Monday 27 December 2010

Post No. 194 - A preview from numerology: attitude and your aura

One of the draft posts I'm working on is about numerology. I know the time I work on drafts can be rather overlong, so I've decided to put this point out in a preview post, as I consider it fairly significant.

The idea here is the vibration you sound to the Universe is, in part, the vibration which is associated with your name. This influences both how people view you, and how events unfold.

As an example, consider a minor car accident. If Person J (there are lots of As, B,s Xs, etc, so I'll use a few other letters) goes to the other driver with an aggressive attitude, then things won't go all that well. If, however, person ... oh, say ... T, is in a minor car accident, and approaches the other driver with a sympathetic, understanding attitude, the exchange is likely to be more pleasant and more productive for all concerned.

Well, your attitude shows ALL THE TIME. Partly this is what is showing in your aura (hence, for instance, if you're feeling irritable, other people may sense your impatience [or whatever the cause is] despite your words and actions and possibly even body language being carefully managed to try and disguise that fact), and partly ... To be completed.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: attitudes, aura, interactions, numerology,

First published: Lunadagr 27th December, 2010

Last edited: Monday 27th December, 2010

Thursday 23 December 2010

Post No. 193 - Being attacked psychically: a happier story ...

I've posted previously about some of the problems I've had with psychic attack (e.g., here, about Aussie pubs, and here, about having been caught out). Well, it's just about time for a story to balance the books up a bit, so I thought I'd post about some good (effective) work I did tonight when dealing with psychic attack, to go with some of the posts like this one, and this one.

First, I'll set the scene. I recently achieved a major milestone in my day job (basically, I achieved Grade Fellow membership of the professional Institution I belong to), so my partner suggested we go out for tea to celebrate (not to a pub, of course). I chose a restaurant, and off we went.

While there, I started off by having a minor confrontation with a waitress which basically boiled down to me hearing her thoughts objectively, and thinking she had said something that she and my partner assured me she didn't. No problems, feathers smoothed down all round, and meal proceeded.

However, as we did so, a bunch of semi-drunken louts arrived and were seated at the table beside us. I tolerated this for a while, focusing on passive techniques like building positive defences. However, it got to the stage where this was becoming uncomfortable for my partner as well, so I took stronger action.

I - with the help of my guides - separated out all their astral bodies (even if they had known about grounding, they were too drunk to do so), and then flamed the heck out of these various bodies (for more on flaming, see here, here and here). That removed the negative energy they were actively using to be loud, obnoxious sods.

Good start - they were noticeably quieter, but they were still being a problem. So, I capitalised on having been recently claimed by Thor (so, yes, I have another Patron Deity) who used Mjollnir to further remove their negative will-power, and then I packed Isa round each every level of each and every one of them.

After that, they were no more noticeable or obstreperous than any other table, and we were able to continue on and finish our meal and celebration in peace and contentment.

This raises issues of passive defence vs. active defence. So, it should not surprise you to read that my view is that I prefer to avoid problems first, then handle them in as low key a way as possible, but if after all that the people concerned are actively interfering with others, then I consider a more active (but proportionate!) response is justified.

My response was proportionate: I've done no permanent harm to them (in fact, by cleansing them I've probably done them a favour - they may, for instance, find their hangovers are less severe than they normally would be tomorrow), I've let the energy I created dissolve, and all I have to do now is rescue the earthbound entities I dislodged as part of this exercise. They've still had a meal and many drinks out, and we've had a meal and (in the case of my partner and her daughter) a few drinks out (and this whole situation is a perfect example of why I, and many other people who do this type of work, don't drink).

So ... now I have to get off and do those rescues.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: Psychic attack, rescue, flaming, grounding, protection, Patron Deity, runes, Isa, Thor, Mjollnir,

First published: Thorsdagr 23rd December, 2010

Last edited: Thursday 23rd December, 2010

Post No. 192 - Life experience and Generations BB, X and Y

Yesterday at work we had a farewell lunch for a young colleague who is moving on to better pastures (well, closer-to-home pastures, at any rate :) ). It was a fairly typical send-off lunch, but a couple of comments caught my attention and tied into a line of thought I have been developing.

The comments were:
  1. a bit of a discussion about which "generation" - in the sense of Baby Boomer, X or Y - the younger colleague "belonged to" (the conclusion was that, although her age put her in the Generation X category, her attitudes put her in the "Baby Boomer" category); and

  2. during a discussion on relationships (whose had ended, etc), one even younger female said categorically "you must have a clean, total break at the end of a relationship".
Yeah right, voice of experience-not. Still, this highly sweeping, erroneous comment did, as I mentioned, tie in with some other thoughts I've been having in response to a current news story, a controversy involving a female teenager and some young footballers. Now, there have been quite a few such controversies, and my general impression - as a member of the public who has only the information placed before her by the media - of most of them is that the footballers are in the wrong. I am, however, pleased that the AFL has taken some reasonable steps towards educating young male footballers about respect for women (and, to some extent, respect for minority ethnicities).

But this case is a different as the young woman concerned is making no bones about her motivation for her current actions being desire to have revenge on all male footballers and the entire football world. Now, it seems that the story is something along the lines of the following:
  • this young woman was attracted by what she considered (although not in these words) to be the glamour of "hot" footballers;

  • as a result of the sex she had, she wound up pregnant;

  • while pregnant, she took action which made the media, possibly not the ideal action to take, and possibly not clearly thought through (e.g., why not just take a paternity suit against father?), but the police investigation led to a determination that no illegal behaviour had occurred (on any part, presumably);

  • while this matter was in the media, the young woman states that she was abused by others when took action;

  • her children were stillborn, and she now is taking action to seek vengeance (highly reported in the media) AND to warn other young women not to become involved with young footballers (not so widely reported in the media);

  • today I read an article in the online edition of "The Age" where senior columnist Karen Kissane claims this young woman is behaving as a woman has been scorned - but one who is "at the age of narcissism" who also has access to Internet.

Now, some immediate reactions I have here are:
  • not all young males are "bad" people, nor is it a case that all young females are "bad";

  • some young people, male and female, ARE "bad" - just as some older people, male and female are "bad";

  • some young people at that age can be a downright pain - as can some older people;

  • lot of males and females, old and young, are actually simply trying to do the best that they can - as has the AFL been trying to do on the issue of respect;

  • as the young woman herself is reported to have posted, we don't know those involved, so we shouldn't judge them: that is true, but that applies to both sides so I won't pre-judge the footballers as she seems to be asking us to do either (this lack of having full information is something which often applies to media reporting);

  • I don't see much basis for Kissane's assertion that this is a woman scorned, but that might be just my engineering/activist-focused-on-precision-and-legal-implications bent coming out.
Actually, that is probably my main point here: most of the time in life we don't know the full story - even for things we are part of. Soooo ..... don't leap to too many conclusions/judgements.

That also includes:
  • don't judge those older than yourself ...
... they might actually know what they're talking about :D

Now, links. I've deliberately held off putting links in until now, so you could read and think about this. Some links I would like to include here, though, are:
As you work through those links, keep in mind that, spiritually speaking, someone who could be considered an adult chronologically, may actually be a young (or very young) soul ... and vice versa.

Now, just to throw a different perspective on this, we're just watching the film "Little Man Tate", about (to over-simplify!) a child prodigy - which is a word I hate, as a result of being on the receiving end as a teenager: it cut me off from my peers (until I took up sailing).

