Play and Imagination

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” -Albert Einstein

Drinking coffee, looking at what comes up on my Facebook news feed or whatever they call it.  This one catches my eye and makes me think:

"OK, so you are ten years old, you have a laptop, iPod, Facebook, and a Blackberry.... Dude. when I was ten I only had one thing to play with. It was called outside!"

Oh yes.  Playing outside.  That was it!  That was all we wanted to do.  We played every kind of thing:  house, army, cowboys and indians, tag, hide and seek, baseball, football, all kinds of things.  Most which required making things up and imagination. Our bikes were motorcycles after all.

"I remember when we used to play a game
Take you by the hand and spin you very fast
Midspin, let you go, stop yourself
Switching into statues, rock hard
Necessary spinning in the front yard, necessary spinning in the front yard,
Everybody's spinning in the front yard
Necessary spinning in the front yard
Sometimes I wish that I were nine years old again ... "

~ Necessary Spinning -  Translator

Letting your imagination run free is an important part of growing up which is at some point socialized out of us. On her blog Social and Emotional Living, Kimberly Hackett writes,  "My children played well when children. They built forts out of blankets and pillows, upturning sofas and chairs, making a mess of the house. It didn’t matter. Their creativity and freedom made me happy and it was easy to make them happy this way. They worked together, linking imaginations through interior tunnels that had few words. This is how they loved each other. I wonder where freedom goes. As my children grow older, I find myself missing their childhood freedom. No longer can we whimsically float down the wide river of play and imagination. There was school yanking us to shore, to a reality I could not control. School gave my children what I couldn’t, the chance to become socialized. They needed to maneuver on their own. Their ability to be with other children gave them another kind of freedom, the freedom in friendship. But school is a demanding taskmaster and the freedom of play and imagination is not usually welcome. "

Wouldn't it be great to be nine years old again?  Nine years old before laptops, iPads, Blackberries, Facebook so on and so forth.

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Lennon Bronte

No, this is not John Lennon.  It sure does look like him however. This is Branwell Bronte's self-portrait.  Branwell was a poet and a painter, and the brother of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte.  Branwell is said to have been the most talented of the bunch though Emily and Charlotte are more famous.  Branwell is said to have had an affair with a Mrs. Robinson (remember the Simon and Garfunkel song?  How about the movie The Graduate?  Based on Branwell's affair?  Hmmm. Maybe). Like many talented artists, Branwell became an alcoholic and a drug addict.  He eventually died of tuberculosis in 1848.

Fast forward to now.  In the book All You Need is Love,  Jewelle St James points out similarities between John and Branwell:

"Branwell, like John, was an artist and a poet. Branwell drank and did drugs, actually he did more than doing drugs, he was an addict. Branwell, like John, lost his mother at an early age, and had sisters but no brothers. Oh, and Branwell had good friends in Liverpool. … Branwell and John both drew caricatures, depicting aspects of their lives. [And finally - ] Branwell’s self portraits are the image of John Lennon! The nose, the glasses, everything." -  Jewelle St James.

What you need to know is that All You Need is Love by Jewelle St james is not about The Beatles.  It is "The heart-wrenching spiritual journey of one woman discovering her past life shared with John Baron, the seventeenth-century incarnation of John Lennon."

Apparently Jewelle St John had a session or two with Kevin Ryerson who confirmed that Lennon was Michael Byrne, John Baron and Branwell Bronte in past lives. Ryerson also went on to say that Cynthia Lennon was Mrs. Robinson in the past. 

Kevin Ryerson is an intuitive and trance channel much like Jane Roberts and Edgar Cayce.  Jewelle St James wrote a follow-up book titled The Lennon-Bronte Connection in which she talks about Lennon as Branwell and herself as Emily Bronte.

The interesting thing is that John and Branwell do look alot alike!  Do some googling.  You will see.


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An updated version of this article can be found here

Psychedelic Sufi Trance Rock

Stumbling around the internet I came across the phrase "psychedelic sufi trance rock."  What I found was an article about a singer/guitarist named Haale (Gofori).

"Haale grew up singing in Sufi with her Iranian family while listening to Patti Smith and Jimi Hendrix on the side. She fuses these two styles instinctually, combining meandering guitar riffs with transcendental Sufi lyrics and Persian rhythms, played on instruments such as the sitar and tonbak drum - Janera: Curating Conversations

Being that Patti Smith is my favorite artist, I like middle eastern music, and I have a thing for psychedelic music, I naturally went over to YouTube to see what I could find.  The first few videos I did have a Patti Smith/middle eastern/ psychedelic flavor.  No doubt about it.  I was going to post one of those but after watching a few more I decided this one is my favorite:



This is called "Wild Poppies" by The Mast.  The Mast is Haale (vocals/guitar) and Matt Kilmer (percussion). 

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Learn to Avoid The Taste That Kills

Diet Soft drinks. Don't bother. You won't lose weight, actually you might gain some. When confronted with a choice of sweeteners, steer clear of anything in a pink, blue or yellow packet. Choose the brown or white packet. Raw sugar is the best choice. Artificial sweeteners are excitotoxins. Excitotoxins kill brain cells. 

