DAMASCUS AS A SPIRITUAL ENERGY CENTRE. Part One.

Damascus (da-mas'-cus) is a word that symbolizes activity, alertness, in respect to Trade or Possessions. In other contexts it symbolizes: sack of blood or red sackcloth.
Damascus is symbolized as a Chief City of an empire settled in the World. In order to understand the sequence of events that relates the City of Damascus to the Spiritual World from the Past to the Future, it is necessary to read, study and meditate the Word of God in relation to it, written in stages, one by one, throughout the Scripture.
ACTS 9:  The Conversion of Paul:     Meanwhile Saul (Paul's name before the conversion) was still breathing threats to slaughter the Lord's Disciples. He had gone to the High Priest and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorize him to arrest and take to Jerusalem any Followers of The Way, men or women, that he could find. (1-2)
Suddenly, while Saul was traveling to Damascus and just before he reached the City, there came a Light from Heaven all around him. He fell to the ground, and then he heard a Voice saying, "Saul,
Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"  (3-4)
"Who are You, Lord?" he asked, and the Voice answered, "I am Jesus, and you are persecuting Me. Get up now and go into the City, and you will be told what you have to do."  (5-6)
The men traveling with Saul stood there, before reaching the City of Damascus, speechless, for though the men heard the Voice they could see no one.  (7)
Saul got up from the ground, but even with his eyes wide open he could see nothing at all, and the men had to lead him into Damascus by hand.  (8)
For Three(3) Days Saul was without his sight, and took neither food nor drink. A disciple called Ananias who lived in Damascus had a Vision in which he heard the Lord say to him, "Ananias!"
When Ananias replied, "Here I am, Lord," the Lord said, "You must go to Straight Street and ask at the House of Judas for someone called Saul, who comes from Tarsus. At this moment he is praying, having had a Vision of a man called Ananias coming in and laying hands on him to give him back his sight."

When Ananias heard that, he said, "Lord, several people have told me about this man and all the harm he has been doing to Your saints in Jerusalem. This man has only come here because he holds a warrant from the chief priests to arrest everybody who Invokes Your Name."  (9-14)
The Lord replied, "You must go all the same, because this man is My chosen instrument to bring My Name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I Myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for My Name."  (15-16)
Then Ananias went. He entered the House, and at once laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus Who appeared to you on your way here so that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately it was as though scales fell away from Saul's eyes and he could see again. So he was baptized there and then, after taking some food he regained his strength.  (17-19)
After he had spent only a few Days with the Disciples in Damascus, he began preach-ing in the synagogues, "JESUS is the SON of GOD." All his hearers were amazed. "Surely,"they said, "this is the man who organized the attack in Jerusalem against the people who Invoke This Name, and who came here for the sole purpose of arresting them to have them tried by the chief priests?"
Saul's Power increased steadily, and he was able to throw the Jewish colony at Damascus into complete confusion by the way he demonstrated that JESUS was the CHRIST.  (20-23)
Some Time passed, and the Jews worked out a plot to kill him, but news of it reached Saul. To make sure of killing him they kept watch on the Gates day and night, but when it was dark the Disciples took him and let him down from the top of the Wall, lowering him in a basket. When he got to Jerusalem he tried to join the Disciples, but they were all afraid of him: they could not believe he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, took charge of him, introduced him to the Apostles, and explained How the Lord had appeared to Saul and spoken to him on his journey, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus In the Name of Jesus. Saul now started to go around with them in Jerusalem, preaching fearlessly In the Name of the Lord. But after he had spoken to the Hellenists, and argued with them, they became determined to kill him. When the Brothers knew, they took him to Caesarea, and sent him off from there to Tarsus (Saul's birthplace).

YIN-YANG CONCEPT.

Yin-Yang (dualism) is one of the dominant concepts shared by different schools throughout history of Chinese philosophy. The most enduring interpretation is related to the concept of Qi (Chi=vital energy).
According to this interpretation, Yin-Yang is seen as Qi operating in the universe.
