Reading River

RiverLast night I had a dream.  I am at my house and I look out the front window and notice people gathering.  I step outside my front door to and see my neighbor Evelyn standing amongst a group of people.  She is giving them the news that she is moving out of the neighborhood after having lived in her house for over 30 years.  It is the end of an era. 

Upon hearing the news, I begin to cry.  I reach over to embrace my neighbor.  I am heartbroken.  She lovingly hugs me and tells me that everything is going to be ok.  She then draws my attention into the  distance. In front of my house there lies a river at the bottom of a hillside.  Along the bank of the river, I can see my nephew standing with an inflatable raft. 

There is something not quite right with the raft and this image.  I struggle to get a good look at the raft to figure out what is so unusual about it.  I notice that the raft does not have a place in which to sit.  It looks more like an inflatable mattress than a survival raft.  My nephew is fanning the ground with it causing dust to rise into the air like smoke signals.  I’m told he is waiting for his friends to arrive to go into the river with the raft.

My nephew’s behavior strikes me as curious.  I stand there puzzled trying to figure this out.  I have a vague awareness that I might be dreaming.  Nothing makes sense here.  As I’m standing there a strange man walks by.  I get the feeling the stranger does not belong in my dream.  He disappears out of sight. 

I then get in my car and drive around the neighborhood trying to be very observant.  I drive by old neighborhoods where I used to live.  All the housing in this area has been taken over by slumlords.  I attempt to read the writing along the streets paying close attention to the words.  The words don’t make any sense to me.  They are words I do not recognize or much less pronounce. I assume I must be dreaming.  At this moment I see the strange man again from before walk by.  He quickly gets lost in the heightened confusion but I am determined to make sense of this world.

I continue driving focusing hard on trying to take in all the information from this place.  I then notice that my car’s performance is not what it should be.  The car is stuck in second gear and it feels like it wants to stall.  I want to try to get to a place where I can pull over but I am currently driving through an underpass.  I need to make it to the other side.  I am looking over all the instrumentation gages in the car to see what might be wrong with it.  A small white navigational screen appears in the center console of the car.  It is displaying a single word.  Initially I do not recognize the word.  I can read the letters but not the word.   

Aggravated I turn to open the door and get out of the car.  The strange man is standing immediately outside my car.  Without thinking I reach over and grab him through the window of the car by his neck.  I take a firm grip of him and immediately wake up from the dream. 

I had literally sat up in bed when I grabbed for the stranger’s neck.  As I opened my eyes, I found the man clutched in my fist.  I could still see his face in my mind’s eye and before me with my naked physical eyes.  It was as if I had two copies of the same man in my head….one in the back of my mind and one out in the physical world in which I live.  His ethereal presence faded as I vehemently shook him in my physical world.  His expression was one of complete surprise.  He was not expecting me to do that.

Because I jerked myself awake when I reached over and grabbed him by the neck I inadvertently hurt my own neck as my sleeping head did not respond as gracefully to the request my body made to attack the man before me.  As I sat there in bed it occured to me that I did understand the meaning of the word displayed upon the navigational screen.  It’s meaning resonated deep within me with profound truth of which I cannot explain. 

3 days later my neck is still hurting from the incident. 

Addicted to Cold Cream

Cold CreamLast night I had a dream where I am living with my extended family in a big house.  I have a son in his late teens or early twenties who is mentally challenged.  There are some animosities among the family members because many have there own personal agendas they’d like to see materialize and some of those agendas conflict with one another.  Because of my son’s disability, we all share in the responsibility of his care. Of course being that he is my son, he is my primary responsibility.

On this day, I am away from the house for a short period of time.  While I am gone someone in the house purposely gave my son access to cold cream.  My son is addicted to cold cream.  When I arrive back at the house, I find him in the corner gorging himself with cold cream.  I am infuriated because I know this could have only happened on purpose.  I inform my mother who is unaware of the situation.  She has a look of surprise as her eyebrows go up and her eyes enlarge to the size of grapefruit in total disbelief.

