Post No. 029 - Protection [Content Warning: interpersonal interactions, problems, karma, life lessons, psychic attack]

I'm writing this to get it started, but will be adding more. The notes at the end of this post are significant, and I also have bundled a few links at the end as well. At this stage, my main point is probably that I want to make the case for a bit of common sense, here.

If I walk onto a railway line close in front of a train travelling at significant speed, I will get hit - if I don't get out the way. To prevent this happening, I would suggest there is a case for some sort of separation for the good of - predominantly - me. That doesn't make the train evil. If I open my aura to strong energies, energies that are stronger than my capacity to handle energies at that time and place, I may find myself experiencing the psychic equivalent of being hit by a train.

If I go overseas, I could wind up with stomach bugs and diarrhoea - perhaps because of poor hygiene practices, but - in some cases - perhaps equally because I am simply not used to the local water (it may, for instance, have a different salinity or iron concentration). In those later cases, the water is also not evil. If I try a new psychic methodology or practice that I am not familiar with, I may experience some discomfort. This is also somewhat akin to the situation of needing to develop one's psychic strength that I alluded to in the previous example, and have posted about elsewhere in this blog. That doesn't make the new practice evil, nor even mean that one shouldn't pursue it.

If I try to play classical and pop music at the same time, my ears may regret my musical inclinations. If I have an aura that is predominantly one particularly colour, I may regret the consequences of wearing a colour that clashes with it. That doesn't make either colour or music style evil.

There are actions that can best be described as evil - I consider H_tl_r, the Cultural Revolution, the apartheid regime and Robert Mugabe's current appalling regime in Zimbabwe to be examples of such. Some crimes fit into that description as well. When I say this, I am taking a harder view of evil than that expressed by M. Scott Peck in "People of the Lie", which argues that evil is (in my paraphrasing) around people trying to control others (see my post on control): I am referring to conscious, deliberate, choices. 

PS - for a more up to date version of how I view evil now (in 2024), see http://gnwmythrsglossary.blogspot.com/2014/11/evil.html  

However, in the overwhelming majority of cases, protection is against things like disharmony, or one's overestimation of one's own abilities.

I have some procedures I have set out to "enshrine" a few common sense elements of establishing protection for oneself, for a group that one is part of, or for others who are not present (it is important to respect free will under those circumstances). Over the next few months I will put those into a Word flow chart (I will be doing that as part of preparing to establish the Grove of Gyhldeptis anyway), then convert them to JPEG files and upload them to this post. One of the key aspects of this is checking that whatever one has done to establish protection has actually worked: if you ask for protection, but find you are not, then you have a problem which needs to be solved before you do whatever it was you originally wanted protection for - which, on the extremely rare cases I have encountered it, was annoying, irritating and frustrating - and due to my guides wanting to make sure I would actually show some personal responsibility and check.

Because of the forthcoming uploads, I won't add a photo to this post.

The other point I wish to make is that I am as thorough and precise as I can be. Some examples of the prayers I use for protection follow. (If you use these, you don't have to read out the "See Note ..." :) ) Another one is one that I was taught more recently, when studying Correllian Wicca, and is effective as a quick prayer at any time you need it:
"There is but one power in the Universe and I am a perfect manifestation of that Power. As such, I will that the boundaries of my aura be strong and healthy, repelling all negative and unwanted energy while allowing positibe and healing energy in."

Prior to writing this post: 

at the start of each day:I ask for maximum protection, healing, guidance and white ballasting [see Note 1] from constructive forces [see Note 2] for the Highest Spiritual Good [see Note 3] for myself, my family, friends and my and their supporting units [see Note 4], and all units that will affect or be affected by us [see Note 5], in all times, places, dimensions, levels and realities [see Note 6] throughout this day until I ask for such protection again [see Note 7].

when going to sleep:
I ask for maximum protection from constructive forces for the Highest Spiritual Good for myself, my family and friends, and my and their supporting units, and all units that will affect or be affected by us, in all times, places, dimensions, levels and realities throughout this night/sleep until I ask for such protection again.

for a ritual (I combine this prayer with other work to establish - and check - protection):
I ask for maximum protection from constructive forces for the Highest Spiritual Good for myself, my family and friends, and my and their supporting units, and all units that will affect or be affected by us, in all times, places, dimensions, levels and realities throughout this working until we ask for such protection again.

After writing this post: 

at the start of each day:I ask for maximum protection from constructive forces for the Highest Spiritual Good for myself, my family, friends and others as is for the Highest Spiritual Good, and my and their supporting units, and all units that will affect or be affected by us, in all times, places, dimensions, levels and realities throughout this day until I ask for such protection again.

when going to sleep:I ask for maximum protection from constructive forces for the Highest Spiritual Good for myself, my family, friends and others as is for the Highest Spiritual Good, and my and their supporting units, and all units that will affect or be affected by us, in all times, places, dimensions, levels and realities throughout this night/sleep until I ask for such protection again.

for a ritual (I combine this prayer with other work to establish - and check - protection):I ask for maximum protection from constructive forces for the Highest Spiritual Good for myself, my family, friends and others as is for the Highest Spiritual Good, and my and their supporting units, and all units that will affect or be affected by us, in all times, places, dimensions, levels and realities throughout this working until we ask for such protection again.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post has no photo, as it will soon have some figures added.

