while only one person is right!

source: www.wikipedia.org

A to Z Challenge - F for Felines

Felines, or cats, have always been a mysterious beauty, whatever form they come, tigers, lions, leopards, or little pet ones. In the movie “Constantine,” the main character – Keanu Reeves acting – says “they live in both sides.” They are the constant friends of mystical characters (unfortunately it’s mostly witches, but in Dark Age even the scientists or saints were labeled as witches anyway) in movies, fairy tales, or novels. There’s something certain about them though: they’re mystical. 

More than twenty years ago, I came up with an idea about a comic hero who was half tiger and half human. A few years later, The Beauty&The Beast was shot, and we met Vincent, the lion-man. After a few years on again, I modified my comic character, making him an extraterrestrial being that comes from Sirius 17,000 years ago with Earthly timeframe. And the most surprisingly, around fifteen years ago, I read something similar in a book titled “Galactic People” by Sheldon Nidle. 

From "Gorre Saga" - Illustration by Selim Yeniçeri

The thing was that it was so consistent with what I told about the Felines, which I named as “Tigerians” in my trilogy “Gorre Saga” or “Saga of 2012” that I began to realize it all was more than mere fiction. Gorre Saga is a trilogy that takes more than 1,500 pages at total, and I wrote it through a research and inner spiritual search that lasted around twenty years. Today, I know that these creatures of higher spiritual awareness are real, and they inhabit in System A of Sirius Constellation. I will share much more about them in coming months, but for now, I’ll simply say that some of them live among us in human form (not shape-shifters like the Grays, or Reptilians, but they change physical form through predesigned reincarnation). 

And they are the harbingers of a new age in the spiritual history of mankind!

A to Z Challenge - E for Empire (Strikes Back)

Just a few photos for some laugh. How would it be if they were in modern Anatolia?

"Damn, being a Sith master is much simpler than this! Ouch!"

With you... may force be...

A wedding photo in accordance with Anatolian traditions. Yoda seems to be quite comfortable though.

A to Z Challenge - D for Dogons

Sirius Constellation

Certain researchers investigating the Dogon have reported that they seem to possess advanced astronomical knowledge, the nature and source of which have subsequently become embroiled in controversy. From 1931 to 1956 the French anthropologist Marcel Griaule studied the Dogon. This included field missions ranging from several days to two months in 1931, 1935, 1937 and 1938 and then annually from 1946 until 1956. In late 1946 Griaule spent a consecutive thirty-three days in conversations with the Dogon wiseman Ogotemmêli, the source of much of Griaule and Dieterlen’s future publications. They reported that the Dogon believe that the brightest star in the sky, Sirius (sigu tolo or ‘star of the Sigui’), has two companion stars, pō tolo (the Digitaria star), and ęmmę ya tolo, continue reading...

C for Crystal

I was running real fast through the barren ground; like fifteen feet a step fast. I heard some old man yelled at me to stop, because some parts of the ground didn’t exist actually, but just illusion, and that if I set my foot on one of those parts, I would stumble into an abyss.

The ground was brownish orange, and rocky. I thought of stopping, but it was so exhilarating that I didn’t want it. Scenery was iridescent, like some hills would appear ahead, but when I arrive the same level with them, they would disappear suddenly. I didn’t know where I was, but it was so exciting that I though I was in Heaven.

Freedom. Speed. Wind on my face. These were the things I was mostly aware of, and I was running like a wild Mustang. The old man was right, sometimes huge gaps would open right in front of me, but I was so fast that I would jump over them with no hesitation.

Out of nowhere, I saw a castle at a short distance, and I was running to its walls at full speed. When I was next to the outer walls, I couldn’t jump over the gap I suddenly saw in front of me – or I would smash to the stone walls – and fell into it.

I found myself in crystal clear water, running fast along the stone corridors below the castle, and it was even more exhilarating than running above. However, I had a problem of breathing, because I was deep down the water. Water was running so fast – dragging me along – that I couldn’t follow the corners I turned.

Suddenly, when I felt I was reaching to my limit for lack of air, I found myself flying through the huge oak doors of a throne hall. I fell to the ground so hard that I skipped some blocks of stone floor, but it didn’t hurt at all.

I looked around to find out where I was, and I realized I wasn’t an adult, but a child. I was back to my childhood at a place I didn’t know. Moreover, I realized the run was some kind of a time travel to my early years on Earth.