Finally, the day after I wrote the above, the young woman, who has reportedly now been told to appear in court and is apparently making light of, or ignoring it, is claimed to have told The Age:

The teenager admitted her revenge campaign against the AFL and St Kilda might not have been thought out. ''I think that I have handled the situation immaturely, but I would not say that I am mentally unstable,'' she told The Age.

(See here).

So ... where are we?

Well, the train of thought I had been having when I started this was along the lines of:
  • "young soul"-type people tend to be sure that what they are doing is right, whether it is or isn't, whether they are a (to use Kissane's wording) narcissistic teenager lacking in life experience or an older person who has become set in a small-minded rut because of lots of repetitive, limited life experience;

  • "old soul" type people will be aware that there are other points of view, many shades of grey, and that they could be wrong in anything they are doing (but will still do the best that they can, sticking to what they consider to be most inclusive and considerate and spiritual as they do so).
In the case of the young woman who is the centre of the current media storm, I do not know "The Truth" of the matters - and I have no interest or inclination to waste any of my time, energy or abilities trying to find out what is "The Truth". It does, however, illustrate aspects of young soul-old soul behaviour on BOTH sides.

(It also raises the issue of what is appropriate "punishment" for whoever has done any wrongs - and that includes the football players, AFL and media, not just the young woman who is being focused on - who has made the mistake of treating the courts casually, thereby giving an impression she thinks she is above the law [see here].)

On the Young Soul behaviour, I would like to have a neat 'n' natty little way of describing this. I thought of inventing a new phrase and acronym (PAPH), but you can't say that without risking blowing a raspberry, so maybe not ...

Oh, PAPH stands for "Passive/Aggressive Proselytising Hubris".

Hubris - pride and self centred arrogance, the emotion which is often described as going before a fall

Proselytising - this was included to cover the tendency of Young Souls to advocate their way as the Sole Way to all and sundry, whether those Young Souls are old TV evangelists, or young 'uns who won't listen to any other points of view

Passive - for an example of PAH, see the film "The Scarlet Letter": it covers a range of social control mechanisms through socialisation, exclusion/inclusion controls (see - to put my tongue into my cheek - your neighbourhood corner group of teenagers for a working study [3])

Aggressive - for the evangelistic types of behaviours, including - if she is WRONG/LYING - the young woman I have mentioned.

See also "passive aggressive".)

Maybe a better way to get a nifty handle on this is to invent a new word. Let's see ... no, maybe I'll just stick with pugnacious or truculent as words to use for "Young Soul"-type behaviour.

Now, for a future post, maybe I'll write about how I got myself out of that stage, a looong time ago ...

Update: this article inclines me more towards Kissane's position of a woman s corned ...

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Notes:
  1. Teen adds tech touch to wrath of a woman scorned, 22nd December, 2010 - 3:00AM
  2. See here, here, here, here, here and here.
  3. Although I have touched upon the problems of bullying before - see,. for instance, the book "Queen bees and Wannabes".
This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: attitudes, prejudice, racism, sexism, sport, youth, young soul, old soul, maturity, immaturity,

First published: Thorsdagr 23rd December, 2010

Last edited: Sunday 26th December, 2010

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Post No. 191 - Preparing for receiving a reading

I'd like to briefly consider the topic of preparing for receiving a reading - i.e., what should you, as a client, do to try to make sure you get a good, accurate and meaningful reading.

Well, there are a few things I consider standard:
  • learn how to ask for protection (see my previous posts on shielding, flaming and grounding [1]) and practice doing so - and do so during the reading!); and
  • ask your positive guides to help you prepare for receiving a good, accurate and meaningful reading during sleep state [2].
More importantly, however, is preparation along the lines of the principle "if you aren't ready to accept the answer, don't ask the question".

What I would suggest for this is:
  • write down the three worst things you think you could possibly hear;
  • then, one at a time (preferably devote at least one week to each of these) work through how you would handle being told that: how would you cope, how would you move on with your life, etc.
If you CANNOT cope with being told any of these, then, in my opinion, you are not ready to receive a reading and should cancel it, as the biggest problem could be that you are simply going to block or reject whatever guidance you receive through this means.

Have a look at my post "Giving oneself a kick up the backside" for a few more thoughts that might be relevant.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Notes:
  1. 1. for instance, see here, here; here; here; here; here; here; here; here; here; here and here.
  2. 2. This will include you doing things such as trying to clear karmic or other limitations on you receiving a good, accurate and meaningful reading, and possibly meeting astrally with the medium/psychic and "getting to know each other".

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: readings, personal responsibility, preparation, flaming, grounding, shielding, protection,

First published: Wodansdagr 22nd December, 2010

Last edited: Wednesday 22nd December, 2010

Post No. 190 - Litha and the timing of rituals

Last night we celebrated Litha (that is, the Midsummer Sabbat). It was a nice low-key event - feasting with pagan friends ... no ritual, as my partner and I had done that the night before (we had people coming from a range of pagan paths, so having the ritual for just us meant we didn't have to try and cater for a range of approaches to ritual). During the course of doing some research as part of the preparation for this event, I came across a statement to the effect that the "height of summer" is a three-day period - that is, you don't actually HAVE to celebrate at exactly the right "instant".

I can't say I'm actually surprised by this - I'd found exactly the same when celebrating Full Moons (i.e., a Full Moon Esbat ritual) over the last few decades: the energy is so close to the same for about a three or four day period, that I have no hesitation in shifting the time I have a full moon by a day or two from the official, "exact" time of the 100.00000% full moon.

I do, however, have some restrictions on shifting the timing of a New Moon Esbat ritual. To some extent, this is possibly because the rituals I have been doing are looking at celebrating/facilitating/working with new beginnings, or things I wish to have grow. That means I actually want to celebrate in the period when the Moon is New, not dark, and growing - which means I do the ritual within a day or so AFTER the New Moon becomes visible.

Thinking back, I have not actually performed any Dark Moon Esbats that I can recall ... hmmm. I'll have to tune into the energies at that time, and see what I can work out/learn ...

When I first started doing Full Moon rituals, I was fumbling in the dark, and didn't know that Wicca also could observe Dark/New Moons (as a Cancerian I tend to naturally gravitate towards a Full Moon, and just feel lousy when She isn't shining in her full glory :) - by the way, I'm sorry about the puns ... I think :D ). After I started my formal study and found out that such things were possible, i was probably too much of a fluffy white-light bunny to consider doing anything that had the word "Dark" in it. Now ... I just can't actually think of anything I would. Hmm. That's scary - I sound FAR too innocent and fluffy white-light bunny :)

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: rituals, timing, Litha, midsummer, Sabbats limitations, Esbats, full moon, dark moon, new moon,

First published: Wodansdagr 22nd December, 2010

Last edited: Wednesday 22nd December, 2010

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Post No. 189 - Reading

Some posts and links which might be of interest.

First a blog with an archaeological and past mysteries which has, so far, been absolutely fascinating to me: The Anthropogene. I particularly found the post (here) about Kurgans of great interest: according to the article I am referring to, the Kurgans evolved into races we now as, amongst others, the Celts ... Here is another particularly (to me!) interesting post ... (I also found consideration of a past inland African Sea of interest, as I think Rampa mentions something about such a sea being lost.)

I may return to this them of changes, such as the absorption of invaders into British culture and genetic mix, in a near future post.