The earliest characters for Yin-Yang (dualism) are found in inscriptions made on oracle skeletal remains of various animals used in ancient China at least as early as the 14th BC. In this inscriptions, Yin-Yang are descriptions of natural phenomena such as weather conditions, and the movements of the sun. The sunlight during the day is Yang and lack of sunlight at night is Yin. Yang refers to height, brightness and the South side of a Mountain, and Yin refers to a closed door, darkness and the South bank of a River and the North side of a Mountain. This sun-based daily pattern led to a conceptual claim: Yang is movement (Dong) and Yin is rest (Ji'Ing).
It was believed that there were 6 heavenly influences (Qi), which upon descending produced the 5 tastes, going forth in the 5 colors, and were verified in the 5 notes; but when they were in excess, they produced the 6 diseases. Those 6 influences were denominated: Yin, Yang, Wind, Rain, Darkness, and Brightness. In their separation, they formed the 4 seasons; in their order, they formed the 5 elements, When any of them were in excess, they ensured calamity. An excess of the Yin (negative) led to diseases of cold; and excess of the Yang (positive), to diseases of heat.
Despite the differences in the interpretation, application, and appropriation of Yin-Yang (dualism), three basic themes underlie the concept: 1)Yin-Yang as the coherent fabric of nature and mind, exhibited in all existence, 2) Yin-Yang as interaction (Ji'Ao) between the waxing and waning of the cosmic and human realms, and 3) Yin-Yang as a process of harmonization ensuring a constant, dynamic balance of all things.
Yin in its highest form is freezing while Yang in its highest form is boiling. The chilliness comes from heaven while the warmness comes from the earth. The interaction of these two opposites establishes harmony, so it gives birth to things.
Yin-Yang is complementary, emblematic of valuable equality rooted in the unified, dynamic, and harmonized structure of the cosmos.
Yin-Yang schools of teaching existed already during the "Spring and Autumn" (770-481BC) and "Warring States"(403-221BC) periods. Alongside with this Yin-Yang school, 5 others known from the same periods (Kong-Fusian, Mohist, Legalist, Fatalist, and Daoist) defines the theory of the study as "the investigation of the art (Shu) of Yin-Yang." The study focused on omens of luck and explored the patterns of the 4 seasons, and methods of prediction and astronomy. Just as the Confucians (Ru-Jia) arose from the ranks of Ru-Shi (scholar-gentlemen) who excelled at ritual and music), those of the Yin-Yang school came from the Fang-Shi (recipe-gentleman) who specialized in various numerological disciplines known as Shu-Shu (number-arts). This discipline included astronomy (Tian'Wen), calendar-keeping (Li-Pu), Five Faces correlative theory (Wu'Xing), Tortoise-shell interpretation (Zhu-Guai), fortune-telling (Za'Zha) and face-reading (Xing'Fa).
By the Han dynasty (202BC-220CE), Yin-Yang (dualism) was associated with"Five Faces"(Wu'Xing) correlative cosmology. According to the "Great Plan,"a chapter of the "Classic of Documents" (Shu'Jing), Wu'Xing refers to material substances that have certain functional attributes: Water is said to soak and descend; Fire is said to blaze and ascend; Wood is said to curve or be straight; Metal is said to obey and change; Earth is said to take seeds and give crops. Wu'Xing is used as a set of numerological classifiers and explains the configuration of change on various scales. The Yin-Yang/ Wu'Xing teaching -an early Chinese attempt in the direction of working out metaphysics and cosmology- was a fusion of these two conceptual schemes applied to astronomy and the mantic arts.
In the Tai Xuan (The Great Dark Mystery), writen by Yan Xion, his chief philosophical writing, the term Xuan describes dark, black, mysterious, profound, abstruse or hidden. The writer, however, used the term Xuan to refer to the hidden fountainhead or initial state, out of which things emerge and the mysterious process through which they unfold. The Tai Xuan, then, is based on an evolving sequence of figures that, when taken together, map out the cycles of transformation underlying all things. Each figure-image- circumstance is articulated through an evolving series of statements that describes and appraises the unfolding of the situation and the meaning of the image.