Tags: protection, planes of existence, interpersonal interactions, karma, life lessons, Lobsang Rampa, love, past lives, Psychic attack, Seth,

First published: Saturday 10th November, 2007
Last edited: Saturday 1st Decmber, 2007

Note 1:
Although this request is basically for protection, my experience is that protection is more effective when it comes with a few extra add-ons (and my teaching at ASPECTS was to ask for these). Not doing so is a bit like sending a SWAT team in to rescue someone who has been kidnapped and critically injured without then providing any medical care: the organisers would look silly if they had someone saved who then had a preventable death from injuries. You may well need a small boost to your energies and state of being, which in itself would re-energise your aura and enhance the natural protection that a healthy aura can provide. Similarly, a little judicious guidance may be a case of "spend a penny, save a pound", or "a stitch in time saves nine": it's a bit like saying to someone, don't drive round that blind corner, there's a cliff round there. As a metaphysical example, consider "Don't walk through that alley, there's a cloud of depressive energy there you don't need to experience."

The term "white ballasting" is a reversal of "negative ballasting", which refers to things which tend to drain or drag one down. White ballasting is a request for things which are uplifting, healing, inspiring, constructive, etc - whether that is a shop attendant smiling, seeing the sun come out from behind some clouds, overhearing a comment which inspires one to patience or a balanced perspective, having positive thoughts forms packed into one's aura, etc.

Note 2:
Just on the off chance that some of the evil dudes (pardon my use of an Americanism) I alluded to are listening in and decide to but in and give their idea of "protection", I specify that I want the help of constructive forces. These are not necessarily all "nice, white Light" type people (the term I was originally taught to use at ASPECTS was "Divine Light Force", and I frequently still use that, but with a much broader understanding of what is "good" than when I started off a few decades ago :) ) - although they are often are. In some cases, I can best be helped by forces that some would consider "undesirable", perhaps because they focus on involutionary aspects where one's focus is on inner reflection, getting to know oneself and focusing on oneself rather than selflessly serving others (and that period will typically be followed by an outwardly focused period, much as the [Wiccan] year is divided into Light ["evolutionary"] and Dark ["involutionary"] halves).

I also consider that making such a specific request demonstrates that I am reasonably aware, and less likely to be gullible or naive (and perhaps thus deserving of better protection?).

Note 3:
Sometimes I have to go through an unpleasant experience for the benefit of my long term spiritual good, whether that is to pay a karmic debt, to strengthen me by being challenged or pushed to the limit or to trigger something in someone else (it is truly amazing what friends will do for each other: Richard Bach's novel "Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah" [pub. 1977, ISBN 0-440-20488-7; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusions_%28novel%29, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bach for more on that author] proposes an interesting, but extreme example of such behaviour; on a more common note, I have had people thank me for something which seems minor to me but is major to them - and I owe others debts for such favours, for instance, the people who introduced me to Lobsang Rampa, sailing and Wicca). In such cases, I am asking that my request to - effectively - have smooth sailing be overridden if I should undergo an unpleasant experience for the ultimate good of myself. You could think of it as something like having to undergo a short term, relatively short (relative being in the view of the soul, not this lifetime) pain for long term good - a bit like the short term discomfort of a massage for long term comfort and health.

(That comment is a bit arguable, if you consider gentle massage techniques like myotherapy [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myotherapy]. I was originally going to use having shin splints broken off during a sports massage as an example: that was originally described to me [in the 1980s] as overworked muscles trying to stabilise themselves by latching on to nearby bone, and I could feel such attachments on the side of my shin being dislodged when I had my first ever sports massage [after around a dozen years of fairly athletic competition in sailing], and felt a dramatic improvement when I next went for a run. However, when I've tried Wikipedia for a reference, I found a different description [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_splints]; I don't know if that is a cultural variation or not, but I've changed the example anyway.)

Note 4:
If you ask most people who are the most important, supportive people in their life, they'll often go through a bit of a sequence like partner first (that's good, counts as "family"), parents (family again) and maybe other family members (not all families are constructive organisations, however - for instance, some parents are abusive of children, some adult children are abusive of elderly parents, and a number of families have splits of varying severity across various lines). Friends will often get a guernsey - old colloquialism there - sorry :) ; it means, young whippersnappers, that friends will often get the credit they deserve as being important, supportive parts of people's lives. In fact, my initial reaction to someone who doesn't mention friends is that their life may be lacking balance and be unduly focused on family. But important, supportive people go well beyond family and friends: teachers (with apologies to grammar teachers), mentors (I have had several of those, in various fields of life), good bosses (in fact, I'm writing this in the city where I was able to go to while my mother was ill [and for her subsequent death and funeral, and afterwards to help my father get established in his new phase of life] largely because of a good boss), good neighbours, etc can all be important and supportive - one might even find a telling off by a judge or cop when going off the rails is enough to turn some people's lives round and qualify that judge or cop as a "supporting unit".

