Criss Angel - Wikipedia. Criss Angel. Criss Angel c. Born. Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos(1. December 1. 9, 1. Hempstead, New York, U. S. Residence. Las Vegas, Nevada,U. S. Occupation. Magician, entertainer, TV personality. Years active. 19. Angel began his career in New York City, before moving his base of operations to the Las Vegas Valley. He is known for starring in the television and stage show Criss Angel Mindfreak and his previous live performance illusion show Criss Angel Believe in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas. The show generated $1. Las Vegas in 2. 01.
I am infuriated at your letter.what on earth does this situation have to do with apartheid. Created by John Masius. With Roma Downey, Della Reese, John Dye, Valerie Bertinelli. Monica, Tess, and Andrew are a trio of angels sent to Earth to tell depressed and. Mindfreak LIVE on 1. May 2. 01. 6 (this new show is still part produced by Cirque, however the directive rights are entirely with Criss Angel). He also holds multiple world- records made during his magic performances, and was named Magician of the Decade in 2. Magician of the Century in 2. International Magicians Society. In addition to his career as an illusionist, Angel was the lead singer for his industrial band Angeldust, which released five albums between 1. He also authored the book Mindfreak: Secret Revelations. Early life. Criss Angel was born on December 1. He is of Greek descent. His main early influence was Harry Houdini. By fourteen, Angel was performing throughout high school at restaurants in East Meadow, including the Wine Gallery. Angel's first major illusion was making his mother float in their family den. Between traveling and performing, he attempted to further his education in his own by studying the history of magic in public libraries. He also studied the art of mysticism, music, martial arts and even dance. In 1. 99. 5, Barker asked Angel to work with him on his film Lord of Illusions. He also later recorded the intro to Angel's album World of Illusion: System One. Barker said of Angel in the mid- 1. This is the future, and it can. When not performing the show, Angel worked the streets promoting the show to pedestrians. But if they claim to be communicating with the dead, I don't care if they're from my hometown, I don't care if they're my family members: I'll expose them and tell them what they really are. To prepare for the trick, he practiced in a neighbor's backyard swimming pool next to his mother's house in East Meadow, New York. Prior to the performance he had only managed to spend 1. He fasted for twenty- four hours before the performance to make it through the period without need to exit and use the washroom. During the trick he went through sixteen oxygen tanks. After the trick he was required to remove his own shackles and chains before exiting the water. Within an hour, his skin began to react substantially to the water. Then assistants pulled a black curtain over the 2. Under cover, Angel apparently escaped from the shackles that bound his arms, legs and neck, before pulling himself from the watery chamber with a celebratory scream. Clare's Hospital and treated for severe dehydration. He reported afterwards that he had suffered from overheating, jaw fatigue, and semi- consciousness while in the tank. The Birmingham Evening Mail reviewed the show, writing, . He walks the streets of New York, hypnotising passers- by, turning cups of take- away coffee into cockroaches and suspending himself from the ceiling by inserting hooks into his back. The piece de resistance of all these mind games is an update of the Houdini underwater trick - an attempt to stay in a (cell) tank of water for 2. All seems to be going well, until the filter system breaks down and the water begins to heat up. Kate O'Hare said of the special that, . I'm the executive producer; I direct it; I create it. I write all the music for my TV specials and my live performances. I write it; I produce it. For the performance, he was suspended ten stories in the air and bound in a straitjacket, from which he escaped. Premiering on July 2. Luxor Hotel (in the light of 3. No other magician has invaded pop culture to the degree that Criss Angel has. He has changed the image of magic and made it cool. But what makes the show fascinating are the down- home touches in which we see the kid from New York, who first honed his magic skills at the age of 6. Keenly aware of the camera at all times, Angel manages to offer some personality, especially where family is involved. Viewers follow the illusionist as he contemplates new and more dangerous stunts, while his crew, including his often- fretful brothers, offer insight as to what, other than ego, drives someone in this profession. After the illusion, Angel showed the audience step by step how he achieved the escape. He first picked open a set of handcuffs that had him shackled to a balcony railing. He then smashed the window of the room in order to enter the hotel, and picked padlocks on both the room's internal door and the door to the stairwell. The escape was