I also found these links via the Anthropogene: they may be of some interest to some:
Now, from Witchvox:
Enjoy :)

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: archaeology, history, Kurgan, Celts, matriarchal society, change, Druid, Brighid, patriarchy, violence,

First published: Tysdagr 14th December, 2010

Last edited: Tysdagr 14th December, 2010

Post No. 188 - Meditation: first output

Well, I've resumed meditating, and had some interesting insights from yesterday's session.

Now, Alice A Bailey's books (which I hope to write a review of - in part! [1]) mention "permanent atoms" which exist on each level. These are not the atoms we know of in the physical: the term, is used in the sense (I think ancient Greek) of the smallest, essential component of something. In the Bailey sense, they are defined as follows (from the glossary of Initiation, Human and Solar):
Those five atoms, with the mental unit, one on each of the five planes of human evolution (the mental unit being also on the mental plane) which the monad appropriates for purposes of manifestation. They form a stable centre and are relatively permanent. Around them the various sheaths or bodies are built. They are literally small force centres.

So ... the Bailey perspective - to simplify grossly! - on evolution could be said to be that, in order to evolve, we have to manifest more fully our higher bodies. We don't "create" them, as that credit belongs to the source of the "permanent atoms".

Lobsang Rampa talks about this as well. From pages 11 and 12 of "Twilight":
... on each stage our body will be absolutely as solid as all those other bodies which are around us. We build up energy for a new astral body from what we are doing on what is at that moment our “Earth”, or the world of our physical existence, so that eventually when you get to the - oh, what shall I say? - eighth dimension, you will have to live in the eighth dimensional physical body while your actions and your life force will generate the ninth physical body which then, of course, will be your astral.

Now, this is all very interesting, but how does it relate to the cycle of involution and evolution of Wicca - or, more accurately, the Descent of the Goddess into Matter?

For those who may not be familiar with that, the concept is that we were all created as sparks from the Goddess and descend into matter (involution), after which we find our way back to unity with the Goddess (evolution - by the way, do you know that the word "Yoga" literally means "union", and this is most often interpreted as Union with Deity?).

So ... the permanent atoms of which Bailey writes would presumably have been created as part of the original Descent into Matter. But what of this creation of higher bodies?

Well, first, let's consider a couple of other matters.

Firstly, on page 286 of Stuart Holroyd's brilliant book "Briefing for the Landing on Planet Earth", the following definition is given of Deity:
"A unified infinite intelligence supported by pure love and which grows with pure love"

Next, in the books written by the controversial Carlos Castenada, I think in either The Eagle's Gift, 1981 (ISBN 0-671-73251-X or The Fire From Within, 1984 (ISBN 0-671-73250-1), but possibly The Power of Silence: Further Lessons of Don Juan, 1987 (ISBN 0-671-73248-X) - my indexing hasn't got that far, I'm afraid, there is a comment to the effect that, upon death of the physical, we fly up and are swallowed by The Eagle, at which point our experiences become part of that greater whole.

So ... perhaps what is happening when we build our higher frequency bodies, is that, effectively, we are integrating our experience and knowledge into our higher selves in much the same way that our DNA apparently records past infections with various viruses [2].

This is a little creating a piece of art: your essence suffuses through every part of what you are creating. All that you have been through, all that you have acknowledged and integrated or overcome, all that you have achieved or left undone, all of that makes you what you are now, and, because of that, all your learning and experience are an integral part of the higher frequency bodies you create now and inhabit later, as you evolve, so on until eventually all your life story becomes part of the Universe.

Hmm. I like that. Do you?

Why? :)

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Notes:
  1. I'm currently re-reading Initiation, Human and Solar
  2. See here, for instance, although that's not actually the link I am trying to find.

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: Alice A Bailey, meditation, permanent atoms, creation, evolution, levels, Castenada, Lobsang Rampa,

First published: Tysdagr 14th December, 2010

Last edited: Tysdagr 14th December, 2010

Friday 10 December 2010

Post No. 187 - 'tis the season to be ... run down.

Now, if I move away from "run down" in the sense of "exhausted", which applies to me because of the workload of my day job these last few months, I would like to talk about "run down" in the sense of ... run down - by a car.

I have been appalled these last couple of weeks by the number of idiot pedestrians I am encountering. I am tempted to quip that it's a case of people feeling "happy and pretty and flirty so the laws of physics no longer apply to drivers who are anywhere near me" - but that is exacty how it seems to be.

We're moving into summer, close to holidays for many, and people are allowing their good mood to override their common sense (or maybe self discipline? adult-ness?) and casually walking out from one road-side drinking hole to cross the road to another on the other side of the road. Last night there was, in the worst example of this, a group of about eight women, all in after-five attire, lined up along the centre white line of a road, giggling as cars passed by on both sides - but there were others, including men, lest anyone think this is solely a female phenomenon.

I'm struggling to find the right words for this. It is a form of self absorption, or excessive self focus, where one's desires (and needs) are placed ahead of comon sense. Maybe it is a sad reflection of the desperation and unhappiness in those people's lives, that they find they "need" to place the quest for hapiness above practical common sense. Perhaps in the days of "cave-people" (figuratively speaking here!) it was a case of flirting and joiking and ignoring the nearby saber toothed cat ...

In either case, it can have physical repercussions. At least these days, just after work most drivers are sober enough to dodge the idiots (especially with random breath testing for alcohol - which I support), but as we move towards the end of the year, sadly that won't always be the case.

In a psychic sense, I find - throughout the year - that many people will forget (if they know in the first place!) about such fundamental things as grounding and shielding ("closing the aura", or "shutting down the chakras", as some would term it - the latter not being quite what I am writing about as soon as someone says "party".

You know, you can have fun and be responsible too ... and now I will take off my Junior Goddess of Earnestness Mask, and go have a responsible Bex and a responsible Lie-Down :)

Please enjoy the festive season SAFELY.

BTW, here's a link to an news item about one of the other problems that happens at this time of year, one about more general problems and one of my previous annual rants about this time of year ...

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Ms Grinch

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: attitudes, irresponsibility, emotions, needs,

First published: Friday 10th December, 2010

Last edited: Friday 10th December, 2010

Post No. 186 - Thurisaz


There is a Rune called Thurisaz, or "Thorn" (see image at left from my rune cards). The old rune poems warn that this Rune can be dangerous - I think Freya Aswynn said it could be like a nuclear bomb going off (metaphorically - or in a psychic sense). The best comment I've read (and I apologise for not having kept the reference) said that it was basically a warrior type of energy, and those who weren't comfortable with things like weapons and fighting would find this energy unnerving.

Well, I like the idea of spiritual warriorship, and such energies don't frighten me. I find it as easy and comfortable to work with Thurisaz as I do any other rune.

Recently, I came across a website which made the highly sexist remark that working with Thurisaz was "not good" for women.

Rubbish!

That statement is sexist, misogynistic rot, based on the author's limited perception of what constitutes being female/woman (I make no apologise for not bothering to keep that URL - the site needs no promotion if it has that sort of rubbish on it!). My experience is that many people (including many women) tend to base such assumptions on what they consider attractive. (In the case of straight women, that usually means "what should be considered attractive by straight men", in my experience).

Women CAN be warriors, and that does not make them ANY the less female/feminine/womanly. Thurisaz is as accessible to women as men - although, mind you, both need to be careful about using the rune, just as they do any Rune or any other form of magic.

Remember, as the Christians say, "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions".