A "supporting unit" is a person, place or thing that helps one to be all that one can be: I've focused on people, but it could also be music that one finds relaxing (after a stressful time) or reinvigorating (after a tiring time), a special physical, astral or mental place that one goes to, or an organisation where one is learning or being given the opportunity to serve. All of those deserve to be included when you are asking for protection in their own right; more realistically, people tend to get motivated into asking for protection for those who are of significance to them, which means the subtle people, places, energies and things that are supportive of oneself and those one is close to. To take a specific example, if a special mentor gets a great deal of pleasure from a music system, you want that system looked after and kept safe and in good working order as well, so the special mentor can keep doing their special mentoring :)

As I worked through this, I've become aware just how self centred this is, and I will now propose to use a variation to include people who are deserving of protection, even though neither I nor those significant to me may not know them - whether that is someone who is making a special effort, or getting a hard time and deserves a break, or someone else. To do this, I will add the phrase "and others as is for the Highest Spiritual Good".

Right, now for the next essay (this has wound up being juuuust a tad longer than I anticipated :) ).

Note 5:
"And all units that will affect or be affected by us" came originally out of refining the request for protection for a circle where specific work was being done: it is a way of asking specifically that those one is seeking to help (whether "those" are people, places, things or energies) be given whatever help is necessary, including but not limited to protection (my legal influences are showing!), to enable the help to be as effective as possible.

This request is also extended to those who could interfere with or unduly influence that request. Now, those people are not only people who are evil: in fact, most such influences are perfectly ordinary everyday people. For instance, consider the child who wants a tired parent to give them some attention when it may be that the parent needs sleep now, after which they can give quality time to that child; the child would be a unit who is influencing the parent, if healing and/or help is being sent to them. By making this request, what may happen is that the child may see the parent is desperately tired and say "Mummy/Daddy, you go get some sleep" (such miracles can and do happen). On a slightly harder note, think of someone who does someone unforgivable to you or your family - perhaps harm one of your children, if you have any, or harm a parent or a close friend if you don't have children. Under such circumstances, what tends to happen is that many people want revenge, rather than justice, and that desire can carry through into future lifetimes (see my posts on past life regressions and working with karma as an energy). Now consider the possibility that you may well have done such harm to others (if you can't admit the possibility, you may well be wasting your time reading this blog): you may well have changed from the person you were two hundred or two thousand or twenty thousand years ago when you did that harm, and be perfectly willing to admit you made a mistake, but that grudge and hurt held by your victim could still be restricting you. Under those circumstances, if you are a reasonably evolved person, you generally wish to make up for your past wrongdoing and wish your victim well, but you still want to be able to get on with your life and with making yourself a better person. So, include those people as "units affecting you" and they could well be given enough healing to change their attitude - maybe even enough to acknowledge past reparations you have made in other lives.

I'll finish this with one more example: let's say you forget to properly secure your car's handbrake, and it rolls down the hill and damages the bumper of another car. For the you immediately apologise, loan your car to the "victim" while you arrange and pay for repairs (or hire them another car, if that is on your car insurance or you are rich enough to do so) and make further reparations (e.g., tickets to favourite events). However, the person concerned may be so wrapped up in their car that this isn't enough for them, and they want to keep milking the accident for all it is worth, or maybe they just want to thump you or smash your car because of their problem with anger (remember that, in my opinion, anger is a behaviour, not an emotion). By asking for protection to include "units affecting" you are asking that you be kept safe from such unreasonable, troubled people - and also your family & friends and others of significance to you. Furthermore, the prayer (particularly the modified version) would also include others who are possibly affected by that person - such as their family. If they are behaving this way with you, a complete stranger in this example, they may (it's not guaranteed!) well exhibit such irrational extremism with others as well, including perhaps their children.

Note 6:
Most people interested in metaphysics know about the different levels of reality - physical, etheric, astral (some have a couple of levels here), mental, spiritual and soul (with possibly causal as a further level). We exist on all of these levels: we have an astral body (which leaves the body during sleep and at death, which it survives), an etheric body (which is capable of leaving the body: in my experience, there can be some confusion about whether one is experiencing astral travel or etheric travel). The higher levels of our being are what we interpret as our Higher Self, and at even higher levels, connect us to all of creation. This request is asking that the protection and help be at all levels of our existence: to use an analogy, there's not much point making sure the tyres on a car are safe if the body is going to be allowed to fall apart because of rust.

The request further extends to include all places that all of these units will be, and all times - until the next request for protection has been made. (Perhaps this request would even cover the alley with the cloud of depressive energy I mentioned in Note 1, particularly when combined with what I wrote about in Note 5?)

It goes further to include alternate realities and dimensions, and I refer you to the works by Seth, as channelled by Jane Roberts, to gain an understanding of these.

Note 7:
Out of respect for those who are providing the requested protection, etc, I specify a time. If I don't, I consider that I am being a bit like someone who, say, calls an ambulance officer in for a shift, and then says "now please that shift going for all the rest of eternity". By including a time element, I am - in my case, given my awareness and the way I think and have agreed matters with my guides - demonstrating my awareness that I may be receiving this protection from a range of entities/units.

Links for references made in the text of this post:
- my post on developing psychic strength: Cross-training , persistence, priorities
- M. Scott Peck's "People of the Lie": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Peck
- my post on control: Control
- ASPECTS and John Fitzsimons: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~johnf/welcome.htm
- Lobsang Rampa: http://www.karenmutton.com/rampa/intro.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobsang_Rampa
- my post on working with karma as an energy: Workshop on Past Lives - Part 1: working with karm...
- my post on past life regressions: Workshop on Past Lives - Part 2: regressions
- my post on anger being a behaviour, not an emotion: Anger is not an emotion
- levels of existence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_%28metaphysics%29
- astral travel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_plane
- etheric travel: I will have to find this in some of my books: for now, try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etheric_plane
- Seth and Jane Roberts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Roberts 

Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering” (just as binary gendered [men’s and women’s] sporting teams are either both given the gender descriptor, or neither).

