Monday 29 July 2013

Post No. 459 - What's in a name ...

I've been thinking about how I describe myself (yes, yet again - groan!) - no, I'm not changing my basic description of myself as a pagan energy psychic (hmmm ... PEP for short ... ), but I'm thinking of other terms. For instance, I quite like the term "weofedthegn", from Alaric Albertsson's work, which basically means one who tends an altar - which is exactly what I do for my shrines over at nshrine. In fact, I have that title in my email signature block - which is quite a bit shorter than the, ah, somewhat tedious signature block I use for my posts here (every bit of it has a point :) ). I also like a term Alaric used in one of his books, which was drýicgan, meaning female Druid. However, that is a title conferred by others, so I cannot use it as no-one has used the word in relation to me - just as, unlike my friend Rune Master from the Bush (hi Tony *waves hand*), no-one has described me as a rune mage, either (although terms have been used which are similar). That is OK - there's more important things in life, and it leaves me freer to play with descriptions and the like for myself.

You will notice, however, that I used the female version of Druid. I am strongly in favour of words which acknowledge and celebrate women in strong, active roles - not only roles that reinforce stereotypes around nurturing and caring. A good article from "Consultancy Africa Intelligence", which is a site that publishes insightful articles about Africa aimed at consulting companies from other parts of the world which wish to work there, described how the inclusion of women in peacekeeping missions had not led to gentler forces, as the women who chose to become involved were basically best described - in my terms - as warrior women. This is actually a strong role that women can play, and used to until the neo-Christian church stopped them around a millennia ago. From the article:

"there are still multitudes of women who disprove the peacefulness myth. Even before integration into official national armies, women were active combatants throughout history. In his book War and Gender, Joshua Goldstein recounts the Soviet Union’s wide-scale female mobilisations for WWII, present-day Benin’s highly respected female unit in its standing army, and present-day Libya’s so-called Amazons dating back at least to the sixth century B.C.(26) And in cultures where only men went off to war, there were—and remain—many women very much in support of that war. Philosopher Sara Ruddick writes in Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace, “Maternal peace politics begins in a myth:…War is men’s business; mothers are outsiders or victims; their business is life. The myth is shattered by history. Everywhere that men fight, mothers support them. (27)" 
(26) Goldstein, J., 2001. War and gender: How gender shapes the war system and vice versa. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
(27) Tronto, J., 2008. “Is peacekeeping care work? A feminist reflection on ‘the responsibility to protect’” in Whisnant, R. and DesAutels, P. (eds.). Global feminist ethics: Feminist ethics and social theory. Rowman & Little Field Publishers: Lanham.


There are valid reasons for having female peacekeepers, and I refer you to the rest of the article for those :)

In the context of this post, I was thinking of a word which means something like "Female Warrior of Light". Why? Well, because women are entitled to be warriors as much as men, and - with reference to "of Light" - all warriors are entitled to be about making this world a better place (i.e. serving the Goddess / the Light / Deity / spirituality / peace) - see, for instance, Chogyam Trungpa's "Sacred Path of the Warrior" (and other links here [2]).

Words have massive power - that is something which has been a key part of social rights activism for decades, and as someone who has been on the receiving end of discriminatory words, I can personally vouch for that. How to counter that?

Use words that make members of minorities stronger - such as a magickal term for "Female Warrior of Light".

So, I wandered over to the Online Etymology Dictionary, and did a little research. Unfortunately, it looks like the best term I could come up with was "Bellatrix Lux". (See also here.)

Why is that unfortunate? Because of the Bellatrix Lestrange character from Harry Potter ... has Lestrange made the use of the name/term Bellatrix impossible in any sort of positive context, much as the Nazi use of a distortion of the true swastika make use of that symbol all but impossible?

I'm not sure ...

While I'm contemplating that, something I was going to work up into a full blown post follows.

A comment that is made in Jim Butcher's latest Dresden Files book, "Cold Days", is that surviving (or enduring) can count as a victory. I think something in Marion Zimmer Bradley's book "Heartlight" repeated that sentiment, and I started thinking about it - particularly given the tendency towards the development of fascism that MZB alludes to in, of all places, the USA.