As I go into action to bring justice to the situation, I experience a false awakening.  I am aware I am having a false awakening.  I am now standing in my bedroom and my roommate is standing beside me hunched over trying to hide from me.  I can see the dream I just left appear a like another dimension before me.  Everything is fuzzy.  It is as if life paused for a moment in a state of timelessness.  Knowing my roommate is responsible for the cold cream incident I place my arm around him and tell him that he must go back into the dream.  I know for justice to be served he can not remain in this in between state where he has too much influence over the events in my life. 

With the full pressure of my body and a forward thrust of my hips I push him forward returning him to the dimension of the dream from which we came.  Now that he is back in the dream I am confronted by the faces of others as they float one by one in front of me.  These faces are talking to me but I can’t hear what they are saying I can only see there lips move. 

A worm hole opens up and suddenly I’m in another dimension.  Before me I can see my reflection but it is more than just a reflection it is the other half of who I am.  Knowing this I struggle to get my attention.  I think if I can touch myself I can get my attention but in my present state I am an ethereal being unable to apply pressure to make my presence known. I finally figure out a way to touch myself such that I might question what is going on.  He (the other part of me) turns to look at me.  Things seem to be happening in slow motion.  As he turns to look at me a wave of energy goes forward from my being in his direction.  I can see the wave brush against his face.  He becomes aware of my presence.  

An 1814 poem credited to “Dr. Russell” gives the following account of the benefits attributed to cold cream in that day:
WHEN a pot of cold cream to Eliza you send,
You with words to this purpose your present commend;
Whoe’er with this cream shall her countenance smear,
All redness and roughness will strait disappear,
And the skin to a wonder be charmingly clear;
If pimples arise, this will take them away;
If the small-pox should mark you, those marks will decay;
If wrinkled through age, or dawbing the face is,
‘Twill be smooth in a trice, as the best Venice glass is;
All this and much more, could I spare time to write it,
Or my pen go as fast, as your lips would endite it)
You affirm of your cream: and I would not abuse it,
But pray tell me one thing–Do you yourself use it?

Sleeping On The Train Tracks

Sleeping CarLast night I had a dream where my house is built on the train tracks.  The trains literally pass through my house.  Every night as the trains pass through one by one I am able to see into the sleeping cars and experience what the occupants of each sleeping car are doing.  They appear to pass through my awareness in slow motion such that I am able to get a good glimpse into their lives.  At first the experience of looking into peoples lives is very intriguing but as the nights progress I become very sleep deprived.  I am becoming more and more tired and my vision is becoming tunneled. 

 

There is a man who rides one of the nightly trains.  I am very intrigued with his life so I maintain in my mind a mental image of him.  I specifically look for him at night to pass through.  The house is in need of repair as the air conditioning is no longer functioning.  All the windows in the house are open but there is little relief from the heat of the day.  This  adds to the discomfort of the night. 

 

On this day, I decide to leave the house to try to find someone to repair the air conditioning.  As I step out the front door I turn around to go back as I believe I forgot something in the house.  I am in a hurry.  I can hear the next train approaching.  I am just about to jump the tracks to go back inside when it occurs to me the severity of my approach.  I could be killed by the oncoming train.  Although I can hear the train, I don’t know what track it is traveling on or in which direction it is headed.  I realize I need sleep because my judgment is impaired. 

 

I reach for my cell phone to call my doctor.  My doctor answers the phone and I proceed to explain the circumstances under which I am living.  He tells me I do not need sleep.  Angry with his response, I insist emphasizing our working relationship.  I am his patient and I am the one who is paying for his service and I want him to prescribe some sleeping pills. 

 

At this point, I begin to awaken from the dream. I can now see my bedroom but my vision is still tunneled.  In the tunnel is walking a man through the corridor of the oncoming train.  My first thought is to ask whether this is the man I seek?  Knowing the dream is about to end.  I quickly place his mental image in my mind and rush through the corridor to pass him to get a good look at his face.  As I pass him up I turn around and look squarely into his eyes.  I can see the soul of the man before me.  By this time I am now fully awake.  The man is now standing next to my bed.  He is in fact the same man I’ve been pursuing on the nightly train.  He is the image in my head.  There is a moment of clarity as his image slowly fades. 

