Post No. 848D - the fifth set of keywords

Owing to Blogger's limits on keywords, when I have a lot I have to post them in batches. This is the fifth lot of keywords for this post.

Keywords: 

redirection, reflection, rescue, restless / vengeful dead, sexism, sexuality, shadow work, shielding, society, Soul, spells, sunrise, survival after death, teaching, telekinesis,

Post No. 267 - Dawn Hill

My partner and I are reading/re-reading Dawn Hill's excellent New Age books, which include mediumship (her husband Roland finds he is a trance medium, but she talks about how mediumship is far more than just trance mediumship), rescue (including trance rescue, as well as the more commonly used "mental" or telepathic rescue - and see elsewhere on this blog where I have posted about this topic) and psychic development. This is quite fun, with each of us finding a bit we like, and then reading it out to the other as we work through these books from the 1980s. (It appears Dawn Hill may have lived in or near Mackay when I was there, in the early 80s. She was born in 1946 in Tasmania, and spent her early childhood on King Island in Bass Strait.)

One such piece is in "Lifting the Veil" [1], where Dawn is talking of research into the two halves of the brain. After describing the research, she poses a series of light-hearted questions, beginning with: "Could a person who only thinks with one half of his/her brain be considered a half-wit?" and continuing up to "Could this mean the world is being controlled by half-wits?"

Hmmmm. Indeed :)

(Oh how that could be applied to a number of engineers I've worked with over the years!)

These books are hard to track down, but they are well worth the effort: she also wrote "Reaching for the Other Side" [2] and "Edge of Reality". The exercises and advice on psychic development are very useful.

As a small example, in the section on brain function, Dawn talks about how she adapts some of her teaching. For instance, if people are having problems visualising, she will use other words (such as imagination) or explain that it feels as if you are day-dreaming. This adaptability is important - as she writes in her first book, her guide once explained, when Dawn was feeling stupid at not understanding, that the fault was of the teachers:

"My daughter you are not stupid. If a student does not learn the teacher is at fault, for he has neither correctly assessed the student's level of development nor delivered the lesson in the appropriate way. If something is explained to you properly, you will understand it. Therefore if you do not learn you are not a poor student, I am a poor teacher."

It is nice to read of a New Age author who writes about angels and singing psalms who is also respectful of the "Old Religion" (which is a term for Wicca/witchcraft) and Earth religions, open about sexuality and religions (at least, as far as having premarital and/or casual sex is concerned; I haven't found her attitudes towards bisexuality or same sex attraction yet, though).

She also writes respectfully on animals, including that they have souls, and gives an explanation of the dngers of using ouija boards that is slightly different to what I have come across before. Her warning is that the ouija board needs energies that are closer to the physical to move the pointer (planchette, I think is the proper name), and hence users are more or less inherently tuning into the lower astral.

I am looking forward to seeing what she writes about the dangers of getting drunk (not drinking in moderation). I've had a reminder fairly near to me that such behaviour can cause possession or obsession.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

Notes:

1. Pub. Pan Australia (now Pan Macmillan), 1989, ISBN 0-330-27114-8
2. Pub. Pan Australia (now Pan Macmillan), 1982, ISBN 0-330-27029-X

Tags: Dawn Hill, mediumship, psychic development, brain, teaching, sexuality, Wicca, animals,

First published: Laugadagr, 14th May, 2011

Last edited: Saturday, 14th May, 2011

Post No. 249 - Stupid people, reasonable people and forms of travel

I was originally going to call this post "Stupid people, reasonable people, ..." but I decided that was a bit harsh, so so I changed the name to "Nongs, reasonable people, ..." - I've started referring to The L Word as The Nong Word, as the people in it are, quite simply, mostly nongs - the character of Jenny Schecter in particular, is quite alien to the down-to-earth dykes I know, and Alice Pieszecki is not like any bisexual I know. However, then I saw the episode [1] where Jenny's rank stupidity gets Moira assaulted, and reverted back to the original title.

(At least things get a bit better as the seasons progress ... I particularly liked hearing that Captain Tasha Williams "doesn't do drama". Mind you, my partner has commented that the character of Jenny seems to almost have a dissociative personality disorder ... at times they all seem to have a bit of this: oh well, it is a TV drama ... )

This choice of title was reinforced recently when I was buying petrol: as I was being served the service station attendant, someone who is quite polite and pleasant - and the reason I go there to buy my petrol - asked how I was, and the young male idiot behind me answered! What an absolute moron! Did that cretin think that because a female was in front of him the female didn't count? Or was he just up himself and decided that no-one else in the world was of enough importance for anyone to talk to so of course he was being addressed. Either way, he was a complete jerk.