Copyright © Kayleen White 2007-2024     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-ShareAlike basis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/  

 

 

 

Post No. 028 - The flaws of scientific methods [Content Warning: health problems]

On the ABC web site (that's the Australian Broadcasting Commission, by the way) was an article reporting a scientific study which apparently shows that positive thinking does not work on cancer. The article reported comments conceding there were benefits to emotional states, but claims there is no evidence of improved survival. Quoting from the article:

"Researchers led by James Coyne, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, found no correlation to a cancer victim's mental wellbeing and their ultimate chances of beating off the disease.

"The belief that a patient's psychological state can impact the course and outcome of their cancer is one that has been prominent among patients and medical professionals alike," Professor Coyne wrote in the study.

"While there can be lots of emotional and social benefits of psychotherapy, patients should not seek such experiences solely on the expectation that they are extending their lives," he said."

In my opinion, this is a good example of the flaws of scientific methods: "one size fits all" research.

In my opinion, there are some people who positive thinking would help, and others who it wouldn't. Accordingly, rather than ask "will it work?", the study should have asked "what are the limits outside of which it will/will not work?" In other words, what types of people will this work on, and what types of people will it not work on? That's a subtlety which does exist in research into medical drugs (notably, what the "contraindications" are for any particular drug), so hopefully that will eventually catch on in other scientific research circles.

In my day job as an engineer, I frequently use scientific methods, the results of scientific research, and work with scientists from time to time: it can be a very useful way of thinking - but it can also be inappropriate or even a hindrance. If I have to fix a problem quickly (e.g., for safety reasons), I'll use my engineering judgement - my "gut feeling", if necessary, "based on experience" ... well, that's the official engineering jargon. It basically means there are times when intuition and "guesstimates" are more valid than scientific method. Because of that experience. I have no problems pointing out flaws in scientific method - such as the research reported in this article.

However, that's just my opinion. The article details are:
Positive thinking doesn't stop cancer: US scientists http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/23/2066862.htm

Have a read and work out what YOUR opinion is :)

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post photo is taken in the Bass Valley (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Coast_Shire) southeast of Melbourne.

Tags: cross-fertilisation (ideas), science,

First published: Tuesday 23rd October, 2007 

 

 

 

Post No. 027 - Communication

The following flow chart (presented as four figures - you should be able to click on each to see it full size) outlines the approach I teach regarding communication, and is based on the saying "communication is a process of mutual exploration to a common, shared understanding". Note that it is a process, meaning it takes time, that it needs to be mutual (if it is to be effective), and that it aims towards a common, shared understanding, meaning that respect is required, which means that concessions have to be made for the different meanings attributed to words, tones, etc. There can be a fair few lessons in communicating, which is why I have added a fair few tags.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post photo's are the flow chart :)

Tags: communication, energy work, interpersonal interactions, judging others, life lessons, personal characteristics, mirrorology,

First published: Monday 22nd October, 2007 

 

 

 

Post No. 026 - Judging others [Content Warning: Judgementalism, bigotry / discrimination, harm]

Although I consider myself to be a spiritual person, I actually consider that I am an extremely judgemental person (I am an INFJ personality type for those who are familiar with such things) - but I judge people on the basis of what they do, and the sort of people they choose to be (as far as they can choose). I do NOT judge people on the basis of things they cannot choose (I am speaking in terms of the choices that are available after they have been born: I am NOT discussing the planning of an incarnation before birth/conception), such as their race, sex, sexuality, gender identity, any disabilities, etc.

Many people who are middle aged know of the comment in Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech (a great moment in the fight for human [civil] rights - not only in the USA, where the speech was made and was probably largely intended for*) to the effect that "I have a dream ... of a world where my children are judged, NOT by the colour of their skin-" at which point many people's recollections (in my experience) cease. It was an impassioned, genuine and moving plea for an end to racism, one which I wholeheartedly support - but Dr King didn't stop at that point. With the rest of it, it is (something like) "I have a dream ... of a world where my children are judged, NOT by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their CHARACTER."

Spiritual growth involves making decisions about what one is going to do - are you going to go along with the guy asking you to go and kill a few people 'cos he seems like a charismatic dude? No? Doesn't surprise me - that one's a bit obvious. But how about the dude (or "dudette") who has been quite accurate in what they've said so far, been quite supportive and helpful and understanding, and who you've developed quite well under, but now they've started to, say ... put the hard word on you in some way. Would you be duped, or would you maintain your faculties and reason and think and discuss your concerns with the head honcho/honchette concerned? (If you can't discuss the matter, you may have a problem.)

In my case, I am aware that there are people who's ambitions and consciously directed path in life are completely incompatible with mine. I don't have to mix with those people, or tolerate their actions. I consider that I should NOT hate them (see my previous posts on things like psychic attack [at http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/06/psychic-attack-energy-protection-and.html] for an explanation of why the emotion of hate, even if it is not verbalised or acted on, can still be a major problem), but I can judge their actions and say "those actions are harmful to ...". If the actions are harmful to me or third parties, I consider that no only am I warranted in taking some action, I am obligated to do so (see my post at http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/06/workshop-on-past-lives-part-1-working.html for my thoughts on the karmic implications of inaction).