initially supposed to occur via a ladder that dangled above the hotel's roof 3. Instead, Angel emerged from the rubble after the collapse, claiming that the initial plan was always to escape via the helicopter. The total time allotted for the entire illusion was 4 minutes, with dynamite located on the first, second, and fourth floors of the building. It became the bestselling live magic show in the world. The name of the show was taken from Harry Houdini, for the mythology of Houdini choosing the word . Reporters for the Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Times, and Las Vegas Review Journal cited a lack of the magic Angel is known for, as well as a confusing and uninteresting theme. They also opined that neither Angel nor Cirque du Soleil were able to perform to their capabilities during these initial performances. Hilton reportedly had texted to his fans during the performance that the show was . That month a cable television series based upon the show entitled Criss Angel Be. LIEve was broadcast on Spike TV. The first season included eleven one- hour episodes, including 1. Guests on the show include Ludacris, Ice- T, Randy Couture and Shaquille O. When asked about the three years between the last episode of Mindfreak and his return to television, Angel stated that, . It was my choice to work on the live Cirque show and to get that where I wanted it to be. I missed being on television, I had something new creatively to say, and Spike became the perfect home to do it. In the episode, Angel performed the closing stunt from the film, in which he laid beneath a circle of suspended swords, and predicted the correct order of six falling swords to avoid becoming stabbed through his body after their release. The swords were selected by the audience with the help of a randomly bouncing ball. According to the Las Vegas Sun, . While he was successful in the trick, Angel tore his shoulder muscles and this required surgery in January 2. This resulted in the temporary closing of the Believe stage show between January and April 2. He did however host a new stage show featuring other magicians between February and March 2. The episode featuring this illusion also includes a meeting between Angel and his team discussing a problem with the trick and how to ensure it doesn't happen again. In a CNN interview about the show, he told Larry King . And that was what I said I was going to do with Phenomenon. If somebody goes on that show and claims to have supernatural psychic ability, I'm going to bust . This led to an argument between Callahan and Angel, during which Callahan walked toward Angel and called him an . Angel has since revealed the contents of one envelope and at the unveiling he challenged Geller one more time. The envelope contained an index card with the numbers . Angel's explanation was this: . The other envelope's contents were scheduled to be revealed on the first episode of Season 4 of Criss Angel: Mindfreak. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the show included, . Robin Leach said of the show that, ! The touring show features illusions from Angel himself, which received positive reviews. The premiere show of the performance occurred at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut during November 2. Performers for the show include illusionist Landon Swank, magician Krystyn Lambert, escape artist Spencer Horsman, mentalist Banachek, dog conjuror Johnny Dominguez, magician Stefan, and close up magician Adrian Vega. He later released the albums System 1, System 2, and System 3. In 2. 00. 3, he released the album Supernatural. His musical style continues to be in the heavy metal style, though when describing his musical style he has said, . I decided to take it in different places because I'm inspired by emotion and by giving people a connection, a sense of a feeling . Mindfreak: Secret Revelations appeared on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list that year. Laura Morton helped the magician write the book. His survey covers the 'Mindfreaks' which allow him to push for excellence in very different worlds. By early 2. 01. 3, his videos had achieved more than 2. The product was backed by $5. He was the 2. 2nd recipient of the Louie Award for outstanding achievement in the art of magic. He has also appeared on the covers of Magic and Genii magazines. The couple filed for divorce four years later. In November 2. 00. Angel began dating Holly Madison, former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner. He was also awarded the foundation's Chris Greicius Celebrity Award in 2. Archived from the original on November 2. Retrieved November 2. Retrieved February 1. Eastern Europe and Russia: Eastern Europe and Russia. Lorenz Educational Press. ISBN 9. 