Welcome to the Mind Revolution: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Living Between the Points

Writen by Joshua Minton

What does it mean to live “between the points?” What are the points? Are they science and religion? Are they conservative and liberal? Are they men and women? Are they childhood and old age? Are they intellectual and physical? Are they quantum physics and cosmology? Are they Freud and Jung? Are they the sacred and the profane? Are they nature and nurture? Are they light beer and stout?

To live between the points is to understand the nature of the human mindwhere it begins and where it ends. The very structure of time is inherent in the process of thoughtthe ticking away of the clock in the song “Time” on the Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon is the sound of the mind in movement. See, the mind is a function of the universemuch like Kepler’s laws of motion which keep planets swinging in elliptical orbits around a common center of gravitational mass.

The paired opposites described in the first paragraph are all addressed in the philosophy of living “Between the Points,” but more importantly they are surpassed for the ultimate pair of oppositeslife and death.

When I was nineteen years old, I was enrolled as a Pre-Pre Med student meaning that my grades weren’t good enough to get me in Pre-Med and my patience for analytical science bounced me at about Chemistry 102. But in my study of the many fields of science, I developed a genuine respect for the scientific method and for the science of cosmology in general.

Cosmology is the study of the universe on a grand scale. Quantum physics is a study of the universe on a very small scale. I began studying the nature of the universe at a time when Cosmology and Quantum Physics were merging into a single vision of how the universe physically operates. That vision is still being defined to this day but there was something I learned in a book by Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, that changed my life forever.

I learned about the nature of quantum singularities in space. Quantum singularities are events in space/time where the structure of the universe completely breaks down and the physics that operate everywhere else no longer function. The structure of the universe is space and time so time itself breaks down in these actual places out in the universe.

Well, what struck me about this was not the existence of singularities in outer space but it was the existence of singularities in inner-space and how they both were related to one another. See, I realized that time breaks down in the mind as wellin the form of memory. I can recall events that happened when I was three down to the sight, smell, texture, and even the emotions of vivid memories.

So, there is a point in outer space where time breaks down and there is a point in inner space where time breaks down. Beyond these points is the great unknowndeath, birth, heaven, hell, whatever words you choose to use to describe itthe fact is that there is no direct human knowledge that can be quantified and proven through the scientific methodology that determined the edge of physical and mental existence.

So what is one to do with this insight? Well, it’s funny when I look back on these last ten years since I had this epiphany and it is almost as if some unseen hand were guiding me to the answers when I was able to ask the right questions. I’m sure it is the same for you if you were to examine it closely.

One day I found myself at a dead end fork in the road. There was no passion in my life. I had no interest in pursuing the college degree in my course of study. I quit school, got a job in a restaurant, and spent my days in the library chasing some kind of meaning for life. I came across a video series title Transformations of Myth through Time by Joseph Campbell. The answers to most of my questions lay within these twelve VHS tapes.

I came to understand that mankind had been dealing with this very same dilemma for thousands of yearsever since the first death was truly felt. One day, an ancient ancestor of man knew a friend, a wife, a child that was up and walking one day and then lay down and grew still, cold, and died. Something was gone that had just been there. It was at this point that the human spirit was born and it was at this point that art, philosophy, science, and even religion were born as well. These are all methodologies of attempting to discern the exact nature of what lies beyond the two points.

I also came to understand the nature of the metaphor. All words are symbols. The symbols T R E E are not great leafy carbon based life forms that take in Carbon Dioxide to produce oxygen. But we read the word TREE and immediately the letters conjure up an image in our minds. The problem with these symbols comes about when they are used to describe something that cannot be defined in terms of time and space, in other words when they are used to describe what is beyond the points.

Let us consider for a moment the supposed great conflict between science and religion.

Contrary to popular scholarly debate, there is no inherent conflict between science and religion. In fact, religion and science both have a warm history of expressing reality and invoking passion in the human mind. Religion is ultimately concerned with spirituality, with touching the center of man and transforming him or her from the crawling animal to the human being who strives to attain the unknowable, who mourns for dead relatives with established rituals and seeks to relieve the suffering of fellow human beings with compassionate acts.

It is the purpose of the institution of science to give humanity a vision of what the Universe actually is from moment to moment. Science as an institution is constantly in flux; there are no ultimate truths, only hypotheses that must be constantly tested.