Yang Xiong, a prolific yet reclusive court poet, his writings and tragic life spanned the collapse of the Han dynasty (202BC-9CE) and the brief and catastrophic usurpation of the throne by the imperial regent Wang Mang (9-23CE). He is best known for his assertion that human nature originally is neither good nor depraved but rather comes into existence as a mixture of both. As a social critic and classical scholar, he is considered to be the chief representative of the Old Text School of Kong-Zi'anism.
Another book of the same author is "Words to Live By"(Fa Yan). The Fa Yan focus on the perennial Kong-Zi (Confucian) theme of self-cultivation while emphasizing the importance of learning, friendship, role models, rites and music, the natural tendencies, the human virtues, the value of the classics, the princely person, the sage, ruling, filial responsibility, and so forth. Also we can find discussion of concepts and themes usually associated with the way (Dao), potency (De), spontaneity (Zi'Ran), non-coercive action (Wu'Wei), minimizing desire, the vanity of the desires of wealth, office and renown, and the challenges of surviving and maintaining one's integrity in a time of disorder.

THE TEMPLE OF CONFUCIUS.

Qufu city is best known as the birthplace and place of residence of Confucius (Kong-Fusi, or Kong-Zi). He founded Confucianism, a way of life propagated by him in the 6th-5th BC and followed by the Chinese people for more than millennia. Although transformed over time, it is still the substance of learning, the source of values, and the social code of the Chinese.
Qufu (Chu-Fou), conventional Ku-Fow city, is in the Northern coastal province Shan-Dong of China, lying across the Yellow Sea from the Korean peninsula.
Shan-Dong is China's second most populous province. The name Shan-Dong, meaning "East of Mountains," was first officially used during the Jin dynasty in the 12th century. Jinan, its capital city, lies in the Northern foothills of the Mount Tai massif, on the high ground just South of the Yellow River (Huang He). Well-watered from natural springs, the area was settled in early times. From the 8th BC it was the site of Li'Xia, a major city of the state of Qi, which flourished in the Zhou period (1046-256BC). Later, in the 2nd century BC, the town became the seat of Li'Cheng county in the commandering of Jinan. The Chinese name Jinan (South of the Ji) came from the Ji River, which formerly flowed along what is now the lower course of the Yellow River (Huang He). The seat of the commandery was shifted to the present city at the beginning of the 4th CE. Jinan remained an important centre of administration during the next 2 centuries under various names and also a major religious centre. When the Ming dynasty (1368-1644CE) created Shandong province, Jinan became its capital. Nearby Mount Tai, to the South, has long been one of China's greatest holy mountains, and from the 4th to the 7th CE many Buddhist cave temples were built in the hills South of the city capital.
Mount Tai, originally known as Dai-Zong or Dai-Shan is a well known mountain mass with several peaks along a South'West-North'East axis to the North of the city of Tai-An, also in the Shan-Dong province. Since Qin times (221-207 BC) it has also being known as Dong-Yue (Eastern Mountain), one of the 5 holy mountains of China, and has usually ranked as the first among them. The other 4 are: Mount Heng in Hunan province (South), Mount Hua in Shaan'Xi province (West), Mount Heng in Shanxi province (North), and Mount Song in Henan province (central).
Mount Tai was the site of historically important official state rituals. Two of the most spectacular of all ceremonies were: one called Feng, held on top of the Tai (offerings to heaven); and the other, called Chan, held on a lower hill (offerings to earth). The  rituals were believed to ensure a dynasty's fortunes. They were carried out at strange intervals -during the Xi (Western) Han dynasty (206BC-25CE) in 110, 106, 102, and 98BC; then by the Dong (East) Han dynasty (25-220CE) in 56CE; and by emperors of the Tang dynasty (618-907CE) in 666 and 725.
Mount Tai was believed to be home to powerful spirits for whom the rituals were performed in spring for a good harvest and in autumn to give thanks for a harvest completed. Since Tai was the chief ceremonial place for Eastern China, rites were also performed to seek protection from natural disasters.