The world is well and truly in the grip of the Kali  Yuga - evidenced by things such as people of good will not feeling safe in speaking out in many places in the world (for that matter, I keep my lips shut in many places in Australia!). That's a really negative world viewpoint, one which I find disturbing - but then again, I'd be worried if I didn't find it disturbing, and that feeling of being disturbed is what motivates me to try and make the world a better place - and I'd also be disturbed if I had my head in the sand to the extent that I could not acknowledge the existence of imperfection ... let alone evil.

Going back to enduring/surviving, though, I prefer to aim for victory, but it just takes a little more time ... like maybe a century a two :) 


The sort of change I am aiming to accomplishing in the world is not likely to be seen in my own lifetime. That does not make my efforts any less worthwhile.

Something else that is worth reviewing at this point is what I've written on the term "Balanced Positive", which needs to be read before judging what I mean by "the Light".

Well, I'm still contemplating whether I can or should use "Bellatrix Lux", so I'll end this post here. Enjoy, and may your contemplations on the words in your life be useful, rewarding and downright enlightening :)

PS - the curve balls continue to create havoc, so posts will still be erratic for a while ... 

[1] BPF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy")

Love, light, hugs and blessings


Gnwmythr maybe aka Bellatrix Lux
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

My "blogiography" (list of all posts - currently not up to date) is here.  

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "pagans for peace" project, and here for my bindrune kit-bag.
  • One size does NOT fit all. 
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • The secret to being (financially) rich is not to have lots of money: it is to have an income above the poverty line, and then make whatever sacrifices are necessary in order to live within 90% of your means.  
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. 
  • The means shape the end.  
  • Sometimes you just can't argue with a biped that is armed with a sharp stick, a thick head and not too much in the way of grunts.
  • Spiritual love is far more than just an emotion - it is a concept, thoughts, actions and a way of living. 
  • One of the basics of serious spiritual / psychic work is that the greatest work is that which we do on ourself, which seems trivial to many. Our own Innermost Essence, which is our Higher Self / Soul / Spirit, has the power to do so much, and is actively participating in the creation and sustenance of this physical reality. Some mote of our conscious or unconscious knows that, which is why we seem inclined to be dismissive of Self Mastery - which is a bit like the child who sees an adult spending money to buy toys, and fails to recognise the daily grind of work which has led to having the money. 
  • My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi". However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films.
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

Your children are not your children. ... They come through you but ... they belong not to you ... for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow KAHLIL GIBRAN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.


True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW


Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change." SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY (US Attorney General 1966 Speech)

People I'm currently following or reading, or have considerable respect for, include:
Tags: discrimination, peace, power, sexism, words,  

First published: Manadagr, 29th July, 2013

Last edited: Monday, 29th July, 2013

Saturday 27 July 2013

Post No. 458 - Things are busy ...

My apologies for not posting much of late: life has, as the yanks would say, thrown me a few curve balls, and I am busy with other matters - including preparing a new workshop on chakras which I have to deliver in only a few weeks (gulp!).

In the meantime, here's a few reading links (owing to a lack of time, I've made no particular effort to arrange these in any articular order, and some are lacking introductory remarks - again, my apologies):

* The aim of activism is to create change: it is NOT for you to feel better by spouting platitudes or your feelings. If you are going to effect change, you have to be able to communicate in a way that is accessible to the person you wish to change. This is the essence of at least two other posts I'm working on ... 

By the way, I may not be able to publish links from my local newspaper, "The Age". They now claim to charge for access, which is OK by me in principle, although it may cause problems for those of you who look at more than a few links, but they've evidently made some changes which have made it impossible to get forward articles from their website. Unfortunately, no other free source I've found yet has as many thoughtful social insight articles ... I'll keep looking :)

[1] BPF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy")

[3] For more on this, see here. This and this might also be of interest.