Love is Perfect; The Bedouin Man

BedouinIn the middle of the night I woke up with the feeling that someone had taken my wallet from off my nightstand.  Before I could even open my eyes, I grabbed for my wallet which was now in the hands of a man who walked beside my bed.  To the man’s surprise, I was successful at reclaiming my wallet from him.  As I opened my eyes, there standing beside my bed was this man.  He was a Bedouin.  Although he stood in my bedroom he also stood simultaneously in his world upon a precipice in the high desert.  He was a beautiful luminescent blue angelic being whose face radiated pure unconditional love.  At times the wind being so strong blew his scarf in front of his face obscuring my view of him.  I raised my hand and arm in front of me to hail his presence.  

                                                     

He then placed a vision in my mind; a dream where I am in a sexual embrace at the point of ecstasy with not a person but the entire universe.  The universe is inside my body.  The feeling was so overwhelming that I completely lost myself forgetting where I was. My being was totally and completely consumed by the experience.  For the first time I experienced real LOVE.  I understood that when we love our love is felt by everyone.  Love is perfect. 

 

As the dream continued and I regain awareness within the dream I realize I forgot to let the dog in from the cold.  I quickly run downstairs in the dream to let him back in.  My dog is so excited to see me.  I kneel upon the floor and my dog jumps into my arms to be cuddled by me.  We walk back upstairs and return to bed. 

 

The vision ends and my awareness is returned to the Bedouin man.  My arm is still outstretched.  My eyes rolled back in my head in utter amazement as my body fell back in bed.  After a few moments, I regained my composure and sat up again to look around the room.  The Bedouin man was nowhere to be found. 

My Mother’s Name Is Penny

Last night I had a dream.  I receive in the mail a postcard addressed to a woman who does not live in my house.  The woman lives in Washington State whereas I live in Washington, DC.  It is addressed to the organization she represents in care of her.   My attention is drawn to the name of her organization, “The Foundation of Pennies” which is similar in name to my website “Penny For My Thought.” 

 

The next day again I receive another postcard addresses to the Foundation in care of this woman who I don’t know.  Each card I receive gives me a small clue as to the nature of the business she represents.  Over the next few days I continue receiving mail for this woman.  In my curiosity to find out more about the Foundation and it’s similarity in name to mine, I decide to open her mail.  Slowly but surely through the opened correspondences, I learn more about the woman without having ever met her.  I learn that she is a lesbian who is an advocate for gay, lesbian and transgender issues.  Some of her mail contains newspaper clippings with photographs of her at various events.  

 

One day I receive a package that contains a video tape documentary which tells all about the work the woman is involved in for the Foundation.  As I’m watching the documentary I hear a knock at the door.  It is a special delivery addressed to this woman.  I immediately sign for the package and in walks a little boy.  This is her son.  He is cute around the age of seven.  Since he sees me watching his mom on television he settles in to my house without questioning where he has been sent or that he might have been sent to the wrong address.  I think, now I’m really in trouble.  How do I explain to the boy or any other authorities my behavior of having opened mail that does not belong to me?  I’m sure it is a felony to do so.  I want to keep the child along with all the mail I’ve already opened because I am fascinated by the life this woman leads.  I’m worried that I would be accused of kidnapping the child even though he was rightfully delivered to my home.  For a few days, I say nothing to the boy as he remains happily in my care. 

 

Finally I decide to ask him about his mother.  He tells me his mother’s name is Penny.  I then tell him that he was delivered to the wrong address and I confess that I don’t personally know his mother.  He then shows me the envelope that came with his delivery which he had maintained in his pants pocket.  The envelope is sealed and addressed to me.  In it are a collection of postage stamps and a letter signed by Penny.  I now have the impression this was all done for a reason.  

foun·da·tion
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1: the act of founding
2: a basis (as a tenet, principle, or axiom) upon which something stands or is supported <the foundations of geometry> <the rumor is without foundation in fact>
3 a: funds given for the permanent support of an institution : endowment b: an organization or institution established by endowment with provision for future maintenance
4: an underlying base or support ; especially : the whole masonry substructure of a building
5 a: a body or ground upon which something is built up or overlaid b: a woman’s supporting undergarment : corset c: a cosmetic usually used as a base for makeup

