Feen, Elfe und die Kleinen Leute in den Wollen

The current state of affairs in the financial markets have oozed their miasmal stench all the way down to the humblest levels of life. We think of the huge houses of commerce and the Gnomes of Zürich industriously brewing mercantile magic without any concern whatsoever for what may come to pass for the rest of us. It's unseemly, really.

Well, long ago things were different. Normal, everyday people had help at the mere whisper of a request. We're too sophisticated these days for the need of 'The Little People' and try to fool ourselves into thinking that we can handle it all rather well ourselves. Just this past week, across my desk came a rather odd looking book. I started to process it paying it no mind at all, but my hand would not release it and, instead, drew it back to my focused gaze.

"An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies and Other Supernatural Creatures" by Katharine Briggs - 453 pp., fully indexed : with complete bibliographic entries.
ISBN : 0-394-73467-X [$19.00]

As a spinner, weaver and knitter, I am always on the lookout for anything at all even loosely connected to those arts and, sure enough - within the pages of this wonderful collection was the patron fairy of Spinners: Habetrot. Who knew? I was aware of the American Indian legend of the old spirit of the loom that would confound a weaver's warp if the shuttle was left in the shed of the warp over night, but the spinning pixies were a revelation. Here's the entry . . . (Be patient with the language - it's in Scots but you'll soon adjust)

HABETROT

The name of the Border patron fairy of spinning. William Henderson in Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties (pp. 258-62) tells a story from the Wilkie manuscript about this faiy which has many points of interest.

A Selkirkshire gudewife had a bonny, idle daughter who much preferred roaming over the countryside gathering flowers to blistering her fingers with spinning. The gudewife did all that she could to make the lassie a notable spinster, but all in vain, till one day she lost patience, gave her daughter a sound whipping, threw down seven heads of lint in front of her and told her that they must all be spun up into yarn within three days, or it would be the worse for her. The lassie knew her mother meant what she said, so she set to work in earnest, and worked hard for a whole day, but she only blistered her soft little hands and produced a few feet of lumpy, uneven thread. When it grew dark she cried herself to sleep.. She woke up on a glorious morning, looked at her wretched stint, and despaired. 'I can do no good here,' she thought, 'I'll away oot into the caller air.'

She wandered here and there down the stream and at last sat down on a SELF-BORED STONE and burst into tears. She had heard no one come near, but when she looked up there was an old wife beside her, plying her spindle busily and pulling out her thread with a lip that seemed make for that very purpose. The lass was a friendly wee thing, and she wished the old wife a kind good morning. Then like the bairn she was she asked, 'Whit way are ye saie lang lipit, gudewife?' 'With drawing the thread, ma hinnie,' said the old wife, well pleased with her. 'I wet my fingers with my lips, as I draw the thread from the distaff.' 'That's what I sud be doing, ' said the lassie, 'but it's a' nae gude.' And she told the old wife her story. 'Fetch me yir lint, and I'll hae it spun up in gude time,' said the kind old wife; and the lassie ran home and fetched it.

'What's yir name, gudewife?' she asked, 'and whaur will I get it?'. But, the old wife took the lint without answering - and was nowhere. The girl sat down, thoroughly bewildered, and waited. Presently the hot sun made her drowsy and she fell asleep.

The sun was setting when she woke, and she heard a whirring sound and voices singing coming from under her head. She put her eye to the self-bored stone and beneath her she saw a great cavern, with a number of queer old wives sitting spinning in it, each on a white marble stone, rounded in the river, called a 'colludie stone'. They all had long lips, and her friend of that morning was walking up and down among them, drecting them all, ad as the lassie peped in she heard her say, 'Little kens the wee lassie on the brae-head that Habetrot is my name. There was one spinner sitting a little apart from the rest who was uglier than all of them. Habetrot went up to her and said: 'Bundle up the yarn, Scantlie Mab, for it's time the wee lassie sud gie it to her Minnie." At that the lassie knew that it was time for her to be at the cottage door, and she got up and hurried home. She met Habetrot just outside, who gave her seven beautiful hands of yarn. 'Oh whit can I dae for ye in return?' she cried. 'Naething, naething,' siad Habetrot, 'but dinna tell yer mither whae spun the yarn.'

