Post No. 1,016 – Reviews, Reading and This Week

I thought I’d do a post on some of the reading I’m currently doing – or have recently done, and a few other matters that cropped up this week (for various reasons).

I’ll begin with a fascinating book on the history of chakras: “Rainbow Body: A History of the Western Chakra System from Blavatsky to Brennan”, by Kurt Leland (pub. Ibis Press, Forth Worth [USA], 2016, ISBN 978-0-89254-219-2; available on Amazon). As the title states, this book covers the history of the chakra system in “the West”, but with suitable acknowledgement of Asian (“Eastern”) influences.

I’m still reading this comprehensive tome, nut it is pleasing to see the authors I regard highly getting due acknowledgement in this book – people like Leadbetter and Ouseley, along with the authors commonly attributed with having an influence. It is also pleasing to see the confusions and controversies dealt with.

Furthermore, having learned to review and delve into books very quickly at uni and since (because of the information overload that gores with staying up to date), I have read the final two chapters, and the last one is, to me, one of the most interesting, as it deals with where we are heading. Some of this overlaps what I teach on chakras, but the idea that chakras exist and need to be activated on each level of our being is a slightly different – and, in many ways, perhaps better – view, development of the sheaths on each level into full bodies (which addresses some of the inadequacies of teachings about development of our being on others that I consider Theosophy has, as well as giving useful insight into astral and etheric travel problems), and “free movement of the star of consciousness” - which is akin to my use of Castenada’s teaching of the assemblage point.

Overall, an excellent book – one that I recommend people buy and read (even if only for the end chapters :) ), and one that has given me better development exercises and that will guide a revamp of my chakra workshop.

I disagree with a few aspects –such as the use of the term “white” when that should be “clear light” or “brilliance”, but not enough to have major problems with the book.

One other thought on this: critics have made much over the apparent change in numbers of chakras and other evolutions in our understanding as reasons to discount acceptance of the validity of these teachings, but … why hasn’t that approach been applied to our human issues that we gradually increase our understanding of, such as the circulation of blood, biochemistry and microbiological understanding, the mind, and so forth?

On the other hand, I’m finding Thomas L. Friedman’s “Thank You for Being Late” (pub. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2016; ISBN 978-0-374-27353-8; available on Amazon) somewhat tedious. The author is making his case about accelerating rates of change in various fields of life with great thoroughness, but I’m simply not that interested in the minutiae of how technological breakthroughs and advances have been made.

Some of the content I’ve read so far has undeniably been good, however, such as the Dov Seidman quote (“When you press the pause button on a machine, it stops. But when you press the pause button on a human beings they start”) and the very useful concept of viewing economies from the point of view of how they manage “flows” rather than as stock markets, I’m curious about what is going to be written about (implacable) Nature, and I suspect I am going to appreciate the coming suggestions about humanness (yes, I’ve scanned ahead), but the journey to get there is harder work than I consider is merited.

I’ll possibly write more on this book when I finish working through it.

I’m also finding Anthony Lester’s “Five Ideas to Fight For: How Our Freedom is Under Threat and Why It Matters” (pub. Oneworld, London, 2016, ISBN 978-1-78084-761-3; available on Amazon) somewhat tedious, despite the five topics being excellent ones, well worth considering and well considered in this book, but this is more because the author is emphasising his role in fighting for these rights.

On the other hand, John Rawls’ “A Theory of Justice” (my copy pub. Harvard University press, 1999, ISBN 0-674-00078-1; available on Amazon, originally published 1971), although also long and slow and tedious (it is, after all, a University textbook :) ), is more engaging – or at least the section I jumped ahead to is :) .

The last three are being read as a result of my interest in human rights (specifically, actions taken in the mundane world – rights apply in all levels of existence [1] ), and my private study of political science; going back to less mundane matters, I am also still reading – and enjoying - Victor and Wendy Zammit’s excellent – and logical - book “A Lawyer Presents the Evidence for the Afterlife” (pub. White Crow Books, Guildford [UK], 2013, ISBN 978-1-908733-22-1; available on Amazon) , and will write a review on that when I do finish it, but I want that to be a comprehensive review, so it may be some time.

Now I’ll move on to some of the random contemplations from this week.

I’ve been doing more reading on LinkedIn – which is a good way to stay up to date with the latest management fad (and many of them are just that – and often recycled every few years). I’ve been noticing for some time how the latest “buzz words”, to borrow a phrase from “our American cousins”, are things like “disruption”, and these are all built around computer technology. I have to comment, therefore, that computers and people in information technology (IT) are, for the most part, no longer the rebels they think they are: they have become mainstream, everyday and mundane. Being a rebel these days is not having a so-called “smart” phone.

Furthermore, a lot of these terms are actively used as a put down of people who aren’t like – particularly those who aren’t liked by the IT/computer technology elites – and they have formed an elite, much as the nobles were an elite in the Middle Ages (note that not all nobles were rich back then, but they were still part of the social elite: I know quite a few tech-oriented people who are very poor, and yet they are part of an evolving elite).

So far, those people are mostly failing in how they handle the power they have as a result of being in that elite – badly.

I’ve also been thinking – partly as a result of reading Mr Friedman’s book –about the aspect of developing technology being possibly viewed as an attack on our humanity. The IT being actively developed by society’s new elite is destroying jobs and creating massive amounts of fear, but that is abuse / misuse / unthinking use of power, rather than an attack on our humanness.

Some social media alienates people from each other, but it also gives other people an opportunity they didn’t have to connect – and a lot of IT applications are about aspects of being human, such as our inherent desire for an easier way to do things. That isn’t always good, but it is human.

There are changes happening, however, that are profound – almost as profound as the invention of the printing press, the linked development of agriculture and civilisation, and the domestication of fire.