FUTURE REFERENCES: A Family By Choice

A Weasle In My Bed

WeasleLast night I had a dream where I am undergoing a surgical procedure to remove some calcified deposit from my brain.  The procedure will be done on an out patient basis.  The procedure is described to me in detail by a female surgeon who will be performing the surgery.  The surgery needs to be done immediately before I awaken.  I am worried because there is no time to notify my employer in the event that I am unable to report to work the following day.  I am very scared fearing for my life.  She is the only person from whom I can seek assurance of my safety.  Before I sit in the operating chair I ask her if I can hug her.  At that moment a gentleman walks by. He is a resident intern.  She turns in his direction to grab his attention.  She asks him if he would share his story with me to help reassure me concerning the need for and safety of the procedure I am to undergo.  He pauses in the doorway to gather his thoughts and begins to explain his story which is similar to my situation.  He explains that he would have otherwise died if it had not been for the procedure that is about to be performed on me.

 

As she begins to apply the anesthesia to my scalp above my left ear, I begin to awaken from the dream.  Over me in my bed is an ethereal humanoid being who is by no means human.  I recognize him to be extraterrestrial.  Both my hands are holding my comforter tightly close around my neck to keep the warmth from escaping my sheets.  This visitor has a pointed jaw line and a few teeth protruding from his mouth.  He reminds me of a weasel or ferret.  I don’t trust him.  In a moment of quick thinking I try to push my comforter forward netting the being the being in my comforter and thereby pushing him away from me.  As my arms began to move forward in his direction he quickly reached down grabbing both my arms tightly and pinned me back down to my bed.  I felt the pressure of his forward motion and the weight of his body against my mine.  He looked squarely into my eyes.  I could see his lips moving but I did not hear any sound.  I laid there motionless under the weight of his presence with no alternate recourse.  He examined me visually then released me and backed away vanishing into space.  I looked at my clock on my nightstand. It was 4:25 am.  I then got up and went to the restroom.

In traditional symbology however, the weasel is represented as brave, graceful,[2] and a symbol of the brave Christian who triumphs over more powerful foes.[3] A weasel is shown as the companion of St Jordan of Battberg. It was also used in Christian hagiography as a symbol of resurrection,[4] and was respected as a hunter of snakes, and the one creature that could reliably kill a basilisk.

Weasels are one of many villainous races, along with rats and ferrets — although ferrets, biologically speaking, are a species of weasel.  In reference to the weasel’s reputation for skullduggery, the phrase “weasel words” means insincere or devious speech.

 

Basiliscus LizardIn European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk “little king” is a legendary reptile reputed to be king of serpents and said to have the power to cause death with a single glance. According to the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk of Cyrene is a small snake, “being not more than twelve fingers in length”,[2] that is so venomous that it leaves a wide trail of deadly venom in its wake, and its gaze is likewise lethal; its weakness is in the odour of the weasel, which according to Pliny, was thrown into the basilisk’s hole, recognisable because all the surrounding shrubs and grass had been scorched by its presence.

What Becomes A Name

GodI’ve been trying to get off of my anti-depressants because I haven’t felt that they are working for me anymore because I’m always depressed.  I began by discontinuing my Prozac and Seroquil and I tried to stop taking my Remeron but couldn’t because I simply couldn’t sleep without it.  During my last trip to visit my family I continued the Remeron while stopping the others and figured I’d work on discontinuing the Remeron once I returned to DC from LA.  The day of our departure back to DC I had a 6am flight.  In order to have enough time to return the car rental and get to the airport on time I had to wake up at 2:30 in the morning. I had had very little sleep.  I thought upon arriving to DC this would be a great opportunity to stop the Remeron because I thought with my body being so tired it would naturally fall asleep with ease.  For the next few nights I did just that and for the most part it worked.  I was Remeron free although my sleep was less than perfect very broken causing me to awaken every few hours but nevertheless I was dreaming so I felt good.  I even had a visitation from a grey bearded gentleman one morning when I awoke I found him standing beside my bed.  He never said a word but simply looked at me and smiled.  I smiled and waved at him and closed my eyes and hoped for sleep.

