Messages

So, after about a year of nada, I start having OBEs again.  Except, every time it happens now, it feels as though it were the first time!    Resulting, predictably, in a major freak-out.

I'm not sure there is any way to "make" myself remember.  I mean, if there were, I'd "remember" to relax and not freak out.  So right now I'm just venting . . . . :angry3:

Man, I missed you guys!

I've taken the semester off from school due to some intense business-related travel and soooooo . . . I have a little more time on my hands than usual, so here I am.  Love the new forums!

I've had a few OBEs recently, but they were mostly by accident and quite freaky since I'd gone so long without them . . .  I'd forgotten how to relax. And when I'm out, I'm in the RTZ and too afraid to leave my bedroom. Looks like it's back to astral "kindergarten" for me!

Anyway, it's heartening to see some of the old names still around.  Love you guys, you're like family to me.  MWAH! Kisses!

Love,
Tisha

So true!    I ache for otherworldly experiences, and then when they come, I nearly have a heart attack and then beg them to go away.

A wise crone once told me that to the fairies/spirits/guides/whomever, human beings are like little Attention Deficit Disordered children running around screaming with their hair on fire.  They try to help us . . . but . . . .

Morag Heart Gwyneth - - - hm, celtic, strange-sounding, hard to spell.  Perfect!

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13999

(the above link is to a topic on fasting)

Hello Frank, all:

Some of us have discovered diets that have helped us tremendously with our ability to OBE.  Let's talk about it . . . []

Examples:

1. I recently discovered my immune system reacts badly when I eat wheat/barley/rye, dairy, and eggs, so I've cut these foods out of my diet.  I did not notice an immediate improvement in my ability to OBE. However, over a period of several months, my level of relaxation deepened (probably because I was feeling better!), thus aiding my ability to get to an OBE state.  (some independent online research revealed that food allergies attack the nervous system, causing anxiety and depression, even seizures!)  SO, I'm throwing out to the world this suggestion:  If you have ANY chronic health issues, seek out hidden food allergies and adjust your diet accordingly.  The main culprits tend to be dairy, grains (including corn), fish/shellfish, soy, and citrus.

2.  I find heavy meals, specifically high-protein ones, very grounding.  If I eat meat before bed I can pretty much forget about having an OBE.  However, being chronically anemic (I try to donate blood but the Red Cross will have nothing to do with me!) and of the "caveman" blood type (O+), I do very poorly on a vegetarian diet (trust me, I've tried).  It's therefore my challenge to factor in high-iron animal flesh sparingly and at the right time of day (i.e., morning), so I may "fly" at night.

3. I know fasting can lead to altered states, but in my experience, it's no fun.

Frank, thanks for agreeing to pass on your wisdom!!!!!!!!!  Everyone else, feel free to pitch in .................

Folks, after a year long dry spell, I had another OBE!   I suppose that, although I tried real hard, it was involuntary (?).  Let me explain.  

I was at my sister's house.  I'd driven many miles into the wee hours to get there.  I was pretty tired and drifted to sleep on her sofa, thinking, I really shouldn't fall asleep like this!  I really have to get up!  But I was paralyzed!  But I had to get up, this was embarrassing. I FORCED myself up.  But there was that 360 degree vision:  I could see the kitchen and the dining room at the same time, a near impossibility under normal circumstances. Gee, I thought, I must be dreaming. Oh, crap, nevermind . . .

It wasn't until I'd awoken from my "nap" and apologized to my sister for falling asleep that I realized what had happened.  I'd had an OBE!

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Masonic initiation ritual ended in tragedy when a man was shot in the head and killed with a gun thought to contain blanks, police said on Tuesday.
They said 47-year-old William James was accidentally killed when Albert Eid, 76, confused a loaded .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol with another gun during the induction ceremony in Patchogue, on New York's Long Island, on Monday night.

"During the ceremony, an inductee was shot and killed when a lodge member used a real gun instead of a blank pistol," Suffolk County Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

Police officer Heidi Cummings said Eid pointed a gun at James' head while another member beat a garbage can like a drum as part of the rite in the basement of the suburban Southside Masonic Lodge, about 50 miles east of Manhattan.

Eid was charged with manslaughter and made an initial appearance in court on Tuesday.