The lassie went into the cottage treading on air but famished with hunger, for she had eaten nothing since the day before. Her mother was in the box-bed fast asleep, for she had been hard at work making black puddings, 'sausters' they called them round there, and had gone to bed early. The lassie spread out her yarn so that her mother could see it when she waked, then she blew up the fire, took down the frying-pan and fried the first sauster and ate it, then the second, then the third, and so on till she had eaten all seven. Then she went up the ladder to bed.

The mother was awake first in the morning. There she saw seven beautiful skeins of yarn spread out, but not a trace of her seven sausters except a black frying-pan. Half-distracted between joy and anger, she rushed out of the house singing:

'Ma daughter's spun se'en, se'en, se'en,
Ma daughter's eaten se'en, se'en, se'en
And all before daylight!'

And who should come riding along but the yound laird himself. "What's that you're crying, Goodwife?' he said, and she sang out again:

'Ma daughter's spun se'en, se'en, se'en,
Ma daughter's eaten se'en, se'en, se'en

an' if ye don't believe me, come and see for yersel!'

The laird followed her into the house, and when he saw the smoothness and eveness of the skeins, he wanted to see the spinner of them, and when he saw the bonny lass, he asked her to be his wife.

The laird was handsome and braw, and the lass was glad to say yes, but there was one thing that troubled her: the laird kept talking of all the fine yarn she would be spinning for him after the wedding. So one evening the lassie went down to the self-bored stone and called on Habetrot. Habetrot knew what her trouble would be, but she said, 'Never heed, hinnie, bring your jo here and we'll sort it for ye.' So next night at sunset the pair of them stood at the self-bored stone and heard Habetrot singing, and at the end of the song she opened a hidden door and let them into the mound. The laird was astonished at all the shapes of deformity he saw before him asked aloud why their lips were so distorted. One after another they muttered in hardly intelligible tones, 'With sp-sp-spinning.' 'Aye, aye, they were once bonnie eneugh,' said Habetrot, 'but spinners aye gan of that gait. Yer own lassie 'ill be the same, bonnie though she is noo, for she's fair mad about the spinning.'

'She'll not!' said the laird. 'Not another spindle shall she touch from this day on!' 'Just as ye say, laird,' said the lassie; and from that day on she roamed the countryside with the laird or rode about behind him as blithe as a bird, and every head of lint that grew on their land went to old Habetrot to spin."

This pleasant version of Grimm's tale of 'The Three Spinners' is more than a mere folk-tale, for Habetrot was really believed to be the patroness of spinners, and it was seriously held that a shirt made by her was a sovereign remedy for all sorts of diseases. It is strange that so many of these spinng fairies had names ending in 'trot', 'throt' or 'tot'. There is TRYTEN-A-TROTEN, GWARYN-A-THROT and TOM TIT TOT. Habetrot, however, is not sinister like the others, though the over-hearing of her name suggests a similar motif which somehow got overlaid.

______________________________________________________________

Fairies and their ilk seasoned Man's explanations of his universe in the best way possible for his time and experiences. Personally, I think we could use a bit of fairy dust these days to unravel the tangled Web of Woe we are currently witnessing. The good news is that we all have our own magic wand completely at our disposal, any time of day or night. The simple three-part spell of Attraction carries with it our own innate ability to create for ourselves great joy and prosperity - without the help of the Gnomes of Zürich or the Wizards of Wall Street. It's not even necessary to dance naked 'round a fire in the forest on a full moon, fun as that may be.

Belief, Expectation, Acceptance

Willkommen zurück, Herr Marx

Been away for quite sometime but this seemed a good time to check in again. While things at the homefront have been in great flux, things at the national level have been at an even greater flux. I feel you'll find the following a remarkable item of note . . .

Bailout marks Karl Marx's comeback

Posted: September 29, 2008, 8:03 PM by Jeff White

Marx’s Proposal Number Five seems to be the leading motivation for those backing the Wall Street bailout