As an example of this, consider the situation of someone trying to kill a child: you may not be able to physically restrain the attacker, but you can at least call the police (and if you don't, you would be charged with being an accessory). Again, that's a fairly clear cut example (and I touched on this from the point of view of kids who are abused but aren't believed by adults they try to tell in my post at http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/10/them-and-us.html).

What about someone who is ... say, a dangerous driver because they speed or tailgate? What can or should you do in that situation? You could say casually to the person "hey mate, have you thought about what could happen to others - maybe someones kid - if you have an accident?" If you know that won't work, well, I'll give a range of suggestions here: You could:
- report them through Crimestoppers (anonymously, if you wish)
- ask for/cast spells for protection for all those who are unfortunate enough to be anywhere near them on the roads
- do some work (spells, or at least ask) for them to get some constructive guidance in their sleep state (whether from their Higher Self or [constructive] guides) so that they grow up and realise the danger they are creating for other people.

Here in Australia we've had some very successful education which has changed social attitude to the extent that drink-driving is no longer socially acceptable. Now, if someone was going to try and drive while drunk, there is a good chance that the person's friends would take their keys off them. If you judge someone actions and find that they are going to harm others, there are plenty of precedents for taking action.

Another example I would put into this category is the person who does not accept people who are "different" - such as LGBTI people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex; if you haven't come across the last two terms previously, see http://www.transgendervictoria.com/?p=p_2&sName=definitions, http://home.vicnet.net.au/~aissg/ and http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=297615). Apart from the psychic attack that comes with holding those misbegotten beliefs, there is absolutely NO excuse for the lack of respect (including the lack of manners) inherent in failing to accept LGBTI people - yet I've seen too many in so-called Christian (I use that qualification, "so-called", because there are GENUINE Christians who do accept LGBTI people), New Age, Wiccan, etc, etc, etc groups who make that mistake.

The so-called Christians often claim their bigotry because of selective acceptance/interpretation of parts of the Bible; some Wiccans because of a mistaken belief that female essence can only be experienced by people who were born female, or that polarity can only be balanced by having someone who is physically male and physically female involved. Those beliefs are absolute rubbish - there are males around who are far better at tuning in to and calling on female energies than some women I know, and vice versa, and transsexuals are attuned to the energies of the identified gender rather than their birth gender - and that is without raising the issue of some people I know who claim to neither male nor female (I personally know two such people; also, see again the definitions pages I gave links for earlier).

I am a lesbian: I have quite a butch image (which actually started largely because I have had to build up my physical strength so I could realistically care for my partner, who has physical mobility problems arising from severe arthritis in her mid-40s [the choice was being able to wear strappy tops vs. being strong enough to lift her if she fell or got stuck somewhere: the tops lost out, and I've become quite fond of being physically strong - and judge anyone who would choose otherwise quite harshly, on the grounds of selfishness]), and have encountered quite strong discrimination as a result of not fitting other people's stereotypical view of what is "feminine".

I have even had someone - who claimed to be a lesbian, but also claimed not to have raised the issue in the words she had used - ask me if I and my partner "missed having the male energy" when we had our commitment ceremony! What complete crap - commitment ceremonies/marriages/relationships are about LOVE, not meeting some third parties misguided mistakes about balance!

Such mistaken beliefs are actively harmful of LGBTI people and, as a (karmic) result, the person who holds those beliefs. As a minimum, those attitudes contribute to the restrictions of life and quality of life that are inflicted on many LGBTI people; at their worst, they are DIRECTLY responsible for contributions to suicides. (Discrimination within the LGBTI communities can also occur [e.g., G against L, G & L against B, GLB against T, etc]; when it does, it is just as wrong as other discrimination - not more, just as wrong, and some of it IS attributable to the effects of being discriminated against by society generally, and NONE of that justifies any other person discriminating against LGBTI people, any more than the flaws and problems of any group of humanas justifies treating all of that group as if they are the same.)

As another example of this sort of problematic judging others, there is the person who claims to be being "respectful" - typically, respectful of women, and in the practice of their "respect" they condemn women to live restricted lives where they are unable to do much. There are sections of Australian society which are like that - and there are sections of the Wiccan world who are like that. (Did you jump to the conclusion that I could be talking about Muslims? Two of the best engineers I have ever worked with are women who are Muslim. They are EXTREMELY capable, and they are working in a profession that is still a bit of a "Boy's club".) I say to such people who try to justify their bigotry on the basis of "respect": deal with your own inadequacies which result in you feeling threatened when women are strong, independent and capable - and living their own lives, or whatever ignorance/prejudice/discomfort with anything or anyone new or outside your personal boundaries to date (see my coming post on courage, and my post on control at http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/10/control.html).

(Anyone who does have such problems also has to deal with the weight of the law, whether that is through breaching anti-discrimination law [did you know it is illegal to discriminate against women breastfeeding in public in Victoria?], using wrong pronouns in the case of transgender people or laws around assault or threats.)

