Still, the journey of a thousand miles begins with single step, and I've got a few long term projects, including writing, teaching and changing the world :)
Oh, on writing, I've been working at summarising my use of runes into a spreadsheet, and here's some of the initial results:
On that, one of the sets of candles I light regularly is for respectful political debate in Australia. It's a bit problem in a lot of places, but this is where I live, so this is where I have greatest chance of success.
Why hasn't it worked?
Well, apart from lack of time, basically, because I have several million misogynists in Australia who are giving vent to their feelings of insecurity (i.e., giving vent to their sexism - and there are some women in that group) and thereby actively opposing what I am seeking to do. Just last week I had an argument with someone at work who was, through his incompetence at dealing with human things like emotions, trying to argue that one person's word against another meant that rapists could not be found guilty. I've been actively campaigning for some awareness training around diversity at work for a few years now, and this was yet another example of where it is needed. It's also needed at the local supermarket that I used to go to, but after multiple complaints that have been treated glibly, and a failure for them to acknowledge that their SYSTEMS need to be changed, I now shop elsewhere (I was too exhausted to take this to formal action, although I did discuss the matter with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission). At least in the case of the company I work for, they're implementing the training this week (thereby catching up with other companies I've worked for that have been doing such for years).
The force of millions of untrained minds is the way of things in a lot of cases - public sentiment creates a vast psychic force, and in a lot of cases, that force is baleful. Former PM John Howard's deliberate manipulation and increase of community fear around refuges is one of the clearest, most evil examples of that which I can think of, but I see it also every time I see people in the street baying for the blood of a criminal. I can understand and empathise with them quite often, ESPECIALLY when the crimes have been committed against children, but such attitudes:
(a) fail to recognise that the hate being expressed against the criminal is often largely about their own inner fears;
(b) fail to recognise that EVERYONE has good AND bad within them, and often it is just a case of how provocation is required before the "bad" comes out (in other words, everyone - well, almost everyone: there are a FEW, very few, less than a double handful, of advanced souls in the world who have moved beyond this particular flaw - is capable of murder);
(c) fail to recognise that reincarnation is real, and therefore everyone goes through the whole range of human experience in order to learn, and may well have committed the same or similar crime in a recent life (in fact, it is often the case that such is uncomfortably close from the perspective of the person's Higher Self / Soul / Spirit, and the reaction is partly denial over their own history).
These sorts of reasons are why I am deliberately - and openly working on changing the Group Mind of humanity, and particular subsets of people. It is also one of the reasons that my favourite action movie of all time is Gandhi [2]. Action movie? Yes - I'll explain, but first, in the context of the current point, this film is about the ability that one person, Mohandas K. Gandhi, had to inspire and change the Group Mind of an entire subcontinent - the place that is now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
I don't have the same ability, but I am using what I do have, as best I can.
On that, it is a shame that so few recognise that our own Innermost Essence, which is our Higher Self / Soul / Spirit, has the power to do so much. Actually, perhaps we do ... One of the basics of serious spiritual / psychic work is that the greatest work is that which we do on ourself - the changes and improvements we make, our quest to be all that we can be, and so forth. To many people, that seems almost trivial, in the face of the challenges that exist in this world, and yet it is only by self mastery that we are able to access the powers of our Higher Self / Soul / Spirit, which is actively participating in the creation and sustenance of this physical reality, and thus become able to accomplish that which seems miraculous. I suspect that we are aware, in some mote of our unconscious, of what it is our Higher Self / Soul / Spirit is capable of and IS doing, and that is why we seem inclined to consider Self Mastery to trivial - 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.
If I can put that last paragraph into a natty little sentence, I'm going to add it to my signature block :)
(Just have :) )
Now, why is Gandhi an action movie?