Almost, but not quite.

I would rate the changes happening now as greater than the changes that happened during the industrial revolution, even thought that has put the planet’s ecosystems at risk, but less profound than the three changes I mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

The invention of civilisation (or “the domestication of humans”, as I somewhat irreverently refer to it from time to time :) ) resulted in specialisation of work, time to move beyond struggling to survive, and thus thinking. The industrial revolution resulted in more specialisation of work, the (human connections, cross-fertilisation of ideas, etc) and disadvantages (poverty, pollution, more crime, etc) of larger cities.

The IT revolution is going to result in more specialisation of work, but also – as it is going now – an underclass of underemployed people, the Morlocks in HG Wells’ novel “The Time Machine”. I also consider it unlikely to lead to any greater thinking – there will be a lot more detailed assessment of bits and pieces, but nothing “big”.

We need, for the sake of the quality of our humanness, to find a balance between diving onto the IT bandwagon, and being compassionate, caring and inclusive.

Having a computer does not absolve one of karma, or the obligation to grow and develop as a human being.

Finally, some reading links:

• from the ever excellent John Beckett:
   - “The Authority of the Gods”;
   - a respectful festival of jealousy (I’m jealous of the lot of ‘em – which you will understand when you read the linked posts :) );
   - a healthy perspective on Nature and the Deities;
   - a  thoughtful critique of being rooted vs. being on the move (with a few other interesting perspectives :) );
     on being authentic;
   - open vs. occult in the context of simpler vs. deeper;
• lists of attributes can limit our depth of understanding and connection with the Deities (and lots of other things in life);
• some thoughts on what I would term “nonBPM” use of magick – or, to put that more accessibly, using magick to harm or hinder others. Now, I am all for using magick in a BPM way, and I am up for BPM use of magick in a psychic or spiritual war (as often accompanies the physical conflicts in this world), but the biggest problem I have with what this article – and its follow up – are considering is that it is too often vengeful, and thus ultimately harmful to the person using the magick, as well as its victim (and I use that word deliberately). Such actions can be needed and justified when they are in the context of stopping someone who is harming others – as happens in every clearing of an uncooperative – and I do that regularly, as I posted about recently. However, before you do anything like, you need to be absolutely sure (a) there is nothing personal about this (talk to someone who can judge that – and if you aren’t prepared to do that, I would suspect there is a strong personal element to it), and (b) that is done as dispassionately and objectively and carefully as possible  as if you were a police officer subject to the rule of law and thus unable to use excessive force, etc (and I know that is not always observed, and does not exist in all nations). A few other thoughts I would add to this debate:
    - the harder, judgemental types of magick were often practised in situations where survival was at risk, which is not the case today;
    - religions such as neochristianity practice their equivalents of hexing, and that needs to be acknowledged and debated as well. Examples of that would be the prayer wars, putting non-christian people on lists for special attention, religious right-to-lifers, sexism and misogyny, etc – but I’m not including the terrible history of child abuse here (and on that, in addition to neochristian abusers, here is an update on a Pagan abuser); and
    - there is an issue of it being unfair that those in a discriminated against group have to try harder and be “nicer” to get acceptance (it applies to women, refugees, etc as well), but being politically naïve about that is not necessarily the best approach – and I have seen a lot of political naiveté on this topic recently. On this aspect, the follow up article has a lot of good comments about the issue of safety (although I disagree that “being truthful” initially wouldn’t have made us less safe now: the author is talking about practices that not all Pagans accept, just as not all neochristians accept physical self-flagellation [some do], and, incidentally, I consider Wicca to be a valid path and not just a put down). Of course, there is also the issue that to be restrained can be both incredibly difficult and damaging to human beings … ;
• relevant to the previous point, a post on the problem of “silliness”;
• spiritual (and psychic) composting;
• personal growth as a result of becoming a witch;
• some excellent advice in “Night Has Fallen, Light Your Torches”;
• the need to be political here, here, here, and here;
• an interesting, nuanced perspective on history – not trying to recreate it, and not idolising it;
• religious approaches to magick (some very good and/or interesting points);
• a PhD thesis “The Cultic Life of Trees: What Trees Say About People in the Prehistoric Aegean, Levant, Egypt and Cyprus” has been published – and I hope to read it one day :) ;
• PAN has a new website (looks good);
• an article on parenting, kids, rituals and standards of behaviour;
• Jungian perspectives on the election of the new US President (I liked the comment about “Active Imagination”, and might explore that further … );
• from the Correllian YouTube channel:
    - a nuanced explanation of the reasons why the First Priest and Paramount High Priest of the Correllian Tradition chose not to be part of the attempted binding spell on the current US President (including that these views come from a neochristian movement which has been working towards these goals since the late 1960s, and a questioning of efficacy) … and the (malicious? stupid?) misuse of that vlog / images;
  - a nuanced view on “reflecting harm” back to others, and the risks (I would also suggest reading the situation where Dresden uses this type of spell in “Proven Guilty”);
  - commentary on the rubbish notion that chakras are things to be removed, with a comment that it may be an outgrowth of a neochristian idea;
  - electric candles and energetic constructs;
  - incarnational diversity;
  - the similarities and differences between corporate and traditional totems;
• from the Zen Habits blog (which I am WAAAY behind on reading):
  - the antidote to self-harshness and resentment (I particularly liked the reference to a “Love Muscle” – I will have to see if I can track that down on that blog);
  - three practices for the overwhelmed, stressed and anxious (sadly, I tend to follow the Harry Dresden approach to worry: it’s never solved anything before, but there’s always a first time :) [joke, Joyce]);
  - how to build the “change muscle”.