 

I thought I had licked the Remeron and was on my way to recovery when the migranes started.  This night I took two Excedrin before bed.  The pain was tremendous but I was determined not to fall back on the Remeron.  My sleep was the worst it had been all week but my dreams on the otherhand were incredibly vivid. I was dreaming while awake.  This night I remained 100% lucid for the entire night because I was so close to the surface of conscious awakening.  

 

I journeyed to some of the most incredible places I have ever seen walking through tunnels with lights that pulsated through them.  At one point I wanted to determine where the beautiful lights were originating from that were pulsating through the tunnels.  I discovered these powerful lights in the depths of darkness were emanating from my spirit.  As I moved the lights moved with me.  I was a beacon of light.  The light essence formed walkways before me that had not existed before upon which I could traverse.  Along the walkways appeared heavily wooded cottages with small gardens that were simply beautiful for as far as my eyes could see.  As I moved through the walkway with a clear line of site before me I noticed the cottages at the end of my line of sight moved with every movement I made.  I was amazed.  They are not only absolutely beautiful but they also respond to my beckoning.  As I walk along the winding road I am amazed that the light from my spirit is so bright going forth and illuminating all the gardens.  At one point I pause stopping for a moment then take a few steps backward to see if the light is still responding to my movements, which it is. 

 

After enjoying the gardens I know it is time for me to wake up.  A woman appears to escort me out of the garden and bid me farewell.  She tells me “What you take with you, you may name or you may keep its name and wait 10 yrs.”   

 

With that I awoke in total amazement from within a very light sleep.

A Sekhmet Decanter

SekhmetI had a dream where I live on an estate that is located along a golf course.  Many of the homes in these estates have natural hot springs.  My home is one of those with a natural spring.  My sister is visiting me.  In a moment of clarity, I pause to reflex on the ostentatious homes and how unnatural that is to who I am. 

 

My sister and I are planning to spend the day soaking in the hot spring but first we stop in to look through the gift shop situated on the golf course.  Wondering through the gift store, I notice there are many display cases with crystal images of the Egyptian god Sekhmet.  I am captivated by these images.  Sekhmet is the only god honored by the golf course.  I want to know why the golf course has chosen to specifically honor this god and not any other.  Most of the crystal images are large and very expensive. 

 

As I examine the images I notice all of the larger expensive ones contain a fluid within them.  They all seem to serve as decanters for an essence or perfume.  There is also a small solid crystal image that catches my eye.  I am drawn to this smaller one because it is solid whereas the others I regard as inferior because they have hollowed out insides which hold their essence.  This small image of Sekmet is prices at $40.  I buy it setting it on the counter to wait for Grace to finish her shopping.  Grace is looking at some Indian moccasins. 

 

There is a woman in the shop talking to the salesperson about the homes in this area.  She makes a comment regarding the minimum amenities afforded each of the homes.  These are luxury homes, she says.

 

We have spent our whole day in the gift shop and the store is now closing.  I return to the counter where I had set my purchase down and no longer see my item sitting on the counter.  All the display cases are now empty.  The salesperson rummages through some items behind the counter looking for my purchase.  She asks me if it is the large one to which I nod my head to disagree.  She finally finds it and brings it back out on the counter where I examine it a second time.  This time I notice this small version is also a decanter which holds a highly concentrated essence.  I suddenly realize the price is in proportion to the amount of essence which the decanters contain and does not reflect the value of the decanter. 

A Visit with Taurus

Tauroctony of MithrasLast night I had several false awakenings repeatedly one after the other.  I had a dream where I was in communication with a being from another dimension.  As we are talking it occurs to me that I am dreaming or in an altered state of consciousness.  Knowing these being are able to step through and cross over into other dimensions I grab him by the arm and proceed to wake myself up, to get up out of bed to bring him over to my roommate to prove that aliens exist.  I struggle to wake myself up while holding him tightly by the arm; each attempt triggers a false awakening. 