By Martin Masse
In his Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, Karl Marx proposed 10 measures to be implemented after the proletariat takes power, with the aim of centralizing all instruments of production in the hands of the state. Proposal Number Five was to bring about the “centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.”
If he were to rise from the dead today, Marx might be delighted to discover that most economists and financial commentators, including many who claim to favour the free market, agree with him.
Indeed, analysts at the Heritage and Cato Institute, and commentators in The Wall Street Journal and on this very page, have made declarations in favour of the massive “injection of liquidities” engineered by central banks in recent months, the government takeover of giant financial institutions, as well as the still stalled US$700-billion bailout package. Some of the same voices were calling for similar interventions following the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2001.
“Whatever happened to the modern followers of my free-market opponents?” Marx would likely wonder.
At first glance, anyone who understands economics can see that there is something wrong with this picture. The taxes that will need to be levied to finance this package may keep some firms alive, but they will siphon off capital, kill jobs and make businesses less productive elsewhere. Increasing the money supply is no different. It is an invisible tax that redistributes resources to debtors and those who made unwise investments.
So why throw this sound free-market analysis overboard as soon as there is some downturn in the markets?
The rationale for intervening always seems to centre on the fear of reliving the Great Depression. If we let too many institutions fail because of insolvency, we are being told, there is a risk of a general collapse of financial markets, with the subsequent drying up of credit and the catastrophic effects this would have on all sectors of production. This opinion, shared by Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson and most of the right-wing political and financial establishments, is based on Milton Friedman’s thesis that the Fed aggravated the Depression by not pumping enough money into the financial system following the market crash of 1929.
It sounds libertarian enough. The misguided policies of the Fed, a government creature, and bad government regulation are held responsible for the crisis. The need to respond to this emergency and keep markets running overrides concerns about taxing and inflating the money supply. This is supposed to contrast with the left-wing Keynesian approach, whose solutions are strangely very similar despite a different view of the causes.
But there is another approach that doesn’t compromise with free-market principles and coherently explains why we constantly get into these bubble situations followed by a crash. It is centered on Marx’s Proposal Number Five: government control of capital.
For decades, Austrian School economists have warned against the dire consequences of having a central banking system based on fiat money, money that is not grounded on any commodity like gold and can easily be manipulated. In addition to its obvious disadvantages (price inflation, debasement of the currency, etc.), easy credit and artificially low interest rates send wrong signals to investors and exacerbate business cycles.
Not only is the central bank constantly creating money out of thin air, but the fractional reserve system allows financial institutions to increase credit many times over. When money creation is sustained, a financial bubble begins to feed on itself, higher prices allowing the owners of inflated titles to spend and borrow more, leading to more credit creation and to even higher prices.
As prices get distorted, malinvestments, or investments that should not have been made under normal market conditions, accumulate. Despite this, financial institutions have an incentive to join this frenzy of irresponsible lending, or else they will lose market shares to competitors. With “liquidities” in overabundance, more and more risky decisions are made to increase yields and leveraging reaches dangerous levels.
During that manic phase, everybody seems to believe that the boom will go on. Only the Austrians warn that it cannot last forever, as Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises did before the 1929 crash, and as their followers have done for the past several years.
Now, what should be done when that pyramidal scheme starts crashing to the floor, because of a series of cascading failures or concern from the central bank that inflation is getting out of control? It’s obvious that credit will shrink, because everyone will want to get out of risky businesses, to call back loans and to put their money in safe places. Malinvestments have to be liquidated; prices have to come down to realistic levels; and resources stuck in unproductive uses have to be freed and moved to sectors that have real demand. Only then will capital again become available for productive investments.
Friedmanites, who have no conception of malinvestments and never raise any issue with the boom, also cannot understand why it inevitably leads to a crash.
They only see the drying up of credit and blame the Fed for not injecting massive enough amounts of liquidities to prevent it.
But central banks and governments cannot transform unprofitable investments into profitable ones. They cannot force institutions to increase lending when they are so exposed. This is why calls for throwing more money at the problem are so totally misguided. Injections of liquidities started more than a year ago and have had no effect in preventing the situation from getting worse. Such measures can only delay the market correction and turn what should be a quick recession into a prolonged one.
Friedman — who, contrary to popular perception, was not a foe of monetary inflation, but simply wanted to keep it under better control in normal circumstances — was wrong about the Fed not intervening during the Depression. It tried repeatedly to inflate but credit still went down for various reasons. This is a key difference in interpretation between the Austrian and Chicago schools.
As Friedrich Hayek wrote in 1932, “Instead of furthering the inevitable liquidation of the maladjustments brought about by the boom during the last three years, all conceivable means have been used to prevent that readjustment from taking place; and one of these means, which has been repeatedly tried though without success, from the earliest to the most recent stages of depression, has been this deliberate policy of credit expansion. ... To combat the depression by a forced credit expansion is to attempt to cure the evil by the very means which brought it about ...”
The confusion of Chicago school economics on monetary issues is so profound as to lead its adherents today to support the largest government grab of private capital in world history. By adding their voices to those on the left, these confused free-marketeers are not helping to “save capitalism”, but contributing to its destruction.