Magic can cause harm despite good intentions - and sometimes because of those good intentions, when people do not understand the complexities of a situation, or what is really happening. For instance, someone might see someone else putting up with an abusive person in their lives, and seek to do something to "make it better", perhaps not realising that the person is there out of love and caring. I know of situations where one partner has Alzheimers, which can have the effect of making one look older, and thus people have assumed that one of the partner's is "actually" putting up with a controlling parent long past the time when they should have moved out, not realising that the older looking person is actually a partner who is ill. So ... what happens in such a situation if the person does a spell to try and "help" the so-called child move out?

Problems with Runes and magic don't need idiotic assumptions around sex/gender to occur: we, the human species, are more than perfectly able to cause such problems in a whole range of other ways ...

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: runes, energy work, magical devices, personal responsibility, sexism, discrimination,

First published: Thursday 9th December, 2010

Last edited: Thursday 9th December, 2010

Thursday 9 December 2010

Post No. 185 - I've made it!

A funny thing happened on the way to my blog ... I got shunted elsewhere :)

There I was, looking at my URL and saying, yep, typed it right, and there ... looking back me was a redneck fundie's bible study site from Hicksville with all the imagination and creativity of ... of ... I dunno ... an engineer designing a website? (Oops - smacks self on engineering wrist after solving a couple of quadratic equations to get the velocity and angle of the smack right.)

Yes, readers, I suddenly found myself at a Bible study site when I went to check my usage stats on this blog. Didn't last long - refresh and it was gone, and I've done a few checks since then on other PCs and none went anywhere they shouldn't. Maybe I typed something too quickly/carelessly and wound up there as a result of my own fault.

'tis nice, though, to think that maybe someone did try to hack my blog - it means they see what I do as a threat, and that means what I am doing is worthwhile. I've "made it" as a blogger, in a sense :)

Why?

Because some small-minded, definitely UN-Christian people have, if this was a genuine attempt, been rattled, and rattling the mind of the small-minded is generally a good thing ... it can help break that mind out of its prison.

I should make it very clear that the actions of such people are not in any way, shape or form linked to the original Religion of Love that Christ taught. Of course, neither is most of what calls itself Christianity these days ...

I pondered whether I should do any rituals for the souls of the attempted hackers and ... nah ... I'll leave them to the tender mercies of their own karma, their Higher Selves - and the folk of Blogspot Central, who, if any attempt was made against my blog, have evidently been doing their job.

So, rest well, all would-be hackers: you've actually made my day.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

PS - have alook at the flow chart on "Overcoming Opposition" here.

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: Christianity, love, personal responsibility, about me,

First published: Thursday 9th December, 2010

Last edited: Sunday 12th December, 2010

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Post No. 184 - Meditation and the purpose of evolution

One of the draft posts I am working on is a review/critique of Lobsang Rampa's [1] books from the perspective of nearly four decades perspective. In the course of re-reading Rampa's books, I came across a few points on meditation that I quite liked, and thought I'd post.

According to Rampa's comments on pages 150 and 151 of Chapters of Life (my very battered, taped-together copy pub. Corgi, reprinted 1972, ISBN 552 07652 X), meditation has four parts:
  1. development of one's true personality,
  2. bringing one's physical body into rapport with one's Overself (Higher Self or Soul) and to bring one's Overself in rapport with nation’s Manu (which is, to simplify greatly, the guiding entity "in charge of" a nation [2]),
  3. attaining full occult understanding based on comprehending/apperceiving),
  4. a mystical stage where travel up Silver Cord to Overself, and then up the Golden Cord of Overself to “Deity” ("God").
Rampa gives instructions on his particular version of meditation (you used to be able to buy a recording of these instructions, actually), and includes a suggested series of meditations:
  • first, meditate on love (i.e., think kind thoughts to all creatures who live);
  • next, meditate on those in distress and, out of compassion, send rays of understanding and sympathy;
  • thirdly, meditate to rejoice in the happiness of others;
  • next, meditate on evil (e.g., how narrow the gap is between sanity/insanity, think on sin and illness, think of the sorrow which can be caused by pandering to evil,
  • finally, the meditation on serenity and tranquillity (wherein one will "rise above the mundane", no longer be bothered by oppression or fear, and view one's future with equanimity knowing that all times you are going to do your best and live your life according to your own stage of evolution).
Compare that with my flow chart below - I have three rather more mundane classifications of meditation.

































I wonder how many other classification systems there are?

Next, a quick little thought from one of Alice Bailey's channelled books, Initiation, Human and Solar, which I am reading. The thought, which I don't necessarily agree with, is that the purpose of evolution is to bring mankind to the realisation of his/her/hir "Higher Self", and bring the "Lower Self" under control of the "Higher Self".

Personally, I see all aspects of myself as being equally necessary, but I wish to manifest my truest (to myself), innermost nature. That's probably nit-picking a little to some, but the differences are valid to me :)

And now, 'tis very late, so I will toddle off to bed.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Notes:
  1. I just found a Yahoo group dedicated to discussing Rampa's books. I have joined and am working my way through some of the traffic. Seems reasonably amicable - in the past, possibly some of the usual discussions about irrelevant posts, perhaps. Not too much about Rampa at times, but, overall, seems reasonable. I have been updating the index to Rampa's book that was published in Candlelight; might put it up on the Yahoo group as well as here ... This all does me hope that I don't find myself in the situation of having such a legacy: hope everyone who reads my blog can use it to move on to something BETTER.
  2. Wikipedia has a slightly different definition here.
  3. I've just today been able to convert the scanned copy of the manual I used for my regression-rescue circles to jPEG format. Now to work out to post nearly 300 pages (> 40Mb) ... I've set up a new blog specifically for that purpose only. If anyone wants an email copy, hop on over to my website and email me (will be in several emails, owing to the size). I'm fairly confident I can cope with the likely levels of such requests from this blog, but if it does get out of hand, don't be surprised if you hear nothing - sorry in advance if it comes to that.

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: Manu, guides, meditation, purpose, evolution,

First published: Tuesday 7th December, 2010

Last edited: Wednesday 8th December, 2010

Post No. 183 - Avoiding positive energy

Something which is possibly surprising at first consideration to peiople who are trying to evolve and better themselves, is that quite a few people have a tendency to avoid positive energy.

As an example of this, I read a book recently (have fotgotten the details - sorry!) where someone went to a cafe for a cuppa, and set up some protection and light around herself. As she did so, someone who was sitting nearby moved and spent the time before she (the movee) left glowering at her (the light setter-up). In my case, over the course of several decades of working with energy, I have found some people who I would consider friends stay away from wherever I have set up protection.

The reasons for this can be many:
- believe that oneself needs to be punished for a real or imagined wrong doing;
- low self esteem leading to a belief that one does not deserve good things like positive energy;
- lack of familiarity with positive energy leading to an unconscious, cautious avoidance;
and so on.

This doesn't necessarily mean the avoidee is "evil" ... but it isn't a desirable reaction, any more than someone who punishes themselves because, say ... their image of their body is harsher than reality [1].

It is something to keep in mind when healing people (they may, at an unconscious level, fight against being well because of such issues) or doing rescue (I've posted previously about the sorts of reasons people may choose to resist passing over [2]).

Also keep in mind that this may not be conscious or deliberate on the part of the person.
Love, light, hugs and blessings


Gnwmythr

Notes:
  1. see here, here and here.
  2. For my past posts see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.


This post's photo is yet to be posted.