There are, in my opinion, too many examples of people being, well, stupid is too harsh a word, but let's say at least foolish, or maybe naive. For example, I recently joined a few Yahoo groups. I left one when racist tripe started being thrown around, and then on one of the others, it became clear to me that someone responding to a comment from myself had completely misinterpreted the article we were discussing, thinking it was favourable, not critical, of the person we were discussing. This was then compounded when everyone seemed to buy into an apparently inspiring story about Herman Rosenblat - which even came with advice to Google him. Well, I prefer Dogpile, but in this case, I used Wikipedia, and found out that, yes, he is a genuine Holocaust survivor, but no, the amazing story he claimed was true was actually a hoax.

Another example of the sort of behaviour I am thinking of is the person who, when told I most missed giving up honey when I found out I was diabetic, said "Oh, but honey is healthy! You should still eat honey, it can't harm you". Well, stupid, actually, yes, it can - its is 80% sugar, sugar in a more natural form than refined sugar, but still SUGAR, and the blood tests I did on myself when I tried one honey sandwich proved how catastrophic it can be for a diabetic.

The important question here is: why? Why do people do, think and say these stupid things? In general, I consider people fall into many of these traps out of desperation. They want something, whether it is a feeling of connectedness, a feeling of affection, or feeling that they have got a bargain (which has at least two or three layers of emotion under it that I can identify without trying), and they allow that desire to override common sense - which, sadly, as the saying goes, is far from common.

Another view on this is Lobsang Rampa's comments, in several books that, allegedly, signals are not getting through to us from our Overself. If that is so, it would certainly explain the importance of meditation, which fosters that connection (when done properly, and not debased into an exercise to try and force relaxation rather than addressing the causes of tension).

On the other hand, at the opposite end of the spectrum is the legal concept of a "reasonable person". This is the basis of legal advice I have had, for instance, that here, in Victoria, Australia, someone using the wrong pronouns to refer to a trans person is doing something that a reasonable person would find offensive. The concept refers to someone who is mature, properly informed, without unreasonable biases - so not a fundamentalist extremist of any persuasion. (You can find a more formal definition here, and a recent opinion expressing doubt about the currency of this concept here.)

Finally, I want to touch upon the concept of physical travel. Yes, this can be enjoyable, and can even broaden the mind - particularly if you've had a sheltered upbringing (it is arrogance to presume that it will broaden the mind of everyone: some people have travelled well with their minds already, through things like ... reading, meditating, growing, their own life experiences, astral travel, etc). Personally, I often find, at this stage of my life, travel of the mind/spirit/soul better ... Travel to the country to escape the psychic pressures of the city can be rejuvenating for me, and international travel, in these post 9-11 days, is fraught with so many problems because I don't fit into the "normal" boxes that the experience in-between the trip there and back is more than outweighed by the trauma caused by security theatre. There are some places I would like to see, but I will happily wait a decade or two until the current insanity dies down and decisions about security are no longer being made by people who tend towards the stupid end of the spectrum because of their limited understanding of human beings ... which is an assessment a reasonable person would agree with :) For more on this, see here, here (especially the comments about security theatre; also, try following aviation safety generally for a little while, and then assess your perception of security risks ... ) and here (which I particularly agree with, having had some sexual assaults in my life).

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr
(Pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

Notes:

1. Episode 2 of Season Three: Lost Weekend

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: astral travel, common sense, responsibility, sexuality, world

First published: Sunnudagr, 20th March, 2011

Last edited: Sunday, 20th March, 2011

Post No. 238 - The L-Word

I have been spending today looking after my partner while she is unwell, and we've been watching Season One of The L-Word. I'm glad (most of) the lesbians, bisexuals and trans people I know in real life are more "together" than the naive nongs that the characters have come across as so far.

I mean ... really, Bette: you're gallery is being vandalised, your customers hassled, and you are even being harangued and threatened at home - yet you don't call the police? And the group session that Bette and Tina go to! My partner has almost finished a social work degree, and she had some very apt comments on the mistakes being made in that group. Not to mention Alice putting her chart up on the Internet??? Wow - must be no privacy laws in that little universe ...

A lot of the other behaviour is akin to high school schoolyard dramatics. (I would also describe the behaviour as emotionally "self indulgent" in the shamanistic sense - see Castenada's books for more on that.)

It would also be great for the characters (I am aware the actors in real life are very different people!) to learn a few words like ... polyamory, or ethics (and for the gay characters to learn that the word bisexual is real, and represents a valid choice - although I must say that many of them do accept that, and the straight characters tend to be the sinners on this aspect). It's quite a shame, as, in my life, the most ethical people I know are from the LGBT I Q and polyamorous communities - far more so than more I know from various spiritual/psychic communities. (Many activists can be very ethical, also.)

I can understand the LGBTIQ community apparently not liking Jenny, and I was very surprised to read that Ilene Chaiken based Jenny upon parts of herself as a young lesbian.