“Ex-ci'-to-tox-in: a substance added to foods and beverages that literally stimulates neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. Can be found in such ingredients as monosodium glutamate, aspartame (NutraSweet®), cysteine, hydrolyzed protein, and aspartic acid.” - Wikipedia.



The best source of information on excitotoxins is the book Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Russell Blaylock. Blaylock is a retired neurosurgeon who studied and researched excitotoxins for many years before publishing this book. He knew the food industry would do everything in their power to keep his findings from public awareness and attempt to stifle his work. Knowing this would be the case, he took care to make an airtight case against excitotoxins which would be hard for anyone to dispute.

Seventy-five to ninty percent of the food products found in a typical food store have been enhanced to some degree by the addition of excitotoxins. These chemical agents are often listed as “spices” and “natural flavors” on ingredient labels. Learn to read labels and avoid the following ingredients:

Monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed protein, hydrolyzed plant protein, plant protein extract, sodium casseinate calcium casseinate, yeast extract, textured protein, autolyzed yeast and hydrolyzed oat flour.

Think twice about these additional ingredients: malt extract, malt flavoring, bouillon, broth, stock, flavoring, natural flavoring, natural beef or chicken flavor, seasonings and spices. Most of these terms are used to disguise the use of chemicals that are excitotoxins.

Aspartame alone is found in over 6,000 food products (read the label on that container of non-fat yogurt). Although they have not banned its use, the FDA released a list of 92 side effects associated with aspartame consumption. These include: Abdominal Pain, anxiety attacks, arthritis, asthma, bloating, edema (fluid retention), blood sugar control problems (hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia), brain cancer, breathing difficulties, burning eyes or throat, burning urination, chest pains, chronic cough, chronic fatigue, confusion, death, depression, diarrhea, dizziness, excessive thirst or hunger, fatigue, flushing of face, hair Loss or thinning of hair, headaches/migraines, hearing loss, heart palpitations, hives, hypertension (high blood pressure), impotency and sexual problems, inability to concentrate, infection susceptibility, insomnia, irritability, itching, joint pains, laryngitis, marked personality changes, memory loss, menstrual problems or changes, muscle spasms, nausea or vomiting, numbness or tingling of extremities, panic attacks, phobias, poor memory, rapid heart beat, rashes, seizures and convulsions, slurring of speech, swallowing pain, tremors, tinnitus, vertigo, vision loss and weight gain.

For more information on aspartame click here.  Better yet, get a copy of Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills.  It's a real eye opener.

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Raisin Bread Cosmology & Deja Vu

I took an astronomy class in junior college in order to satisfy the science requirement. I have never been very interested in studying science as it seems so dry. Sitting in a classroom which doubled as a planetarium seemed more interesting than studying the Periodic Table of Elements (which by the way, ended up being an important part of the study of astronomy).

 A major topic in astronomy class is The Big Bang Theory. This is a cosmological model which is said to explain the origin of the universe.

According to the Big Bang theory, a tremendous explosion occurred about 15 billion years ago causing the universe to expand. Prior to this explosion, all the matter and energy in the universe was contained in one point. After the explosion, matter and energy was thrust out into space in the form of particles rushing away from each other. We learned to visualize it as a loaf of raisin bread baking in an oven. It is a process that is still going on with the universe continuing to expand. We also learned that the universe may someday stop expanding and begin to collapse until it is once again one single point containing all matter and energy. And then, guess what, another Big bang may occur repeating what happened before.

This made me start thinking about Deja Vu. This is the feeling that what you are experiencing has already happened before. I started wondering if every time the Big Bang occurs everything happens exactly as before.

A couple of weeks ago I read The Strange Life of Ivan Osokin by P.D. Ouspensky. Ivan is given a chance to relive his past as he has a desire to correct his mistakes. He meets with a magician who sends him back in time warning him that although he will be fully aware that he is reliving his life in order to change it, he will do everything exactly as he did it before.

As it turns out, the concept of eternal recurrence is a major theme in Ouspensky's teachings and writing. The Strange Life of Ivan Osokin was published in 1915 and explores the idea that even given the free-will to make changes in our lives, the same events will occur regardless of our free will.

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche often wrote about the concept of eternal recurrence in his works. It is first mentioned in section 341 of The Gay Science

"This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence—even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it . . ."

If the universe should ever collapse in upon inself ( The Big Crunch) and start over again with another Big Bang, I suppose there is a possibility that everything can reoccur as before, which would explain Deja Vu. But why would this happen and what purpose would it serve????


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Mental Radio

Upton Sinclair is a Pulitzer Prize winning author who wrote over one hundred books including the classic novel The Jungle. Sinclair had a deep interest in psychic phenomena and wrote a book called Mental Radio documenting a series of tests he conducted with his wife, Mary Craig Kimbrough, in order to understand her self-claimed telepathic abilities. Sinclair devised a series of 300 tests that were said to prove the reality of mental telepathy and remote viewing while revealing untold powers of the mind.