Tags: energy, negative energy, protection, flaming, self esteem, guilt, healing, rescue,


First published: Tysdagr 7th December, 2010


Last edited: Tysdagr 7th December, 2010

Monday 6 December 2010

Post No. 182 - Kangaroo apple season

Welcome to the Kulin people season of Kangaroo-apple season, the season of changeable, thundery weather. Come January and February, this season will be ended by the arrival of Biderap, the dry season.

Based on the work I did on a ritual based on indigenous seasons (see here), this is a time that can be fruitful, but tensions may build to a stormy release - for those of us living in south-eastern mainland Australia, at any rate :)

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: emotions, indigenous, rituals, seasons, Kulin,

First published: Monday 6th December, 2010

Last edited: Monday 6th December, 2010

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Post No. 181 - A coupla quick thoughts: fatigue and Ashramas

Actually, one of those thoughts wasn't very quick at all: I first had it driving in to work this morning, lost it during the day, and only got it back when my partner and I went outside for a cuppa.

That thought was that, in much the same way that people can get "compassion fatigue", when they run in to an inability to keep giving, I suspect people can also run into "mistake fatigue". Ny that I mean people can get tired of being reasonable and owning up to mistakes, and they just desperately want something they can say they got right. I came across this thought while idly speculating about ego and pride, and how some people who seem to be getting by without problems with ego can suddenly have a "bad day" and flip out - I can certainly think of times when I think I may well have run into "mistake fatigue" :)

Maybe there are other types of fatigue as well - for instance ... oh, I dunno ... maybe people can have "negativity fatigue". Quite a few people I knew early in my days of exploring spiritual/personal growth had problems handling things like bad world news: maybe that was partly just "negativity fatigue". [1] My partner, who has one child who has left home and another who is getting near, commented on "parenting fatigue" ... (actually, she helped me explore this idea generally).

The other thought relates to something I have written about in the context of what I call "growth orientation" [2]: compatibility, or the lack thereof, between partners, something I came across while re-reading some of Rampa's books (specifically, "Wisdom of the Ancients", Corgi Books, London, 1968, ISBN 0552072486). There is a word "Ashrama", which means "stages of life". The Wikipedia entry on this includes the following:

An Ashrama (āśrama) in Hinduism is one of four stages in an age-based social system as laid out in the Manu Smrti and later Classical Sanskrit texts. The concept of Ashramas has gone into disuse, and nowadays few Hindus follow it. At present, Hindus live their lifes according to their preference and convenience only.

I can recall a Rudyard Kipling story about someone (an Indian) who did something similar, although the four stages in the Kipling story were: student, warrior, family man, and then reunciate, and each was twenty years long, whereas the Wikipedia entry says that the four stages are 25 years long, and are student (see Brahmacharya), family life (see Grihastha), retired life (see Vanaprastha) and renunciate (see Sannyasa). Perhaps some of the conflicts that can occur between partners do so because people are at different stages of their life?

I have a rule that I will not get involved with anyone who is more than 11 years older or younger than I (when I myself was younger, the number of years was lesser; also, I have ALWAYS had a rule that I never get involved with anyone who is still living with their parents - unless, at the end of life I am at, it is because they are caring for the parents :) ). This age limit is because in most cases such differences are based on age, to some extent, but that is not always so. Perhaps some people are moving into student stage late in life, whereas their partner is moving into the family life stage.

Interesting - and I am glad such differences don't apply in my life (touch wood).

So, now I shall toddle off and enjoy some of that life :)

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Notes:
  1. I have a tendency towards a hardline view on this, but that may be because I've learned techniques which allow me to work to influence such situations (e.g. see here and here).
  2. See also here and here.

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: love, caring, compassion, growth orientation, relationships, stages of life,

First published: Wednesday 1st December, 2010

Last edited: Wednesday 1st December, 2010

Post No. 180 - Trial run of a Ranger technique

Something I've mentioned in the past (e.g., see here) is my desire to establish a group to (now [1]) be called Rangers of the Inner Plane. There's quite a bit of work happening on non-physical levels with this group (if you think you might like to be involved at a future date, ask your guides to help you connect with the astral activity of the Rangers while you are sleeping). Tonight ... well, tonight I finally got to try some of the basic techniques with someone else in the physical.

Woo hoo!

OK, so what did we do actually.

Well, first we had a yak and a cuppa - oh, but moving right along to what might be more interesting :D

  1. We set up protection.
  2. Next, we "opened" or energised our chakras generally (I do this by breathing positive energy into them - which I do as a colour, but it could also be sound or scent as well).
  3. Now, for your benefit, dear Reader, I will review a few fundamentals:
    - we all have energy centres termed "chakras" (for some of my past writings on chakras, see here, here, here, and here);
    - each of these chakras has a function or energy associated with it;
    - in the case of the major chakras, I consider there is a body associated with each as well:
    the physical with the base chakra (the lower Earth Star chakra being
    where the Goddess pours energy into us, from the physical world
    - the world of of Nature),
    the second with the etheric body, that which seems to be what is
    caught, in part, by Kirlian photography (although that could
    actually be sub-etheric),
    the Solar Plexus chakra, the centre of what are often termed
    "lower" [2] emotions, with the "lower" astral, which is what
    most people mean by "the astral",
    the Heart chakra with the less personally focused emotions
    such as love, and the "higher" astral body body,
    and so on.
  4. We had decided to work with the Solar Plexus chakra, Heart chakra and Throat chakra - the latter generally being associated with communication and self expression, but also being where things like clairaudience are centered. For each of these:
    - we checked what each person's "frequency" was (we used colours),
    - we adjusted each person's chakra frequency (e.g. adding blue to a
    yellow to make green) until they were in harmony.
  5. The next step was to project an aspect of ourselves from each chakra. This exercise is included in some basic chakra training exercises, and is sometimes used as a prelude to astral travelling. We discussed what had appeared from each chakra (one projection was that of a guide, others power animals, a ball of light, etc). Next we connected the projections by visualising a cord.
  6. The assembled group of projections was then moved (by travelling via a guided meditation) to each place we wished to work.
  7. Once there, we used theSolar Plexus chakra projection to remove any energies associated with being emotionally upset, the Heart chakra projection to fill the place with "plesant, "positive" energies and the Throat chakra projection to help communicate and then bless the thought forms created and work undertaken.
  8. We then returned, drew the projections back in, and grounded to release all excess energy. After making sure we were all OK, we then opened the circle.
The places we worked included my home, and my friend's granddaughter's home. If we get any feedback, I will be sure to add an update :)

I also am planning some sketches to illustrate this. I'll add those as well when they are done.

And now, 'tis off to bed I go.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Notes:
  1. One of my Patron Deities is Gyhleptis, also known as Lady Hanging Hair (see here, here, here and here for more about this Haida/Tlingit Goddess). That is so not because of any choice of mine, but, rather, because Gyhldeptis, as with all my other Patron Deities, decided to march in my door, grab hold of me gently but firmly, and say "You're mine! Get to work and do what I want done!" Originally the Rangers were called the Rangers of Gyhldeptis, but I would feel more comfortable doing that if I had permission to do so from the culture she came from - which I don't.

    (The permission thing doesn't affect the Patron Deity role, because, as I just indicated, that is Lady Hanging Hair claiming me, not the other way round.)
  2. This is often described along the lines of emotions which are focused on the self.Well, there is a time and place where being focused on yourself is actually the most spiritual thing that you could do. It's a bit like involutionary and evo;utionary in the sense of inward-looking and outward-looking respectively: you need both as you go through life, each at the appropriate time. The way I prefer to think of this is that the non-physical body associated with that chakra is at a lower frequency of existence than the body associated with the heart chakra.