Tai was also considered to be the centre of the Yang (male) principle, the source of life and that the spirits determined all human destiny and after death the souls of people returned to the mountain for judgment.
Confucius (Kong-Fusi, or Kong-Zi), born in Qufu, state of Lu, in 551BC, was China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, whose ideas have influenced the civilization of East Asia. His father Kong He was an elderly commandant of the local Lu garrison. His grandfather had migrated the family from Song to Lu. The area was notionally controlled by the kings of Zhou but effectively independent under the local lords of Lu. His father died when he was 3 years old, and he was raised by his mother Yan Zheng-Zai in poverty. Later his mother died and at the age of 19 he married Qi'Guan, and a year later the couple had their first child, Kong Li. Later they had two daughters, one of them is thought to have died as a child. He was educated at schools for commoners, where he studied and learned the Six Arts: Rites, Music, Archery, Chariot-teering, Calligraphy, and Mathematics. Whoever excelled in these 6 arts were thought to have reached a state of perfection, a perfect gentleman.
The emphasis on Six Arts bred Confucian gentlemen who knew more than just canonical scholarship.
The classical interest practical scholarship invigorated Chinese mathematics, astronomy, and science. This tradition receded after the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), when neo-Confucianism underscore the importance of the 4 Books "Analects" over the other arts and technical fields. At the schools for the sons of the state (Guozijian), law, math, caligraphy, equestrianism and archery were emphasized by the Ming Hong'Wu Emperor in addition to Confucian classics and also required in the Imperial level.
By the Qing dynasty, the Chinese specialists were not able to manage the lunar calendar accurately and the calendar was going out of phase with nature.  This was a great embarrassment to the Chinese court, as the adherence to the lunar calendar by the vassal states was a recognition of the sovereignty of the Chinese court over them. Western astronomical expertise then was welcomed as an aftermath of Chinese interest in astronomy and mathematics, partially formulated in the classical 6 Arts agenda.
Confucius, in the later part of his life, forsook his previous wanderings and returned to live at his birth place, Qufu, writing, editing, and teaching numerous disciples there until his death in 479BC.
The great Temple of Confucius in the Qufu town was built in 1724CE. Inside the large ceremonial hall of the temple is a large statue of him, surrounded by statues of his disciples. The temple itself stands within a larger oblong walled enclosure that covers about 49 acres (20 hectares), and around it the town expanded. Inside the enclosure is an extensive complex of temples, shrines, monuments, and pavilions.
The enclosure also contains a house that stands on the site of the one Confucius lived in, an ancient tree said to have been planted by him, and a well of water from which he drank.
Outside the temple enclosure is an elaborate complex of buildings that was the residence of Confucius's descendants, the Kong family. Through the centuries the Kong family were the guardians of the temple complex and the administrators of the town of Qufu. The 76th lineal descendant of Confucius lived in the town before World War II. Lying outside the North Gate of the temple enclosure is the Kong's family cemetery which contains the tomb of Confucius.

THE ANCIENT ARMENIANS.

Historically the name 'Armenian' designate a group of people, and was use by neighboring countries of ancient Armenia. The earliest attestations of the name 'Armenia' date around the 6th BC.
The Behistun Inscription, in Old Persian 'Bagastana,' meaning "the place of God," authored by Darius the Great, is a multilingual inscription and a large rock relief on a cliff at Mount Behistun, in Western Iran. Darius made a referral to "Ur-Ash-Tu"(in Babylonian) as 'Ar-Mina' (in Old Persian) and Harminuta (in Elamite). The inscription was made sometime between his coronation as king of the Persian Empire in the summer of 522 BC and his death in autumn of 486 BC. It begins with a brief description of Darius, including his ancestry and lineage. Late, he provides a lengthy sequence of events stating in detail that the rebellions, which had resulted from the deaths of Cyrus the Great and his son Cambyses II, (Darius fought 19 battles in a period of one year) throughout the empire, were orchestrated by several impostors and their co-conspirators. Each of them falsely proclaimed king-hood during the upheaval. Darius proclaimed the victory attributing his success to the grace of the highest spirit of worship, The Mighty Lord.