Notes

1.       I’m aware that there are also responsibilities, but I have too many negative associations with bigots (yes, I’m p****d off with them) trying to use “responsibilities” as a “tough love” type justification for not respecting rights.

I apologise for publishing these posts twice, but Blogger keeps changing my formatting. I can either publish it and then correct it, or save and close the post and correct it when I reopen it, but that leaves an extra copy in my "drafts" folder ...

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr  
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear") 
Pagan Energy Worker, Wéofodthegn, Bellatrix Lux, Venatrix Maga, would-be Drýicgan. 

I am revamping my former website, and getting at least one other underway.

My "blogiography" (list of all posts and guide as to how to best use this site) is here, and my glossary/index 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 for a few minutes at some time between 8 and 11 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate-clear 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. 

May the best in me, my Higher Self,
and those of the Clear Light who assist me,
help me to keep myself grounded, centred and shielded,
to be Balanced and a Fulcrum of Balance,
a centre of Balanced Positivity and Spiritual Maturity,
with my aura continuously cleansed, cleared and closed,
repelling all negative or unwanted energies,
whilst allowing positive, balancing and healing energies in and through.

The real dividing line is not between Christianity and Islam, Sunni and Shia, East and West. It is between people who believe in coexistence, and those who don’t.

Tom Fletcher, Former UK Ambassador to Lebanon

• All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ...

Tags: abuse of power, astral travel, change, chakra, discrimination, elites, etheric travel, growth, human rights, morality, politics, power, society, survival after death, technology,  

First published: Manadagr, 17^th April, 2017

Last edited (excluding fixing typo's, Blogger's change of my formatting and other minor matters): Monday, 17^th April, 2017

Post No 995 - Thoughts

Well, I'm back from the work trip (see here for some photos I took from some rare time off on such trips - they are NEVER junkets in my industry: they are always extremely exhausting). On the trip I was able to do some reading, as I was recently able to afford to buy some books for the first time in a few years:

• I started reading Victor Zammit's book "A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife", and found it refreshing and inspiring;
• I read my first Tony Hillerman novel, and found it fascinating  not only as a good detective novel, but for the examples of Navajo culture.

I also did some reading of an older - in the sense that I have owned it for a few decades - book: J. H. Brennan's book "Astral Doorways", which has been a good reminder of some astral - as opposed to etheric - travel techniques (I am looking forward to having the opportunity to develop my ability to do etheric travel). That led to some more intense lucid dreaming, which, combined with some meditation has led me to:

• being reminded how similar life in Western nations with xenophobic politicians such as the current US politician and some Australian and other politicians is to 1930s Germany - many of the passionate opponents of such xenophobes are passionate to the point of being inarticulate because they remember the devastation that such hate led to from past lives of theirs; 
• seeing quite clearly that some of the key energy blockages in society are associated with people who are afraid of material loss - afraid of being the same as others, rather than their desired material excess (as these feelings are relative, most of those people are actually middle or working class. Incidentally, the desire to have much more than others was seen by the Navajo as a sign of illness, according to the Hillerman novel I read); and 
• that for the best part of a century, Western nations have had the problem of air pollution with lead in car petrol - which causes intellectual inhibition and violence.

Last point: an interesting article by John Beckett: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2017/02/happens-leave-magical-portal-open.html

Any way, time to get ready for work.

I apologise for publishing these posts twice, but Blogger keeps changing my formatting. I can either publish it and then correct it, or save and close the post and correct it when I reopen it, but that leaves an extra copy in my "drafts" folder ...

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr, Pagan Energy Worker, Wéofodthegn

I am revamping my former website, and getting at least one other underway (pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix Lux … aka Morinehtar … would-be drýicgan or maga ... )

My "blogiography" (list of all posts and guide as to how to best use this site) is here, and my glossary/index is here. The reasons for my caution when using Wikipedia are 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 for a few minutes at some time between 8 and 11 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate-clear 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. 

May the best in me, my Higher Self,
and those of the Clear Light who assist me,
help me to keep myself grounded, centred and shielded,
to be Balanced and a Fulcrum of Balance,
a centre of Balanced Positivity and Spiritual Maturity,
with my aura continuously cleansed, cleared and closed,
repelling all negative or unwanted energies,
whilst allowing positive, balancing and healing energies in and through.

The real dividing line is not between Christianity and Islam, Sunni and Shia, East and West. It is between people who believe in coexistence, and those who don’t.

Tom Fletcher, Former UK Ambassador to Lebanon

• All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ...

Tags: about me, air pollution, astral travel, etheric travel, fear, hate, lead. mental ill health, pollution, society,

First published: Tysdagr, 28^th February, 2017

Last edited (excluding fixing typo's, Blogger's change of my formatting and other minor matters): Tuesday, 28^th February, 2017

Post No. 808 - Deverry Divergences

I’ve decided, for the sake of my ultimate audience (i.e., me, in a future life), to do a list of divergences with the descriptions of magick (aka “dweomer”) and ritual in Katharine Kerr’s magnificent Deverry series.

I like the descriptions of magick, which I can relate to from my experience of the Western Mystical Tradition (mainly Hermeticism, particularly as it came through to Wicca), but Ms Kerr states that she got her material from British Revival Rosicrucianism (which I understand derived its material from Hermeticism), and she is well-informed enough to credit authors such as Frances Yates (who I’ve tried to read, but found her biography of Giordano Bruno an extremely heavy academic work so I went back to my usual sources). In any case, she is clearly well informed – authoritatively so, in fact – and accurate in her portrayal of a particular style of magick, a style which – with some modifications she talks of - is appropriate for the premise of her series, although different to my work (which is part of the basis of my comments). In fact, the extent that I agree with what she has described is such that it shorter and easier to write about what I disagree with, rather than trying to detail what I agree with (on the other hand, I am contemplating doing something similar for Jim Butcher’s Dresden series, but will probably do that the other way round: it will be shorter to write about what I agree). I particularly agree with concepts such as “folding light upon itself to create physical”, and gathering light / energy before doing an energetic working – which is like astral feeding, or a nonphysical version of physical deep breaths.