From a spiritual point of view, I consider:

• all intimate relationships should be consensual, non-possessive, based on love - and conducted as mature adults;
• no person has the right to force someone else to be something against their will if it is not doing any harm - which is what parents and other refusing to accept someone because of their sexuality or gender identity are doing (possibly out of embarrassment);
• no society or group has the right to force someone else to be something against their will if it is not doing any harm - which is what the Christian fundamentalists as portrayed in Season One (who I would describe as having a very immature version of "spirituality") are trying to do (please note not all Christians are like that - some, such as MCC, are actually quite accepting of LGBTIQ people - and others do a fair job of some parts of social activism, particularly in South America);
• most people have some responsibility to make an effort to stand up for themselves: sitting quietly and taking verbal abuse is rarely something that would be considered spiritual (the exception to this is people who have suffered a lot of abuse, such the victims of domestic violence or torture, or massive amounts of discrimination [which applies to many races who are not white, such as Kooris in Australia, or African-Americans or First Nations people in the USA, and often applies to many LGBTIQ people, particularly outside the Western world], as some such people can literally be beaten into submission - in which case collective responsibility becomes active: remember that word "activist" I used a few paragraphs ago? Actually, this has a role anyway, as we all contribute to the world we live in), and one should be aware of the saying that we train others how to treat us [1];
• everyone should seek to be all that they can be, and for some, that is having a lot of sex, for others it is pursuing creativity, for others a family, for others reclusiveness, etc, etc, etc: one size does NOT fit all.

It's good, however, to see the range of relationships being dealt with as a normal part of everyday life, without either patronising or trying to make such relationships appear so rare that they need lots of comment - and it is good to see femme lesbians being portrayed (well, they are in relation to me, at any rate :) ).

So ... now for a coffee and the next episode.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Notes:

1. There is an interesting example of this in Sheelagh Rouse's book "Twenty Five Years with T. Lobsang Rampa": when Lobsang Rampa takes his synopsis of "The Third Eye" to a literary agent, the agent tries to intimidate Dr Rampa and avoid committing to reading the synopsis, who responds by saying calmly that the synopsis is his property, and he will return in a week to collect it (on pages 51-52). I have always admired people who are unflappable in that way (my word), and have tried to develop that characteristic in myself).

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: sexuality, purpose, discrimination, society, Christianity, extremism, self indulgence,

First published: Thorsdagr, 3rd March, 2011

Last edited: Thursday, 3rd March, 2011

Post No. 168 - A miscellany on leadership, growth orientation, Charmaine Wilson, acne and security theatre ...

I'm being lazy in this post, and combining a few things together in the one post :)

What I am going to cover is:

• a few thoughts on leadership, from watching the film "The Core";
• a few thoughts on the implications of different spiritual growth orientations;
• my response to being an audience member at a Charmaine Wilson proof-of-survival event;
• an interesting post I heard recently on the ABC; and
• a forwarded post about "security theatre".

I recently re-watched the film "The Core", which I watched once before when I wasn’t in the right mood to suspend disbelief. This time, I actually enjoyed the story-telling - and I particularly noted one theme, on leadership. Bruce Greenwood's character tells Hilary Swank's character (I obviously paid a lot of attention and memorised the character's names ... not) that she hasn't been given leadership because she has breezed through everything. She is told she needs to know failure - and she does so later in the film. This is a bit like the saying to the effect "those who have never made a mistake have never tried anything". I will think about this - I might even add in to the Rangers training materials when I get back to that ...

Clearly, being in charge is important to Hilary Swank's character, and she learns the difference between "being in charge" and leadership. That leads me to my next point: what is important to you?

If you are, perhaps, predominantly of a Bhakti Yogic path of spiritual growth orientation (see here for my previous post where I commented on the various forms of growth orientation), what is likely to be important to you is people, relationships, interactions, love. On the other hand, if your spiritual growth orientation is along the lines of the Jnani Yogic path, then perhaps truth is what you consider above all else. On the Raja path: perhaps being all that you can be is most important, and if you are on the Karma path commitment, honour and work would be what you consider most important.

EACH of these preferences is valid - as valid as any other. I find debates on topics such as "what is better: X or Y?" extremely annoying, as the truth is each is equally valid, and which is better depends of the people involved and the circumstances. Of course, that probably doesn’t make for what people consider "good entertainment" ...

Now, being focused on one spiritual growth path does not mean that you are necessarily incompetent in another, as you may have already travelled that path and decided to be a more rounded soul by travelling one or more other paths.

Of course, you may actually also be incompetent on other paths, as you may not yet have travelled them :)

Interacting with people on other spiritual growth paths can be source of disharmony - for instance, a person on the spiritual growth orientation path of Karma - actually, I'll simplify that, for the rest of this post, to "karma path person". So, a karma path person may see respect for privacy as more important than establishing emotional closeness, whereas Bhakti path person may see establishing closeness as a need that overrides all other considerations such as respecting other people's space. Neither is right or wrong: have to work out way to let each do their own thing. Of course, someone who thinks they are the Bahkti path and interprets that as meaning they are seeking to be loved (i.e., only receive, instead of also - equally - give) will annoy everyone on all paths. [1]

Recently I heard a stereotypical situation mentioned (as an example of a stereotype, more or less):a woman's car breaks down; the stereotype-woman wants to vent emotions about it to her (stereotype-male) partner (they’re stereotypically heterosexual, also), while stereotype-man wants to go fix the car.