In Greek, 'Armenians' is attested from about the same time, perhaps the earliest reference being a fragment attributed to Heca'Taeus of Miletus (476 BC). Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BC. He relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the Persian's language.
Armenians call themselves 'Hay.' The name has traditionally been derived from 'Hayk,' the legendary patriarch of the Armenians and a great-great-grandson of Noah, who, according to Moses of Chorene, a prominent Armenian historian, defeated the Babylonian king Bel in 2,492 BC and established his nation in the Ar'Arat region. Moses also wrote that the Word 'Armenian' originated from the name 'Arm-Enak' or 'Aram (descendant of Hayk).
From 4,000 to 1,000 BC, tools and trinkets of copper, bronze and iron were commonly produced in the ancient regions of the Armenians and traded in neighboring lands where those metals were less found.
The Armenian Plateau has been called the "Epicenter of the Iron Age,"since it is the location of the first appearance of Iron metallurgy in the late 2nd millennium BC. Throughout Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Armenian Highlands was a heavily contested territory of the Iranian Parthian Empire, Sassanid Persian Empire, Byzantine Empire, and the Arab Caliphate. From the early modern era and on, the region came directly under Safavid Iranian rule. Heavily contested for centuries between Iranian Safavids and its arch-rival the Ottoman Empire with numerous wars over the Highlands comprising Western Armenia. The area was conquered by the Ottomans in the first half of the 17th century, while Eastern Armenia, forming another major part of the Highlands, stayed in Iranian hands up to the course of the 19th century, when it was ceded to Imperial Russia. During the latter final half of the 19th CE, the Ottoman held parts of the Armenian Highlands comprising Western Armenia now formed the boundary of the Ottoman sphere of influence and the Russia sphere of influence. The Armenian extermination was executed by the Ottomans trying to erase most of the evidence that they ever lived on the great highland called Armenian Plateau, to which the perpetrators soon assigned a new name "Eastern Anatolia." The dissolution of the Ottomans after World War I, it has been the boundary region of Turkey, Iran, and Soviet Union. And, from 1991, since the dissolution of Soviet Union, it is a boundary region of Armenia, parts of Georgia, and Azeibajan.
In the Book of Genesis, the mountains of Ar'Arat is the place where Noah's Ark came to rest after the Great Flood (Genesis 8). Scholars refer it to a general region, corresponding to Ancient Assyrian Ur'Artu (Old Persian Ar'Mina) the name of the kingdom which at the time controlled the Lake Van region. The Lake Van is the largest one in Turkey, it lies in the far East in the provinces of Van and Bitlis. It is a saline and extremely alkaline body of water, with a pH value between 9-12, characterized by high concentration of sodium carbonate.  It the most productive aquatic environment in the area.
Marco Polo (1254-1324) wrote about Noah's ark in his book, 'The Travels of Marco Polo' as follows : "In the heart of the Armenian mountain range, the mountain's peak is shaped like a cup, on which Noah's arch is said to have rested. The mountain is so broad and long that it takes more than two days to go around it. On the summit the snow lies so deep all the year round that no one can ever climb it; this snow never entirely melts, but new snow is forever falling on the old, so that the level rises.
In Armenian tradition, the specific summit where the Ark rested, is identified as Mount Masis, now known as Mount Ar'Arat, the highest peak of Armenian Highland, located in present-day Turkey.
The Armenian Highlands total area is about 400,000 square kilometers and is the central-most and highest of three land-locked plateaus, that together form the Northern sector of the Middle East.
The Highlands are reach in Water resources and most of it is in Eastern Turkey, and also includes North Western Iran, all of Armenia, Southern Georgia, and Western Azerbaijan. Its North Eastern parts are also known as Lesser Caucasus, which is a center of Armenian culture.