Financial Post
Martin Masse is publisher of the libertarian webzine Le Québécois Libre and a former advisor to Industry minister Maxime Bernier.

Photo: Karl Marx

From the Financial Post:

http://www.financialpost.com/

Joyeux 475 Anniversaire, Michel !

Around noon on this day, a wondrous thing occurred. A very dear friend of mine was born. He has kept me in good company and council for years and has been an inspiration to me beyond what words can convey.

His friendly manner, his honesty and penchant for clarity instantly won me over. He spent his life engaged in a close examination of his own life and, thankfully, set those pursuits to pen and paper. Others have noted about my friend:

"When we talk to a friend we do not constantly confess and plumb the depths of our soul; for to do so is to threaten, by excessive self-concern, the tacit equilibrium that friendship assumes and needs. Rather we talk about our hopes and fears, what has hapened to us, what we have seen, heard or read that has interested us, how we assess our own actions and those of others . . . And this is what [my friend] does. He has no use for the introvert's anguish over the impenetrability of ultimates, the absurdity of man's place in the universe, or the discrepancy between our ideals and our attainments. The first two of these he accepts without despair as unfathomable data of human life. The third he seeks to resolve by introspective study of human nature and human conduct, over which we have some control."*

He was born in Périgord, France and enjoyed a life of travel, politics, religious reflection but mostly one of self-reflection and all simply recorded for his own enjoyment. When I was first introduced to my friend it seemed as though we had known each other for decades, his words echoed so profoundly within me.

One of my favorite stories he tells is that of his trip from his home in Périgord up through Champagne, into Alsace, through Switzerland, Germany and Austria and then down to Italy and back home again. And the reason for the trip? Kidney stones! Yep. He had a terrible bout of 'em and made his tour to take in the waters of all the famous (infamous?) mineral baths on the Continent. This small tome is a detailed account of that trip with every detail of his lodgings, meals, dinner companions, bath personnel and road conditions.

He was of a mind that the waters taken at each stop would help alleviate his suffering. Of course, it did nothing of the sort but only contributed to it. But, never mind. Writing as his own travel companion, we learn a lot about him and how he engages LIfe around him. It might be a fair comparison to pair him with Mark Twain and that author's delightful "A Tramp Abroad".


So, on this day: 28 February, 1533, my friend Michel-Eyquem de Montaigne was born.

Through his essays, a genre he founded, he reaches across the centuries to all of us expressing his own views and 'takes' on the very same things that we all encounter throughout our own lives.

During this political season especially, I am reminded of a passage from his first book of essays. It is one that has served me well over the years on my own path in the company of others:

"Why in judging a man do you judge him all wrapped up in a package? He displays to us only parts that are not at all his own, and hides from us those by which alone one can truly judge of his value. It is the worth of the blade that you seek to know, not of the scabbard; perhaps you will not give a penny for it if you have unsheathed it. You must judge him by himself, not by his finery. And as one of the ancients [Seneca] says very comically: "Do you know why you think him tall? You are counting in the height of his heels." The pedestal is not part of the statue. Measure him without his stilts; let him put aside his riches and honors, let him present himself in his shirt. Has he a body fit for its functions, healthy and blithe? What sort of soul has he? Is it beautiful, capable, and happily furnished with all its parts? Is it rich of its own riches, or of others? Has fortune nothing to do with it? If open-eyed he awaits the drawn swords; if he cares not whether his life expires by the mouth or the neck; if his soul is composed, equable, and content: this is what we must see, and by this judge the extreme differences that are between us. Is he

Wise, and master of himself,
Fearing not death, or chains, or lack of wealth,
Disdaining honors, firm against desire,
Within himself well-rounded and entire,
Beyond the reach of all external pain,
Against whom even fortune strikes in vain?
~Horace

Such a man is five hundred fathoms above kingdoms and duchies; he is himself his own empire."

Happy Birthday, Michel !

*From "The Complete Essays of Montaigne" Translated by Donald M. Frame
Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
ISBN:0-8047-0485-6 (Cloth)
0-8047-0486-4 (Paper)

Haidakhandi Aarati auf der Straße

The Kirtan Hall at Crestone

Some years ago, my amazing sister Melinda became involved with an ashram out in Crestone, Colorado. It is a sister ashram of the mother ashram in the north of India In the Kumaon foothills of the Indian Himalayas, That ashram was/is the home of Sri Babaji who, in an earlier incarnation (1861), brought us Kriya Yoga, a meditative & spiritual form of yoga that I practice.