Sinclair is said to have sat in one room drawing a picture and then placing it into a sealed envelop while Mary, who was in another room, would "tune in" and draw what she perceived. In other tests, Mary would write out a message sent from someone "far away." Her accuracy rate was said to be astonishing ruling out random chance as an explanation. The couple conducted these experiments for a period of three years. They conducted 290 trials consisting of 65 (23%) successes, 155 (53%) partial successes and 70 (24%) failures.

Sinclair used radio broadcasting as a metaphor to explain how telepathy works. One person's brain sent out a mental "vibration" that the other brain picked up. Sinclair concluded that telepathy is real, uneffected by distance and can be trained, verified and scientifically studied.

Mental Radio documents these experiments and includes Mary's instructions on how to learn the "art of conscious mind-reading." William McDougall, known as the "Dean of American Psychology" at the time, was inspired by the Sinclair's work. McDougall went on to establish a parapsychology department at Duke University. Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to investigate the existence and causes of psychic abilities and life after death using the scientific method.

Mental Radio was originally published in 1930 and republished in 2001 as a part of Hampton Roads series Classics in Conciousness, edited by Russell Targ. The 2001 edition has an addendum containing an analysis of the raw experiment documentation by Dr Walter Franklin Prince of the Boston Society for Psychic Research. Albert Einstein wrote the book's Preface:



I have read the book of Upton Sinclair with great interest and am convinced that the same deserves the most earnest consideration, not only of the laity, but also of the psychologists by profession. The results of the telepathic experiments carefully and plainly set forth in this book stand surely far beyond those which a nature investigator holds to be thinkable. On the other hand, it is out of the question in the case of so conscientious an observer and writer as Upton Sinclair that he is carrying on a conscious deception of the reading world; his good faith and dependability are not to be doubted. So if somehow the facts here set forth rest not upon telepathy, but upon some unconscious hypnotic influence from person to person, this also would be of high psychological interest. In no case should the psychologically interested circles pass over this book heedlessly.

Albert Einstein - Preface - Mental Radio

In order to achieve a receptive state of telepathy and be able to distinguish between true psychic impressions and normal thoughts, Mary suggests, on page 105 of Mental Radio, that you "Give yourself a suggestion to the effect that you will relax your mind and your body, making the body insensitive and the mind a blank , and reserving the power to break the concentration in a short time. By making the body insensitive, I mean simply to relax completely your mental hold of, or awareness of, all bodily sensation. After giving yourself this suggestion a few times, you proceed to relax both body and mind. Relax all mental interest in everything in the environment; inhibit all thoughts which try to wander into consciousness from the subconsciousness, or from wherever else thoughts come." She adds,  "the way to relax is to let go. Let go of every tense muscle, every tense spot, in the body. This deep relaxation is important for if the body is tense it affects the thoughts in the mind. Likewise, if the mind is full of thoughts it will tense the body." More precise instructions are given on the following pages of the book.

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Edgar Cayce's Apple Diet

Edgar Cayce recommended eating apples for three days in order to detoxify and purify the body. After doing so, one should feel energetic and full of vitality. According to Cayce, the Apple Diet alkalizes the system and helps bring relief from chronic aches and pain. It is important to eat the right type of apples. Cayce referred to these as the "jenneting" varieties which means apples which ripen on or before St. John's Day which is June 24th.

Raw apples should always be eaten alone and not combined with other foods. When eating apples in order to detoxify the body, eat at least five or six apples each day, drink plenty of water and rest. It is as simple as that.

At the end of day three, follow up with two to three teaspoons of cold-pressed olive oil. If you are on an oil restricted diet, continue eating apples for another day or two instead.

Remember to rest. Do not attempt the apple diet when you will be busy. Choose a time when you have nothing to do other than rest and relax.

Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. It is advice given by Edgar Cayce while in a trance state. Follow your own intuition in regard to the Apple Diet.

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Death Makes Life Possible

Death Makes Life Possible is a feature length documentary film which follows the journey of noetic scientist, Marilyn Schlitz, PhD as she sets out to discover the mysteries of life and death. Marilyn's journey began about 15 years ago when she began interviewing scientists, anthropologists, spiritual teachers, and philosophers about death and the possible survival of consciousness following physical death. Marilyn recorded people’s personal experiences of near death, out-of-body, mediumship, reincarnation, and the final days of life.  Marilyn and Deepak Chopra worked together with a small team of filmmakers in order to create a feature documentary that could bring these stories out into public awareness and in the process, help heal a widespread fear of death.

In order to bring the film to completion additional work needs to be done including purchasing additional stock footage,  creating some animation, producing a musical sound track and editing the film.  If you are interested in helping with a financial donation please make a donation through the project's Kickstarter page.  You can view the film's trailer here:  Death Makes Life Possible

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Are You Amused to Death????

