For tonight's meditation
The situations in Thailand and Egypt are continuing to worsen, and little improvement is apparent in Syria. In addition to these and the publicised trouble spots, there are concerns around "a Tajik enclave in southern Kyrgyzstan" where one of a continuing series of "border skirmishes" has escalated to a diplomatic crisis, water shortages in Central Asia may lead to war, violence continues to be a problem affecting efforts at reconciliation in the Côte d’Ivoire and Mali continues to suffer unrest and internal tensions, parts of Somalia are struggling with an attempt at transitioning to democracy, urban violence also continues in Pakistan, and attacks continue against the Rohingya in Myanmar.Yelling at the Gods
I've just finished reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's [2] "Witchlight". It was a very good read, with some interesting comments about magick (including some comments that puts "Heartlight" into a bit of context), and there was one sentence in it that I particularly liked, where the lead character, Truth, recalls her father telling her that Truth's version of magick comprised yelling at the Gods until they cooperated out of self defence.It was a very humorous remark, and it brought to mind a saying about Ceremonialists (who date back to the Middle Ages, if I recall correctly), to the effect that they do magick by summoning and binding spirits (although I read a rebuttal of this a few months ago on Witches Voice, which claimed that such work was done - or was SUPPOSED to be done - in a spirit of love, and with concern for the spiritual development of those summoned and bound spirits). On the other hand, most people who do magick these days would possibly tend more towards making offerings to Deities, in a hope of 'enticing' (bribing? nagging like a stereotypical teenager?) them into doing work for the petitioner. This is probably actually closer to the old ways, from more than a millenia ago, as I understand them, which was a time when the question wouldn't be so much "what Deity is best for accomplishing X?" as "which Deity are you closest to?"
That is the view I am most inclined towards, but there is another way: do it yourself.
Use meditation and/or your connection with your Higher Self / Patron Deities / BPLF Guides to find where there are negative energies blocking the desired effect and clear them (i.e., dissolve and heal them with love), and then use the the love to generate positive feelings etc to incline the Universe towards what it is you seek to have happen - all, of course, subject to others free will and whatever Highest Spiritual Good dictates. This approach, which is effectively what I have been working on since I was a teenager, increases the amount of positive energy in the world and reduces the amount of negative, but is slower than either of the two other approaches - although, perhaps, longer lasting ...
Distractions
Now, apparently 20% of people in the USA are not connected to the Internet (according to a LinkedIn article - I apologise for not having a public link: https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140130202806-2906843-1-in-5-americans-don-t-use-the-internet?trk=nus-cha-roll-art-title). The article includes the following:"30% of U.S. households lack Internet access. When asked why, 48% reported that they have no need or interest; 28% said it’s too expensive; and 13% said they don’t have a computer or that they have an inadequate computer. Many people without Internet access at home are undeterred: they go to public libraries, someone else’s house, school, work, Internet cafes and restaurants with WiFi, or community centers. But according to a study of public libraries, up to a third of libraries say they lack adequate Internet connections to meet demand. More report that they cannot provide the access their patrons truly need."The downside of this is, according to the article:
1. Jobs: Unconnected Americans can’t find and apply for jobs online.
2. Housing: Unconnected Americans can’t do research and learn about available housing in their communities online.
3. Government Services: Unconnected Americans can’t access government services online.
4. Health: Unconnected Americans can’t research and manage their health online or sign up for insurance on public health insurance exchanges.
5. Education: Unconnected Americans can't learn new things online that can help them save money, get work or earn degrees and certifications.
Obviously this is biased towards the USA, but the downsides do exist for other people in the world as well - along with the fact that Internet provides the only form of communication for some people.
On the other hand, the upside of it is less consumption of time by meaningless trivia. I am on LinkedIn for work (i.e., my day job) reasons, but I have had some experience of the time that social media can consume (I was - briefly - on a couple of the pre-Facebook options), and I have had people I know try to tell me that such-and-such game on Facebook or some other social media site is great ... sorry, it isn't 'great' for me: I have plenty to do with my time - in fact, I have more to do than I have time for, and I find being able to get away from being on-line, or entertained, a very necessary step for healing and growth.
Now, turning to something that has created a need for healing.
Boundaries
The main reason I stopped doing workshops in my own home, back in the 80s and early 90s, was the gross disrespect shown to members of my household by some attendees. Specifically, someone who hit - lightly - my cat because he wanted to sit where the cat was and wanted her to move, someone who, when I objected, threatened to call the police and have me charged with being a fraud. Now, I don't take attempts at blackmail, and I don't accept ANY person trying to impose their way of living on me - whether that is someone who fails to understand the rules of my house around respect for non-human life, or someone who fails to respect those laws of the land which are just and good, as was the case of the person who threatened me.I've been reminded of this again, but, before I get into that, one of the many reasons I greatly admire Red Catherine is that she insists that all people who come into her space respect her four legged companions as being equally as worthy as any human - it's on signs on her door, if I recall correctly, and is part of the talk she gives to people coming in to her space. Those signs and that talk are things I am currently considering - and that leads me back to yesterday.