The other, even more compelling, attraction for me is the use of dweomer to bring peace. It’s a fictional story, and the magick in it is not the way I work, but I find that aspect of the series inspiring and rejuvenating whenever I need a pick-me-up for my Psychic Weather Reports and other work.

So, here goes – and this will take some time to write, as I’ll be re-reading the entire 15 book series again, and I keep getting distracted by the writing and forget to stay detached, so I’ll just have to keep re-reading until I get this article done correctly … :)

Incidentally, in doing this article, as with so much that I do, I am keeping in mind my ultimate audience: me, in future incarnations.

Act I (Deverry): Book One - Daggerspell (overall sequence – book No. 1)
(my copy Pub. HarperCollins Voyager, pub. 1996, ISBN 0 00 648224 4)

• my first comment here is actually a point of very strong agreement: that the ONLY valid reason to seek metaphysical knowledge / strength / “power” is in order to serve (p. 110 of my copy; I also agree with the pre-life descriptions in the prologue – and the importance of choices being made freely). Sadly, I also find the description of people avoiding magick – the path of dweomer in the books – to be very real, having made that mistake myself earlier in life, and having now seen many other people also make that mistake – some of whom think they haven’t, because of a notional involvement);
• the extent of responsibility that Prince Galrion / Nevyn (no apologies for you having to read the books to understand some of this review: you can always borrow them from a library) takes on for the events in Deverry Year 643 is, in my opinion, excessive and, in fact, arrogant:
    - his father, King Adoryc has responsibility for being so small minded – well, bigoted - about magick (“dweomer”) and non-traditional paths for males that he drove his son into sneaking around;
   - Gerraent let his unhealthy lust rule his mind (or, as they would have put it, his “honour”);
   - and   Brangwen made some bad choices – and allowed her emotions to take her into insanity, when she fled taking responsibility by committing suicide (that comment applies ONLY to the context of this FICTIONAL story – real life suicides are a complex situation where many people have responsibility and also deserve compassion, generally);
  (some of this comes out later – not just in this book, but others – the problem of Nevyn’s residual princely arrogance);
• the secrecy around reincarnation (which is, incidentally, different to the Buddhist concept of rebirth) is not justified, as things are these days in most of the Western world on planet Earth. There can, however, be reasons for caution, such as those cretins who use reincarnation and a twisted version of karma as an excuse to avoid taking action to help others, but the test of waiting for someone to ask does not, in my experience, get applied to the reincarnation - and there are a swag of books about the topic, these days. Of course, talking about such matters in the depths of the Middle Ages, which is effectively when these books are set, would be a very different matter, as shown extremely powerfully in Diana Gabaldon’s “gritty” Outlander series of books. It does, though, to some other topics, where people have to prove their moral strength, worth and trustworthiness before gaining access. Historically, Julius Caesar wrote about the Druids teaching reincarnation, but that could well have changed in the centuries since the tribe concerned found themselves in the lands of Deverry – and Ms Kerr is very good at postulating changes in societies over time (e.g., in her commentaries, she has clearly researched the rules governing how words will change – including the phrase which becomes “Deverry”);
• using elementals (or, as they are termed in these books, “Wildfolk”) is one way of doing magick – in fact, it is one of the problems I and others have with those forms of so-called “High Magick” which look to find and bind a spirit to accomplish a task (e.g., Enochian Magick). There are other ways, as a read of Lyall Watson’s brilliant book “Supernature” (Pub. Sceptre, 1989; first printing 1986; first pub. Hodder and Stoughton, 1973; first pub. in paperback Coronet, 1974) will show. I also dispute that humans are meant to “rule” elementals (p. 169 of my copy), but we do have a responsibility for all our interactions, and can help all other lifeforms develop. The Wildfolk are possibly based on what I term “Nature Spirits”, but my awareness of them is more along the lines of the Findhorn  experience than the British mythology;
• it doesn’t always take years of study to “unlock the gates to other worlds” (p. 168 of my copy);
• ensorcelling: I term this (negative psychic) control, and it doesn’t need eye-to-eye contact, although such contact does reportedly allow hypnosis. I also hadn’t come across other techniques for control described in the book (which I will not repeat here –just in case they do work :) – nor will I repeat some of the other descriptions of nonBPM workings in general, unless I consider there is a valid need to do so), and am not in a position to comment – although it seems to me the standards of grounding, shielding (and protection generally), and (psychic) flaming would be of benefit in resisting same;
• physical transformation: I’ve heard of this, but never with the requirement that size be conserved. Such a constraint makes sense in terms of the laws of physics, but I cannot comment – my experience is of astral and shamanic transformations, which are in a different part of reality, and thus not subject to physical constraints (i.e., when I become a dragon on, say, a shamanic journey, I’m not around 1.6 m in length!);
• other physical effects, such as causing fire or metal that glows when touched by a particular species: I’ve not heard of such things, but it is a big world :) As with transformation, I’m familiar with similar things (e.g., wards to warn of a “negative” or disharmonious influence / energy / person / unit), but it is the use of magick on nonphysical levels to achieve a transformation into something better that is more use and importance to the world than being able to achieve physical effects (cool though the latter would be);
• needing to see someone in order to be able to scry them out: I can sense people more effectively if there is some sort of connection, but haven’t experienced the described inability to scry or find someone without seeing them first. If nothing else, I can also call on my BPM  Guides to assist in this matter but I also do this better if I have a connection to their inherent energy signature, rather than just their physical appearance;