While enjoying my morning coffee and browsing news headlines, one caught my eye. The headline read "Yoko Ono's Top Five Must Reads." I clicked on the link and browsed the list. The title of one book especially appealed to me - "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, by Neil Postman.
A quick trip to Amazon shows its available in paperback or as an audiobook. The paperback is out of print and there were only 28 copies available. I suspect that number will soon change. According to the product description, Amusing Ourselves to Death "Examines the ways in which television has transformed public discourse--in politics, education, religion, science, and elsewhere--into a form of entertainment that undermines exposition, explanation and knowledge. "

We, as human beings, are conditioned by our culture, society, parents, religion education, peer groups and anything else that influences our thinking and beliefs. A brief visit to Wikipedia brings up the following definition of social conditioning:

"  Social conditioning refers to the sociological process of training individuals in a society to respond in a manner generally approved by the society in general and peer groups within society. The concept is stronger than that of socialization, which refers to the process of inheriting norms, customs and ideologies. Manifestations of social conditioning are vast, but they are generally categorized as social patterns and social structures including education, employment, entertainment, popular culture, religion, spirituality and family life. The social structure in which an individual finds him or herself influences and can determine their social actions and responses. Social conditioning represents the environment and personal experience in the nature vs. nurture debate. Society in general and peer groups within society set the norms which shape the behavior of actors within the social system. A work of literature that helps show this is "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley."
In order to grow and evolve as individuals and a race, it is important to understand how we are conditioned so that we can break free and liberate ourselves of conditioned patterns that hold us back and stunt our growth.

Although I have not personally read this book, it looks like the author wrote in an an attempt to help people gain an awareness of how we are conditioned by pop culture via the entertainment business.

Barron Laycock, who reviewed the book on Amazon, writes, "Postman binds your interest by illustrating and documenting how the rise of the elecrtonic media and its manipulation of what you see in way of news and entertainment has inexorably changed the meanings,purposes and ultimate uses of politics, economics, and technology. As Huxley himself warned, totalitarian societies need not arise through violent overthrow of the democracies using brutality, cruelty and violence, but can also occur whenever the citizenry is successfully deluded into apathy by petty diversions and entertainments, as well."

In another review, Ben Barczi writes, "Postman's thesis in this brief but articulate book consists of two tenets: (1) The form of communication, to some extent, determines (or is biased toward certain types of) content; (2) Television, as our modern-day uber-form of communication, has biases which are destructive toward the rational mind. TV teaches us to expect life to be entertaining, rather than interesting; it teaches us to expect 8-minute durations of anything and everything (anything else is beyond our attention span); it teach us to be suspicious of argument and discussion, and instead to accept facts at face value. Furthermore - and, by far, the most important discovery Postman makes in this book - TV teaches us to live a decontextualized life."

Barczi later states, "It certainly is true that the vast majority of Americans are perfectly happy not to develop any sort of framework or philosophy; life is simply life, and one doesn't need to consider it. Even today's elite students, who are certainly able to integrate lessons and perform well academically, have fallen to this malady; as David Brooks pointed out in his searingly accurate article, "The Organization Kid," (Atlantic Monthly, April 2001) top-notch students no longer attempt to build any sort of moral or philosophical structure from their studies; a life lived in a context, makes no sense to the student who has grown up watching the decontextualized television screen."

Amusing Ourselves to Death inspired Amused to Death, a concept album by Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters, which was released in 1992. According to Wikipedia, Amused to Death explores Waters' disillusionment with modern Western society, focusing specifically on the influence of television and the mass media.
In an interview published in the L.A. Times in September 1992, Roger's is quoted as saying, "So I became interested in this idea of television as a two-edged sword, that it can be a great medium for spreading information and understanding between peoples, but when it's a tool of our slavish adherence to the incumbent philosophy that the free market is the god that we should all bow down to, it's a very dangerous medium. Because it's so powerful."

The song "Perfect Sense" inspired John Isaak Alpert to analyze the lyrics on Water's album. "Roger Waters's "Perfect Sense" from the album, Amused to Death, questions why we view the world in terms of profit instead of human life. For me it opened up the question of how we value things. " Discussing the song "What God Wants, Part I, Alpert writes, "The second song "What God Wants, Part I" starts by telling us how the will of the controllers of the mass media is imposed on the individual. This is made very clear by the repetition of key lines. "  You can read the entire piece on Water's website. 

Both the album and the book sound like they contain an important message. Maybe its time to turn off the media and learn to think for ourselves.
　
　

　

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Initiation

The first rock concert I attended was Todd Rundgren and Utopia back when I was in high school. Todd is a musician, songwriter and producer who has contributed much to rock music but who has had little commercial success. Part of the reason the commercial success eludes him, is because Rundgren tends to do what he wants and much of his music is very experimental. One of his most experimental albums, which is not likely to appeal to most people and is best listened to with headphones, is Initiation.  Released in  1975,  "Initiation" is a conceptual album combining elements of psychedelic rock, soul, avant-garde jazz fusion, and progressive rock. 

Initiation is heavily influenced by the teachings of Alice Bailey and Theosophy. Initiation is a Theosophical concept stating that there are nine levels of spiritual development. This concept was developed by both Alice A. Bailey and C.W. Leadbeater in the early 1920s.  In an interview in the past Rundgren said, "I hadn’t done much dabbling around in the mystical at all, but I was looking at these books and they were explaining some of the phenomena I was experiencing. I started devouring these Eastern philosophies, never buying any of them whole but following the thread of anything that was consonant with what I was experiencing. I got very much into Theosophical writers like C.W. Leadbeater, who applied scientific methods to Hindu philosophy and came up with a new synthesis. These were concepts that found their way into my personal cosmology and into my music. I mean, I never read the actual Treatise On Cosmic Fire because it was just too damn opaque, but I figured it made a good concept to hang the music on."