78- 1- 4. Retrieved April 6, 2. New York City / Long Island. Retrieved October 2. Retrieved February 1. A Man for All Species: The Remarkable Adventures of an Animal Lover and Expert Pet Keeper. Retrieved February 1. Retrieved February 1. Retrieved February 1. Retrieved February 1. Meet Criss Angel (below), Magician, Illusionist and Showman Extraordinaire, Who Is about to Shift Your Mind and Mesmerise Your Senses with His Amazing Mental Powers. Retrieved February 1. Retrieved March 7, 2. Retrieved February 1. Retrieved February 1. Retrieved February 1. The idea of reincarnation. Reincarnation is often associated with, but is not necessarily connected with, transmigration, the idea that at death the soul might pass into the body of an animal, a plant, or even an inanimate object such as a stone. The belief in reincarnation was tied to moral categories in ancient religions, especially the Eastern concept of karma, which viewed the present life as the working out of consequences from previous lives. Future embodiments will also be determined by the consequences of this present life. One must remove oneself from the realm of consequences through spiritual activity or be stuck in the endless cycle of reincarnation forever. The belief in a form of reincarnation is fundamental to both Hinduism and Buddhism and had some popularity in the ancient Mediterranean basin. Pythagoras, for example, claimed that he was Euphorbus in a previous existence. In modern times, reincarnation has spread in the West through the efforts of French Spiritism and Theosophy. Reincarnation in the East. The idea of reincarnation is usually associated with India. It is found in most of the forms of Hinduism; there are hundreds, with some variation in the different theologies and schools of thought. Basically, the soul is an immortal entity that has continuity through eternity, but falls into material existence and is trapped in the illusion that this physical world is ultimately real. Through multiple lives the soul becomes subject to karma, or consequences. Good karma leads to noble birth; bad karma to a lower birth, even to rebirth as an animal. The idea of karma and reincarnation was integral to social organization in the caste system and thus had practical application in everyday life. The caste system in turn dictated proper action that was sanctioned by the rewards and punishments of karma. In the mainstream of Hindu thought. The means of such escape was spiritual discipline encased within a renunciation of the world. By withdrawing and concentrating on the spiritual realm, one ceased to create karma and dissolved old karma. Eventually, one could rid oneself of karma entirely and escape. The essential soul is said to be pure and impersonal, part of a universal soul, but overlaid by illusions of individual egoism relating to desires and fears of the body and senses. The classic statements relating to reincarnation are to be found in the Hindu scripture Bhagavad- Gita, which stresses: . For it is unborn, eternal, and primeval. Even although the body is slain, the soul is not. It challenged the traditional Hindu system at a number of points, including its understanding of human life. In particular, Buddhism challenged the idea of a substantial soul that existed in and of itself apart from the body. The rather sophisticated understanding of the self in Buddhism is often likened to a candle flame. Obviously, as the candle burns down the flame will eventually die out. It has no existence apart from its burning. Buddhists suggest that reincarnation is as if, just as the flame is about to go out, it finds a new candle wick. Christian leaders denounced animal sacrifice and the sexual promiscuity of some tantric groups, while slowly discovering the sophistication of Hindu philosophy. One of the responses to Christianity's invasion of the country, with the backing of colonial authorities, however, was a revival of philosophical Hinduism in light of new nineteenth century Western notions of progress, evolution, and moral striving. In this new Hinduism of the nineteenth century, the succession of lives of the soul in different bodies is regarded as one indivisible life. The soul uses the experience of each incarnation as an opportunity for expiating sins in former lives, of balancing bad karma with good, and perfecting the soul through a process of evolution so that further incarnations will not be necessary and the individual soul can be absorbed in the divine plan. Until then, the body of the next life (whether human or animal) is shaped by actions in the present life. Moral striving is the means of gaining good karma. Ultimately, all lives may be seen as illusions of consciousness. This form of reincarnationist thought. It actually emerges in the Mediterranean basin simultaneously with its emergence in India, around 6. B. C. E. In the fourth century, Plato's Phaedrus presents a reincarnation myth that seems to have been derived from the ophite religion. A preexistent soul falls from the realm of the gods into earthly existence, where it migrates from one body to the next for some ten thousand years before it returns upward to a place of judgment. Plato also introduced into Greek thought the possibility of a transmigration of the soul into an animal. In Roman literature, the idea of reincarnation is found in the writings of Ennius, probably deriving from Greek thought. There is no trace of it in Jewish literature, although it later entered into some