• “evil” magick not being open to women: bull dust. One of the principles I live by is that gender stereotypes are social engineering for the purposes of control, and setting women up on a pedestal as being” pure” or “gentle” is utter rubbish – women can be as violent as men (and EVERYONE has a limit beyond which they will “snap”), although it generally takes the form of violence of speech (e.g., gossip, social inclusion / exclusion, manipulation, judging other women for appearance, etc). Furthermore, the principle of nurturing can be accessed by men as well as by women – and is, by some men. There are groups of men who exclude women – notably, socially powerful groups, just as there are such groups of women who exclude men – albeit with less mundane influence, generally. In the world of magick, one’s gender is irrelevant – both in terms of good and bad magick;
• the association of negativity or “evil” with black, or darkness: I view the issue of light vs. dark more in terms of balance and imbalance, than light or dark. in terms of colours, I consider clarity - it is possible to have shades of dark colours (including black) that are clear, whereas “negative” colours tend to be turgid and unwholesome – even if they are ostensibly “bright” colours like yellow, or red, or blue or green;
• red aura of vegetation (p. 276 of my copy): I’ve red elsewhere of this, but not seen it myself – for instance, when perceiving from both physical and astral (although I’ve not mastered etheric travel, which could be significant) I typically see trees with auras of blue, green or gold, but the object itself seems to me to look much as it does when seen on the physical. I suspect it depends on how one’s mind interprets the sensations it receives, what levels one is on / looking into, and what one expects – and, in the Middle Ages, which is where the magickal traditions Ms Kerr drew on originated, plants were seen as “lesser” than humans (perhaps due to the insidious influence of neochristianity?), and thus were expected to show appropriate signs, such as a reddish coloured etheric, because of red’s association with the “lowest” chakra;
• water as a barrier to etheric passage or some entities: that hasn’t been my experience – in fact, I have used water as a means of travel. I acknowledge that this exists in some folklore, but I would take it with a grain of salt, and would never rely on such for protection, although natural features do have sometimes pronounced energy associated with them – not only running water, though;
• blood red auras of “true killers” (p. 276 of my copy): in my – psychic and mediumship -  experience, such auras would have a pronounced fragmented appearance, and a sense of turgidity or murkiness to most colours there: red is not necessarily predominant, and I point out that a clear shade of red is associated with positive things, including constructive passions – for instance, green and red may show in the auras of good teachers;
• simulacrums for astral travel (p. 276 of my copy): I dispute this concept – I consider what happens is the visualisation helps shift one’s awareness to the nonphysical body desired, and to loosen that body from the physical body and its aura, but one does not actually create an already existing nonphysical body;
• breaking the Silver Cord to kill someone (p. 304 of my copy): whilst the Silver Cord (actually, it is multiple Cords) does part naturally at death, Lobsang Rampa has been very strong in writing that there is no need to fear what can happen while astral travelling. Now, I’ve had experience of being chased while astral travelling when I was young (pre- or primary school age), but I was able to outfly them; I’ve also had (in my early 20s, before I started my formal training) someone create the illusion that I was trapped underwater and unable to find the surface, but realised what was happening and woke myself up – so I know attacks can happen. Furthermore, I’ve read reputable sources (e.g., Dion Fortune) which describe someone who was supposedly killed that way. It seems to me that it is possible, but incredibly rare and difficult to do. From the commentary to this film, achieving something like that may take days or weeks of effort – far longer than one night’s sleep, and that gives time enough for people to become aware that something is wrong, and seek help – or to, at the very least, apply the standards of grounding, shielding (and protection generally), and (psychic) flaming: I did, in one other incident of psychic attack which was just the result of someone being jealous, someone I actually liked and considered a friend (which is a good example of why I do not always / “automatically” reflect attack energies back to the originator). In terms of the Silver Cord(s), they are extremely robust – and, to pre-empt future comments, infinitely extendable. Snapping the Cord(s), or overextending the Cord(s), are matters I am strongly sceptical of. I consider it far more likely, should a death occur while someone is either etheric or astral travelling, that something else is responsible - e.g., allowing oneself to be frightened to death, or as a result of weakening one’s aura (see here for suggestions on how to counter that). For another view on Silver Cord(s), see here;
• the withering of disused talents (p. 322 of my copy): this can happen, it is true, and often does as children start to grow up, but there are also people who are MEANT to do psychic work and have COMMITTED to doing so before their birth, and in such cases and a few others, such people who need to be forced to learn or acknowledge the true Nature of Reality or how to responsibly use psychism, disused talents do not wither away;
• disconnection of character from one incarnation to another (“Sharply he reminded himself that Cullyn was no more Gerraent than he was still Prince Galrion”; p. 355 of my copy): I disagree with this. Whilst there can and often are major or even profound changes between incarnations, the bonds of karma – good, as well bad – still need to be acknowledged and, where needed, resolved.

Act I (Deverry): Book Two - Darkspell (overall sequence – book No. 2)
(my copy Pub. HarperCollins Grafton, pub. 1989, ISBN 0 586 20079 7)

Excluding items already commented on:

• that those performing “evil” magick are physically gross or odious in some way, and do things like eat raw meat (pp. 34 – 37 of my copy): the problem with many of the people who do harm is that they are charismatic and attractive  and, as far as diet goes, Hitler was a vegetarian. Real life is not so obvious;
• I am surprised that Ms Kerr saw a way for a horse Goddess like Epona to become somehow associated with evil (although some associations do evolve or change with time), but that may also be part of the patriarchy in the culture she has created in her backstory. On the other hand, if Aranrhodda is derived from Arianrhod, there is a complex set of myths which could lead to fear on the part of men. On the deities generally (e.g., p. 192 of my copy), I consider the series’ view (that they are centres of force – as in “the light behind the gods”) to have some validity, but to be a little simplistic: Rampa’s explanation of a hierarchical series of Manus also applies, as does my concept that each Deity enables something to be brought into manifestation;
• holding aura in tight to reduce visibility (p. 209 of my copy): I haven’t tried this, but have had some limited success with stilling thoughts and emotions as much as possible.