 

In the first false awakening, I get up out of bed with him at my side.  We walk down the hallway hand in hand to my roommate’s bedroom and realize my roommate did not come home this night and is not in his bed.  That realization places me back in the dream where I realize I am in a false awakening and my body is still lying in bed.  Again I explain to him what I am trying to do.  I feel the physical presence of his arm to make sure I have a good grip on him.  I can feel the fingers of his hand as being different than those of a human being.  He graciously agrees to try again and come with me.

 

On the second false awakening, I get up out of bed clearly checking to make sure I am really out of bed.  Taurus is at my side.  We are holding hands.  We walk down the hallway and before we can get to the end of the hallway to my roommate’s bedroom it occurs to me that he is right.  My roommate did not come home last night otherwise I would have heard the house alarm go off in the middle of the night. 

 

This awareness places me back in the dream realizing that I am having another false awakening.  Taurus, my alien friend is still at my side.  I tell him we should try one more time but this time I will gently pull him forward with my other hand on his back bringing him toward me as we roll out of bed.  Once again he agrees.  I then place my other hand on his back side feeling the details of his scaly body and his well defined spin.  I am amazed that I am able to feel his physical presence in this altered state of awareness.  Struggling through sleep paralysis, we proceed to get up out of bed.

 

I wake up sitting up in bed.  In my hand I have the physical presence of an invisible being.  I cannot see him with my physical eyes yet I can feel his physical presence in my hand.  There is something firm, solid and invisible in my hand.  As I sit up in bed I am wondering if I am really awake.  I then remember that there is no point in walking down the hallway because my roommate did not come home last night.  There is no one in the house to witness for me the presence of aliens.  Slowly the sensation of his arm in my hand slips and fades as he returns to his dimension and I remain in mine.   

Mithraism was an initiatory order, passed from initiate to initiate, like the Eleusinian Mysteries. It was not based on a body of scripture, and hence very little written documentary evidence survives. Soldiers and the lower nobility appeared to be the most plentiful followers of Mithraism.

In every Mithraic temple, the place of honor was occupied by a tauroctony, a representation of Mithras killing a sacred bull which was associated with spring. Mithras is depicted as an energetic young man, wearing a Phrygian cap, a short tunic that flares at the hem, pants and a cloak which furls out behind him. Mithras grasps the bull so as to force it into submission, with his knee on its back and one hand forcing back its head while he stabs it in the neck with a short sword. The figure of Mithras is usually shown at a diagonal angle and with the face turned forward. The representations occur as both reliefs, and as three-dimensional sculpture; however the three dimensional images have a strongly frontal aspect.
A serpent and a dog seem to drink from the bull’s open wound which is sometimes depicted as spilling grain rather than blood, and a scorpion (usually interpreted as a sign for autumn) attacks the bull’s testicles, sapping the bull’s strength. Sometimes, a raven or crow is also present, and sometimes also a goblet and small lion. Cautes and Cautopates, the celestial twins of light and darkness, are torch-bearers, standing on either side with their legs crossed, Cautes with his brand pointing up and Cautopates with his turned down. Above Mithras, the symbols for Sol and Luna are present in the starry night sky.

 

Could I Love A Taurus?

Life PreserverLast night I had a lucid dream within the first hour of having fallen asleep. I know this because when the dream was over I immediately got up to go to the bathroom and noted the time that had passed since I had layed my head down to meditate.  

 

In the dream, I am in an open field where all the stars are visible in the night sky. Looking up at the heavens, I want to know whether aliens exist, beings from another dimension, and if they do I want to communicate with them.  A twinkling of lights appear in the sky and I know it is a response to my question.  Space ships appear and hover over the night sky. A voice is heard in the heavens, “Aliens do exist.”  With that a black life preserver falls out of the heavens and into my hands. 