(As a digression, I was recently involved in a conversation about the conflict between head and heart, and the comment was made that, although it is often best to follow one's heart [provided one has a modicum of spiritual maturity], the conflict between head and heart can be useful, as it shows the areas you may have past hurts to be tended to, or areas where you can learn or grow.)
From the point of view of stereotype-woman, once she has vented, the rest of it is just details to be sorted out; but from the point of view of stereotype-man, the venting is just details and the work of fixing the car still needs to be done. Both are right, and both are wrong: the stereotype-woman is wrong to consider fixing the car a simply details (it can be demanding, hard work - and expensive), and stereotype-man is clearly (well, clearly to me :) ) wrong to consider the emotions caused by the situation as trivial details. (By the way, I've had unreliable cars - and died in my previous incarnation as a result of a plane engine failing: lack of mechanical reliability has been, to me, almost terrifying, before I dealt with some of my past life issues - and it is bad enough just having to think "if I go to do the shopping, will I get stuck and lose all my cold goods?" let alone, as was the case for me when I was working in inland Queensland, "what will happens in the hours before another car could come along?" [I always carried water, blankets, etc for such an eventuality]).

This stereotype situation can be looked at from other points of view as well.

From an energy point of view, both right: after venting, they still have the issue of the car failure and what could have contributed to it to deal with (this is the same problem as getting drunk to forget something, usually pain: when the drunk sobers up, the problem is still there, and they have been weakened by getting drunk, and maybe had the problem exacerbated if they have picked up a lot of negative energy while their aura was blown wide open), but on the other hand, the emotional energy may have led to the problem.

If I may jump ahead to where I have the temerity to offer advice, I would suggest BOTH need equally to look at situation objectively.

From point of view of paths, karma-path-person wants to fix the whole situation, Jnana-path-person wants to know what happened and why (whether this is from a physical or psychic focus depends on the person's worldliness vs. spiritual focus), and so on. Each may not understand why the other is focused on what seems to be not important.

Doing a little more hypothesising on this theme, someone who is focused on solely one growth path may find someone who is focused on a few paths at the same time confusing. The former may be inclined to say to the latter "Whoa! Hold on! Just choose one thing, and look at that." On the other hand, the latter person may "know" that any situation has multiple aspects to it, just as a jewel may have multiple facets, and they all need to be looked at to understand the situation properly (which, it will no doubt surprise you, is my position :) ).

Now a few random thoughts which could possibly be related to my life experience of being on one particular mix of spiritual growth paths, and interacting with others who have a different mix:

• I tend to not need a lot of people contact - just my partner and my friends (including those family members [I count myself as part of four families: adoptive, birth and two through relationships] who are friends, which excludes the few who are red-necks). In fact, I find people who fear being alone a bit ... sad. On the other hand, I NEED solitude and time in the bush (wild bush, not the manicured parks and gardens near where I live) and on water, or I feel that I am psychologically dying. I feel a great sympathy for stereotype-tribal person who withers and fades away when locked away from their land in a prison (for an example of this, see the quirky film "The Gods Must Be Crazy" [2]). I haven't had any worthwhile bush time for long time now ... but I am hoping to do so this weekend :) (On this, I also find people I am trying to teach who easily get bored frustrating: they are less likely to do the simple, repetitive practice that is necessary to develop skills - the sort of thing that people who make things look easy have already done ...)
  
  This, too, could simply be that my need for people contact has been more than adequately met, at the moment, but my need for bush-time has not, and hence that need predominates - so it is a case of having multiple needs, but one tends to be most predominant at one time or another. As an example of that, consider food and drink: we need both, but if we are hungry and thirst, and then drink (or eat), the need that will be most apparent will be our hunger (or thirst). Maybe the same sort of effect applies to those who are working on multiple growth orientation paths: when the more urgent needs of one path have been tended to, another path's needs become more pressing - and so we cycle on, over a period of hours, days, months, years, decades or even lifetimes ...
  
  A similar effect can be observed with karma: many people tend to bounce about between extremes (e.g. primly "good" in one life to compensate for a prior life of "badness") before they - eventually - find a way to maintain a dynamic equilibrium between their various competing needs/behaviours/etc.
• Next, I don't have to justify myself or my views to anyone. I am owed respect inherently - which includes the right to have my privacy respected, and I have the right to be as irrational as I choose to be - provided no-one is being harmed. Of course, I need to be prepared to accept the consequences of that. For instance, if a partner asked me why I am doing or not doing something, and I chose not to answer, I have to be prepared to accept the possibility that such may destroy the trust/closeness that is a basis for that relationship, and hence end the relationship. I am, in this case, more thinking of other situations. For instance, when I left my first job as an engineer, after 7 years (which ,incidentally, was they day they (a) said they thought I was a good engineer, and (b) was the day they told me if I had stayed another two weeks I would have been paid pro-rata long service leave), I was fed up with engineering. At the send off, one of the directors said he hoped I stayed in engineering after I moved interstate, and I did not respond to that. As far as I was concerned, that was my business, and FORMER work colleagues had ZERO right to know anything of my future plans.
  