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: Gyhldeptis, Rangers of the Inner Plane, chakras, energy work, visualisation, breathing, levels, astral, etheric, Kirlian photography,

First published: Wednesday 1st December, 2010

Last edited: Wednesday 1st December, 2010

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Post No. 179 - IQ and car speed cameras

I've never been much of a believer in "Intelligence Quotient" as having much significance for anything in particular - although, mind you, mine is, I have been told quite high [1]. I mention that to show that I am not downplaying IQ out of bitterness or anything similar: it's just that I'm in a good position, I consider, to argue the point that IQ is overrated exactly because I have an IQ that is well above the average.

I have NO desire to be part of Mensa, incidentally: the people I saw applying when I was at Uni put me off because of their arrogant attitudes. I suppose they, as is the case with most people, wanted to feel good about themselves. In their case, what they excelled at was stuff measured by IQ, so ... they used that to feel good, and then they made the mistake of trying to feel even better by belittling others who had skills in other areas.

You never acheive anything of merit or genuine value when it is founded on tearing down or attacking something that is different: treasure and appreciate the good things you have, but do so because they are good, not because they are a means to lord it over others.

I consider Emotional Quotient to have greater relevance to most people's lives, for instance. One of the advantages of EQ, or Emotional Intelligence as it is sometimes called, is that it forces those who may over-intellectualise, to the exclusion of all else (and I am writing on the basis of, in part, 30 years of engineering, working, at times, under some truly appalling, dreadful managers who should never have been allowed to manage a pencil case, let alone a human being) to become aware that human interactions are important.

However, getting back to what I wanted to cover, on SBS television last night was a programme examining the alleged link between racism and intelligence. After some really aggravating views claiming that a link was found, the best objective evidence was that things like educative support and opportunities (the sort of things missing in situations of gross poverty) were what made the difference in terms of IQ. The best comment, to me, was along the lines that what IQ measures is really extent of adaptation to modernity.

I can SO relate to that. There are people I've known who have low IQ, but their skills in non-academic areas such as living rough or going bush are phenomenal. For instance, there was an Torres Strait Islander at the high school I went to in Mackay who was, to me, very clearly intelligent, but his focus was not on academic acheivement: his interest was elsewhere in life [2].

I tried to find a link to the documentary, but the SBS website defeated me ... :(

I have been thinking about this issue of adapation to environments: I think focusing too much on an intellectual situation can lead to some downright stupid behaviour elsewhere. I'm particularly thinking of some pedestrians I've seen in the last few days doing some incredibly stupid things - one man, in the city, ran across cars that had just started moving because their traffic lights had turned green. If the cars hadn't braked, he would have been hit.

This situation probably involves a whole host of other things, such as focus on the music he was listening to, focus on trying to get fit (he was clearly running some distance at some speed, and probably didn't want to stop the flow of that), not to mention to tendency I've noticed in many people to put the great God *bow, scrape, worship* PERSONAL CONVENIENCE *bow, scrape, worship* ahead of everything else, such as waiting for traffic lights. At he time, I remember thinking this person coukld quite possibly be someone who is quite intelligent in their workplace, and yet they are so incredibly dumb out on the street.

And talking of streets and traffic leads me to my final point, a nice little story from Sweden about a speed camera where (a) speeding motorists were fined, and (b) the fine money went into a lottery and those obeying the speed limit had a chance to win some of it. I like that - think i might suggest it to our new State government ...

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Notes:
  1. When my family moved from Victoria to Queensland in the early 70s, one of the things the new school system made me do was an IQ test - Goddess knows why. Anyway, after completing the test, I wasn't sure whether I was allowed to move or not until I saw someone else deleiver their completed test paper, so I did (and then found out that time to complete this was assessed! I had asked, but the supervisor must have misunderstood my question, as he said "take as long as you want"). Anyway, after that, I wasn't told my actual IQ (apparently the policy of the Department), but I was given a [percentage bracket, and it was quite high ... So that statment actually does have some objective foundation; it is not a case of being arrogant.
  2. I remember this kid because I actually offered to help him with his homework if he ever got stuck. The offer didn't lead to anything in the end.

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: IQ, indigenous, school, about me, attitudes, arrogance, irresponsibility, safety,

First published: Tysdagr 30th November, 2010

Last edited: Tysdagr 30th November, 2010

Sunday 28 November 2010

Post No. 178 - Fear

I fear I have been planning (and doing some work on! It’s not all just daydreaming … :) ) a post on emotions for some time now. Well, I recently read an article in my engineering magazine, Engineers Australia (my version is from the civil engineering college), quite a few months ago now, and it gave me a spur to get this done, at least, on the topic of fear.To set the scene a little, I wrote some time ago about the notion that anger is not an emotion: that view works well for me, as it gives me a spur to get behind the anger, and see what is going on, which gives me (not necessarily ANYONE else, mind you [1]) the best tools for managing my anger. (This is something I decided to do when I was about ten: at that age, I resolved to ensure my anger didn’t control me, that I “used” my anger constructively – but that “used” is in the sense of “power with”, rather than “power over”. Suppressing something never gets anywhere …Buddhism was particularly good at teaching me that. [1]) Since then, I have been experimenting with the notion of viewing fear on the grounds that it also is not an emotion.Well, that didn’t work so well – and, after reading the article I mentioned, I know that that is because fear is not an emotion :)The article was titled “Physical safety achieved through emotional safety”, by Margot Cairnes (see here for more about this author, who I hold in high regard), and was about the importance of fear as an instinctive reaction. In my words, in effect what happens when one is strongly afraid is that the brain short-circuits the thinking part, and resorts to using just the "reptilian" residual, brain-stem of the brain (my descriptions may not be quite right, so I suggest you look up the links for more exact facts if you want them: I'm just explaining this as a prelude to my main post concepts). What this leads to is a nerve signal to the brain not having to go through a whole host of messy, time-consuming, energy-consuming thinking, it just hits the brain stem and is re-routed into whatever has to be done. So ... your hand touches a flame and flinches out of harm's way before you can think about it. (There's a section on the neurobiology of fear at Wikipedia - click here.)

In other words, fear switches in a biologically useful survival reaction - apart from preparing the body for a "fight or flight" response (which should actually be fight, flight or network-and-nurture [3]).
So, perhaps one could actually consider fear to be a sub-emotion, one of the foundations upon which emotions are built.

Those emotions can be expressed in a whole range of ways, some destructive (including an angry expression, such as losing one's temper and having an uncontrollable rage or temper tantrum), and some constructive (including an angry expression). As an example of the latter, if I find myself becoming angry at an injustice in the world, generally an abuse of human rights, I will do SOMETHING about it [4].

So what does all this mean?

It means that I need to acknowledge that fear, as with anger, has a good expression, and a bad expression.

I want the good expression of fear to continue - I want my hand to flinch out of the way before I have to waste time thinking about being burnt.

What I don't want to continue is the automatic expression of the now inappropriate expression of fear, possibly from the early mammalian parts of my brain, where I freeze and, in effect, "play dead". That's damn useful if I am a small mammal being threatened by a meat eater on a plain somewhere, but if I am, say, a human being bullied or threatened as a result of office politics (or, worse, being threatened by a criminal, or yet worse again, being threatened by someone who wants to continue a form of discrimination (think about the threats made to activists during the apartheid regime), then that reaction is not very useful.