Theosophy combines elements of Eastern Religion with Christian ideals. Rundgren's Initiation begins with the pop classic "Real Man" which is partially inspired by a biblical verse:  "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11 RV"

When I was a child
I thought as a child
I spoke as a child
I didn't know better
But now I'm a man
I look like a man
I'm old as a man
And I should know better

"Real Man" Initiation (1975) - music & lyrics by Todd Rundgren

In Eastern Intrigue we find that Rundgren has been exploring a variety of religions, spiritual philosophies and paths to God. Eastern Intrigue is a satirical piece in which Rundgren plays electric piano, keyboard computer, electric sitar and an assortment of percussion instruments.

I'm on my knees, one question please
Will the real God please stand up?

Jesus and Moses, Mohammed, and Sri Krishna
Steiner, Gurdjief, Blavatsky, and Bhudda
Guru Maharaji, Reverend Sun Myung Moon
"Eastern Intrigue" Initiation (1975) - music & lyrics by Todd Rundgren

Eastern Intrigue is followed by the title track, Initiation, which is a progressive-disco track. Here Rundgren comes to realize that the real God can only be found within.

Silently listen and it shall be revealed
I was born to fly higher,
born to stand where I'm standing now
Basking in the light of the neon fire
As it burns my useless body to the ground
Desire let me go
I would fly so high through the sky, never to die
Love has come, Love has come
Inside outside, it shall be revealed

"Initiation" Initiation (1975) - music & lyrics by Todd Rundgren

Side one comes to a close with Fair Warning which is a philosophical Rundgrenish rap song warning us that we are all responsible for our own actions and making our own way through life. The song features some jazzy saxophone work by Edgar Winter and ends with a few fines from Real Man.

You know, wishing won't make it so
Hoping won't do it, praying won't do it
Religion won't do it, philosophy won't do it
The supreme court won't do it,
the president and the congress won't do it
The UN won't do it, the H-bomb won't do it,
the sun and the moon won't do it
And God won't do it,
and I certainly won't do it
That leaves you, you'll have to do it

........

Love owns us all, Time owns us all, Life owns us all
But the world doesn't own me

"Fair Warning" Initiation (1975) music & lyrics by Todd Rundgren

Side two of Initiation consists of one single song, "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" which is a 36 minute instrumental. The title of the song is taken from the book of the same name published in 1928 by Alice Bailey. The song consists of three parts: "I. The Internal Fire, or Fire by Friction; II. The Fire of Spirit, or Electric Fire; The Fire of Mind, or Solar Fire." (the second parts of each of these phrases are taken from A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice Bailey.

“Bam, bham, mam, yam, Ram, Lam, thank you mahm.”.

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That Conscious Thinking Thing...

The self, as described by John Locke is "that conscious thinking thing, (whatever substance, made up of whether spiritual, or material, simple, or compounded, it matters not) which is sensible, or conscious of pleasure and pain, capable of happiness or misery, and so is concerned for itself, as far as that consciousness extends".  ^-

Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.

Kickstart Your Art

It has always been hard for creative people to make alot of money through their art. Inspite of this fact, many get "day jobs" in order to support themselves and enable them to be artists on the side. Artists are usually passionate about their work and are more concerned with getting their work seen, heard or read than they are in making money. Although it is mostly about the art, most artists would like to be able to make a living off their work. Doing so would enable them to produce more of their art afterall.

Going back in time, we learn that great artists like Michelangelo were only able to support themselves by finding sponors. Sponsors are people or groups who support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. Today it is rare to find a sponsor who is willing to sponsor an artist years on end so that he, she or they can continue to be creative over the course of their lifetime. It is however possible to find a sponsor for a particular project.

Kickstarter is an on-line site which serves as a funding platform for creative projects. Kickstarter allows people in the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, publishing and other creative arts to design and create a funding project in order to raise the funds they need to get their project off the ground. If you are an artist in need of funding visit Kickstart's "Defining Your Project" page to learn the process.
For those who have a philanthropic streak in them, Kickstarter is a good site to browse in order to find projects and artists to support. Simply visit Kickstart's "Discover Projects" page.
Visit http://www.kickstarter.com/ for more information and to support the arts!

Sunshine

Johanna Budwig was a German biochemist and author who was a leading authority on fats and human nutrition. Budwig focused her time and energy on treating cancer patients, people with heart diseases, arthritis and other ailments after they had been given up as hopeless by conventional medical practitioners. Budwig is best known for her flaxseed and cottage cheese diet which she used to restore her patients back to health. She published several books on the subject including "Cancer--A Fat Problem," "The Death of the Tumor," and "True Health Against Arteriosclerosis, Heart Infarction & Cancer."