Religion is a constellation of metaphors aimed at relating what is beyond the points to the human mind and it is the purpose of religion to penetrate the science of the day and allow the ultimate unknowable truth to shine through its metaphors. But this means that religion must also constantly be in flux and open to change.

The problem comes about when religions begin proposing to their constituents that the metaphors they use to describe the unknown are indeed the actual point of worship. This is the point where money becomes king. This is the point where murder becomes communication and when wars over words escalate so intensely that they threaten the existence of every human being on the planet. But this is also the point of ultimate redemption which can only take place in the mind of the individual for there is no such thing as freedom in a group.

Religious institutions are generally not concerned with spiritual breakthrough of the individual to a realization of the unknown but rather these institutions are supremely concerned with the social integration of their followers under specific teachings and morals. And let us not forget that all religious institutions are ultimately concerned with acquiring money and political poweroften at the expense of the very ones they were established to protect and guide toward the sacred light.

The great religious texts that form the foundation of all major religions were composed millennia ago under different scientific laws. The Ancients, with the exception of the Egyptian astronomer Eratosthenes, believed that the Earth was flat. The Ancient Hebrews had never heard of or met the Chinese and if they did, it was never written about. Science changes and so must religious metaphors also change. The truths that all religions offer, however, those common human themes of justice, righteous living, and spiritual emancipation, are anthropic and therefore common to all human beings at all times.

Let us return to our points. So there is a point in outer space where time breaks down and there is a point in inner space where time breaks down; between these points is where the phenomenal world rests. This is the realm of linear motion, of birth and death, of social interaction, scientific investigation, and the worshipping of ideas and dates of historical significance. This is the phenomenal world, broken into pairs of opposites that can be neatly divided and classified under specific categories according to the laws of logic and structure of human existence itself. This is the realm of comparison in which science, religion, and art ultimately guide the human animal to becoming a human being. These institutions accomplish this by guiding the individual to these outer and inner points and ultimately laying the challenge down to go beyond while leaving the temporal and phenomenal world of the individual and collective ego behind.

To live between the points is to live in the realm of death. To understand that no thought or concept can go beyond those two points is the beginning of intelligence and not the intelligence brought about through time and study, but an eternal intelligence that is only present when the mind is quiet–silent. This intelligence is vast, all encompassing and all-powerful. When one has reached this precipice you have come to the realm of the sacred in the heart and mind of man and defining this moment as the boundary between Heaven and the phenomenonal world.

Intelligent human beings, the humble among us, understand that what lies beyond the two points is unknowable to the mind of man which has been composed by knowledge of the in-between. The intelligent understand this limitation, what thought is capable of and what it is not, and put thought aside in areas of life where it is not applicable. The in-between will never relate to what is beyond the points and the true mystic and quiet observer of this fact will come to understand that the two points are really the same pointthe alpha and the omegathe beginning and the end. It is the still point upon which the Buddha sat and struck illumination.

The reference that religious metaphors refer to is the still point and to know the still point is to understand the nature of death in the moment. Once the understanding of the complete cessation of psychological movement is understood, not as a theory but as clearly as one looks up to the night sky and recognizes the Moon, a glorious palace of pure energy rises from the wasteland to replenish what was once a weary spirit. This is the shining city on a hill that is the beacon of liberty for all of mankind to take part in because they are human mortals who share this spinning globe adrift in an elliptical orbit around an average yellow star in one of many long arms of gas and dust that orbit a massive galactic core set adrift in a sea of other galaxies all moping around the greatest point of gravity known to the mind.

But there is only one mind of man and inside the mind of the individual is a point of infinity just as there is in the farthest reaches of space, past the 10-43 seconds after the Big Bang barrier that our senses and our science cannot see beyond. There is an alpha and omega of liberty and it begins in the mind of the individual and ends at the farthest point the mind can stretch toward and conceive. The distance traveled between these two points is that of time and history and we bring this experience into the present moment to create the world we each live in. Each human mind is the totality of the Universe and the Universe itself exists distinctly in the mind of each individual. E Pluribus Unum.