I noticed the stone blocks of walls and floor weren’t brownish orange like the rocky ground I left outside, but whitish gray, and shiny like grayish marble. Next to the throne hall, I found an open door to a library. The leather bound books lined on the shelves were incredibly lovely, and somehow impressive. So impressive that I felt they touched my soul. As I reached for one, I knocked some others down.

That was when I heard some voices, like some people having conversation, which were cut with the noise of falling books. I looked inside the library, and saw some elderly people sitting around a massive oak table at the center of the room.

I was so afraid, and ashamed for my intrusion, that I began to tremble and cry softly. One of the group, an elderly and handsome man, with long face and gray hair, tried to soothe me with a kind voice, saying, “Don’t worry, child, this place belongs to you, only to children. You can do anything you want.”

“I-I didn’t…” I stammered, trying to say something, perhaps apologize for my behavior.

But he insisted that everything was alright.

I was crying uncontrollably, out of shame, and also out of unexplainable happiness.

He told me that the place was where all Indigo and Crystal Children come from. And that’s why it belonged to us. Also he said the reason why I was back to my childhood was that I regained the innocence of a child back. He explained further, saying, “You’re back to us now. And you had to visit this source, because you have to have a better understanding of your Crystal son.”

With a fathomless happiness and joy… I began to drift away from the group, from the room, from the hall…

And I woke up. I was back to real life once again. 

Or should I say only “the physical one?”

A to Z Challenge - B for Braveheart

"Every man dies, not every man really lives."

Yes, it's a GREAT movie. It collected many academy awards the year it was launched. Millions of people saw the movie, and it made an astronomical profit.

Some claimed the story was historically twisted, and others simply ignored it. Scenery was amazing, costumes were awesome, storyline was smart and subtle, adrenaline was real.

As a matter of fact, personally, it's the one and only HIT of my life, which inspired me to make a song titled "Spirits Alive" and influenced my worldview very strongly, which I owe Mel Gibson partly for my success in my career.

But let's admit this: Braveheart goes beyond being simply a movie; it sets a foundational life philosophy that can be applied in modern lives regardless to its historical theme. It doesn't remind us only the natural passion of freedom that's indigenous to mankind, but also the real divinity and sanctity of deep love. Due to one of my career lines, as a motivational writer and speaker, I'm closely interested in the biographies of great people in history. I don't care about their ideology, neither their ambitions, but mostly the path of life they followed. I look at their childhoods, and see how they overcame all the difficulties they faced, and how they turned all the bad cards in their hands into victories, which inspired me to pick a subtitle for my book "A Life Without Complexes": It's Not How You Start, But How You Finish.

To keep a flower that was given to you under your garment,
close to your chest, protecting it through numerous battles you engage
for years to come. Words can't express such a bond the way this gesture can.

What strikes me most about such biographies is all have something common: A turning point in these lives, which indirectly affects the lives of many others. In this example, it was the untimely death of William Wallace's wife. Such turning points make me feel a divine touch, like a switch being turned on. That's why, people like Wallace appear to me as messangers, who come to this world for special missions. And with an event that changes their lives, they find their destiny.

It doesn't matter what we dream for ourselves, or what kind of ambitions we have, there are many great principles and values in such people's lives, to be learned and applied to our own lives. And we don't have to become great commanders, politicians, or public figures who are destined to change the lives of millions. If we change ourselves, the entire world will take benefit of it. After all, even if we believe in reincarnation - as I do - we will be the person who we are now for only once. So, we have to live our lives to the fullest.

The key is what little Wiliam's father tells him in his dream:

"Your heart is free; have courage to follow it."

"There's a difference between us:
You believe people exist to provide you with castles, lands, and titles.
I believe you have castles, lands, and titles to provide them freedom."
William Wallace

A for Arrogance

A few weeks ago, I attended to a book fair, and met an author friend whose books sold extremely well during last a couple of years. Becoming a successful writer with bestselling books was his greatest dream, and I’m happy to see he made his dream come true. And I always liked him for his modest attitude. I hadn’t seen him for a few years, but talked to him on the phone every now and then, and he was always kind to me, like he was to everyone around him. When his second book was launched three or four years ago, we had met in another book fair, and he was all too kind to his readers, which made me like him more.

However, this time he left a different impression on me. continue reading...