OK, the associations I and many others have of action movies is that they have lots of things happening, and there is lots of violence. Well, there is a MASSIVE amount happening in the Gandhi movie, but it is stuff about the development of Gandhi (he changes quite a bit through the film) and of those living on the subcontinent generally - including at least some of the occupying. In terms of violence, whilst it is not glorified as it is in many action movies, there is a lot of violence in the film. Millions died during the events which occurred over the half century or so that is portrayed in this film. (The partition of India "displaced up to 12.5 million people with estimates of loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to a million "most estimates of the numbers of people who crossed the boundaries between India and Pakistan in 1947 range between 10 and 12 million" - from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_India. [2] )
The difference between the action movie Gandhi and other action movies, is that Gandhi portrays the violence more realistically (not more graphically), in that it show the human effects of that violence.
On that, I find many dramas appallingly and distressingly violent films - the violence is emotional, but it is violence nevertheless, and a violence that many people have to live through in their everyday lives. I find it particularly frustrating that many of the dramas I've seen fail to resolve issues properly in the film, and leave one focused on injustice, and can lead to a view that "it never turns out alright - something ALWAYS goes wrong".
I loathe many dramas almost as much as I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and for similar reasons.
I guess not too many movie people believe in spiritual evolution - or maybe, if they do, the weight of public opinion (i.e., the money that people will spend on seeing movies, which is largely about seeing something that creates an illusion of power, as opposed to that which creates the reality of Spiritual Power) stops them doing what they would like to ...
None of which should be taken as being supportive of the typical religious film, most of which are either Christian, or sensationalist.
On that, I recently read a post on the ABC's Religion and Ethics page which suggested that it was Christianity which acted to sanctify life, and that the loss of Christianity and, by implication, resurgence of paganism, which had led to wars in recent times.
Bollocks.
Ever hear of the Crusades?
What about the Inquisition - which persists this very day as the euphemistically titled Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the actions of which are now curtailed by law.
No, if you want to look at what has led to the increase regard for the sanctity of life (and that is the case in Western societies, where death rates from violence are about 50 times lower than they were in the Middle Ages and Dark Ages [sorry - I've lost the link to that article over the years since I first read it]), then look at things like the development of our legal systems over the last millennia, including the development of police forces. Look at the debates around abolition of the death penalty, which includes one UK politician (I think - might have been a judge) pointing out, a bit over a century or so ago (I think), that, if you want to teach people to have respect for life, the Government has to set the scene by demonstrating respect for life - and that means no death penalty.
Look also at scientific and philosophical revolutions in the last half millennia - in fact, generally look at the influences of Tyr (especially on social justice systems), P’tah (particularly on science), Cerridwen (on social welfare) and other Goddesses and Gods whose hands I can see at work here.
Christianity led to a revolutionary respect for the sanctity of life and love of peace?
I say again, bollocks.
Part of the problem here is around labels - names, if you will. The original message of love that Christ taught is indeed admirable, noble and spiritually worthy. The problem is the neo-Christian churches which grew up around and warped Christ's message - which is something I've written about elsewhere. As Gandhi is reported to have said "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." I can relate to that - it is a good part of the reason I started exploring non-conventional spiritual pathways as a child.
On the issue of names or labels, I have to say I find them generally clumsy. I tend to think of a person's energy signature or imprint, more so than the label, and it sometimes takes an effort of will to bring myself back into focus on social conventions and remember to use the clumsy and imperfect thing that we call "names". I suspect that is one of the reasons my mediumship does not extend to channelling superficial physical world names. (Must see if I can channel spirit names, perhaps ... )
OK, that's enough rambling for now. I have more I wish to write about, but this post has become long enough as it is :)
[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
(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.
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
People I'm currently following or reading, or have considerable respect for, include:
- Red Catherine, a Romani woman living on Artemis, in South Australia;
- T. Thorn Coyle;
- The Wild Hunt;
- Under the Ancient Oaks; and
- the Order of Scathach.
Tags: about me, attitudes, Christianity, Gandhi, levels, life lessons, nature of reality, paths, perspective, power, runes, society, spirituality,
First published: Fryrsdagr, 28th June, 2013
Last edited: Friday, 28th June, 2013