Act I (Deverry): Book Three - The Bristling Wood (overall sequence – book No. 3)
(my copy Pub. HarperCollins Grafton Books, pub. 1989, ISBN 0-586-20741-4)

Excluding items already commented on:

• whilst a sort of glamour, charisma or appeal can be created around a person (or by the person – and this may operate by affecting the group mind / collective subconscious), my experience is that many people create such results by exerting nonBPM control over the mind, emotions or body of others – and this is most commonly done in the area of casual sex, often as a subtle backdrop to flattery etc, and can be and is done by any sex / gender: this is a disturbingly common form of nonBPM unit that I find when checking areas for units to clear, and, sadly, I am not always allowed to clear this form of control, which suggests to me that some people are experiencing such control as a harsh lesson (i.e., negative “karma”), although in many cases this exertion of control is done unconsciously. This is form of control is as grossly offensive as other control, particularly as it cheapens something that should be viewed as sacred – including in its casual forms, but there are some instances I come that I will always break such control whether I am told I am allowed to or not;
• it is easier to communicate via BPM Guides, or even telepathy, than nature spirits in the real world, but that difference is one of the many underlying the creation of the Deverry universe;
• Kerun has been created, it seems to me, as an evolution of how the Deverrians view Cernunnos. Cernunnos is NOT a dark God, but rather, the God of forests and the like – places some people (idiots, in my view :) ) are afraid of, and may view as dark, but places I revel in the natural wildness of … but then, I also like thunderstorms (although we don’t often get tornadoes here – yet);
• Perryn’s activities are a form of control – although many people doing such will draw energy from their victims after the link is formed and thus do not drain themselves (as described in later books). This can also be done at a distance, and this also illustrates the importance of regularly checking for and clearing (dissolve the entire length, don’t just cut) links, which form and re-form (and, in some cases, dissolve) as a result of everyday life.

Act I (Deverry): Book Four – The Southern Sea (overall sequence – book No. 4)
(my copy Pub. HarperCollins Grafton Books, pub. 1991, ISBN 0 586 20787 2)

Excluding items already commented on:

• reversed pentagrams (p. 280 of my copy) are not always an indication of active, malicious “evil”: sometimes it is simply about chaos – a topic many fear to the extent of labelling it evil, which is a simplification behind too much of the real world’s real evil – or some forces of nature;
• the concept of annihilation of a soul (p. 380 of my copy) is utter rubbish – see my post here for a few thoughts on this (keep in mind, however, that I could be wrong, but I genuinely do not consider that to be so in this instance);
• discovering past lives (p. 488 of my copy) is generally much harder than described, but some people do have a knack along the lines described … and many more think they have such a knack :) .

Act II (The Westlands Cycle): Book One - A Time of Exile (overall sequence – book No. 5)
(my copy Pub. HarperCollins Voyager, pub. 1996, ISBN 0 586 20788 0)

Excluding items already commented on:

• “The Guardians” (p. 151 my copy) – seems to be based on the Sidhe. I’m aware of the folk mythology around these entities, which also feature in the Dresden Files, but do not consider myself particularly well versed in the topic – but I am aware that, in this real world rather than the fictional world of Deverry, they constitute a separate line of evolution, not a form of life that should have incarnated as humans – although that is an intriguing idea;
• experiences when passing over (p. 162 of my copy) - there are multiple versions of what people go through, largely influenced by the cultural biases people were raised with and live in – see here.

Act II (The Westlands Cycle): Book Two - A Time of Omens (overall sequence – book No. 6)
(my copy Pub. HarperCollins Voyager, pub. 1996, ISBN 0 586 21196 9)

Excluding items already commented on:

• travel on the astral roads / pathways is a concept that is outside my experience. My astral travel has been more direct – akin to teleportation … or maybe it’s just that I’m Australian, and walk on the grass despite the “keep off the grass” signs :)

Act II (The Westlands Cycle): Book Three - Days of Blood and Fire (overall sequence – book No. 7)
(my copy Pub. HarperCollins Voyager, pub. 1996, ISBN 0 586 2197 7)

