Concussions

Concussions are funny things. They cause your brain to hurt just by thinking. It doesn’t make much sense until you understand the brain is bruised and requires time to heal.

Symptoms can appear right away or not for hours. The most common symptoms include a headache, dizziness, and spotty vision. For parents, signs to watch for are confusion, vomiting, and stumbling or falling. This brain injury can be mild or severe and lead to death. The following three incidents had three different outcomes.

Ohio Fastpitch Umpire, James Simpson, took an indirect, foul tip to head and passed away two days later on April 25, 2016. Jim was unaware the hit caused internal bleeding. Additional information is not known at this time. Jim’s family is our hearts and prayers. http://tinyurl.com/Umpire42516

A lacrosse player took a shot on goal to his helmet. He shook his head and remained motionless while the game went on around him for a few seconds. He had two black eyes from the incident, but no symptoms or complaints. The coach nor referees took him off the field. Concussion? Probably.

A softball player, who is a catcher, took a foul tipped ball to the helmet right between the eyes. She stood, shook her head, and chased after the ball. Everything seemed normal. Twelve hours later, she complained of a headache and the street lights gave her spotty vision. She even became nauseated and dizzy.

The softball player had a mild concussion. The doctor wrote her off school for a day and advised her not to watch T.V. or use her phone and to get plenty of rest. She’d have to pass the Base-Line Concussion test to return to the game.

When she returned to school, looking at a smartboard and trying to concentrate caused the symptoms worsen to the point of having to leave and see a Sports Medicine Doctor, who specialized in treating concussions. The doctor wrote her off school for a full week and gave her specific instructions on what she could and could not do. These included: sleeping as much as possible, only watching TV an hour a day (no big action shows with lots of colors and/or explosions, etc.), no softball practices or games, not even to watch (too much action and thinking), only fifteen minutes on a computer, tablet or cell phone per day, and only walking five minutes at a time until symptoms lessened and went away. The return to play protocol is completed one on one with the school’s athletic trainer and includes light aerobic exercise, sport-specific exercises, no contact training drills, full contact practice, and finally return to play.

In my new young adult release, Rae and the Ruby Scepter, Rae takes a hit to the head when she collides with the runner she’s tagging out. Hours later, Rae fears she has a concussion when she finds herself in a strange place, the world of Ferane. She’s been enlisted to save the world instead of chasing her dream to earn a softball scholarship from a PAC-12 college. You’ll connect with her constant thoughts about the game and how she uses her experience as a player throughout the book. To read more about Rae and be part of her everyday life visit her on Instagram (Rae.degraff.0416) or Twitter (@RaeDeGraff0416).  Check out Amazon.com on May 3^rd, 2016 for a print copy, or pre-order the e-book now http://tinyurl.com/RATRS50316

Rae and the Ruby Scepter Updates

I have been very busy the last several weeks, including uploading two parts of the story to WattPad (a platform that allows you to read books for free).  Here is the link: http://www.wattpad.com/story/33192230

I am on Twitter as Lily.M.Knight1.


Additionally, Rae is now on Instragram and Twitter.  If you would like to see what she is up to, her user name is Rae.DeGraff.0416

Rae was tweeted about by ACProductions46, in a link to Divergent.

Rae and the Ruby Scepter

Check out the first 5000 words of Rae and the Ruby Scepter on Wattpad.com by searching for LilyMKnight.  Let me know what you think.

Knights Templar

The Knights Templar were a medieval military order from 1119-1312.  They aligned with The Pope and their job was to protect Christian Pilgrims.  Officially endorsed, the Order became the favored charity and grew rapidly in power and membership.  At the peak of the Order, there were between 15,000-20,000 members. 

Headquartered at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the knights battled marauding highwaymen and other religious factions.  The non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure across Europe.  This first banking system allowed pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem to deposit their valuables with a local Templar branch, receive a document indicating the value of the deposit, then retrieve their funds in an amount of treasure of equal value once they reached their destination.  This made the pilgrims less attractive targets for thieves.

In The Ruby Scepter,  some of the Knights' Templar members, including Grand Master Jacques De Molay, escape the Friday, October 13, 1307 execution when they flee from the Order's Portuguese branch  located in Tomar, Portugal.  Convent of Chirst Castle was built in 1160 by Gualdim Pais, founder of the city of Tomar.  The Knights Templar travel through Castile, now known as Spain, then stay close to the coast as they travel through France and Brabant, known as the Netherlands to Friesland where the portal to Ferane is located.  The Knights arrive on Ferane on February 9, 1308.  These Knights have taken with them some of history’s most notorious symbols of faith including the Holy Grail.  Along with the Holy Grail, the Knights took with them The Star, carved from the first tree on Earth by God, and the Mirror of Knowledge, both of which can see the future.  The Star, if you are lucky, tells you your future.  The Mirror of Knowledge gives kings the sight of what the future holds, but beware, you have to be wise to understand the images it shows you.

The History of Mother Nature

Mother Nature, sometimes referred to as Mother Earth, has roots dating back to 12 and 13 BC in Mycenaean Greek, ma-ka which translates to ma-ga or Mother Gaia.  Mother Nature is the personification of nature, focusing on the life-giving aspects of a mother.

In Greek Mythology, 900-800 BC, Mother Nature was the goddess of harvest, Demeter.  We didn't have the seasons then as we do now until her daughter, Persephone, was taken by the god of the dead, Hades, to be his queen.  It is then that Demeter became so distraught that no crops would grow.  The entire human race would have perished during that time if Zeus had not stepped in and forced Hades to return Persephone.  Demeter's grief is reflected in the barren months of winter and her happiness for Persephone's return is reflected in the warm summer months in which we grow our produce.

During medieval Christian times, 5th to 15th centuries, it was believed that God created Mother Nature.  He granted her the space below the heavens and moon.  She had angels above her and demons below her.  Mother Nature was only a personification, not a goddess as early Greeks believed with their goddess, Demeter.

Mother Nature image, 17th century alchemical text

In Inca Mythology, Mama Pacha or Pachamama is the the fertility goddess.  She reigned over planting and harvesting.  The literal translation is Mother Universe.  Pachamama is seen in the form of a dragon which causes the earthquakes.  In pre-Hispanic literature, Pachamama was a cruel goddess, eager to collect her sacrifices.   But as Peru began to form as a nation, Pachamama became seen as a giving goddess.  Issues only arise when the people take too much from nature.

Representation of the cosmology of the Incas, according to Juan de Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamayhua(1613), after a picture in the Sun Temple Qurikancha in Cusco, with Inti(the Sun), Killa (the Moon),Pachamama (Mother Earth), Mama Qucha (Mother Sea), and Chakana(Southern Cross) with Saramama (Mother Corn) and Kukamama (Mother Coca).