In addition to her research on the role of fats in human nutrition and disease, Budwig insisted that high levels of vitamin D are necessary in order to be healthy and prevent cancer. Vitamin D is a hormone that regulates and repairs cells. Vitamin D is naturally produced by the skin when exposed to sunlight. Although some foods contain vitamin D, the best source is the sun.

Budwig was wriiten off as a quack by conventional medicine. How can you cure and/or prevent serious disease using something as simple as nutrition? Although it is not possible by simply eating flaxseed, cottage cheese and getting a healthy dose of sunshine, it is possible by following the Budwig protocol.

Having studied Johanna Budwig's work over ten years ago, I find it interesting that contemporay scientific research is beginning to support her findings and prove that Budwig was not a quack afterall. For more information about vitamin D and your health please see this overview published by Life Extension. Get outdoors in the sun, minus the sunscreen. Vitamin D guidelines can be found in this fact sheet published by the National Institute of Health.

The Last Way Station

One of the most thought provoking books I have read in the recent past is The Last Way Station: Hitler's Final Journey by James Reisfeld. I am not ordinarily attracted to, or interested in, anything to do with Adolph Hitler or Nazi Germany. I am not sure how this book came to my attention or what possessed me to buy it and read it.

The Last Way Station: Hitler's Final Journey is a very imaginative novella in which the author describes what happens after Hitler pulls the trigger and finds himself in the afterlife. "... the Führer finds himself mysteriously transported to a numbingly cold, solitary holding cell in the afterworld. There, he meets his caseworker, a supernatural being tasked with helping him face, and work through, his sins. The caseworker explains that Hitler will remain in solitary confinement indefinitely, as he prepares his soul for eventual return to the material world. The method, Hitler learns, involves seeking enlightenment through physically embodying his victims and then personally reliving the atrocities committed against them in his name."

In order to evolve as a soul and eventually reincarnate again as a human being, Hitler has to first experience what each and every soul he harmed, directly or indirectly, experienced. This is a time consuming task as he does not get it. All he can focus on is himself and his desire to go down in history as all powerful. His "caseworker" has infinite patience however and they keep working through it. Hitler incarnates over and over again into alternative realities which allow him to witness and experience the same pain and sorrow he has caused others. He has just about exhausted the millions of opportunities he has been given to learn how his actions have harmed others when...

I don't want to give the ending away but can tell you it is worth the read. Although we do not know what happens in the afterlife, what the author suggests in this book is something to really think about and contemplate. Suppose we have to witness and experience all of the pain and sorrow we have caused others through our thoughts and actions?  

　

Lessons In Relatedness: Mother Teresa Part II

In a February 1949 journal entry, Mother Teresa wrote: “I walked and walked till my legs and my arms ached—then the temptation grew strong. . . . You have only to say the word and all that will be yours again. . . . This is the dark night of the birth of the society.”

It has been suggested that these words mark the beginning of Mother Teresa's “Dark Night.” In 1947, Mother Teresa received permission to leave her order and move to the slums of Calcutta to set up a school. Sometime in 1948 she took to the streets tending to the sick, the poor and the dying. In the beginning of 1949 she was joined in this effort by a group of young women. Together they laid the foundation for a new religious community that would help the "poorest among the poor". By February 1949 Mother Teresa's “Dark Night” had begun.

Transiting Pluto was in Leo in her 8th house corresponding to a time in which she was undergoing an accelerated development of her evolutionary intention and desire, which, with natal Pluto in Gemini in the 7th House, was to open up to others and listen to them in order to become aware of their needs, values and points of view so that she could readjust her own perspective and point of view making it more inclusive of others and their beliefs. This was a period in her life in which past patterns and associations which influenced and shaped her beliefs, values and behavior needed to be purged in order for new patterns and associations to take their place. All outmoded emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual behavior and orientation needed to be eliminated at this time. In addition, all cumulative negative karma from this life and past lives needed to be purged and positive karma brought to completion so she would be free to move forward. This was an intense process requiring a great deal of faith as new impulses surfaced into her consciousness from the depths of her soul. At the same time, her purpose in life was undergoing a major change and new personal capacities and possibilities were surfacing from the depths of her soul. Altogether this a period in her life in which she experienced intense highs and extreme lows and dark moods as well as a loss of meaning and significance.

When Mother Teresa took to the streets, the transiting North Node was in Taurus in her 5th House and the South Node in Scorpio in her 11th House. As with Pluto in the 8th House, the South Node transiting the 11th is another sign that the evolutionary pace is in an accelerated mode. At this time Mother Teresa's soul had a need and desire to liberate itself from the past so that rapid growth could occur. New and potentially radical thoughts and impulses were starting to emerge into her consciousness. Outmoded patterns from the past needed to be eliminated and all negative karma purged and positive karma completed so she could go forward. With the NN transiting her 5th house, it was time to reformulate her purpose in life. In order to do so, she would have to eliminate any preconceived ideas she had regarding her life purpose and destiny and follow the inner creative urges she was feeling within. Her soul had a desire to transform her existing value systems which were what gave her meaning in life. Again, this is symbolic of a time when all past influences need to come to and end so they can be replaced by something new. Any resistence to this desire promotes psychological, karmic and evolutionary problems and blockages. Once these blockages are removed, a new state of personal vitality and well being will occur.