• the many, many laws and rules that the Gel da Thae bard, Meer, keeps quoting from (I can’t say they’re innumerable, as they are well and truly numbered :) ) are typical of a religion that is old, but NOT mature – something akin to neochristianity, for instance - which is NOT true Christianity – which I consider to be only about love, not the salvation-sacrifice guilt trip rubbish built up around the crucifixion. On that, whilst most probably not intended, the view of Alshandra’s cult strikes me as being similar to how neochristianity was viewed by those being invaded and coerced by its adherents;
• purely out of idle curiosity, I would like to know what the dragon lore is based on – it’s obviously been brilliantly adapted to suit the setting and sequencing of the novels, but is there a particular source? English / Anglo-Saxon folklore? My experience of dragons is more along the lines of associating them with particular versions of earth energies – for instance, this short story of mine is based on events I have experienced – but there are other, broader implications and uses (e.g., I particularly enjoy transforming into a dragon during some particular types of my astral / shamanic journeys – partly because I love flying :) );
• drawing energy back into oneself after a working (I should have mentioned this earlier – my apologies): I don’t do this. For most of my magickal career, I have closed circles afterwards and made sure excess energy is grounded or properly dispersed, but I don’t necessarily draw the blend of energies that has been created by the working into myself – the energies are no longer those that I created, and thus there is a risk of incompatibility. Oddly enough, I also feel a bit selfish if I try to do that.
  There is a further point of view that I have come across which is relevant to this: the notion that leaving circles open can a step towards creating a way for BPM energy to flow into this world: that can happen, but the energy can flow the other way as well, so needs to be used with considerable caution (I have only used it in my home, as part of building up energies over a long period in my sacred spaces). Another aspect of this – both in my home and in public - is that, if done in a public space, it could result in someone who lacks knowledge but has sensitivity being opened, and thus left vulnerable to a range of problems – including distraction / falling asleep while driving. (I posted this as a link a long time ago, so won’t try to find it now.)
  And, as another point of view, I have been told, by a NON-indigenous person, that some indigenous views are that if one closes down by sending away, say, rain (water), you may upset natural cycles. Whilst I have no idea how true the context of that is, the principle bears consideration: it is one of the reasons that my closing prayer has this wording in it: “We ask that the circle be cleansed, cleared and closed, but that the protection, healing and guidance continue for the Highest Spiritual Good” (emphasis added);
• renewal of protection at the change of the astral tides of the day (I should have mentioned this earlier – my apologies): this is another one that I don’t do. I suspect it is akin to the notion that one hand is used for projection of energy, the other for receiving energy: the truth is that while individuals may have a slight preference or greater efficiency for doing tasks with a particular hand or part of the body / mind or technique, these are really akin to being left- or right-handed: what we see is largely because society pushes people into being right-hand (violently, until recent decades in the West - as a result of neochristian beliefs, I suspect). Similarly, with that magickal “rule”, some people have a preference for the ways described, others reverse it, and some are ambidextrous. In terms of the protection, it does need renewal: we don’t live in an energetic vacuum, we live in a soup of energies on all levels around us, so building protection is a little lie building a sand castle on a beach: just as the waves of water will eventually wash away the sand castle, so too will the soup of energy erode - not maliciously, or necessarily even deliberately, in many cases – the protective units we have created. Thus, they will need renewal, from time to time – how often depends on the relative strength of “soup” - and any psychic attack - and protective devices. Here in the city, I need to renew protection at least once a day, sometimes twice (more, if a lot of people have been around), but in the country and when I was living on a boat, it was maybe once or twice a week.

Act II (The Westlands Cycle): Book Four - Days of Air and Darkness  (overall sequence – book No. 8)
(my copy Pub. HarperCollins Voyager, pub. 1995, ISBN 0 00 647859 X)

Excluding items already commented on:

• use of dappled or rippled surfaces for scrying – e.g., moving water rather than still (this is another topic I should have mentioned this earlier – my apologies): I was taught to use bland surfaces – e.g., still water rather than moving. At some stage I will try out this scrying method.

Act III (The Dragon Mage): Book One - The Red Wyvern  (overall sequence – book No. 9)
(my copy Pub. Bantam Spectra, pub. 1998, ISBN-13 978-0-553-57264-3)

Excluding items already commented on:

• a point of very strong agreement: putting the hand on the back of someone’s neck (p. 44) – I have NEVER seen anything nice about it. I loathe seeing men doing this to their girlfriends – it comes across as a master-to-slave  gesture, one that is all about control. It did not surprise me that the gesture was used for purpose in this book;
• on omens being from the upper astral (p. 71): I cheat – I use my BPM Guides. I’ve generally found Lobsang  Rampa’s books and the training I have had through Wicca, New Age and Spiritualist groups more accessible and useable than these older teachings, but there are areas that the older teachings have their advantages – for instance, the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram;
• protective basics (p.67): using things like grounding and shielding is not particularly difficult or onerous, and provides excellent protection and self-protection for the beginner.

Act III (The Dragon Mage): Book Two - The Black Raven  (overall sequence – book No. 10)
(my copy Pub. Bantam Spectra, pub. 2000, ISBN 978-0-553-57919-2)

Excluding items already commented on:

• going insane if one stops working at magick: this hasn’t been something I’ve seen – in fact, in my experience people are more likely to have problems if they don’t start deliberate development. That said, however, there can be problems if someone is advanced and very active stops suddenly, including not doing any self-care such as closing down, etc.

Act III (The Dragon Mage): Book Three - The Fire Dragon  (overall sequence – book No. 11)
(my copy Pub. Bantam Spectra, pub. 2001, ISBN 0-553-58247-X)

Excluding items already commented on:

• spirit traps (p. 65) – I haven’t used this approach, but I’ve seen others use something similar based on crystals and candles – and that was, as it should be, followed up by a safe release to where the spirit / entity should be, including rescue if needed;
• new souls – this sort of comment, that souls having their first incarnation would struggle, has been made elsewhere as well – e.g., that such people would incarnate for the first time to a simple society (e.g., remote tribe), rather than an advanced civilisation. Such constraints would not apply to an extremely advanced soul who is incarnating to help the planet;
• some of the attributions made around “negative” people are very much dated to the sort of era the stories are set in (i.e., early Middle Age). Attitudes these days are more forgiving / more enlightened / more aware … mostly;
• returning to one’s “true self” after death – well, yes, this does happen, but, given the astral’s malleability, usually slowly – and will be related to the rate at which the soul starts to comprehend the nature of the reality they are now in: it doesn’t necessarily – or even have to – happen at the point of transition, and such transitions are not to a “true” gender. The concept of a soul having gender is one of the flaws we’ve inherited that I am trying to correct. The astral may have a preferred gender for a few millennia, mind;
• losing one’s soul if one changes one’s form (as Dallandra warns Rori will happen if he becomes a dragon): RUBBISH. Souls are not delicate little things. Comments in later books show a conflation between the concept of soul and personality – which is, in my opinion, fairly accurate of the views of the sources for this system of magick, but still misses the point. One can do things like lose all the good aspects of one’s character by being involved in something obsessive (cults, religions, political parties, the wrong football team  oops, that last one was me :D ), but that is not the same as losing or destroying one’s Oversoul / Atman /Higher Self – which is how I take the term “soul”.