  Related to this, I have come across people regretting the loss of interaction between neighbours. I've lived in a small community where such interactions were good, but that was in the boating world, when I was living on a boat. If I was living on the banks of a river, interactions might be similar. In the 'burbs, however, I am cursed with having to cope with other people's bigotry: I don't want interactions that comprise other people telling me I should not exist ... This was probably worst in Menzies' Australia in the 50s and 60s, during which time Menzies made a comment about not needing to take some sort of repressive action (I have forgotten the details - sorry, and don't have time to look this up) as nothing could match the controlling behaviour in people's living rooms.

Now, moving away from spiritual paths from the point of view of yogic pathways, I spent some time (along with a few dozen others in the audience - there is NO special or particular connection between myself and this person) with someone recently who was on a related, but slightly different spiritual pathway to me: Charmaine Wilson.

Charmaine is a fantastic medium - and I consider some particularly good points of her session to be:

• the beginning and end talks about depression, how there is no shame is being depressed and the importance of dealing with it;
• that mediumship is not a perfect, exact science (as Charmaine said, she gets an image and may tend to interpret it in a particular way, whereas the significance of the image is something else; the example given was of getting an image of a bridge, which turned out to be because the spirit had been president of the (card-game) bridge club ...), and Charmaine did acknowledge when some connections were not very strong and left some attempted readings pass;
• that it is possible and good to be connected to your own spirit;
• some cautions about ways some people rip others off (e.g. by claiming that the "client" [rip-off victim!] has a ghost haunting them, and that the "client" [rip-off victim] needs to pay the pseudo-psychic [i.e. rip-off merchant] more money).

I have come across such rip-off merchants and "tricks", so it is good that a warning about such was given last night. It is also good that she attempted to defuse the fear of spirit matters, and mentioned that people pass over to the Light easily. I do, however, disagree with her on this somewhat: there are some people who don't pass over, and do need rescue. That is not Charmaine's area of speciality, whereas it is mine, and I consider my experience more relevant in this case (whereas is someone I wants a good "proof-of-survival" reading, I would recommend [strongly!] they go to her, not me :) ). Charmaine is dealing with spirits who have passed over, and are coming back to pass on messages; I deal with the ones who have got stuck - who, I should be clear, are NOT always or even often malevolent. My teacher gave an example of one "haunting" he was asked to work on, where the client said the spirit was doing evil; when asked to give examples of the "evil", she mentioned things like chairs being pulled out when people went to sit in them. What was the source of this "evil"? A young child who had found he was invisible ...

Have a look at some of my past posts on this: http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2010/06/saturday-morning-rescues-blog.html, http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2010/01/film-review-lovely-bones.html, http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2009/12/shades-of-exorcism.html, http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2009/10/service-to-guide-souls-of-dead.html, and http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2008/05/mediumship-part-three-last-part.html.

Also, Charmaine stated that it is not possible to be "possessed by malevolent spirits", and that events of the type shown in the film "The Exorcist" don't happen. Well, I agree that things like spinning heads don't happen, but there are "malevolent" spirits. More commonly (and perhaps less threatening or disturbing to some), there are energies and people which we are not in harmony with. In much the same way as two colours may clash, the auras of two people (possibly both incarnate, or one discarnate and one incarnate, or both discarnate) may clash. It is possible, and desirable, that one protect oneself against such disharmony - a statement made in exactly the same spirit (pun not intended by me, but I won't speak for the guides helping me with this!) as Charmaine's comments that being depressed is not wrong or terrible, but it is important to treat the depression.

Next, I was listening to ABC Radio National's Science Show programme, and heard a segment on acne. This programme hypothesised that the (evolutionary) purpose of acne is to ensure some partners survive the violence of sexual competition. That comment was based on "primitive" tribal lifestyles, where death rates are substantially higher than in "civilised" society (have a look at my post on Neanderthal Predation theory (at here). I have to say, in a milder way that pretty much matches my recollection of being teenager as being a decidedly unpleasant experience. Apart from my personal angst, there were all the "Queen Bees" and "Wannabees" (who I would term alpha females), alpha males and other bullies and bitches to put up with ... I'm glad I am personally finished (a long time ago, now) with that time of life.

Now my final point. I am including the link to this blog post as a matter of public interest. The author has requested that it be spread far and wide, and I will do so. There are major problems with the responses in Western nations to security threats: for some good comments on what is described as "security theatre" (as opposed to real, effective security) in this and other areas, I suggest you consider also checking out Bruce Schneier's website .