Love, light, hugs and blessings



Gnwmythr
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

My "blogiography" (list of all posts - currently not up to date) is here.  

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "pagans for peace" project, and here for my bindrune kit-bag.
  • One size does NOT fit all. 
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • The secret to being (financially) rich is not to have lots of money: it is to have an income above the poverty line, and then make whatever sacrifices are necessary in order to live within 90% of your means.  
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. 
  • The means shape the end.  
  • Sometimes you just can't argue with a biped that is armed with a sharp stick, a thick head and not too much in the way of grunts.
  • Spiritual love is far more than just an emotion - it is a concept, thoughts, actions and a way of living. 
  • One of the basics of serious spiritual / psychic work is that the greatest work is that which we do on ourself, which seems trivial to many. Our own Innermost Essence, which is our Higher Self / Soul / Spirit, has the power to do so much, and is actively participating in the creation and sustenance of this physical reality. Some mote of our conscious or unconscious knows that, which is why we seem inclined to be dismissive of Self Mastery - which is a bit like the child who sees an adult spending money to buy toys, and fails to recognise the daily grind of work which has led to having the money. 
  • My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi". However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films.
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

Your children are not your children. ... They come through you but ... they belong not to you ... for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow KAHLIL GIBRAN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.


True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW


Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change." SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY (US Attorney General 1966 Speech)

People I'm currently following or reading, or have considerable respect for, include:
Tags: activism, discrimination, economy, history, reading, society, spirituality,  

First published: Laugardagr, 27th July, 2013

Last edited: Saturday, 27th July, 2013


Saturday 13 July 2013

Post No. 457 - A Laugardagr Post on Chakras

Laugardagr is old Norse meaning "washing day". Well, I did my washing yesterday, so today I can spend some time doing a blog post :)

Firstly, I've been working on a refinement of the energy work I do with my chakras and aura - it's basically a combination of psychic exercises and a psychic equivalent of those exercises in martial arts referred to as "forms". I'm planning on doing a more formal post on this, complete with diagrams, but thought I'd give a brief run down now:
  1. I begin my setting up protection, as always.
  2. Next, I flush my aura using a sequence of colours.

    These days I use pink-blue-green-gold-orange-violet-"pure brilliance". The sequence that is best for people generally varies from person to person, life stage to stage, and - sometimes - situation to situation. "Pure brilliance" is a colour that is so bright you don't know what colour it actually is - which is getting up to the level of the Ain Soph Aur and higher in the Qabbalah,

    This exercise is something I started by visualising breathing in the colour to my "centre" (actually the solar plexus chakra), and then as I breathe out "pushing" the colours out in a wave through my aura. Now, I often just draw on the fact that each chakra is connected to myself on other levels of reality, and just flush simultaneously from all 13 chakras that I use [3].

    It can be much more effective, by the way, to do this without sub-vocalising the word of the colour you are using. Sub-vocalising comes in the next step, but before then, after I have done the flushing, I do the same exercise, but more gently, with a view to filling my aura on all levels with needed energy - which comes from my Higher Selves and the world of Nature, not from any vampirism.

    This, in a sense, is psychic feeding - feeding my aura. We think about feeding our physical bodies, but rarely do we think of feeding our non-physical selves, and I think that is where some of the problems people have come from - lack of appropriate non-physical energy, which they - lacking in knowledge of this - try to substitute for with a whole range of rubbish.

    I use the do-ray-me-far-so-lah-ti-do sequence to do exactly the same (flush first, then "feed" myself by building up needed energy), but using (psychic) sound.

    I'd like to be able to do the same using the psychic equivalent of other senses, but haven't worked out the details of that yet. E.g., taste is based on five sets of receptors in the tongue - sweetness [2], sourness, saltiness, bitterness, and umami, or "pleasant savoury" (I was taught as a child that there were just four, until I looked that up to check). The idea is to flush the aura with those sensations. That's not so bad for the options around taste, but some odours can be unpleasant, so I wouldn't do the same with all of them - maybe, using here as a starting point, limit that to musk (e.g. some perfumes), pungent (e.g. vinegar), camphor (e.g. camphor box or cutting board), floral (e.g. roses) and peppermint. In the case of touch, maybe warm, cool, dry, moist, smooth, rough.