This world is a collective product of all minds active in the present moment, each bringing their own experience to shape reality which ultimately shapes the reality of human society. What would the world be like with ten, twenty, a hundred individuals who were capable of grasping the still point and losing themselves at any moment? The answer is that the entire world would eventually be composed of artists; every politician, auto mechanic, lawyer, check out clerk, writer, singer, actor and painter would be capable of shedding their ego and stepping outside of time to bask in eternity. The sun fire is hot on the sandy beaches outside the river of time. The solar rays of eternity shine deep and warm as the vicissitudes of time evaporate from one’s skin and the sand of creative energy hugs and sustains the artistic vision that has inspired mankind to crawl from the muck as slugs to become rulers of this insignificant yet beautiful planet. The energy is eternal; it is the individual who falls into darkness without it. There is only one truth, yet the sages speak of it with many names.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Joshua Minton is a father and husband as well as a writer. He is co-developer, along with his wife, of the Video Scrapbook Diva DVD system (http://www.videoscrapbookdiva.com) which teaches mothers and fathers how to take their family films, transfer them to the PC and turn them into fantastic movies that can be shared with family and loved ones.

Josh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University. He has won several awards for his poetry and fiction, including the BGSU Alumni Book Award and was included in the 1999 edition of Who’s Who in College America.

Josh’s professional background is in the health insurance industry where he has spent the last two years serving as Executive Business Analyst for the Executive Director of the nation’s largest health insurer. He currently serves as President of Family Bliss Enterprise, Inc. (http://www.familyblissenterprises.com) and is webmaster of joshuaminton.com where you can view samples of his essays, poetry, fiction and much more.

You can contact Josh at josh@joshuaminton.com

11 Alternative Garden Games

Writen by Tom Schneider

Tired of the same ol’, same ol’ when it come to entertaining your garden party guests? Weary of boring badminton and jarts? Croquet not your style? Then you’re in the right spot! Here are games sure to make your next party the hit of the gardening social season!

Icebreakers

Game #1: The Gnat Slap
Equipment required: A garden of any size.
As your guests arrive, invite them for the obligatory ’stroll through the garden’. Tell them they are welcome to slap the gnats but only those gnats annoying another guest; never are they permitted to slap gnats hovering around their own eyes, nose, ears or mouth. The winner is the last guest standing. A great icebreaker!
Game #2: The 3-Legged Butterfly Chase
Equipment required: Rope or wire to bind legs.
This is lots of fun. Tightly bind two guests’ legs together to make a three-legged contestant. Then tell them you’ll unbind them only after they’ve captured a butterfly.
Tip: For a longer lasting game, declare the quarry to be a hummingbird.
Game #3: Competitive Weed Pulling
Equipment required: Weeds of any kind.
This is a great game to reward the hard working guest. Entrants don’t eat until the entire garden is cleaned of weeds. Winner: The person with the most weeds eats first and most, and so on down the line. This game teaches the rewards of the Puritan work ethic.
Game #4: The Wasp Dodge
Equipment required: More wire for binding, an in-ground wasp nest or two (Yellow Jackets are the best!), a small amount of kerosene.
With hands tightly wired behind their backs, have your players stand in a circle around a wasp nest entrance. Irritate the wasps by sprinkling a little kerosene over the hole and oh, boy! Stand back! Entrants are judged on style, grace, self-defensive acrobatic movements and number of stings.

Games to Play While the Frozen Turkey Cooks on the Charcoal Grill

Game #5: Watch the Lawn Go Dormant
Equipment required: A dry turf.
This is for those guests that had a poor showing in the other games. The winner is the person still awake when the lawn is actually declared dormant.
Game #6: Bobbing for Aquatic Insects
Equipment required: A stagnant water source such as a neglected pool, pond or bucket. Kids love this one!
The winner is whoever come up with the largest water strider. Incentive for the competitively spirited: Anyone bobbing to the bottom retrieving the hapless mouse that slipped in about a month ago qualifies for the National Bobb-Off!
Game #7: Slug Races
Equipment required: A slug for each guest.
We suggest two events: The 4″ sprint and the 2-foot marathon. Guests may mark their slugs in any way they wish.
Tip 1: Use an air-horn to signify the start of the races. Slugs are hard of hearing.
Tip 2: Entrants in the “Watch the Lawn Go Dormant” game can play this game simultaneously.
Game #8: Hornet’s Nest Pinata
Equipment required: 1 large hornet’s nest, a stick long enough to reach the nest, a blindfold.
This game really livens things up after the slower pace of the slug races and helps work off dinner.
Game #9: Blindfolded Lawn Mowing
Equipment required: A power mower and the blindfold from the Hornet’s Nest Pinata game if it isn’t too bloody.
Everyone loves this sport! One by one guests are blindfolded and told to mow the grass. The winner is the contestant who runs over the fewest trees, shrubs, flowers, pets and other guests. Lotsa laughs!
Time Saving tip: Dial 911 before the game begins.