The Armenian Highlands have been the scene of great volcanic activity. Geologically recent volcanism on the area has resulted in large volcanic formations.  A series of massifs and tectonic movement has formed the 3 largest Lakes in the Highland, Lake Sevan, Lake Van, and Lake Urmia.
Armenians have had its presence in the Armenian Highland for over 4,000 years since the time when Hayk, the legendary patriarch and founder of the first Armenian nation, led them to victory over Bel of Babylon. Today, with a population of 3.5 million, they not only constitute an overwhelming majority in Armenia, but also in the disputed region of Ar'Tsakh, under control of ethnic Armenians separatists.

SALT AND THE DEAD SEA.

Salt is a necessity of life, as a mineral it was used extensively since ancient times as seasoning, preservative, disinfectant, ceremonial offerings, unit of exchange, etc.
The Scripture contains numerous references to salt. In various contexts, it is used metaphorically to signify permanence, loyalty, fidelity, usefulness, value, and purification. All of them thought to be eternal characteristics of the spiritual heart.
The Hebrew people harvested salt by pouring salt water into pits and letting the water evaporate until only salt was left. In 2 Chronicles 13, King Abijah referred to God's Covenant Promise to David that He will not lack a man to seat on Israel's throne as a Salt Covenant -that is a Covenant that can never be broken. Salt, in this case, is a sacred blessing because of the fact that it is a necessity of life.
The fate of Lot's wife, being turned into a pillar of salt, is reflected as a punishment for disobeying the angels' warning, after she looked back at Sodom (Genesis 19). She was deemed unworthy to be saved. A pillar of salt named "Lot's wife" is located near the Dead Sea at Mount Sodom in Israel.
The main source of salt in Scriptural times was the area of the Dead Sea.
The Jordan Rift Valley also called the Syro-African Depression, is geographically, an elongated depression located in modern-day Israel, Jordan, and Palestine.
The region includes the entire length of the Jordan River -from its sources, through the Hula Valley, the Korazim block, the Sea of Galilee, the Lower Jordan Valley, all the way to the Dead Sea- and then continues through the Arabian depression, the Gulf of Aqaba whose shore-lines it incorporates, until finally reaching the Red Sea proper at the Straits of Tiran, the narrow sea passages between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas.
The Rift was formed many millions of years ago when the Arabian Plate moved Northward and then Eastward away from Africa. Later, the land between the Mediterranean and the Rift rose so that the sea water stopped flooding the area. Thus, the long lagoon became a landlocked Lake.
The Dead Sea now is receding at an alarming rate because of diversion of incoming water from the Jordan River to the North.  Multiples canals and pipelines proposed to reduce its recession, instead of helping, it had begun causing mayor problems. The drop rate now is 1 meter / 3 feet per year. As the water level decreases, the characteristics of the Sea and surrounding region will substantially change.
The Dead Sea, a salt Lake bordered by the Jordan to the East and Israel and Palestine to the West, lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The face of the ridge is constantly changing as weather interacts with the rock salt,
The Lake surface and shores are 430.5 meters / 1,412 feet below sea level. Being the Earth's lowest elevation on land, the Lake is 304 meters / 997 feet deep, the deepest hyper-saline Lake in the World. And with a salinity of 342g/kg, or 34.2% (2011), it is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean and one of the World's saltiest bodies of Water. Being 50 kilometers / 31 miles long and 15 kilometers / 9 miles wide at its widest point, the Lake's salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish. The density of the water is 1.24 kg/litre, which makes swimming similar to floating.