If the person's actions are going to genuinely only harm themselves, I consider the situation is less clear cut. Ironically, situations such as people harming their health through perhaps smoking or maybe major weight gain would possibly be more likely to result in friends being concerned and saying something than other actions where third parties are harmed (e.g., the dangerous driving), but - in my opinion - the karmic case for taking action is less clear cut. (The friendship motivation is quite understandable to me, though, having been on both sides of that sort of situation a few times in my life.)

It's a bit hard to think of examples where no-one else is harmed. Probably one of the clearest examples I can think of is someone who is a member of the Flat Earth Society - i.e., someone who believes (or says they believe) that the Earth is flat. If they are serious, I personally consider them wrong - and, while I wouldn't hire them to be an interplanetary rocket scientist, I wouldn't hold their beliefs against them.

I personally have seen the down side of destructive judgementalism - I have been on the receiving end of enormous discrimination, including physical threats and prolonged lack of acceptance that nearly drove me to suicide. Despite that, I know that there is a constructive judgementalism, and neither shirk from being judgemental in a constructive way nor from saying so. I judge those people who have a problem with other people being themselves in ways that don't harm others (such as lesbians, gays, transgender people, women who don't fit social stereotypes, and men who don't fit social stereotypes), and those elements of the Wiccan world who have a problem with any balance of polarity that does not involve physically male and physically female people, as having a major problem themselves.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

* See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_A_Dream for more on the speech concerned, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr (accessed on Friday 17th November, 2006, at which time the article had a note advising that sections of the article required amendment to comply with Wikipedia’s standards) for more on Dr King. At the time concerned, Wikipedia article began with this, which is a useful sumamry: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American political activist, the most famous leader of the American civil rights movement, and a Baptist minister. Considered a peacemaker throughout the world for his promotion of nonviolence and equal treatment for different races, he received the Nobel Peace Prize before he was assassinated in 1968. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter in 1977, the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004, and in 1986, Martin Luther King Day was established in his honor. King's most influential and well-known speech is the "I Have A Dream" speech.

This post's photo was taken at Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve, near Frankston (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langwarrin). This was established as a military training reserve at the time of the British Empire's war in the Sudan in the 1880s, was used for training in the Boer War and then was converted to a hospital/recovery base for soldiers in the First World War. In the last part of the 20th Century (about 1970s, I think) it was converted to a Flora and Fauna reserve.

Tags: about me, interpersonal interactions, karma, personal characteristics, judging others, discrimination, polarity,
First published: Sunday 21st October, 2007

 

 

 

Post No. 025 - Control [Content Warning: harm]

I'll begin this post by letting you know I will add more to it.

When I was doing my intensive learning, at a New Age group called ASPECTS (see http://home.vicnet.net.au/~johnf/welcome.htm), in the early 80s, one of the biggest "sins" we could commit was "control" - in the sense of controlling others. It is called lack of respect for free will in Wiccan circles, and I have seen some very interesting debates on it.

I agree that that lack of respect for free will, which I will continue to refer to as "control", is a major problem. I also consider that it is very, very, very prevalent in Australian society in other circumstances. The most common example of this is someone trying to pressure others into going to a party by saying "What are ya - a party pooper?" Similar types of control - and make no mistake about it: that is exactly what it is, and it is as evil as someone casting a spell to deliberately influence another - include pressuring people to drink ("What are ya? A ").

Swinburne University of Technology's "National Centre for Women" (now the "National Centre for Gender and Cultural Diversity") did a study of male engineering students in the 1990s, and found that humour was used as a weapon to control other (male) engineering students. (See http://www.sisr.net/ncgcd/ for more, including exploring getting a copy of the paper - the lead author was Dr Sue Lewis). This is a perfect example of the problem behaviour I am referring to as "control".

As with my post on anger (see http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/10/anger-is-noit-emotion.html), control can be viewed - at what I will call, for want of a better term, less progressed spiritual development - as a problem in it's own right. So, someone who is at an early stage of their development may acknowledge their problem behaviours as anger, smacking people in the teeth and control. As they get a little more experienced and evolved, they will start to look into this in more detail, and possibly identify their problems as suppressing problems until they explode, lack of of confidence in communication (leading to aforementioned suppression of problems), inappropriate ways of expressing frustration owing to lack of communication skills, confusing respect for people and inappropriate tolerance of behaviour leading to undue tolerance instead of smacking people in the teeth, lack of faith in the universe, wanting to be popular causing controlling behaviours, etc.

It is like training to become an elite athlete. Early days may involve learning to run around the block, whereas more advanced training may involve development of tactical running skills up hills, improved use of abs to maintain core stability in uneven ground, etc.

This does illustrate how important it is to "know thyself" when doing spiritual, psychic or personal growth work. It is fairly easy to develop one's psychic skills without developing oneself as a person, and then to take action which one genuinely thinks is helpful, wheras it is actually perhaps more based on what is personally comfortable for oneself. An example of this may be a spell to "encourage" someone to give up a life of crime: the other person involved may be trying to reinforce a lesson by learning something the hard way. in that case, talking to the person and doing some energy work to help heal them, or being an example oneself, or doing spells they ask for (for instance, to get a job to develop self esteem) may be more constructive.

Another point I will mention is the importance of not forgetting, as you start to identify more lessons, to remember that that in itself is a sign of progress :)

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is also taken from the same trip I raved about in my last post, and is another view of the Ninety Mile Beach at sunset.