As we can see, 1948 was a critical time in the soul's evolution. A time to wrap up the past in order to move forward in the direction of Pluto's Polarity Point, Sagittarius in the 1st House, which is to learn how to strike out on her own and find the answers to her metaphysical, philosophical and cosmological questions from within herself using her intuition. Working with the sick, dying and poor in the slums of Calcutta, while feeling as though she had been abandoned by God, would enable her to initiate a self-motivated direction in life outside of her previous relationship with God, Jesus and the Catholic Church, in order to find a belief system that resonated with her soul on an intuitive level. In the process she would come to develop an awareness that truth is relative and that there are many paths leading to the same truth.

In March 1948 transiting Pluto in Leo the 8th formed a semi-sextile with natal Mars in Virgo in the 9th House. At the same time transiting Mars in Virgo was crossing over from Mother Teresa's 8th house into the 9th house and forming a conjunction with her natal Mars in Virgo in the 9th house. This signals a time in which she would have to actively confront any limitations in her existing belief system or philosophical principles and convictions through self-examination. By learning to look within herself for intuitive guidance she would be able to experience “visions” about the nature of her future. Transiting Mars was forming a semi-sextile with natal Neptune in Cancer in the 7th House activating a transcendent impulse to surrender and recognize that her soul is just a small part of the greater whole through all of the emotional relationships she was initiating with the sick and dying people in the slums of Calcutta. Transiting Mars was square her Moon conjunct her NN in Cancer in her 5th house indicating that she was experiencing a great deal of emotional tension in regard to activating her new special purpose in life. In addition, transiting Pluto in the 8th house was forming a semi-square to her natal Pluto in the 7th House indicating this was an intense time in which her soul was trying to purge past karma and eliminate her outmoded beliefs and patterns through the many relationships she was now forming in Calcutta. Jupiter was conjunct her Asc in Sagittarius opposition Natal Pluto in Gemini in the 7th house signifying a need and desire to let intuition be her guide as she implemented her new goals, ideas and direction in life.

In her journal in February 1949 the first evidence that she was experiencing a “Dark Night” appears in writing (see above). From January 24th – Feb 11th 1949, the Transiting North node was inconjunct natal Mercury in Virgo in her 9th House and the Transiting SN semi-sextile natal Mercury. On Feb 12th 1949 Pluto formed a semi-square with natal Mercury as well. In addition, transiting Mars in Pisces was forming a conjunction with her 3rd House cusp. At this time there was a need and desire to expand her mental horizons and eliminate outmoded thinking patterns and opinions as well as to let new ones form. In order to help her think things through she started expressing her innermost thoughts and ideas regarding the spiritual darkness she was experiencing in her journal and letters. The transitng North Node was sesiquadrate natal Mars in Virgo in the 9th House while the transiting South Node was semi-square natal Mars indicating this was a difficult time in which obstacles due to her past beliefs were preventing her from changing and adapting to new and different beliefs or situations. At this point, many of her issues and problems related to her beliefs were irresolvable and she had to learn to develop the patience and persistance needed in order to learn to live and cope with them. On one had she needed to act on her instinctual desire to learn to trust her intuition and allow it to guide her, and at the same time past beliefs were creating obstacles. The transiting North node began to form a sextile to natal Pluto at this time while the South Node formed a trine to natal Pluto in the 7th House helping her with her intention to open up to others and listen to them in order to become aware of their needs, values and points of view. This would help her readjust her own perspective so that it would become more inclusive of other beliefs and viewpoints. It seems that although she was able to do this in regard to accepting that there is more than one path to God or religious belief system, at this point she was only able to apply that idea to other people and not to herself as her past conditioning still had a powerful grip on her.

“Soon after she entered this work on the streets of Calcutta, Jesus took himself away from her. Her only spiritual respite happened in 1958 when Pope Pius XII died. Teresa prayed to the late Pope for a "proof that God is pleased with the Society [of the Missionaries of Charity]." For five weeks the darkness lifted, then she entered "in the tunnel" once again, and the absence never abated.” Pius XII died on October 9, 1958.

At this time the transiting North Node was in Mother Teresa's 10th House and the South node in her 4th House. Overall, this was a time which would induce inner and outer circumstances and events which would make it necessary for Mother Teresa to examine the basis of her emotional securities, dependencies, feelings, moods and self image. An old cycle was coming to an end. Self-reflection and contemplation was needed in order for her to gain an understanding of why her life had come together the way it had. This knowledge would be needed in order for her to eliminate old and stagnant emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual patterns which were blocking growth. Pluto had been conjunct her natal Sun in Virgo in the 8th house August 7, 1958 through Oct 9th 1958 - the day Pius passed away. Pius had been strongly tied to her “special purpose” which was to serve the sick and dying. He enabled it by giving her permission to to start the diocesan congregation that would become the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. It seems that Pluto conjuncting her Sun in August was the beginning of a change related to her purpose – that change being the passing of Pope Pius the same day Pluto passed from being in this conjunction. From August 25, 1958 through Nov 26th 1958, the transiting North Node in Libra in her 10th House was inconjunct her natal North Node in Taurus in the 5th House. The transiting South Node in Aries in her 4th house was semi-sextile her North Node. This period encompasses the time preceding the passing of Pius and the five weeks in which her darkness temporarily passed. With the transiting nodes in the 10th/4th house, this was a time in which a total redefinition of all outmoded structures in her life needed to take place in order for a new phase or cycle to begin. Inner emotional structures and patterns from the past needed to be eliminated at this time, as well as past emotional dependencies. The Pius years were to come to an end and a new chapter was to begin.