    All of this sounds complicated, and takes a lot of time to write and some time to read, but with practice it can be done in seconds.
  3. OK, next, I flush each specific chakra with the same sequences, and then feed the chakra as well - which helps to return some energy to my other-level-selves. I follow this up with a visualisation of a pyramid and sets of pentagrams in the colour I associate with that chakra - although I may use blue or gold for the pentagrams if I feel that is more appropriate. This is part of the bit I'm refining, and needs a sketch or two:
     - I find these days the pyramid works better for me if the diagonal is facing front-and-back (used to be better if it was the side: refer to the coming diagrams!);
     - I visualise, initially, four pentagrams (front, back and each side) on the physical height of the chakra point, then four at the "corners" in between, then repeat the whole set at a 45degree up and a 45 degree down angle, and then project the first set of 8 to the outside of my aura.

    Again, it takes longer to read than to do, after you've been practising.
  4. Now we get to the next refinement: I project energy from the chakra I have just worked on to each other chakra, and repeat the exercise at each other chakra. This means I am building the defences against negative and disharmonious influences up around each chakra to exist on multiple levels - or frequencies, if you find the term clearer.

    It probably sounds a bit scary to contemplate doing this exercise 13 x 13 = 169 times, but, again, with practice it does not take all that long for each exercise.
  5. I also extend the exercise to include minor chakras I use for channelled energy healing, major organs and specific problem areas -for instance, I have been having problems with one hip, to the extent that I was having problems walking (I borrowed one of my partner's walking sticks), until I did this exercise.
OK, I think I'll leave this post at that.


[1] BPF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy")

[3] For more on this, see here. This and this might also be of interest.

Love, light, hugs and blessings


Gnwmythr
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

My "blogiography" (list of all posts - currently not up to date) is here.  

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "pagans for peace" project, and here for my bindrune kit-bag.
  • One size does NOT fit all. 
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • The secret to being (financially) rich is not to have lots of money: it is to have an income above the poverty line, and then make whatever sacrifices are necessary in order to live within 90% of your means.  
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. 
  • The means shape the end.  
  • Sometimes you just can't argue with a biped that is armed with a sharp stick, a thick head and not too much in the way of grunts.
  • Spiritual love is far more than just an emotion - it is a concept, thoughts, actions and a way of living. 
  • One of the basics of serious spiritual / psychic work is that the greatest work is that which we do on ourself, which seems trivial to many. Our own Innermost Essence, which is our Higher Self / Soul / Spirit, has the power to do so much, and is actively participating in the creation and sustenance of this physical reality. Some mote of our conscious or unconscious knows that, which is why we seem inclined to be dismissive of Self Mastery - which is a bit like the child who sees an adult spending money to buy toys, and fails to recognise the daily grind of work which has led to having the money. 
  • My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi". However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films.
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

Your children are not your children. ... They come through you but ... they belong not to you ... for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow KAHLIL GIBRAN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.


True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW


Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change." SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY (US Attorney General 1966 Speech)

People I'm currently following or reading, or have considerable respect for, include:
Tags: chakras, Psychic attack, psychic development, psychic self defence, psychism, visualisation, 

First published: Laugardagr, 13th July, 2013

Last edited: Saturday, 13th July, 2013


Monday 1 July 2013

Post No. 456 - World Government - a way to acheive World Peace?

I've been re-reading Katherine Kerr's [2] Deverry [3] series - well, as much of them as I have :) I've now got to the part where one of the main characters, Nevyn, is seeking to bring peace to a land of many kingdoms and a civil war by creating "one, true king".

If only it were that easy!

Of course, Nevyn uses magick, called "dweomer" in this series of books to achieve this goal, and there are some interesting descriptions of magick, particularly the battles with evil - which I can relate to because they an be similar to what I do with uncooperatives (see my most recent prior post, for example), and some interesting comments by Katherine Kerr on her website (see here), but it was the thought of using governance to achieve peace that got me thinking.