Kabalistic teaching. From Greek philosophy, it came into the Gnostic tradition, and from second- and third- century Gnosticism it passed to the Manichaeans and Cathari. The theory underlying the concept of reincarnation differs from the eschatology of rewards and punishments in Christianity. Each individual soul will eventually attain perfection, although some will take more reincarnations than others, learning by painful experience, in one life after another, the inexorable laws of karma. All actions involve consequences, some immediate, others delayed, others in future lives. We punish ourselves by our actions, and the very defects and difficulties under which we suffer offer scope for expiation and perfection. The Jewish and Christian traditions were (and largely remain) inimical to reincarnation. All of the Christian theologians who spoke of reincarnation denounced it in no uncertain terms. The only break in the antireincarnationist view appears in the early writings of Origen, the third- century theologian who as a young man had converted to Christianity. Before his conversion he was an accomplished Platonist, and he attempted to integrate Platonic philosophy and Christian thinking in his earliest writings, which, if not affirming reincarnation, do speak of the preexistence of the soul and its possible transmigration. Origen later dropped his beliefs and in his biblical commentaries emerged as hostile to reincarnationist thought. A major controversy involving Origen's early thought emerged in the sixth century surrounding a group of people who adopted Origen's early writings as part of their larger challenge to the Roman Empire. Thus it was that several councils reaffirmed the church's opinion on reincarnationist ideas and, in the style of the times, pronounced them anathema. In the early twentieth century, several proponents of reincarnation, primarily Theosophists working against the opposition of Christian leaders, countered with the story of a sixth- century plot. According to the idea, Christianity had taught reincarnation until the Roman empress Theodosia forced the church to edit the Bible and remove any reference to it. This theory shows a great ignorance of the history of the period and has no foundation in fact. In recent decades the primary presentation of this idea appeared in a book by Noel Langley, Edgar Cayce and Reincarnation, and has passed into New Age literature. Theosophical Teachings on Reincarnation. The major conduit of reincarnationist teachings in the West during the twentieth century has been the Theosophical Society. The monad, the divine spark, or individuality, remains the same throughout the whole course of reincarnation and is truly a denizen of the three higher worlds. In order to further its growth and the widening of its experience and knowledge, however, it is necessary for the monad to descend into the worlds of denser matter. Since it is impossible to progress far during one manifestation, the monad must return again and again to the lower worlds. The laws of progress, the laws that govern reincarnation, are those of evolution and of karma. The scheme of the evolution of life decrees that all shall sooner or later attain perfection by developing to the utmost their latent powers and qualities, and each manifestation in the lower worlds is but one short journey nearer to the goal. Those who realize this law shorten the journey by their own efforts while those who do not realize it, of course, lengthen the journey. Karma decrees that both good and bad effects follow whoever caused them. Hence, what an individual has done in one manifestation he will benefit by or suffer for in another. It may be impossible that actions should be immediately effective, but each is stored up and sooner or later will bear fruit. It may be asked why one long life in the lower worlds should not suffice in place of a multitude of manifestations, but this is explained by the fact that the dense matter that is the vehicle of these bodies becomes, after a time of progress, incapable of further alteration to suit the developing monad's needs and must accordingly be laid aside for a new body. After physical death, the individual passes first to the astral world, then to the heavenly portion of the mental world. In those who have not progressed far on the journey of evolution, the manifestations in the lower worlds are comparatively frequent, but with passage of time and development, these manifestations become rarer and more time is spent in the heaven world, until at last, the great process of reincarnation draws to an end, and the pilgrims enter the path that leads to perfection. Reincarnation and Spiritism. In France reincarnation was advocated before the time of Allan Kardec by several philosophers and mystics, such as Henri de St. Simon, Prosper Enfantin, Charles Fourier, Pierre Leroux, and Jean Reynaud. From an article by Alexander Aksakof in the London Spiritualist during 1. Kardec adopted the doctrine of reincarnation from spirit communications that were received by the medium Celina Japhet.
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