"The Tuatha de Danaan lived in northern isles of world, learning lore and magic and Druidism and wizardry and cunning, until they surpassed sages of arts of heathendom. There were four cities in which they learned lore and science and diabolic arts, to wit Falias and Gorias, Murias and Findias {Or Finias and possible Phineas Pharsa of legend's home.}. Out of Falias was brought Stone of Fal which was in Tara {In Eire, thus Falias was a provincial capitol city and Tara spiritual center of whole Keltic clandom.}. It used to roar under every king that would take realm of Ireland. Out of Gorias was brought Spear that Lug had. No battle was ever won against it or him who held it in his hand. Out of Findias was brought Sword of Nuada. When it was drawn from its deadly sheath, no one ever escaped from it, and it was irresistible. Out of Murias was brought Dagda's Cauldron. No company ever went from it unthankful. Four wizards (there were) in those four cities. Morfesa was in Falias: Estas was in Gorias: Uscias was in Findias: Semitas {Is this root of Semite?} was in Murias. Those are four poets of whom Tuatha De learnt lore and science."

From commentaries on Keltic lore that I have read and references to tales of Ossian commentators; I think there is a great deal of time up to current and corrupt presentation. Corrupted by years of telling tales and Christian re-writes of same tales. It therefore seems likely I would gain far less from tales of Ossian than I might hope for. The archaeological and historic record serves me better I hope. The truth is all I can do is make guesses. The phrase 'out of _____was brought' suggested they were often on move. The glacial effects were definitely a part of that for period from 13,000 B.C. till 4,000 B.C. and where these four cities were at any particular time would make telling of legends absolutely difficult to say for sure if that were only factor. There is no question that major centers of influence can be identified and we can look to certain technologies and social factors or names and languages to help our guesswork. Memphis was a clearly important religious center with a focus on magical sciences.

Malta was more of an ashram or training center and might also have had top secret 'chaos scientists' who worked on developing technologies like Pyramid/Earth Energy Grid. There are those like Boorstein who claim Crete was Atlantis all on its own. The Iberias may have been associated in a corporate trading enterprise that included Americas and Basque as well as post flood region of Black Sea. The region between Black and Caspian Sea was known as Iberia and had a capitol or main city of same name. It is now called Tiflis. The Iliad says Amazons came from this region. The Amazons were women fighters of Kelts as I see it. At same time Iberia was developing Tagus to Massalia (current Marseilles) region with Phocaean and Milesian peoples who are remnants of Royal House of Mallia on Crete from 2000BC. when anti-egalitarian movement really took off. In Bible we read about ships of Tarshis that traveled between these two Iberias, and their outposts including Anatolian archaeological digs.

Children must be taught (in words and example) to love what is good and wholesome and develop their consciences to be uncomfortable with that which offends God. Fill your house with joyful music and your children will develop proper musical taste. Be sure to have a healthy mix of secular and sacred music, so that your children are exposed to a wide variety of musical styles. You should also network with other parents about what their family has enjoyed.

A: Who are some of Cousins influences and favorite recording artists?

One of our favorite artists is John Groban. We are all Grobanites and just recently went to his concert in Chicago. He is an amazing vocalist and performer. Cecilia Bartoli, an opera mezzo-soprano is a favorite of girls, while guys like Celine Dion-along with many other artists. We’ve also performed in many musicals and have a great appreciation of Broadway and Big Band Era. We’ve been greatly influenced by our good friend and fellow Catholic artist Mary Anne LaHood. We like to sing and perform numerous oldies, especially music from 50’s. Other favorites include many Catholic and Christian artists.

We’ve also been greatly influenced by wonderful voice teachers we’ve learned from over years. Q: O Night Divine is such a beautiful Christmas gift! How did you decide to record a Christmas CD and how did you select songs for CD? A: There are so many beautiful and joyful Christmas songs that we couldn’t resist!

Christmas has become secularized over years, yet airwaves are still filled with joyful news of birth of Savior – in song! We saw an opportunity to expand our music ministry to a wider audience and to attract more teens and young adults to good news of Christ!

Each of Cousins picked personal favorites for solos that showcased his or her voice. As a group we selected some longtime family favorites, and some traditional Latin tunes. We had a lot of fun composing harmonies, resulting in fresh new renditions of old time carols. O Little Town of Bethlehem has a jazzy/pop element; Joy to World is a bold, upbeat, and driving rendition, while Acapella Dona Nobis Pacem reminds us of how angels must have sung of Peace on Earth at Jesus’ birth.

O Night Divine was a completely different experience compared to other albums. First of all, this is only CD that we, Cousins, co-produced. We were involved in every step of its creation, while on other albums we merely sang. Just recording experience itself was incredible. It had been years since last album we had recorded together and we had a totally different mentality. We wanted to create something different and something that expressed how we had matured from last album. We tried multiple new ideas, like idea of a pop version of O Little Town of Bethlehem. After multiple attempts, we were ready to drop idea. At this time, is where our amazing friend and producer Gary Loizzo came into play. Gary is sound producer for group “Styx” and is incredibly talented with music. He saw something in this song that we had missed. We should have known that this is what decades of recording experience will get you. Despite Rose’s requests to just can idea, Gary insisted that we continue, promising that song would be great. He really is responsible for outcome of that song. Just experience of this song alone was worth recording session. Each of other songs has their story, and while it might not have been as significant an event as O Little Town, each of us really enjoyed and grew not only as performers, but also as persons from this wonderful experience.

Reflecting on this album has led us to realize that with three other CDs behind us, O Night Divine might be seen as perfect ending point. But we all see it as beginning of a new twist to Cousins in Christ music collection. We had so many other songs we would have liked to have recorded. We’ll have to save those for next Christmas CD!

Q: Do you have any future projects in works?

A: The future includes many live performances both individually and as a group. We’re often asked to sing at conferences, conventions, fundraisers, weddings and special Diocesan occasions. We feel more and more called to produce secular music, in addition to religious, to influence general public as good role models. We believe Christmas CD will reach a wider audience as we are working with major distributors and nationwide chain stores for first time. We believe a Broadway CD is in future, but have not set a timeframe for it yet.

For more information on Cousins in Christ visit them at www.roseofsharonmedia.com

Lisa M. Hendey, webmaster of CatholicMom.com, writes from Fresno, California.