In his most recent incarnation back in the'80s he returned to the Indian ashram he had built in previous incarnations to teach Karma Yoga.

Here is a picture of my beautiful sister at that ashram in India:

The people at the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram are a wonderful set of devotees and decided to put together a group to travel around the country and perform Aarati for people that can't get to Crestone, at least I think that's the reason.

So it is that this intrepid group ventured forth and found their way to St. Petersburg, FL where I was honored to be invited to attend this wonderful devotional event. It was held in the beautiful home of two devotees who live on the beach on Treasure Island. While there were but 6 or 7 of us present to enjoy the music the energy level was very high and it was a great evening of Devotion and Joy.


The Bhole Baba Bhajan Band (I just love that name!) was just phenomenal and led us in a two hour chant-fest.

They are, from left to right: Jason Almendarez (Jai Shankar) on percussion and vocals from Houston, TX; Ramloti on harmonium and vocals from the Ashram; Kailash on harmonium, dollak, and vocals from Crestone, CO; Prakash on dollak and percussion from Santa Fe, NM; and Frances Frischkorn on percussion and vocals from Colorado College

From here they tour up the eastern seaboard, back to the mid-west then home to Colorado.


The story of Babaji is available in our wonderful library system. Connect with our homepage and go to the catalog and type in the title: I Am Harmony.
ISBN:

096264210X

0962642118 :

9780962642111

It's listed with a Dewey number of:

294.543 BABAJI

There are a couple of copies in the system.

Om Namah Shivaya - Bhole Baba Ki Jai !

Und, Ein Wunderschönes Erfolgreiches Neues Jahr!

Upon arising this morning I was greeted by:

4 champagne corks on the counter, three empty bottles of some very competitive wines, three nearly empty glasses of what appears to be Sambuco and Frangelica, a trail of a brown 'something' on the carpet leading from the dining room to the guest bathroom (?), and the remaining slips of paper containing clues from a rather spirited session of Charades.

It would appear that our New Years Eve Party was a success.

And, indeed it was! We had two couples in plus another dear friend for dinner and welcoming in 2008: Seafood Lasagna, a portabello/arugula salad, garlic bread, oysters Rockefeller, shrimps & cocktail sauce, BBQ'd ham and water chestnuts, cream cheese & caviar, kick-ass Chards and Zins and lots of laughs. T'was great fun!

Today will find me dyeing up 11 skeins of Peruvian wool for a wall hanging for a friend of ours in Cape Coral, FL. Rich Mahogany / ochres / yellows, etc. The dyes are acid based from Jacquard and, as I'm going to be painting the skeins, they will be steamed on the stove to set the color. I can't wait to get started on this project. I had planned to knit the hanging but our friend Joan last night suggested that I felt the thing. An interesting idea. I'm not a big felt fan but for a wall-hanging it might be an interesting twist. And, speaking of wall-hangings:

For Christmas this year, Himself gave me something I've been hankerin' after for years. This particular wall in the great room has been screaming for a huge clock to fill it's space and Doug was able to find this one.

It's pounded bronze and does the job in perfect order. I'm sooooo jazzed!

The weather looks a bit dodgy - front coming in and quite chilly temps are in store. I may have to bring in the orchids tonight and p'rolly should bring in the night-blooming Cereus.

2007 was a wonderful year even though it was fraught with indelicacies, irritations and several deeply wounding episodes. But, those are behind me now. 2007 also brought in many astonishing and unexpected things: I played for my niece's wedding out in Missouri at Stevens College on an organ I had always wanted to play; got to visit with my sister and her wonderful family there; enjoyed a huge family reunion of Doug's family up in Wisconsin for his mom's 85th birthday.

The most amazing thing, however, was my invitation and induction into the 62nd edition of Marquis' Who's Who in America 2008. I was notified late in 2006 that I had been nominated and instantly thought it was a mistake but as it turned out they were quite serious and so, there you have it. I have been "Cataloged"! HA!

This new year will see much remodeling of the Schloss: the master bath needs a major overhaul, the entire first floor's carpeting MUST be ripped up and replaced with tile. Our dear departed Lucy who translated in April left us with a carpet "customized" by her indiscretions to the point of us having to have rag throw rugs all through the living room to hide the stains. It's impossible, really.