 

Knowing this is my chance to cross over into their world.  I slip the life preserver around my waist.  As my body enters the ring I can see a slice of the Flower of Life in 3 deminsional space.  A being appears to greet me. He is in a form that is pleasing to my awareness.  Knowing this, I tell him I want to see his true form.  His form changes to that of a reptilian being that reminded me of the Egyptian god Sekhmet.   Knowing the truth, I look deep into his eyes and ask myself, “Could I love you?”  My entire being fills with love and I know in my heart that I could love an alien as I love my own family.  My arms reach out to embrace him.  I can feel his upper arms which have a soft rubber feel to them.  He turns to depart back into his world. 

 

Wanting to experience his world fully I follow him stepping through the metrix that is his dimension.  As I step through, I appear on board his space ship.  The interior of the ship has a pale blue grey color to it.  There are 3 beings that I can see aboard the ship.  I notice there is almost no instrumentations.  The metrix from which I entered closes behind me.  He shows me around his vessel answering all my questions concerning interdimensional travel. He tells me the point at which I enter is the point at which I return so it is impossible for me to get lost.

 

Everything is so vivid and real I wonder if I have permanently left my world.  Seeing the others I commit their faces to memory so that if I ever encounter them again I will remember them.  How could I ever forget such an experience?   With that thought I am instantly returned to my bed.  

 Throwable PFDs are often called “life savers”, “life preservers” or “lifebelts” or Lifebuoy (although the terms “life savers” and “life preservers” can also refer to lifejackets/vests). 
Throwable PFDs are deployed from a vessel or land into nearby water, to give the recipient buoyancy. They are often provided on ships, docks and other water-edges in case a person falls in the water. Throwable PFDs are usually ring-shaped (toroidal or torus). Such a shape is easy to throw to a distressed person, can be grasped by a hand or hooked arm even in turbulent conditions, and is much easier to put on in the water than a lifevest. A new form of throwable PFD, known as a “guidable life preserver,” or “hydrofoil-powered life preserver”, is starting to gain widespread acceptance and use, particularly in the field of swiftwater rescue. Guidable life preservers are typically capable of greater distances and accuracy than traditional throwable life preservers, and in some cases can also be used to transport rescue workers across the water. One example of this new form of life preserver is the following shore-based swiftwater rescue system. Certain airplane seat cushions may be used as flotation devices. They typically include two straps on the back to be held onto in the event of an unsuccessful ditching on a body of water. They are designed to be used as personal flotation devices on non-overwater aircraft that are not required to be stocked with a supply of life vests. (Commercial aircraft are also equipped with multiple inflatable “escape slide – raft” devices, just as ships are equipped with inflatable life rafts and other floating survival platforms additional to rigid lifeboats.) 

 

TaurusIn geometry, a torus (pl. tori) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle, which does not touch the circle. Examples of tori include the surfaces of doughnuts and inner tubes. The solid contained by the surface is known as a toroid. A circle rotated about a chord of the circle is called a torus in some contexts, but this is not a common usage in mathematics. The shape produced when a circle is rotated about a chord resembles a round cushion. Torus was the Latin word for a cushion of this shape

Taurus is the second astrological sign in the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of Taurus. In western astrology, this sign is no longer aligned with the constellation as a result of the precession of the equinoxes. In astrology, Taurus is considered a “feminine”, negative sign. It is also considered an earth sign and is one of four fixed signs.[3] Taurus is ruled by the planet Venus (which also rules Libra). Being the second sign of the zodiac, Taurus has been associated with the astrological second house. The glyph is also the alchemical symbol for rocksalt.[4]

Individuals born when the Sun was in this sign are considered Taurus individuals. Under the tropical zodiac, the Sun is in Taurus roughly from April 20 to May 20.[1] Under the sidereal zodiac, it is currently there roughly from May 15 to June 15.[5] People born on these juncture dates should have an astrological chart drawn to determine which sign the sun was in at the exact time of their birth.

Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It sits large and prominent in the Northern Hemisphere winter sky, between Aries to the west and Gemini to the east; to the north lie Perseus and Auriga, to the southeast Orion, and to the southwest Eridanus and Cetus.

In the west of the constellation lie the Pleiades, one of the best known open clusters, easily visible to the eye.  The Pleiades also known as M45, the Seven Sisters, Seven Stars, is an open cluster in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters, and is probably the best known, and is certainly the most obvious to the naked eye.