In Ezekiel 47, is another Scriptural example that highlights that life in the Spirit is being replaced in our bodies made of salty water in the same way Fresh Water enters into the Salty Water of the Dead Sea and gradually replaces it into Fresh Water that brings life :
The Scripture says, "The man led me back to 'the entrance of the Temple.' Water was coming out from 'under the entrance' and flowing East, the direction the Temple faced. Water was flowing down from 'under the South part' of the Temple 'past the South side of the altar.'"  (Ezekiel 47: 1)
"The man then took me 'out of the Temple area' by way of the 'North Gate' and led me around 'to the Gate that faces East.' A small Stream of Water was flowing out at the 'South side of the Gate.' With his measuring rod the man measured 560 yards downstream to the East and told me to wade through the stream there. The water came only to my ankles. Then he measured another 560 yards, and the water came up to my knees. Another 560 yards farther down, the water was up to my waist. He measured 560 yards more, and there the Stream was so deep I could not wade through it. It was too deep to cross except by swimming. He said to me, "Mortal man, note all this carefully." (Ezekiel 47: 2-6)
Then the man took me back to the Riverbank, and when I got there, I saw that 'there were very many trees' on each bank. He said to me, "This Water flows through the Land 'to the East' and 'down into the Jordan Valley' and 'to the Dead Sea.'    When the Water flows into the Dead Sea, it replaces the Salt Water of that sea with Fresh Water. Wherever the Stream flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish. The Stream will make the Water of the Dead Sea fresh, and wherever it flows, it will bring Life.
From the Springs of Engedi all the way to the Springs of Eneglaim, there will be fishermen on the shore of the Sea, and they will spread out their nets there to dry. There will be as many different kinds of fish there as there are in the Mediterranean Sea. But the Water in the marshes and ponds along the shore will not be made fresh. They will remain there as a Source of Salt. (Ezekiel 47: 7-11)
On each bank of the Stream all kinds of trees will grow to provide food. Their leaves will never wither, and they will never stop bearing fruit. They will have fresh fruit every month, because they are watered by the Stream that flows 'from the Temple.' The trees will provide food and their leaves will be used for healing people.  (Ezekiel 47: 12)

THE TALE OF KOSCHEI THE DEATHLESS.

The characters of Russian fairy tales inhabit in a particular Magical Kingdom where they never get bored. They are eternally engaged in all kind of trials and tribulations. The strange world of the living dead is separated from the world of the truly dead by a River of Fire. Sometimes the two worlds are separated by other boundaries, but the importance is that there is a boundary, a line over which all must pass to enter that world of the truly dead. The hero crosses to that other side over the fiery River but somehow returns to his world by the action of magical powers.
The character Koschei is an evil immortal man who menaces young women with his magic.
Ivan, one of the most common Russian names, is the main hero of Russian fairy tales. The most famous folktale featuring Ivan as the protagonist is "Prince Ivan, the Firebird and the Grey Wolf."
He is always portrayed as either the 3rd son of a peasant family or the 3rd son of a king, and his friends and foes are often mythic figures.
In the Tale, Ivan has 3 sisters, the first sister is Princess Marya, the second is Princess Olga, the third is Princess Anna. After his parents died and the sisters got married to three wizards, he decided to leave his home in search for his sisters.
On the way, Ivan meets Marya Morevna, a beautiful warrior princess, and gets married to her, and both went to live in a castle. After a while the warrior princess announces she is going to go to war and tells his husband, Ivan, not to open the door of the dungeon in the castle they live in while she will be away.
Ivan, overcome by the desire to know what the dungeon holds, he opens the door soon after her departure and finds the evil immortal man, Koschei, chained and enmaciated.
The evil man, Koschei, asks Ivan to bring him some water; Ivan does so. After Koschei drinks twelve buckets of water, his magic powers return to him, then he tears his chains and disappears.
Soon after, Ivan finds out that the evil man took his wife, Marya Morevna away, he chases Koschei. When he faces him for the first time, Koschei tells Ivan to let him go, but Ivan doesn't give in, and the evil man kills Ivan, cuts his body in pieces, puts his remains into a barrel and throws it into the sea.
Ivan, then, is revived by his sisters' husbands, powerful wizards, who can transform themselves into birds of prey. The wizards tell him that Koschei has a magic horse and suggest Ivan to get one too by going to Baba Yaga, otherwise he won't be able to defeat Koschei.
Baba Yaga is a supernatural being who appears as a deformed witch. She flies around in a mortar, wields a pestle, and dwells deep in the forest in a hut usually described as standing on chicken legs. This Baba Yaga is a benevolent one, the gift giver and adviser. She shows Ivan the path and from now on he knows where to go. She first has to tests Ivan's nerve and courage, and if he proves to be worthy, she will hand to him the magical horse.