Games for After Dark

Game #10: Firefly Shooting
Equipment required: A BB gun for everyone.
After a fun day of activities and food, gather everyone in the center of the garden in a large circle to try their hand at nailing a few fireflies. The winner, and don’t expect one, is anyone who actually knocks a lightening bug out of the sky.
Time Saving tip: Dial 911 before the game begins.
Game #11: Feed the Mosquitos
Equipment required: Go figure.
Play this last game while lingering over “good-byes” in the garden.

When Tom Schneider isn’t trying to find new guests to invite to his garden parties, he and his wife Deb are busy with their on-line machine embroidery design business, WindstarEmbroidery.com

The New Americans

Writen by Kenneth C. Hoffman

In order to preserve America’s reputation for being a refuge and a nurturing environment for family living, we must allow all who wish to live here to do so. Certainly there must be controls, information records and deporting if necessary.

Americans are fortunate to attract the cream of foreign society. The average emigrant is above average in ambition, intelligence, health and commitment. The government should encourage the learning of English as a second language by providing free language classes to all who would attend. Bi-lingual signs are necessary for the expedient flow of information It has no effect on the wish to learn English. Free education is the key to a better life and the immigrants are no exception.

New identifiers are being invented and will become available to help the government and immigration authorities keep track of foreigners in our country. The proper use of this information is key to safe guarding the American population and to help guide the immigrants to a better life.

Just as we need doctors, nurses, executives and teachers, we also need waiters, factory workers and fruit pickers. Strong laws are necessary to make sure that the immigrants are legal. They should be proud of who they are and be committed to getting the correct paper work in order to take advantage of the many privileges and benefits of American society. Americans who take advantage of the immigrants in order to save money in paying wages should be found out and prosecuted. Any immigrants who refuse to follow the system should be deported immediately. Sporadic ID checks in towns near the borders will go a long way to keep the cheaters to a minimum.

Retired portrait photographer. Do you have a different opinion?

Marcus Garvey: A Symbol for Black Nationalism

Writen by Isabelle Esling

My first kid’s father named my son Marcus after legendary Marcus Garvey. Which made me curious to know more about who Marcus Garvey actually was

“Up You Mighty Race, Accomplish What You Will…” (Marcus Garvey)

The following text is dedicated to my eldest son Marcus.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born on August the 17, 1887, in St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica as the youngest of 11 children.

Marcus Garvey was known as a journalist, entrepreneur, publisher and a crusader for black nationalism. During his whole life, he has fought for racial equality.

Childhood years

In St Ann’s Bay, young Marcus attended grammar school. Alfred Burrowes, his godfather, also gave him some private instruction. Alfred Burrowes hired Marcus at the age of 14 as an apprentice in order to learn the printing trade.

Garvey’s father, who was the owner of a private library, encouraged young Marcus’ love for books.

During his apprentice period, Marcus used to discuss politics and social affairs at his uncle’s place.

In 1906, Garvey moved from St Ann to Kingston.

In 1908, Marcus Garvey participated in Jamaica’s first Printers’ Union strike. The strike was unsuccessful and as a consequence, Marcus Garvey lost his job.

Luckily, he was employed by the Government Printing Office.

Visiting the world

Around 1910, Marcus Garvey left Jamaica for Costa Rica. There, he worked as a time keeper at a panana plantation. Then he went to Central America, visited the Panama Central Zone. He observed Blacks and Indians hard working conditions. He also traveled to Equador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Columbia and Venezuela.

Very sensitive about discrimination and racial prejudice, Marcus Garvey always had the will to make things change. That’s why he appealed to his government in order to improve West Indians working conditions. But the government just wouldn’t listen to his complaint.

Garvey, the publisher

Marcus Garvey’s first publications started during his Central American travels.

In 1910, Garvey started his first newspaper, The Watcher, that was followed by several other short lived newspapers

He was also associated with several publications:

- The African Times and Orient Review, The Daily Negro Times, Harlem, 1922-1924

-The Blackman, Kingston, Jamaica, 1929-1931

-The New Jamaican, Kingston, 1932-33

Marcus Garvey started The Black Man Magazine in 1933 in Kingston. His magazine was continued in England until 1939.