So ... the blog post is at: http://johnnyedge.blogspot.com/2010/11/these-events-took-place-roughly-between.html

A few other links relating to Bruce Schneier:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Schneier;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_fear;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneier%27s_Law; and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failing_badly.

Update:
There has been another blog post about this: see here.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Notes:

1. Now, with the qualification that I am NOT considering people who have been seriously injured in some way (e.g. been the victim of childhod abuse), and hence genuinely NEED healing, when I make this comment I am thinking here of people who are immature, or insecure, or otherwise needy, and seek an external cure, rather than seeking to cure the flaw within. Subject to my qualification, having a sense of being loved cannot be created from without: you have to at least be open to the possibility that you are loveable.
   
   I am also thinking of one woman who I heard as describing a new lover as "not selfish" because he stayed up all night rather than getting some sleep so he could do his work as he was paid to do the next day. (She hadn't thought about the work issue, by the way, only her personal pleasure.)
2. I was staggered to read, at this link, that there had been four follow up films! The second one wasn't as good as the first, in my opinion, and there were others after that ... Please note the views about the faults of the film: the Wikipedia listing includes, for instance, the following comment: "Richard Lee, an anthropologist who studied the Ju/ʼhoansi, argues that the film's representation of the group was a "cruel caricature of reality" given the decades of highly problematic social changes".

This post's photo is yet to be posted.

Tags: leadership, growth orientation, Charmaine Wilson, rescue, mediumship, proof-of-survival, sexuality, competitiveness, violence, survival, security theatre, selfishness,

First published: Tuesday 16th November, 2010

Last edited: Friday 19th November, 2010

Post No. 152 - Book rave: "Spirit Release", by Sue Allen

I read a book on spirit rescue some time ago that I was VERY disappointed in, as it was extremely biased in its viewpoint, coming across as very Christian and very anti-Wicca/witchcraft/pagan. I posted about my disappointment in this book on the Spirit Rescuers web group, on Ning at that time, and subsequently also on Social Go, and received a reply advising me to try reading "Spirit Release" by Sue Allen.

Well, life kept coming along, so I wasn't able to get around to reading it for some time, but I recently got a copy from the TS Bookshop.

Wow.

As my partner - jokingly - said "Hey - now there are two sane people in the world" (meaning, there are two people talking about the sorts of things I do - I'm not the only "crazy" prophet).

I'm still reading the book, and have yet to be sure about whether she is anti-pagan or OK with Wicca, witchcraft and paganism (witchcraft has been mentioned as a possible source of psychic attack, but I consider there can be benefits from combining paganism with spirit rescue - see here), but so much of the rest is the sort of stuff I have been taught, and have used for so long, it is almost scarily :)

There is content about links (which she calls cords), good and "bad" earthbound entities (I call the "bad" ones "uncooperatives", and she calls them "Dark Force Entities"), that situations can occur for a whole range of reasons (and she has a good attitude towards karma). The only concern is whether she is going to be anti-witchcraft/pagan/Wicca ...

Anyway, the book details are:
"Spirit Release", by Sue Allen, pub. o-books, 2007, ISBN 978-1-846940-33-0.

One of the books cited as a reference by Ms Allen is William Baldwin's "Spirit Releasement Therapy: A Technique Manual" (pub. Headline Books, USA, 1991, 2nd Ed. 1992). This cropped up as a reference in another (on line) article I read (and included in this post) with a slightly different citation:

Baldwin, W.J. (1991) "Spirit Releasement Therapy: A Technique Manual". (2nd ed.). Falls Church, VA: The Human Potential Foundation Press.

Update No. 1
Well, sadly, I have to report that Ms Allen is misinformed and somewhat biased in what she writen concerning earth-based religions such as Wicca, witchcraft and other forms of paganism (see here and here).

Her commentary on witchcraft (in her chapter on psychic attack) is SOLELY about the dangers of using spells to control others (e.g. love spells). Now, while I agree with her on that point, it would have been good if she could have at least acknowledged that there are other aspects to witchcraft and other Earth based religions - after all, she managed to mention that Voodoo "is a religion just as Chritianity and Buddhism are religions".

So, Ms Allen, are earth based religions.

At least she continues "as with any other practice using energy and intention, Voodou can be used either positively or negatively".

On a more positive note, the description of clearing links ("cutting cords") is good, although I combine the separate stages described of "cut, then heal at both ends" into one step, by sending light, love and healing from one end of the link out to dissolve the cord totally. (A danger I have heard of elsewhere is of a cut cord latching onto another person/energy; that cannot happen when the whole cord is dissolved throughout it's length.) Ms Allen's description of the effects that cords can cause when attached to particulat chakras is also particularly good.

