The Symphony of Ages is a series of fantasy–romance books by Elizabeth Haydon. The books tell the story of Rhapsody, a young singer of considerable talent who travels across time to a new land only to learn that it was foretold in a prophecy. Along with her two companions, Rhapsody fights to reunite a kingdom ravaged by war and long-standing prejudice.
The books in the series are as follows:
Plot
Fourteen-year-old Gwydion is transported into a nearly one and one half millennia distant past to the Isle of Serendair by the mysterious Meridion. There he meets and falls in love with the young farmer's daughter Emily. They want to marry, yet when Gwydion goes to propose, he is taken back to his own time by Meridion. The devastated Emily runs away from home in search of him.
Seven years later Emily, now called Rhapsody, lives in the town of Easton. A former prostitute, she studies to become a Namer and Singer, a profession which gives her semi-magical abilities. When she is pursued by the underlings of her former client Michael, who is obsessed with her, Rhapsody tries to enlist help of two Firbolg, accidentally renaming one of them, a ruthless assassin then called The Brother to Achmed the Snake. Against her will, she is forced by Achmed and his friend Grunthor to accompany them on a journey through the center of the Earth, along the root of Sagia, the Holy Tree.
Rhapsody is a 1915 piece for piano solo by the English composer John Ireland (1879–1972).
A performance takes about 8 minutes.
BBC Music Magazine (September 2010) called it "one of Ireland’s most important piano works". In the Gramophone Awards Issue 2010, Andrew Achenbach described it as a "magnificently stormy essay". According to Muso Magazine (August 2010), it "contains the sort of wacky virtuosity found in Debussy’s L'isle joyeuse" (1904).
Rhapsody was an Australian female duo of Kymberlie Harrison and Cathy Ford. They had a minor hit (No. 95 on the ARIA singles chart) in the early 1990s called "Cowboy Lover" on BMG Records.
After the promoter and record label owner Gene Pierson's success with the soap opera actor Melissa Tkautz, who had a No. 1 hit in 1991 as Melissa, he came up with the concept for Rhapsody, styling the two models and creating the song that gave them success.
“Cowboy Lover” was originally a slow reggae song, but was remixed into a dance track by Filthy Lucre, famous for their dance remix of Yothu Yindi's "Treaty".
Prior to Rhapsody, Kymberlie Harrison was a producer for Melissa's hits "Read My Lips" and "(Sexy) Is The Word".
At the height of their popularity the duo posed in Playboymagazine, making the cover of the August 1993 edition.
In this book we return to Susannah (Suze) Simon's life. Suze is going back to high school and on the first day, she meets Paul Slater from book 4, The Darkest Hour, whom she met during the summer. At home, Suze meets Neil Jankow, a friend of Jake's, and also meets Neil's brother's ghost, Craig Jankow. Suze learns that Craig died from a catamaran accident and that Craig strongly believes that Neil should have been the one who died, as he was a superb swimmer, but Neil wasn't. Afterwards, Paul tells Suze to come to his house by telling her about that they were more than just a mediator. At his house, Suze learns that they are "shifters" but soon afterwards, Paul abruptly kisses her. Suze runs away mad and finds Neil. Neil drives her home but during the trip, Craig takes over the wheel nearly killing Neil and Suze. Back at school, Suze learns from Father Dominic that Jesse, Suze's crush, will be leaving her and will be going to the rectory. After Suze learns this, she becomes extremely mad at Jesse and believes that he never loved her. Later during the week, Suze's stepbrother, Brad, hosts a hot-tub party at the house. During the party, Jesse learns that Paul had kissed Suze and tries to kill him.
Spirit possession is a term for the belief that animas, demons, extraterrestrials, gods, or spirits can take control of a human body. The concept of spirit possession exists in many religions, including Christianity,Buddhism, Haitian Vodou, Wicca, Hinduism, Islam and Southeast Asian and African traditions. Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects to host. Within possession cults, the belief that one is possessed by spirits is more common among women than men.
African traditions
Zār cult
In Sudan and certain East African cultures the Zār cult conducts ethnomedical healing ceremonies involving possession, typically of Muslim women by a Zār spirit. This is also found in North Africa as well.
Central Africa
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Horn of Africa
Ethiopia
Gurage people
Among the Gurage people of Ethiopia, spirit possession is a common belief. Wiliam A. Shack postulated that it is caused by Gurange cultural attitudes about food and hunger, while they have a plentiful food supply, cultural pressures that force the Gurange to either share it to meet social obligations, or hoard it and eat it secretly cause feelings of anxiety. Distinctions are drawn between spirits that strictly possess men, spirits that possess women, and spirits that possess victims of either sex. A ritual illness that only affects men is believed to be caused by a spirit called awre. This affliction presents itself by loss of appetite, nausea, and attacks from severe stomach pains. If it persists the victim may enter a trancelike stupor, in which he sometimes regains consciousness long enough to take food and water. Breathing is often labored. Seizures and trembling overcome the patient, and in extreme cases, partial paralysis of the extremities.
"Haunted" is a song originally recorded by the Australian pop vocal group Human Nature for their 2004 album Walk the Tightrope. In 2007 the song was covered by the German pop quartet Room 2012 and released as the first single from their debut album, Elevator. The Room 2012 version charted at number ten in Germany, twenty-one in Austria and twenty-three in Switzerland.