Tags: life lessons, interpersonal interactions, karma, control

First published: Sunday 14th October, 2007 

 

Post No. 024 - Them and us [Content Warning: harm, bigotry, judgementalism, harm / abuse including SA]

One of the aspects I found quite enlightening about Buddhism is the notion of integrating our darker self: those parts of ourself that we do not like or want to admit. This has also carried through into my experience of Wicca, where I've encountered it under the term "shadow work".

This view is quite refreshing when looking at the hard line "us and them" mentality of quite a few people I've met with respect to criminals. The attitude seems to be "I could never be like that". Well, I have to question that. OK, so maybe it would take a lot more than just a moment or two, or a month, or maybe even a year in someone else's shoes before you snapped and wound up like them: but if you genuinely grew up in an abusive environment where everyone took law breaking and violence as the norm, would you REALLY be so inspired that you could reject all that social conditioning and rise above it? I'd be happy with a genuine yes that only involved you breaking free of that yourself: you don't have to be a Bishop Desmond Tutu or a Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi inspiring others.

Oops - I mentioned Mohandas K. Gandhi: but he had a privileged upbringing, didn't he? 

PS - and was sexually abusive, which I address here.

Our attitudes tend to influence our behaviour in different ways in different circumstances. For instance, in the example I gave of breaking free of social conditioning, I used a situation of deprivation and abuse: what is your situation? What is the social conditioning you had, and have you sifted through that to reject the less desirable or inappropriate conditioning and accept or embrace the good, constructive influences that encourage compassion? If not, then I would seriously question any "yes" answer to my previous question. I could say "You haven't been able to do this in a situation of comfort, so why would you do it in a situation of hardship?", but that is not an honest question: quite a few people's responses do tend to adapt to different situations (they "rise to meet the occasion", so to speak). So, I'll adapt that question: "Including allowance for genuine - not fanciful or wishful - 'rising to the occasion', would you, if born into a life of extreme hardship and abuse and surrounded by unspiritual values, be a spiritual person?"

I have thought about this myself, as I have had a physically privileged life (middle class Australia in the 60s and 70s) but some significant emotional trauma. On the basis of this life I'd rank myself at "pass; could do better". If take my most recent past life into consideration, I'd cut that back to "could do better".

Any time you get judgmental about other people, especially criminals, I respectfully suggest that you could beneficially take a step back and consider the old saying "there, but for the Grace of Deity, go I".

Incidentally, this post is NOT an argument in favour of doing nothing and allowing the world to have miserable places on the off chance you could get incarnated into that and test yourself. If you take that attitude, your selfishness (failure to consider others' suffering) is resulting in you incurring negative karma. Have a look at my post http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/10/stress-warts-and-blackmailing-universe.html.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is taken from the same trip I raved about in my last post, and is a view of the Ninety Mile Beach at sunset.

Tags: responsibility, about me, Buddhism, change, emotions, initiation, karma, life lessons, mirrorology, past lives, personal characteristics,

First published: Sunday 14th October, 2007 

 

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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering” (just as binary gendered [men’s and women’s] sporting teams are either both given the gender descriptor, or neither).

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Post No. 023 - [Content Warning] Stress, warts and blackmailing the universe

I am a wart: a worry wart.

I've got into this habit through engineering, where you keep thinking about problems (flexibly and creatively - you don't go over and over the same old ground, or be like a bull at a gate) until you find or invent a solution. It is a very challenging and very rewarding form of creativity (particularly rewarding, when you have the good fortune to work in an environmentally sustainable form of engineering, as I do [reuse of wastewater]).

However, there can be a time and a place for worrying, and there is a time and a place for not worrying.

My partner is a gem at the not worrying part: if she can't change or control something, she won't allow it to intrude into her life. As a worry wart, that can be frustrating, at times - but that frustration is a sign that I am learning. (I hope I am managing to be as useful to her.) I have observed that differences of "level of worry" can be a source of conflict in a wide range of situations: those of us in the worry wart camp may tend to assume that someone else refusing to worry means they aren't caring (that's an assumption - it's not necessarily so), whereas those in the "she'll be right, mate" camp tend to focus on one's inner state at the possible expense of improving things in the physical world - remember the description I gave at the start of this post, of how one can creatively "worry at" a problem, a bit like (I apologise for this analogy in advance: it's all I could think of) a hunting dog worrying at it's prey: the energy can be used creatively, and "worry" does not automatically mean "stressed out". Both can learn from the other.

I suspect many of us use worry as a badge to show we care - for instance, I've known young males to go off the handle because of kids they don't have contact with and allegedly care about, and feel that they consider this shows they care (whereas it actually only shows they possibly have emotional problems and confirms that they can be violent). I've also watched crowds baying for the blood of child abusers, and wondered at their motives as well: do they really care so much about their children, or is it about fear, frustration and wanting to control the world and people in it and force it to be something they feel is safe (which I could summarise as destructive expressions of "love")?

To take a view where one doesn't "worry about things", or does not "let things get at you", can be hard. Apart from the obvious changes to one's inner emotional landscape, one of the hardest things for me is others' reactions to this. For instance, at work a few decades ago I was told that if I wasn't upset by someone's else unethical or illegal behaviour, there was no need for anything to be done :so do I allow myself to be harmed by something so others will take the action they should, or heal myself and move on AND urge those who should to "do the right thing" anyway, even if I have been able to prevent someone else's attempt to harm me from doing so? These days I'm a bit older and wiser, and can see the comments that were made then as an attempt to manipulate me into making the life of the manager involved a bit easier. (Many years of political lobbying for human rights has helped me attain that point of view.)