What I want is to be able to function effectively while I am experiencing the effects of fear.

So, for instance, if I were inclined to use affirmations to deal with such things, I might consider using something along the lines of "I allow my good fear, whilst staying in my forebrain to function at my best despite any bad fear". Hmmm ... glad I don't write affirmations for a living :)
The second part of that is meant to focus on the more recently evolved, "superior" parts of the brain - i.e., let's use ALL the skills I have, not just the simplest, quickest, most instinctive parts.

So, if I am being threatened by a criminal, let's think carefully about how to defuse the situation and get out of it intact, rather than just fall in a screaming heap on the ground, which might aggravate them into, say, taking whatever they wanted and then giving me a kick or three for good measure for forcing them to actually do some work to get their money.

If I am being threatened by people who want me to stop doing something, then I need to think carefully and weight up the various threats, my vulnerabilities, my principles and ethics, the help I can get (including for advice on how to deal with the threats), etc, etc, etc.

Now, in terms of functioning while afraid, I recently read a book written by an ex-SAS trooper on the topic of self defence: "Self Defence in 30 Seconds", by Robert Redenbach (Pub. Courtney Ballantyne, Bond University, Qld., Australia, 2007, Dist. Macmillan, ISBN 9 780980 382204 0 4). In this book, his comments about fear are (in part):
  • there are rubbish attitudes towards fear such as the acronym "False Evidence Appearing Real", whereas fear is something that has survival value;
  • fear is natural, reliable, mobilises, constrains, inhibits, filters, distorts, is contagious, is proof and is an opportunity (you will have to get the book to get the explanations which go against this);
  • learn your personal response to fear (not everyone reacts the same way) by experiencing situations where you are physically and psychologically stretched (the physical component is because this book is focused on physical self defence; being psychically stretched could be used in lieu of that for the sort of context I am discussing)
  • gain as much knowledge and familiarity as you can with the techniques you are going to be working with;
  • develop health and fitness (which, again, for this context could be "develop psychic strength and wellbeing"); and
  • work beyond yourself (i.e. for others - which has been a massive motivator for me personally in many situations).
This little book is an interesting one, and I will return to it when I post more in the future about psychic attack. Interestingly enough, the book begins with an epigraph [5] by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Do the thing as you will have the power"

That is very similar to a saying I would consider for much of the gist of this post:

"Feel the fear and do it anyway." - which does NOT necessarily apply to situations such as physical threats, etc, but may do so to other situations.

In any case, what you need to do after something has stretched you or made you afraid, is analyse it - review it, see what your responses were, what signals you could see in yourself that you were afraid, etc, etc, etc.

Now let's consider a few examples which might show a few other aspects of this topic. Each of these originally started as a different post, but I have decided to combine them all together into one post.

As an initial example, there is my recent post of "fear of difference".

If you're afraid of difference, well, perhaps you were the victim of a pogrom in a past life, and what has carried through is the notion that, if you are different, bad things will happen to you - and being seen with, or associated with, anyone who is different may lead to bad things coming to you. [6] Or ... you could have had someone like a priest tell you that being different in certain ways (e.g., being gay or lesbian, not to mention bisexual, trans or intersex [the priest would probably have just used the word "homosexual" - which is one reason I NEVER trust people who use that word rather than the LGBTIQ acronym/words) you will not go to Heaven. In other words, difference will deny you your immortality, and hence you may want to keep it as far away from you as possible.

This is actually probably one of the few cases where the saying "False Evidence Appearing Real" would apply. The values and assumptions underlying this fear are complete, utter and absolute rubbish.

Still, it does raise a useful example for some self analysis: is there anywhere your behaviour is because you are reacting out of fear? If so, how are you going to overcome your problem?

Before moving on to the next example, I wish to make it abundantly clear that the problem of discrimination against any form of difference also has a whole raft of other causes that need to be addressed, including lack of awareness of difference [7].

Next, let's consider fear of problems.

When I was a kid at school, I hated being set problems to solve in maths - it was work! Didn't those pesky teachers know the Universe had decreed that kids should be allowed to play and do whatever they want and be given everything on a plate?

Evidently not :)

I still can't say I love problems - well, some I do. I enjoy working and puzzling out a solution to some engineering problems ("challenges"), and working out how to do things like boat design details better. I even enjoy things like practising so I can improve my psychic skills, and exercising to improve my health (which I must get back into, now that my sister has gone home after her treatment). But problems of the type where I have to learn something about myself, or develop a skill, are often still difficult. They may still be "not fun".

In fact, I would MUCH rather that I experienced a problem because of karma than because of learning. If it is karmic - GREAT! It will probably have a finite limit and then be over. But if I am experiencing something because I have to learn, grow and change, that will keep at me - just like those pesky teachers, all those years (decades!) ago, until I learn/grow/change as the case may be.

The point is: problems (I'm not going to give them the PC term "challenges", I'm going to call a spade a shovel, gosh darnit!) are part and parcel of life, whether you're incarnate or discarnate - after all, growing doesn't stop just because you're dead, for goodness sake! (Mind you, it does tend to happen in a MUCH more pleasant environment if you're discarnate and have passed over to the astral ...)

But there are people in the physical world who are either uncomfortable with, or downright afraid of, problems.

It is best not to suppress emotions: far better in the long term to get the facing them and resolving issues done early, before they build into things that are more set in one's character, and have to be attached with a pick and shovel, rather than a spoon, so to speak.

Of course, to view doing so as a benefit, one has to:
(a) believe or know that they won't go away, and unlike our views of such things when we are small children, and think we can trick our parents into forgetting about something, neither our parents nor the Universe will actually do so, nor, more importantly, will our own Higher Self or Soul; and
(b) have a long term view that short term pain is worth the long term gain (a bit like having a painful massage to get rid of a problem like shin splints, although that may need other treatments).

This raises the point that some fear, particularly fear relating to social standing or short term things like missing out on a party or an opportunity, are really a function of perspective. Change your perspective, and the fear may ease, or even go away entirely.

Finally, let's consider fear and parenting.

Now, parenting is something I have touched upon before - see my previous posts here, and here. (The topic also crops up here.)

In the context of fear, what I want to cover is the fear of being thought or accused of being a bad parent. I have seen this in a few people - actually, particularly men, who have to worry about whether or not they are going to be accused of being an abuser if they cuddle their own chidlren.

That is not a joke: I have met such men, I have read letters from the partners of such men: this worry is real. (It is also more than sad that most child abuse could have been stopped early if adults had believed the child - and that comment comes from the experience of a wide range of people who have been close to me over the last few decades.)

Such fear of not living "up" to society's views, standards and expectations is both a form of social control, and a major restriction on the parenting.

It is scary to see, as what this sort of fear leads to is exactly what was feared in the first place: bad parenting. If your first reaction is NOT "what is best for my child?", but rather "what would I be expected to do?", you are at risk of making decisions on the basis of others' approval/disapproval, rather than the best interests of your child.

This is one of the problems of unresolved fear generally: making decisions to sate the fear, rather than what is best.

Such an attitude can also, ironically, lead to not getting help, as one may be afraid of being thought incompetent. That latter aspect is one I have seen with a few engineers, actually ...