On Oct 9th 1958, the day in which Pope Pius passed on, transiting Venus in Libra in her 9th house was inconjunct her natal Saturn in Taurus in her 4th house. This is an interesting transit as the inconjunct brings about crisis in order to induce humility and introspection. Saturn symbolizes the Pope, an external authority, whom due to her religious beliefs, she prayed to, asking for a sign that would bring clarity rather than confusion in regard to her sociological role. The following day Venus formed a sesiquadrate to her natal North Node in Taurus in the 5th house indicating she would have to learn to live with and cope with issues and problems related to her soul's current intention to reformulate her purpose in life by eliminating any preconceived ideas she had in regard to her purpose and destiny. In addition she would now be forming new relationships with herself and others in order to transform her existing value systems which were what gave meaning to her life. Up until the end of November, Venus formed 41 different aspects to planets in her natal chart aspecting every one of them. This is a sign that her values and relationships were changing in every aspect of her life and conciousness during this five week period in which her darkess went away. Venus also formed a conjunction with her 10th House cusp on Oct 18th indicating that any outmode values needed to go now as a new phase or cycle was beginning. On November 26th, 1958, the transiting nodes in the 10th and 4th houses both formed squares with her natal Uranus in Capricorn in her 1st House. This pretty much coincided with the return of her “Dark Hour” in which she once again experienced the trauma of being separated from a God who she felt had abandoned her. The transiting nodes were triggering traumatic memories from past incarnations in which she was physically, psychologically or karmically blocked from achieving her special destiny. There are memories of not having been able to do everything she she felt she could do. Mother Teresa had a superhuman complex that needed to be balanced out by re-aligning her ego and learning to integrate her leadership abilities with the system as it was currently defined. In addition, there was mental trauma due to the loss of a partner – in Mother Teresa's case, this would be Jesus who “left her” again. She needed him to validate her and what she was doing, but he was “gone.”

This darkness prevaded Mother Teresa's consciousness into the early 1960s. On April 11, 1961 she wrote, “I Have Come to Love the Darkness.” The torment expressed in her letters up to this point gave way to an inner peace and joy. Although Mother Teresa would be aware of the darkness up until her dying day, she had come to accept and embrace it.

On Dec 7th 1960 the transiting nodes moved into her 8th (NN) and 2nd (SN) houses. This signaled a time in which she would begin to experience metamorphosis in her value system and in regard to how she relates to herself and others. It was the beginning of time in which she would confront areas within herself that were stagnated and non-growth oriented. The transiting NN was semi-sextile natal Venus and the transiting SN was inconjunct natal Venus. Natal Venus is in Leo in the 8th House and is the natal North Node Ruler which symbolizes mother Teresa's approach to her intimate relationships and intimate partner with whom her deepest sense of security is linked. This partner is Jesus whom she felt had abandoned her. It was now time for her feelings in regard to this relationship to change. It was a time in which she was gaining clarification in regard to her purpose and learning to accept her personal limitations which she felt were having to keep moving on helping others without her companion Jesus there to validate her efforts.

On April 11th 1961, when Mother Teresa wrote that she had come to love the darkness, transiting Uranus was forming a square to the natal nodes. This was bringing about an opportunity to break free from the pull of the South Node in Scorpio in the 11th House and allow her to liberate herself from memories of past life trauma related to issues of loss and abandonment and begin to use her intuition to find the answers to her metaphysical, philosophical and cosmological questions from within herself and find her own meaning from within. Transiting Pluto was conjunct her natal Sun in the 8th house promoting a reformulation of her purpose in life. In addition it was promoting the death of outmoded emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual behavior patterns and orientation, as well as the purging of any remaining negative karma. Pluto was trine Saturn in Taurus in the 4th house prompting her to establish her own authority within society based on her own internal values while minimizing external dependencies. Pluto was sesiquadrate Uranus in Capricorn in the 1st house prompting her to break free of past emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual attachments which were based on past conditioning patterns defined by man-made patriarchal religions and socities in her past which were limiting her ability to express her true individuality. Pluto was semi-square Neptune in Cancer in the 7th House prompting her to realize the nature of her illusions, delusions, dreams and ideals in relation to her self-image and relationships with others whom she was learning to relate to as an equal.

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The above piece is from an assignment I did as a student of The School of Evolutionary Astrology as
taught by Jeffrey Wolf Green - catharine j. anderson.

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Lessons in Relatedness: Mother Teresa Part I

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