Black militantism: the creation of the UNIA-ACL

Marcus Garvey was very conscious that improving black folks conditions was a long term work. It had better chances to work if Africans united. That’s why he created the the Universal Negro Improvement and Conservation Association and African Communities League (UNIA). As the President of the UNIA, he defined its goal to unite

Joke: DaimlerChrysler to Import Cars Made in China to USA?

Writen by Lance Winslow

We must help bail companies out with US Tax Dollars so they can make inferior cars like the K-Car and so our government can buy them. And yet what did that get us? Well when the United States bailed out Chrysler they saved American Jobs right? Not exactly and certainly not now. DaimlerChrysler is planning on cutting US Jobs as deep as Ford and General Motors and then it has a new strategy. Instead of building plants in Mexico, it will slap the Chrysler Label on Chinese Cars and sell them here?

When we bailed out the US Chrysler company it was then sold to a German Company, hence the name DaimlerChryslet and now the company is selling out again, no not completely, as they will keep all the profits, but China will build all the cars you see?

So in essence by having the United States government intervene yesterday, now we have our markets to be flooded with foreign products tomorrow and the us high-paying manufacturing jobs will be gone forever. Who wins in all this? Not the taxpayer, not the American company, not the American workers and not even the government. Why is this? Well it is like Ronald Regan explained and this is typically what happens when government is here to help you. Unfortunately the joke is on all of us.

Your 500-Year Legacy

Writen by Steve Manning

DaVinci has it, Michelangelo, Isaac Newton, Joan of Arc, Christopher Columbus, too. Just about all of the founding religious icons, Shakespeare. Some folks are almost guaranteed to have it eventually. Folks like Mozart, Beethoven, Gandhi, Darwin, and a bunch more.

It’s a 500 year legacy. A recognition of their lives 500 years after they walked the earth. A testament to achievement, contribution and recognition by humanity.

The impetus for this article came about when someone asked me, “what will be your legacy in 500 years?” What will you be remembered for? Or will you, like billions of others, not be remembered at all?

The idea was made even more poignant when I recalled a line I use with my students to encourage them to write their life story. I ask them to write down the first names, that’s all just the first names, of their eight great grandparents. The first names of eight people, significant to you, who walked this earth 100 years ago. In some cases, they were around 50 years ago.

I’ve yet to encounter anyone who can give me all eight. And frequently people can’t even give me one.

So where will you be in the minds of people 100 years from now? And what will be your legacy in the year 2506. By the way, in 1506 the year 2006 was just as impossibly far away. But it arrived, didn’t it.

After looking at hundreds of people who had a 500 year legacy, some things became clear: it is possible, it will happen for many, you don’t have to be either genius or prodigy, your past has little to do with it, you can be a simple truck driver or house cleaner and there are steps you can take to make it happen.

Focus on doing the one thing you love the most. This is something you’d do even if you were never paid for it. Let’s be outrageous and say you love making apple pies. Don’t worry about money. The money will take care of itself.

Learn everything you can about your love. The history, the future, the problems, the thrills. You become as much of an apple-pie expert as you can. You love doing this because you love making apple pies.

Get your apple pies noticed. Make them for presidents, premiers and prime ministers. Any significant group that has a meeting should be treated to your apple pie. (If you’re an artist, the walls of the meeting room should hang your art.) Today, we call it publicity, but throughout history it was just getting your work noticed.

Spread this accumulated knowledge in every way you can. Teach, talk, travel, trade. Not only do you have to get your message out, but you’ve got to show people why your message is important for them to have.

Your message becomes metaphor. The apple pie becomes symbolic of a life style, a mindset, a way of thinking and behaving, providing insights for people so they can have a better life and a better future.

And make sure you write your books. The books you write will give your efforts immortality. They’ll last longer than you, they’ll spread faster than you and they’ll provide the spark that will ignite your 500-year legacy.

Too Many Lawyers in America; Lance Rants

Writen by Lance Winslow

There are too many lawyers in America and they are everywhere. 500,000 more graduating from Law School this year; in fact there are more lawyers graduating from Law School on their way to sue good honest Americans on their way to their first million than the total number of homeless folks in the United States. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t we help the homeless and give them a skill and education and send the Lawyers begging on the street?

Now we see our own government taken over by lawyers, look how many lawyers there are in the Senate and halls of Congress? I think there ought to be one law on the books. That is if Congress makes a law they have to remove ten others. You see we have 45 stories of OSHA law if you stack those pages on top of one another. Then people wonder why American Companies are off shoring Jobs? Dah. Then the trial lawyers, yes like John Edwards go around stealing from the efficiencies of America.