Most of my work on this [4] has been focused on changing individuals - especially increasing people's awareness of the complexities of real life people and situations, and the need to be very active and activist in order to achieve and then maintain peace. However, if we did have a true and effective world government, that could be an effective way of acheiving world peace.

The key qualifiers here are "true" and "effective". The problems are that, at present:
  1. no government is likely to surrender significant parts of its sovereignty, other than to a regional organisation like the European Union or the African Union (see also here and here); and 
  2. too many governments exist on a premise that is inherently unjust - consider, for instance, the issues of the Kurdish people and indigenous peoples generally.
My opinion is that any such government would have to be bicameral - a lower hosue based on representative elections based on population, and an upper house based on one representative per sovereign nation and per ethnic or cultural group. This system works more effectively, in my opinion, than the US system (no Presidents!), but would have to be founded on key issues such as separation of powers (but on the Australian model, where the executive is formed by elected MPs) and secularism.

That last point may be an issue for some cultures that are strongly religious. Well, I'm not trying to establish the details of how a world government could be made effective, I'm just setting the scene for a point.

Continuing the scene setting, the concerns raised about a world government include that it is necessary to, as expressed by Canadian First World War veteran, medical practitioner and the first Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. George Brock Chisholm CC: "To achieve world government, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism, loyalty to family tradition, national patriotism, and religious dogmas"

In other words, people have to become, to use the Christian vernacular, saints.

I disagree.

What it is necessary is for all people (not just males :) ) to place a love of humanity and a common sense recognition of what is best above their own personal issues. As an example of that, wanting to have a better life for one's children may be enough to motivate people to break the cycle of violence that can perpetuate conflicts. That, or measures such as the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission - and such measures will, over time, as we learn from past efforts and mistakes, undoubtedly get better.

What can we do in the meantime?

Well, healing ourselves of the pain of violence and other situations in everyday life will help, but in the meantime, be prepared to act for the Greater Good with consideration of what is best for all humanity.

PS - have a look here, too ...

[1] BPF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy")

[3] I was a bit disturbed to find, when reading the second book, "Darkspell", what appeared to be homophobia. The concerns were stated here, and responded to be Katherine Ker - who subsequently rewrote the book, apparently, to make what she was trying to show clearer - here

[4] Previous posts can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Love, light, hugs and blessings


Gnwmythr
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

My "blogiography" (list of all posts - currently not up to date) is here.  

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "pagans for peace" project, and here for my bindrune kit-bag.
  • One size does NOT fit all. 
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • The secret to being (financially) rich is not to have lots of money: it is to have an income above the poverty line, and then make whatever sacrifices are necessary in order to live within 90% of your means.  
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. 
  • The means shape the end.  
  • Sometimes you just can't argue with a biped that is armed with a sharp stick, a thick head and not too much in the way of grunts.
  • Spiritual love is far more than just an emotion - it is a concept, thoughts, actions and a way of living. 
  • One of the basics of serious spiritual / psychic work is that the greatest work is that which we do on ourself, which seems trivial to many. Our own Innermost Essence, which is our Higher Self / Soul / Spirit, has the power to do so much, and is actively participating in the creation and sustenance of this physical reality. Some mote of our conscious or unconscious knows that, which is why we seem inclined to be dismissive of Self Mastery - which is a bit like the child who sees an adult spending money to buy toys, and fails to recognise the daily grind of work which has led to having the money. 
  • My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi". However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films.
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

Your children are not your children. ... They come through you but ... they belong not to you ... for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow KAHLIL GIBRAN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.


True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW


Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change." SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY (US Attorney General 1966 Speech)

People I'm currently following or reading, or have considerable respect for, include:
Tags: change, evolution, Katherine Kerr, peace, personal responsibility, society, 

First published: Manadagr, 1st July, 2013

Last edited: Monday, 1st July, 2013