The chapter on "Intentional Psychic Attack", apart from the problem with earth based religions, is also turning out to be excellent, with topics covered so far including thought forms, past life thought forms, thought forms used in psychic attack, body parts and products, objects, and entities. The coverage of clearing past life energies could benefit from consideration of karmic aspects along the lines that I was taught back in the 80s and have been working with ever since (see here and here), but that is one topic I don't expect a lot of people to know about.

OK, back to the book, and I'll post more as I wend my way through it.

Update No. 2
I have, sadly, found more coments that are anti-witchcraft, and yet the author very clearly has a very strong connection to the Earth and earth energies - even using a blending of earth and "spiritual/heavenly" energies in some chakra meditations that I also use (which is nice validation for me of the guidance I've received). In fact, Ms Allen writes of possessing/obsessing entities (she calls the latter "attachments") that will block the Crown chakra and "below the feet".

I rather suspect that this is simply a case of the author not having had much contact with genuine pagan religions, including witchcraft. She is quite inclusive of same sex attraction - even giving, as an example of the symptoms of obsession/attachment, one gay friend of hers who suddenly found himself having sexual throughts about a woman: she told him to get round there straight away, and found a heterosexual attachment :) Quite a relieving breath of fresh air, after reading the sort of idiotic tripe in other books claiming that a "cure" was possible for homosexuality or being trans (which, of course, has the offensive and WRONG imlication that a "cure" is needed at all!). It is also evident that she hasn't come across Katrina Raphael's chakra system, which talks about the "Earth Star" chakra, which is the reason that entitites may place a block a block "below the feet" (see my previous post here).

On the other hand, the description of succubus and incubus is standard heterosexual fare: There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. (Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5).

Aside from that, however, the book is still excellent, and I have learned a couple of things (e.g., that blocks of Crown and Earth Star chakras can be used). A few other random comments:

• I have not come across extraterrestials as obsessing entities, and note that extraterrestials can actualy also be guides (one of my parallels' last life was on another planet, and that part of my soul is now acting as a guide for me [specialising in working with extraterrestial civilisations]; with regard to physical extraterrestials, see my previous post here for some information of the good and bad civilisations which exist);
• Power Animals are mentioned, which is good as it acknowledges shamanism (incidentally, my partner is currently reading a book on rescue which talks about animals becoming earthbound: I haven't come across that myself as far as I can recall, but will watch for it: it would certainly be possible in some of the horrible cases of death through abuse of animals, just as torture and other assaults on humans can lead to them being earthbound by their pain);
• there is good coverage of demons, including the need for the spirit rescuer to be confident and well grounded & protected to reduce vulnerability to attack themselves, although I would comment that there isn't always a contract between "lesser" demons and their masters: sometimes it is just straight out domination or intimidation (see also my posts here, here and here);
• elementals are acknowledged, with their release being "to a place that is appropriate", which is correct because, as the author writes, they are part of their own section of reality, and the Summerlands aren't necessarily a correct part of their reality;
• there is good discussion on how to differentiate between the various types of entity/influence (this could usefully be summarised into a flow chart - I did something similar when I did what was effectively a Quality Assurance/Quality Control manual for a past circle of mine [see here for an example based around communication] on techniques for cooperatives and non-cooperatives [which I will try to scan and add in the next few days], but that could usefully be generalised);
• fragments are talked about, both in the context of soul retrievals and what is, in my words, effectively soul retrieval for earthbound entities (and other attachments) being released;
• (spirit) guides are not always wise, just either wiser than the person being guided, or being helped by people wiser - and their not always in spirit either :) (see the diagram in my post here);
• the section on Vampires could do with a description of the "Black Veil" Code of Ethics, but then again, very few people seem to know of that (see my previous here, which mentions this);
• there is a good chapter on how and why spirits attach themselves to people, although I've found that very drunk or drug affected people have an aura that is blown so wide open that obsessing spirits can leave;
• the chapter on performing rescue is good (although I have just skimmed it at this stage, and will read it properly later), including the need for rescuers to make their own assessment, and the fact that people could genuinely have a mental illness, and using fingers to communicate, which is a little like a Touch For Health (kinesiology) technique that I use;
• there is a good analogy that "closing" or "shutting down a chakra is more a case of desensitising it, which makes sense as the chakras are how our higher frequency bodies sustain us in this physical realm;
• I disagree that salt should not be used to cleanse crystals on the basis that it can cause harm to a crystal - so can sunlight, for that matter: all techniques just basically require suitable care (see my workshop notes - without the figures - here);
• the technique of "visualisation" can also be adapted to use sound or scent;
• I use a "light test" (included in my previous post here) to check some matters such as whether guides are geneuinely "good guys" or "bad guys", and whether what I'm feeling is mine, or the influence of an antity/attack/etc;
• Horus is mentioned in a healing context, which is appropriate, but I generally find Yinepu (usually referred to by the Greek name "Anubis") the best Egyptian deity to work with for rescue;
• the book does come across as having a Christian bias to me, with the sections on Ascended Masters and Archangels: that perception is largely my problem, though, as such concepts are part of Jewish faith, Theosophy, New Age, etc, etc, etc. Still, I am feeling that there may be a need for a pagan-friendly book on spirit rescue (maybe "The WItches Guides to Spirit Rescue: a Manual" :) ), where I wont have the nails scratched down the blackboard response I get when there is lots of waffle about Angels (may their God bless their cotton angelic socks :) ).

