Divinity

In religious terms, divinity or godhead is the state of things that come from a supernatural power or deity, such as a god, supreme being, Creator-God or spirits, and are therefore regarded as sacred and holy. Such things are regarded as "divine" due to their transcendental origins, and/or because their attributes or qualities are superior or supreme relative to things of the Earth. Divine things are regarded as eternal and based in truth, while material things are regarded as ephemeral and based in illusion. Such things that may qualify as "divine" are apparitions, visions, prophecies, miracles, and in some views also the soul, or more general things like resurrection, immortality, grace, and salvation. Otherwise what is or is not divine may be loosely defined, as it is used by different belief systems.

The root of the word "divine" is literally "godly" (from the Latin deus, cf. Dyaus, closely related to Greek zeus, div in Persian and deva in Sanskrit), but the use varies significantly depending on which deity is being discussed. This article outlines the major distinctions in the conventional use of the terms.

Divine (performer)

Harris Glenn Milstead, better known by his stage name Divine (October 19, 1945 – March 7, 1988), was an American actor, singer and drag queen. Closely associated with the independent filmmaker John Waters, Divine was a character actor, usually performing female roles in cinematic and theatrical appearances, and adopted a female drag persona for his music career.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland to a conservative middle-class family, Milstead developed an early interest in drag while working as a women's hairdresser. By the mid-1960s he had embraced the city's countercultural scene and befriended Waters, who gave him the name "Divine" and the tagline of "the most beautiful woman in the world, almost." Along with his friend David Lochary, Divine joined Waters' acting troupe, the Dreamlanders, and adopted female roles for their experimental short films Roman Candles (1966), Eat Your Makeup (1968), and The Diane Linkletter Story (1969). Again in drag, he took a lead role in both of Waters' early full-length movies, Mondo Trasho (1969) and Multiple Maniacs (1970), the latter of which began to attract press attention for the group. Divine next starred in Waters' Pink Flamingos (1972), which proved a hit on the U.S. midnight movie circuit, became a cult classic, and established Divine's fame within the American counterculture.

Divine (Sébastien Tellier song)

"Divine" is a song by Sébastien Tellier from his 2008 album Sexuality. The song represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The song is in English, with a few verses in French. The fact that most of the song was sung in English caused some criticism, and has even been brought up in the French parliament.

Sébastien Tellier's performance was noted for entering the stage driving a small golf buggy branded with the French Tricolour, and carrying a helium filled inflatable globe that he inhaled from. Also, the five back-up singers wore sunglasses, wigs and fake facial hair, resembling Tellier.

The song automatically qualified for the final of the contest due to France being a member of the Big 4. The final was held on 24 May 2008, where the song was performed 19th in the running order, following the Ukraine's Ani Lorak with "Shady Lady" and preceding Azerbaijan's Elnur and Samir with "Day After Day". It received a total of 47 points, placing 19th in a field of 25.

Cemetery

A cemetery or graveyard is a place where the remains of deceased people are buried or otherwise interred. The word cemetery (from Greek κοιμητήριον, "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a burial ground. The older term graveyard is often used interchangeably with cemetery, but primarily referred to a burial ground within a churchyard.

The intact or cremated remains of people may be interred in a grave, commonly referred to as burial, or in a tomb, an "above-ground grave" (resembling a sarcophagus), a mausoleum, columbarium, niche, or other edifice. In Western cultures, funeral ceremonies are often observed in cemeteries. These ceremonies or rites of passage differ according to cultural practices and religious beliefs. Modern cemeteries often include crematoria, and some grounds previously used for both, continue as crematoria as a principal use long after the interment areas have been filled.

Definition

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a cemetery as a "burial-ground generally; now esp. a large public park or ground laid out expressly for the interment of the dead, and not being the ‘yard’ of any church. (Cemetery c)" and specifies that the term "...originally applied to the Roman underground cemeteries or catacombs " Cemeteries are normally distinct from churchyards, which are typically consecrated according to one denomination and are attached directly to a single place of worship.

Graveyard (band)

Graveyard is a Swedish hard rock band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 2006.

History

Joakim Nilsson, Rikard Edlund (both formerly of Norrsken), Axel Sjöberg, and Truls Mörck formed Graveyard in 2006. When Norrsken disbanded in 2000, guitarist Magnus Pelander went on to form doomy folk metal act Witchcraft and Nilsson and Edlund joined Albatross, a growly blues rock band whose lineup also included Sjöberg on drums. Initially they considered Albatross a hobby project, but after five years the members began taking their music more seriously and had grown dissatisfied with the direction their sound had taken. When Albatross broke up, Nilsson and Edlund decided that for their next venture, they would head back towards their roots as musicians and songwriters. Nilsson explains, “I am a singer, but in Albatross I only played guitar. Rikard played guitar but he is a bass player. We also wanted a more straightforward [rock] sound.”

Together with Sjöberg and guitarist/singer Truls Mörck they began practicing as Graveyard. Upon their initial formation, Graveyard quickly recorded a two track demo, played a total of three shows, and began planning for a full-length album with Swedish label, Transubstans Records. In the meantime, they posted a demo of some of their material on MySpace. Songs from the band's Myspace caught the ear of Tony Presedo, founder of TeePee Records. Their self-titled debut album was recorded by Don Ahlsterberg and released in early 2008. On the recording sessions' completion, Truls Mörck was replaced by guitarist Jonatan Ramm. The debut album received generally good reviews. Graveyard performed at the 2008's South by Southwest Music Festival.

Graveyard (disambiguation)

A graveyard is a cemetery. It may also refer to:

See also

Ampersand

The ampersand is the logogram "&", representing the conjunction word "and". It originated as a ligature of the letters et, Latin for "and".

Etymology

The word ampersand is a corruption of the phrase "and per se & (and)", meaning "and intrinsically the word and (represented by the symbol &)".

Traditionally, when reciting the alphabet in English-speaking schools, any letter that could also be used as a word in itself ("A", "I", and, at one point, "O") was repeated with the Latin expression per se ("by itself"). This habit was useful in spelling where a word or syllable was repeated after spelling; e.g. "d, o, g—dog" would be clear but simply saying "a—a" would be confusing without the clarifying "per se" added. It was also common practice to add the "&" sign at the end of the alphabet as if it were the 27th letter, pronounced as the Latin et or later in English as and. As a result, the recitation of the alphabet would end in "X, Y, Z, and per se and". This last phrase was routinely slurred to "ampersand" and the term had entered common English usage by 1837. However, in contrast to the 26 letters, the ampersand does not represent a speech sound—although other characters that were dropped from the English alphabet did, such as the Old English thorn, wynn, and eth.