My hero is Vice President Cheney for his excellent shooting abilities. I rejoiced that day. “Good Shot Sir!”

Now let’s march the bureaucrats and lawyers up to the 45 story and push them off their own rhetoric and stifling of America. Indeed, it maybe a bloody mess, but when else would a lawyer sacrificed himself for our nation like our noble ancestry? They have scraped the cream long enough, they need to do what is right and sacrifice themselves for our Nation. It is the right thing to do, we must ask them to honor us all and to do the right thing. It is only just. Consider this rant in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Heat Waves Expected to Kill Thousands This Summer

Writen by Lance Winslow

Did you know massive heat waves across the Globe and around the Planet are expected this summer, which could kill tens of thousands of humans? In fact one scientist has said that; “Heat Waves are expected this summer all over the World, in fact they have already started.” In fact recently the Death Toll was 47 in a huge Heat Wave in India;

http://www.terradaily.com/2006/060508072647.fyrftp7w.html

But this could be only the beginning you see? In the United States many illegal alien crossers into the State of Arizona from Mexico have already died tried to cross a stretch of 90 miles of desert. So far 35 illegal aliens have also died trying to cross the Arizona-Mexico Desert and it is not even that hot yet, as summer temps in that part of the desert can reach 120 degrees and a person would need to carry 3-gallons of water to make it across and that is about 24 lbs of water, which makes things even more difficult you see?

Some Border Patrol authorities are already saying that this could be a very deadly year indeed and they expect up to 500 or more this year. Meanwhile Hurricane Season is coming soon and the ocean surface temps are also already heating up and Hurricane Season is less than 3-weeks away. Unfortunately remember that last year the Hurricane Season started two-weeks early and that means the Hurricane Season could start in 10-days or less from today.

Many believe that this summer is going to be one of the hottest on record and the Heat Wave is coming to Planet Earth. Scientists have noted that they have seen a Solar Sun Spot and expect these solar flares to continue. There is not much we can do about the heat, but if you want to try, well think cool. Consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Call It What It Is

Writen by Ronda Boccio

I read a couple of writing magazines every month. To be more precise, I devour them and digest anything that will help me be a better writer.

Sometimes ads catch my interest. The November issue of Writer’s Digest magazine had one that caught both my attention and my imagination. Was it for a writing workshop or a book? No. Was it for software or a website? No. Did it have anything to do with writing?

Well yes, but not exactly. The ad was not promoting a skill or technique. It was about junk email. It seems that the folks at Hormel

Civil War Uniform Shirts - When to Use a One and Two Piece Body!

Writen by Paula McCoach

So, you want to make your own Civil War shirt. You have so many decisions to make - one or two-piece body, type of front, buttons, material, colors, collars! Wow.

A common pattern is a one-piece body with gussets under the sleeves with or without a collar using the same pattern.

You can vary the widths of the cuffs to copy original photographs. There is no standard pattern - even issued shirts were made off civilian patterns of the day. The variation of shirts is mind-boggling. You will see everything.

The most common shirt has a placket front with about 3 buttons. But you will see shirts that button all the way down. There is everything from A to Z.

If you see a shirt in an original photo and you want to copy it, do it. The red, white, blue on this shirt was a copy. Patriotic shirts were a common theme.

All topstitching should be by hand.

If you don’t have enough material to do a 1-piece body, you can do 2 and piece them together using a shoulder strap.

It depended on how much material they had. You can only tell if it is a 2-piece body if you turn the shirt inside out. Yes, the 2-piece body was common during Civil War times.

There were many civilian shirts during the war and they varied greatly because many of them were sent from home.

All my shirts have glass buttons on them, but that is no rule either.

By Paula and Coach McCoach http://www.civilwaruniforms.net

Coach McCoach invites you to join the Civil War Uniforms Newsletter and receive weekly updates on shirts, jackets, haversacks and more! Let us do the research for you, so you can enjoy your Civil War Reenacting Hobby. Get quick information with time and money saving tips in each issue. Free Civil War Uniforms course with your subscription. Go to http://www.civilwaruniforms.net to join!

2005 permission granted to reprint this article in print or on your website so long as the paragraph above is included and the contact information is included to coach@civilwaruniforms.net and http://www.civilwaruniforms.net