In brief, I had someone insist on moving a heavy pot plant so that furniture we were donating could be brought out the front. Now, the person concerned:
(1) literally physically walked away when I said the pot was too heavy to move (and ignored the fact that I had already move a pot);
(2) pushed the trunk of the tree over when we were manoeuvring the lounge past it, thereby risking destroying the tree - which would have constituted destruction of personal property, and would have led to me pressing charges against this particular person, who probably has not had that thought even cross his mind;
(3) ignored the fact that I have done quite a bit of furniture moving in my life time;
(4) seemed to be oblivious to the fact that other options exist in terms of how we moved the furniture - i.e., if it didn't fit out that way, we could have taken it at least two other ways.
Now, it was a hot day, the person concerned had been working in uncomfortable conditions earlier that day, was experiencing several personally distressing situations, and had taken on this task to help some young people who should really have done all this themselves, and my mood wasn't helped by having the removalist who the person had organised to come along making a comment about "bloody women" (which is something I have lodged a complaint about), but, nevertheless, this patronising, presumptuous behaviour I have described is COMPLETELY unacceptable.
The incident reminded me of those people who think they have privileges despite being just visitors, which is something I have experienced a few times - yesterday, the incident in the 80s, and quite a few other times I'm not going to bother trying to recount. The FACT is that such an attitude is a complete breach of the principles of hospitality - it is a breach of the trust extended to allow someone on to a property in the first place.
You see, the thing about hospitality is that it is a two way street: yes, the host should be hospitable, but that doesn't mean the 'guest' can get away with murder, or force the host to make major changes to her/his/hir lifestyle to accommodate someone who should be remembering the Chinese saying "after three days, fish and visitors begin to stink".
In the incident in the 80s, the person assumed that they were more important than a cat which was a member of the household. In yesterday's incident, the person concerned assumed that an inanimate piece of furniture was more valuable than a living creature - i.e., the tree concerned.
I disagree - vehemently, and on both counts.
Now, I could go into all sorts of arguments about this (and I have in the past, with many, many people who were so stupid they thought I simply didn't understand 'how things are supposed to be' rather than the fact that I actually had a world view that was different to theirs), but the simple fact is that, yesterday, my property - and a living creature, to boot - was threatened by someone who did not live here. I don't have to justify my world view in my home to someone who has come in to my home - and that is something that the patronising, presumptuous, arrogant men and women of this world have to learn - in all the homes they visit, not just mine!
In the mean time, I will do clearing to try and remove the blocks that limit the thinking of such people, and strengthen the links between those people and their Higher Selves / BPLF Guides / Patron Deities, to try and get them to see the light.
I should also point out that this problem is, in principle, the exact same problem as the person who kills another for having a different religion, but scaled down. The problem is still the same, just as bigotry crops up in many everyday situations where people do things like judge another on the basis of appearance, etc.
So, I am going to add the following to my signature block:
Being accustomed to interacting via certain rules makes those rules neither right nor universal.
[1] BPLF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Light 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"; ... aka Bellatrix Lux? Morinehtar? Would-be drýicgan ... )
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 join me at 9 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate for peace), and here for my bindrune kit-bag. I also strongly recommend learning how to flame, ground and shield, do alternate nostril breathing, work with colour - and see also here, and be flexible.
I am a Walker upon the Path of Balanced Positivity, seeking Spiritual Maturity.
- One size does NOT fit all.
- Don't be mediocre - seek to excel.
- Gnwmythr's Stropping Strap: Occam's Razor only works if the simplest solution is actually recognised as being the simplest, rather than the one that best fits one's bigotries being labelled 'simplest'.
- May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
- Ban the dream interpretation industry!
- A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
- Housework is for ensuring a home is comfortable to live in, not competing to outdo or belittle others.
- Being accustomed to interacting via certain rules makes those rules neither right nor universal.
- Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master.
- Expertise at intimacy and emotional happiness is generally not the same thing as spiritual growth.
- "Following the crowd" is not "going with the flow".
- Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and/or "Everyone knows ... " and/or "they can ..." 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. Indolence vs. perspicacity, and expediency vs. honour.
- The means shape the end.
- As words can kill, the right to freedom of speech comes with a DUTY to be as well-informed, objective and balanced as you can be.
- My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi", although I've recently come across "Invictus" and might put that one in to that category. 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.
- All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ...
Do not pray for easy
lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY (who was quoting 19th
century Episcopal Bishop Phillips Brooks)
We make our decisions. And then our decisions turn around and make us. F.W. BOREHAM
Females, get over 'cute'. Get competent. Get trained. Get capable. Get over 'cute'. And those of you who are called Patty and Debby and Suzy, get over that.
Because we use those names to infantalise females – we keep females in
their 'little girl' state by the names we use for them. Get over it. If
you want to be taken seriously, get serious. JANE ELLIOTT
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." EINSTEIN
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." EINSTEIN
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)
Too
much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and
community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross
national product ... if we should judge America by that -- counts air
pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our
highways of carnage. ... Yet the gross national product does not allow
for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the
joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the
strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the
integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our
courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor
our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except
that which makes life worthwhile." ROBERT F. KENNEDY 1968
Tags: arrogance, attitudes, boundaries, breach of trust, deities, energy work, interactions, lifestyles, magick, peace,
First published: Sunnudagr, 2nd February, 2014
Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Sunday, 2nd February, 2014