Act IV (The Silver Wyrm): Book One - The Gold Falcon  (overall sequence – book No. 12)
(my copy Pub. DAW Books, Pub. 2007, ISBN 978-0-7564-0419-2)

Excluding items already commented on:

• using reincarnation to justify privilege (p. 106): I’m aware that this has happened in some cultures – it is wrong. It is selective use of the principles of reincarnation and karma, just as is using karma to assign blame for the bad things that happen without also using it to assign credit for the good things that happen (and ALL such views forget about lessons / tests / mistakes / etc). In other societies, reincarnation formed a basis for an egalitarian approach to society – everyone had the risk of coming back as the “lowest of the low”, and thus there was no quibbling over what these days would be described as “welfare”;
• the part of the mind that remembers dies when one dies (p. 337): not so. The reasons we have trouble remembering past lives include the trauma of birth, the trauma of the clouds of predominantly nonBPM energy around this planet, the difficulties of changing levels, and deliberate acts of forgetting (drinking “the waters of Lethe”) to ensure one has a fair chance of dealing with issues in the next incarnation (e.g., avoiding the problems of remembering being a princess when one is poor or lower class – although I know a few people who have still carried over arrogance / subservience from previous lives with such roles);
• astral tunnel and explosion (p. 412): I don’t use tunnels and gates to travel – what I do is probably more akin to Carlos Castaneda’s writings about the assemblage point, which probably influenced my post about a Ranger navigation technique. However, I do accept that something which is “destroyed” could release energy as a result of doing so – that is one of the many reasons I dissolve links, rather than cut them;
• difficulty explaining the transformation of Rhodry into a dragon (p. 498): this is rubbish – as is made clear when the character being put realises that she is being put off. In general, people may not have the capacity to understand the detail of how something is done, but there is generally something that can de said. As an example, the character doing the putting off could have said “he was transformed through the dweomer (magick) of a third person, a discarnate dweomermaster”. It’s a bit like being asked to, say, explain how planes fly (“because the air flow over a curve wing creates a suction”) or how mobile phones work (“by converting sound to radio waves that are transmitted to the receiving phone”): there is much key detail (e.g., flight surface control, propulsion, air traffic control, etc for the first example, and band allocation, relay towers, phone numbers, frequency issues, etc for the latter) that haven’t been explained, but enough has been given to “get the ball rolling”, in a sense.

(This book is, in many ways, my favourite of the series, incidentally :) )

Act IV (The Silver Wyrm): Book Two - The Spirit Stone  (overall sequence – book No. 13)
(my copy Pub. DAW Books, pub. 2007, ISBN 13: 97-0-764-0433-3. This is the only hard cover book I have in this series)

Excluding items already commented on:

• the use of elements (“humours”) for physical healing: not used by conventional medicine, and I’ve not come across any alternative medicine that uses them in this way – although it was the case in Hippocrates’ time;
• people DO carry strong loves and hates – and skills -from one life to the next (p. 293);

(As a non-magickal aside, the character Dalla needs to learn to tell Cal off when he is being a bullying, misogynistic alpha male ****.)

Act IV (The Silver Wyrm): Book Three - The Shadow Isle  (overall sequence – book No. 14)
(my copy Pub. HarperCollins Voyager, pub. 2008, ISBN 978 0 00 726893 1)

Excluding items already commented on:

• Val’s gem scrying system (p. 61, and elsewhere): as a digression, this sounds quite interesting, and I would like to try this (or something similar) one day;
• attributing races (species?) to elements: this makes sense in the context of the story telling, but doesn’t apply to anything I know in this world: for instance, I know of no elemental associations for the various races - and would be very disturbed if anyone claimed there was. Individuals may have such associations – for instance, a tendency to be watery of character – see here, which is akin to the elemental associations found in astrology, but those are rarely complete. Thus, for instance, astrological influences in an individual may be – to choose some random numbers – 20% earth, 40% air, 10% fire and 30% water, making the person mostly air and water (rainy? :) );

Act IV (The Silver Wyrm): Book Four - The Silver Mage  (overall sequence – book No. 15)
(my copy Pub. DAW Books, pub. 2010, ISBN 978-0-7564-0631-8)

Excluding items already commented on:

• the power used in casting spells comes from our souls rather than Deities (p. 68): not necessarily. There are a range of higher forces in the Universe, and some can and do take part in the work of spells;
• coming across the germ theory via clairvoyance (p. 191): in this real world, this didn’t happen. That is possibly because no-one thought to look, or there are more appropriate uses of psychism, or the auras of the germs are too small to notice, but it may also be an indication of the limits of psychism …
• the thoughts of people governed by the water element needing to be contained by a vessel of hard thought (Air) (p. 229): not so: Water deals with matters other than thought (i.e., emotions and flowing forces), in my experience. In fact, changeable, fleeting or flitting thought can be a problem of Air;
• being stuck after transforming (p. 429): obviously this is a device of the storytelling. In this world, I don’t know anyone who can physically transform, so I’m not going to be able to ask someone to enlighten me on that aspect specifically, but the value of caution and avoiding excess is worth noting :)

(This book and the first in the series are those that I most enjoy from the point of view of magick. Its is also the book when Dalla finally starts to learn – still, her character just goes to show that, just because one if psychic / powerful, it doesn’t necessarily mean one is admirable – or even “nice”.)

(No signature block because of the length of this post)