Going back to "letting things get at you", I sometimes feel that people hold on to hurt to more or less try to blackmail the universe/Deity into showing some sympathy. "Hey universe/Deity, see how much this has hurt me? If you loved me, you wouldn't let this happen - or at least you'd come and give me a massage/tattslotto win/slab/ to make up for it!" Sounds trite, but it is easy to do, and I still find I do that at times. Maybe that is partly because it is easy to mistake sympathy for caring? (Mind you, I don't believe in this "hard love" rubbish: if the interaction between someone who allegedly cares and the recipient of that "care" is ineffective because it is presented in a way that the recipient cannot relate to, then it isn't caring. Did I word that carefully enough to include honest, constructive criticism? Maybe just read my post at http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/10/tough-love.html.)

Wherever you are at on this and other issues is probably where you are meant to be: the lessons you are meant to learn will be in front of you, although you may need to ask for help to learn them. Be patient with yourself: if you've been paying attention, you'll have noticed from this post alone that some of my lessons have taken me years to learn, and from one end of a spectrum (worry wart) to the other ("she'll be right, mate") and back again until I have (almost - I'm still working on this!) reached a state where I can put myself onto whatever parts of the spectrum I need to be in any particular situation.



Love, light, hugs and blessings


Gnwmythr

This post's photo was taken on one of my cruising trips through the Gippsland Lakes in the late 80s. Sailing has been very important to me in this and several other lifetimes: I mentioned it in my post http://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2007/06/about-me.html, but I failed to mention that it has given a wonderful connection to the natural world, especially it's dynamic aspects - the wind, the movements of water (tide and waves), changes with time (sand bars can shift, coast lines changes, etc). The joy of sailing has helped me through times of great personal crisis, and has helped my spiritual and personal growth and development. I have sailed through the islands in the Whitsunday Passage (the islands are actually called, if I recall correctly, the Cumberland Group) in the early 80s, when it was already crowded but not as much so as now, and I prefer the Gippsland Lakes. The "Whitsundays" can be quite rough and technically tricky because of the 20"+ tidal range and the currents that generates (to get technical, wind over tide can make a nice day one subject to rough conditions with no change of wind at all: mind you, I enjoy heavy weather sailing - you don't master nature, but you can get to be part of it and see the dynamic aspects of Mother Nature); I have found the Gippsland Lakes more relaxing. This photo - and a few from other posts - is from one of my trips. In fact, it is close to where I turned round and took a sunset photo: this is a view into Boxes Creek.
On these photos, I am aware there are far better photos around: but this post is about myself and my life, so I am both personalising it by using photos I have taken, and helping to show the beauty of this part of the world that I live in. I'll stop waffling now :)

Tags: about me, emotions, life lessons, stress

First published: Sunday 14th October, 2007 

 

Post No. 022 - Anger is not an emotion

I read Jeff Lily's latest post over at Druid Journal (http://druidjournal.net/; the post concerned is at http://druidjournal.net/2007/10/07/positive-loving-kindness-using-opposites-to-banish-negativity/), and got to thinking about the opposite of anger.

I've found in my life that depression can be due to an anger that is turned inwards, but what is the opposite of anger? When I was around 8 or 10 I realised that I had a bad temper, and decided then that I would master my anger (bad temper), and use it constructively, rather than allowing it to use me. (Yes, young children CAN have such thoughts.) Over my life, I kept working at anger when I felt it - and I had the opportunity to observe the anger of other people, much of that being other people's anger that I was different in some way (e.g., anger over my being lesbian). There was always an underlying emotion behind the anger- and that helped me to realise that I do not now consider anger an emotion is it's own right.

Anger is one way an emotion is being expressed, whether that emotion is intolerance of other people being different, insecurity about oneself leading to feeling threatened or insecure and hence to angrily threatening others (I've been at physical risk because of such emotions in other people - which was one of my motivations to get involved in political lobbying, to protect people from such intolerance), or not wanting to change or broaden one's mind. It is an external expression of an emotion, as opposed to depression, which MAY be an internal expression of anger. (There may be physical causations of both depression and anger - e.g., hormonal imbalance.)

Anger is not necessarily destructive. There IS such a thing as righteous anger - one (probably poor) example is Christ and the money lenders; better examples would be a mother (or father) protecting their child from a serious threat (e.g., an attack by a bear) or someone acting to protect others through lobbying for better anti-discrimination laws.

Well, I hope that gives you something to think about - and maybe the edge to stand up to someone who is manifesting anger towards you or people close to you and say "being angry is a way you are expressing something else: what is that?"

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

I've added a photo to this post, after rushing initially and not doing so (and not doing a spell check, either). The only problem is, I'm not entirely sure where it was taken. It was in the late 90s, and I thinki it was at Hastings Marina, on Westernport Bay (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Port) in Victoria (from a boat, of course - looking back towards land). In any case, wherever I took it, I still like it :)

Tags: anger, emotions, energy work, interpersonal interactions, life lessons, personal characteristics, responsibility,

First published: Thursday 11th October, 2007