Well, I think that is just about enough for now. I'll just mention that fear of of the new can be an restriction on people learning new psychic skills, and here is a link to a story about someone who stood up to some injustice and abuse. May I be so brave - if, perhaps, a little more fortunate.
Note 1
I found some links which may or may not be of interest or value to others is assessing this notion of mine. I haven’t looked at them, but here they are:

On this, a young person fairly close to me recently apparently expressed the view that they held on to their rage because they then feels “powerful”.

Huh?

The one thing I NEVER feel when angry is “powerful”. I don’t even particularly feel “in control” of anything – in fact, anger suggests to me that things (i.e. the situation – people + circumstances) have reached a desperate situation of last resort.

It is interesting to hear that this young person feels that, as the energy concerned bleeds out of the person in many ways – especially psychic versions of “passive aggressive” behaviour (such as taking down psychic structures I have built up for protection, on the basis that this young (not even 21!) person subconsciously doesn’t want anything to change, or be different to their childhood – and I am a threat, as I bring change. The person concerned is completely unaware of what they are doing – and is not particularly open to psychic notions, so there is absolutely no point in talking to the person (guessing whether they are male or female yet? Good! Keep guessing!) concerned about this. This is something which I have to just sigh, and endure until either life teaches the young person this lesson (and there are other lessons to be learnt first, lessons of greater importance) or they move (apparently going overseas in the near future). If one is being affected by this sort of behaviour, one can always leave the situation if one cannot cope with it, of course :)

This is a good example of the down side of something I have advocated in the past, continue to advocate, and HAVE to (ethically) continue to advocate: that there are two options for dealing with emotions that are adversely impacting on others. (1) change the emotion; or(2) genuinely and effectively hold the emotion in so it doesn’t impact on others, whether directly (i.e. through your words or behaviour) or “indirectly” (i.e. through psychic attack – which is when [to simplify a whole lot] energy leaves your aura in response to thoughts/emotions). The reality is, option (1) is a lot easier and more reliable than option (2), but people are so afraid of change, afraid of success when trying to change, afraid of failure when trying to change, or just even addicted to holding on to emotional traits as definers of their uniqueness, that they THINK option (2) is easier …

SIGH – oh well, that’s life on the third rock from Sol. At the present – it will change :)

This example is also an example of something that is a little more widespread: using negative energy as a defence. It’s easy to do – for instance, just get into a habit of denial, and the negative energy (deceit) starts to build structures in your aura (reflecting, in part, the extent to which you are deceitful in physical life) and you start being “hard to read”, friends start getting wary for reasons they don’t understand, and so on. As another example, if you – as in this case – like to use anger or rage as a form of defence (maybe you think offence is the best form of offence?) or a way of interacting with people/situations/life, that energy starts to accumulate in your aura and can be intimidating – or at least unpleasant – to others. Start getting addicted to something – say, pain, or fear, or failure (sometimes done out of a misunderstanding of the details of karma, or because of a misplaced belief that self-punishment by feeling guilt can somehow offset one’s past misdeeds), or alcohol, and that energy (including the energy of addiction) will also start to accumulate in your aura and build negative structures (such as negative shields), and will start to lock you into that behaviour, lock you into your pain/fear/etc, making growth harder - and making it almost impossible for others to reach you – particularly psychically.

Of course, to indulge in building up these negative structures and energies willingly and consciously is to indulge in activities that some would classify as “evil”. I would consider each case “on its merits”, but there certainly are some such (none I personally know in the physical) who I would consider “evil”.

There is another aspect to this as well: responses to psychic attack.

Most debates I’ve seen about this take the place of: do I “passively” (I’ll explain why I think that is a misnomer shortly) deflect the energy away from both myself and my attacker, or do I return the energy to my foe (which is what the attacker effectively is)?

Now, keeping in mind that most psychic attack is between people who know each other (e.g., one family member who is resentful/jealous of another, or one friend being jealous of another, or a partner getting possessive [often out of insecurity arising from poor communication, maybe about needs], and the situation of “evil stranger seeking to dominate and possess innocent’s soul” is extremely rare (although it does happen – if you take out the word innocent!), and hence the situation is one where you may well feel a sense of duty/obligation/honour towards the other person, not to mention love, the preceding has the complication of another variation: do you, or don’t you, act to neutralise/remove the attacker’s negative shields – and other negative energies, links, etc (I was taught at ASPECTS to use the general term “unit”: I don't know if they still use that term, I went my separate way a couple of decades ago now) – that the attacker is either using, or are using the attacker, to create, maintain or increase the attack?

My short answer is that it depends on the circumstances: (1) is serious harm being done? If not, then no, leave them alone. If serious harm is being done, then consider: would you do nothing if serious harm was being done in the physical world? Wouldn’t you, if nothing else, call the police? What about using the psychic/spiritual equivalent of that – call your guides/patron deities/Higher Self? (2) is the attacker themselves a victim, and is it for the Highest Spiritual Good for them to have the control they are under removed? Well, if you know what is for the Highest Spiritual Good ... wow! You can, however, and should, use your mind to make your best judgement call about the situation – just remember it is YOU doing that, not me: if you aren’t prepared to take responsibility for doing so, then don’t.


Note 2
Interestingly, I recently was re-reading some of my Lobsang Rampa books, and on page 6 of "Twilight" found the following comments:
My personal belief, which I have never put in print before, is that Gautama, the Prince, was to utterly sheltered from the hard facts of life, and then when he suddenly became confronted with suffering, pain and death, then it "turned his brain", it gave him a severe psychic shock, it upset his sense of values, it destroyed something essential to his being. So, the Prince Gautama left the Palace, left all the comforts he had known, and became utterly disillussioned. My personal belief is that he became "negative".If one studies the Teachings of Gautama (let us say "Buddha" which is more normal to Western people) one will appreciate that Buddha was negative, everything was "no-ness", "all life is suffering". Well, we know that isn't true, don't we?

Interesting. Have a look at the last paragraph of my post here.

Note 3
I have read that the reason this response was described as "fight or flight" was because the lab rats being used to explore this reaction were all male. When the tests were done using female rats (which, by the way, is an appalling concept - I mean the whole animal testing thing, not just the gender of the animals used), they found the response were different.

I couldn't find a good reference for that, but try here and here for an idea of what this is about.

Note 4
Usually this is writing a letter to a politician - which I don’t view cynically.

I have trained myself to view this as a snowflake contributing to a glacier: imperceptible on its own, but my action my inspire other snowflakes to add to the weight of the glacier, and the glacier DOES exist, and is moving.

After all, human rights are discussed and considered now, and attempts – albeit arguably flawed attempts – are being made to improve human rights all the time.

Compare that with the situation a few centuries ago, where the concept that a human being could be owned by another
(whether through slavery or marriage) was almost universal: now, the acceptable of owning another through slavery is far less widespread (although possessiveness in relationships is still a widespread problem – see polyamory for my ideas of what could possibly cure, or contribute to a cure of, this problem).

Note 5
I just found that word this last week :)

Note 6
On a more subtle level, perhaps you could have been someone who committed the pogrom, and now you either (a) still have the same bigotry, prejudice and hatred, or (b) fear your karma coming back to you, and are trying to prevent that by being as "un-different" as possible.

Note 7
See here.
Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

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Tags: activism, animal testing, attitudes, brain, Buddhism, challenge, control, emotions, evolution, family, fear, growth, Lobsang Rampa, parenting, problems, socialisation, society

First published: Sunday 27th November, 2010, after months hanging round as a few partially completed drafts :)

Last edited: Sunday 27th November, 2010