After Ivan stands all of Yaga's tests and gets the horse, he fights with the evil Koschei, kills him and burns his body. Marya Morevna, his wife returns to Ivan, and they celebrate his victory with his sisters and their husbands.

THE RUSSIAN FAIRY TALES.

Russian folklore takes its roots in the beliefs of the ancient Slavs. They were called 'Sporoi' in olden times. Procopius, an Eastern Roman writer, derived the name from the Greek word 'Ottelpw' meaning "I scatter grain," because they populated the land with scattered settlements. Prior to becoming known to the Roman world, they were part of the many multi-ethnic confederacies of Eurasia, a combined continental landmass of Europe and Asia.
The word 'Slovenim' is usually considered a derivation from 'Slovo,' originally denoting "people who speaks the same language," (people who understand each other), in contrast to the Slavic word 'nemb' denoting German people that means "silent, mute people."
The present day Slavs are a group of people who speaks various Slavic languages of the Balto-Slavic language group. They are classified in East Slavs (Russia, Ukrainians, Bela-Russians), West Slavs (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks), and South Slavs (Serbs, Bulgarians, Croats, Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians, and Montenegrins).
The Russian Fairy Tales is a collection of writings, collected by Alexander Afanasyev and published by him between 1855 and 1863. Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (July11,1826-October23,1871), a Russian Slavist published nearly 600 folktales and fairytales -one of the largest folk-tale collection in the world. He studied law at the University of Moscow, in which he attended the lectures of Konstantin Kavelin (historian, jurist, sociologist, liberalist) and Timofey Granovsky (he felt that Western history was superior to that of his own and became the 1st to deliver courses on medieval history of Western Europe). Alexander was appointed as librarian in the Archives of Moscow and stayed there for 13 years, and was dismissed in that year because of the scandal provoked by his publishing of the 'Russian
Popular Religious Legends,' which were a ferocious satire of the Orthodox clergy. He was very immersed in Old Russian and Slav traditions and stories, an area of study that did not exist at the time. His first mythological articles were: The Wizards and Witches, Sorcery in Ancient Russia, Legends about the Buyand Island, and were treated as a mine information for the study of more ancient legends.
In such an interpretation, he regarded the fairy tale 'Vasilisa the Beautiful' as depicting the conflict between the sunlight (Vasilisa), the storm (her stepmother), and dark clouds (her stepsisters). His works provides copious information, evidence, documents, and passages of the old chronicles that relates to ancient Slavic cultures, history and tradition, as well as other Indo-European languages, folklore and legends, in particular Germanic traditions since he knew to perfection German as well as Slav ancient languages.
Prior to Afanasyev's works in the 1850s, only a few attempts had ever been made to record or study the beliefs of peasant Russia. Though written Church Slavonic had existed since the 10th century, it was used solely by the church for written works. It was not until the 18th and 19th centuries that a sizable body of secular literature developed. Thus, Afanasyev's collections made a very high valuable contribution to the dissemination of Russian culture and folk belief. The influence of these tales can be seen in the works of many writers and composers, notably Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Sadko, The Snow Maiden) and Igor Stravinsky (The Firebird, Petrushka, and L'Histoire du soldat).
Some of the tales written by Afanasyev are:
The Death of Koschei the Immortal,
Vasilissa the Beautiful,
Vasilisa The Priest Daughter,
Father Frost,
Sister Alenushka, Brother Ivanushka,
The Frog Princess,
Vasilii the Unlucky,
The White Duck,
The Princess Who Never Smiled,
The Wicked Sisters,
The 12 Dancing Princesses,
The Magic Swan Geese,
The Feather of Finist the Falcon,
Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird, and the Gray Wolf,
The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise,
The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of Life,
Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What.
The Golden Slipper,
The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa,
The Wise Little Girl,
The Armless Maiden,
The Giant Turnip.