The big plan for this year is, however, our trip to Alaska! We had our 25th anniversary this last year but we'll be celebrating it in 2008 with an Alaskan adventure. We're hoping to fly up, rent an RV and tour the interior then hop on a boat and cruise back to Vancouver or Seattle through the inside passage. This was Doug's idea. I've indicated that for the cost of this proposed 15 day sojourn, we could fly business class to Zürich, stay for three months, tour the continent and still come out ahead! But, nevertheless. Look out Sitka!

I hope that 2008 proves to be a blessed year for all of you and that your unrealized potentialities become the Realities that are truly what make you YOU!

Om Namah Shivaya und Prosit Neujahr!

Frohe, Fröhliche Weihnachten Zu Allen!

The sun has finally come out on this glorious Christmas morning. Santa, somehow, managed to find his way through the fog and yuck to deliver many goodies here in Tampadorf. And now the morning has burned away the mists and everything seems to be smiling.

What I am calling my Christmas Orchid, is in full bloom. Just one flower but what a show! I've been waiting for around 3 years for it to decide to bloom. It was well worth the wait . . .

This morning will find us at the park doing our 18 mile bike ride since we were unable to do it this weekend due to blechy weather. While we're gone the dough will be rising for the rolls we're taking over to our good friend's house for "Crimpus Dinner". I've been cultivating the sourdough for the last three days and it's quite yeasty and sharp at last . . . t'will be perfect so sop up the juices from the roast beast. For dessert, I'm making an apple Tatin which will be served hot right out of the pan at the table with a good dollop of cream and or ice-cream, followed by brandy, coffee and a great cigar! What's not to like?

To everyone reading this I send all the very best wishes for a wonderful and fulfilled holiday. Many blessings to you all!

Seasonal Joy from Nearly All Over . . .

Nothing says Christmas like Good News from Nigeria.

The following appeared in my email box this morning (in what surely must be the most interesting example of English apart from the package instructions for Taiwanese condoms) announcing I'm apparently a very rich man. Here is the exact spelling and wording of that missive:

*************************************************
UNITED NATIONS (WORLD BANK ASSISTED PROGRAMME)
DIRECTORATE OF INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT AND TRANSFERS.
870 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA 20-ANEW YORK NY 10017
WIRE TRANSFER/AUDIT UNIT
Our Ref: WB/NF/UN/XX027
EMAIL:ma.farnn23@yahoo.de



ATTN: BENEFICIARY,

IRREVOCABLE RELEASE OF YOUR PAYMENT

We have actually been authorized by the presidency Federal Republic of Nigeria
and the governing board of central Bank of Nigeria , to investigate the
unnecessary delay of your payment, Recommended and approve your claims for payment if certified as genuine.
During the course of our investigation, we discovered with dismay that your
payment has been unnecessarily delayed by corrupt officials of the Bank who are
trying to divert your money into their private Accounts.also we discovered that
someone has presented an account were the money will be transfered to that you
have advised him to do so.We are advsing you to act on this findings and contact
the below authorites.

To forestall this, security for your funds was organized in the form of your
personal Identification Number (PIN) and your transfer access code (T.A.C.) this
will enable only you have direct control over this fund, we have also agreed
with the Presidency.
That we will handle this payment ourselves to avoid the hopeless situation
created by the Officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria, We obtained an
irrevocable payment guarantee on your Payment from the presidency we are happy
to inform you that based on our recommendation/instructions; your entire
Inheritances fund has been credited in your Favor through our overseas paying bank.
You are therefore advice to contact Mr.Fedrick Adams audit unit, Federal
Executive Council Office in Nigeria on this (Email:fedrickadams@yahoo.de ) to
collect your original payment slip with your pin and transfer access code. As
soon as you submit these codes and your Payment slip to your bank they will
credit your account without delay.

NOTE: YOU ARE ADVICED TO FURNISH DR FREDRICK WITH YOUR
TELEPHONE NUMBER VERY IMPORTANT AND CORRECT BANKING DETAILS TO AVOID TRANSFER OF THIS FUND INTO A WRONG ACCOUNT.

We expect your urgent response to this email (ma..farnn23@yahoo.de) to enable
us monitor this payment effectively.

CONGRATULATIONS.
Maria Farnn
United Nations Office
New-York