I will probably not post any more on this book, but I am starting to think seriously about the pagan book on rescue I mentioned ...

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is of one of our cats. 

 

 

 

 

Tags: earthbound, grounding, protection, rescue, about me, ET/UFO/UAP, astral, attitudes, awareness, death, mediumship, not letting go, parallels, pagan, past lives, perceptions, sexuality, Shakespeare, shamanism, soul parts, spiritualism, spirituality, transgender/transsexual/bigender, UFOs, unconscious, Vampires, wisdom,

First published: Tuesday 10th August, 2010

Last edited: Tuesday 17th August, 2010 (added Update No. 1)

Post No. 127 - Other views of "the northern traditions" and other stuff

I've posted before on various "interesting reading" links. This is another such post.

To begin with, in the interests of being as fair and objectively informative as I can, some less happy posts about the "Northern Traditions" that I have come across follow, along with others that call for inclusiveness:

• Sexual Pervertions in the Northern Tradition
• Troth to the Aesir

Some of those links are relevant for a book review I am working on.

Also, I found these interesting:

• The Millenium Report, from The Archdruid Report blog
• Combat Magic, found on a page on Freya Awynn's site, with the author's page here
• another page on Freya Aswynn's site leads here
  
• and this was an interesting book review on a Freya Aswynn page

Here are a few more links which might be of interest:

• mediumship (Wikipedia)
• New Age (Wikipedia)
• spirit guide (Wikipedia)
• the Avalon series of books
• the Hrafnar (associated with Diana L. Paxson, co-author with Marion Zimmer Bradley in a number of cases, including some of the Darkover series, and later continued the Avalon series)
• Living in Tower Time Author: Diotima Mantineia http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usnc&c=words&id=14041
• The Village Witch Post details: We Call It "Tower Time" http://blogs.citizen-times.com/blogs/index.php?blog=18&p=10975&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
• The First Direction Of Divine Creation Author: Erik Stearns http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ustx&c=words&id=14010 (this relates somewhat to my "downside of mythology post", but goes beyond that: is EXCELLENT post
• http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usnj&c=words&id=13895
• Tea-leaf reader looks into iFuture, July 9, 2010 - 3:00AM; URL: http://www.theage.com.au/national/tealeaf-reader-looks-into-ifuture-20100708-102ak.html
• Monkeys catapult to freedom over fence, July 9, 2010 - 3:00AM; URL: http://www.theage.com.au/world/monkeys-catapult-to-freedom-over-fence-20100708-102bc.html
• http://wildhunt.org/blog/tag/ley-lines which includes the following links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michell_(writer) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fort, which in turn includes the following:
  
  Some skeptics and critics have frequently called Fort credulous and naïve, a charge his supporters deny strongly. Over and over again in his writing, Fort rams home a few basic points that were decades ahead of mainstream scientific acceptance, and that are frequently forgotten in discussions of the history and philosophy of science:
  Fort often notes that the boundaries between science and pseudoscience are "fuzzy": the boundary lines are not very well defined, and they might change over time.
  
  Fort also points out that whereas facts are objective, how facts are interpreted depends on who is doing the interpreting and in what context.
  
  Fort insisted that there is a strong sociological influence on what is considered "acceptable" or "damned" (see strong program in the sociology of scientific knowledge).
  
  Though he never used the term "magical thinking", Fort offered many arguments and observations that are similar to the concept: he argued that most (if not all) people (including scientists) are at least occasionally guilty of irrational and "non scientific" thinking.
  
  Fort points out the problem of underdetermination: that the same data can sometimes be explained by more than one theory.
  
  Similarly, writer John Michell notes that "Fort gave several humorous instances of the same experiment yielding two different results, each one gratifying the experimenter."[8] Fort noted that if controlled experiments – a pillar of the scientific method – could produce such widely varying results depending on who conducted them, then the scientific method itself might be open to doubt, or at least to a degree of scrutiny rarely brought to bear. Since Fort's death, scientists have recognized the "experimenter effect", the tendency for experiments to tend to validate given preconceptions. Robert Rosenthal has conducted pioneering research on this and related subjects.

(I'm particularly glad to have found the first three links, as I can use them whenever I refer to these concepts - which I do a fair bit :) .)

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is yet to be posted

Tags: Northern Tradition, demons, discrimination, attitudes, runes, Freya Aswynn, sexuality,

First published: Saturday 3rd July, 2010

Last edited: Friday 9th July, 2010