Freemasons are an international brotherhood with lodges all over the world with the stated object of mutual assistance. Initiation rites are generally held in private.

http://www.maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=xtreme_bullshit

Okay, I laughed.   The link above includes a little bit questionable language and imagery (be warned), but it is funny.  It pokes at marketing's attempts to appeal to the so-called Y-generation.  Which, after all, might just be YOU, so I thought I'd share!

Dear Consumas:

It has come ta our attention dat a cupola copies of the Windows XP New
Joisey Edition may have been shipped outsida Joisey. If ya got one a
deeze, you's may need some help unnerstanin da commands.

Da Joisey edition may be recognized by da unique openin' screen. It
reads:

"Windas XP", wit a background pitcha a Hoboken. When you's start da
program, instead a da usual stringy like music, you hear a little
Springsteen. It's also shipped wit a Sopranos screen sava.

Please also note: Recycle bin is labeled "Newark"

My Computer is called "My Friggin' Computa"

The Inbox is referred to as "Da Trunk"

Deleted items are referred to as "Wacked","Erased" or "Rubbed Out"

Control Panel is known as "The Bosses"

Performing an "illegal operation" is known as "Enhancin' da Family
Business" and will actually maximize da program instead a shuttin' it
down

Hard Drive is referred to as "Da Turnpike on Da Way to Da Shore"

Instead of an error message, "You Ain't Gonna Friggin Believe Dis"
pops up.

Changes in Terminology in Da Joisey Edition:

> > > > > > OK . . . . Sure ting
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Cancel . . . . Fugetabouit
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Reset . . . . Start ova
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Yes . . . . Yeah
> > > > > >
> > > > > > No . . . . Nah
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Find . . . . Put a Contract Out On
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Browse . . . . Get a Looksee
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Back . . . . U-Toin
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Help . . . . Get Your Own Friggin Ansa
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Stop . . . . Knock it Off
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Start . . . . Move it
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Settings . . . . Here's da Rules
> > > > > >
> > > > > > We regret any inconvenience it may have caused
> > > if you mistakenly got a
> > > > > > copy of the Joisey Edition (not).
> > > > > >
> > > > > > You ca sendit back ta Microsoft for anudda
> > > version.(Yea right!)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > You gotta problem wit dat?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Up Yurs,
> > > > > > Vinny "The Hack" Gatini
> > > > > > (Bill's Gate's Italian Cousin")
> > > >
> > >

Man Saves Fish with Kiss of Life
Tue November 4, 2003 07:18 AM ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A former Belgian ambulance driver put his first aid skills to good use by reviving one of his pond fish with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, a newspaper said Tuesday.
Leo Van Aert was so happy about having saved the life of his cherished koi he wants to name it after one of his grandchildren, the Gazet Van Antwerpen said.

Van Aert, 57, was hosting a party at his home near the Belgian port of Antwerp when his wife noticed the koi -- a spotted Japanese carp -- floating on the surface of the garden pond.

Van Aert said the 60-cm (24-inch) long fish was "acting funny," swimming and jumping frantically before stopping dead in the water.

He figured the koi had had a heart attack and took it out of the water to try to resuscitate it, giving it heart massages before joining lips with the fish.

"After 15 minutes, the fish started to move again so I put him in the pond...but when he fell over again I again applied mouth-to-mouth and heart massages," he said. "That's when the fish recovered."

© Reuters 2003. All Rights Reserved.  

Taisha Abelar, of the Toltec tradition, discusses Intent, sorcery, emotions, astral travel, lucid dreaming . . . in short all the stuff we like to talk about!  Check it out.

http://www.nagual.net/ixtlan/interviews/kvmr-ta.html

http://www.elvira.com/mailers/halloween2k3.html

word up to the home girls in PHILADELPHIA!!!!!!!!!!  []



Fri October 31, 2003 10:31 AM ET

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A man described by authorities as a known sexual predator was chased through the streets of South Philadelphia by an angry crowd of Catholic high school girls, who kicked and punched him after he was tackled by neighbors, police said on Friday.
Rudy Susanto, 25, who had exposed himself to teen-age girls on as many as seven occasions outside St. Maria Goretti School, struck again on Thursday just as students were being dismissed, police said.

But this time, a group of girls in school uniforms angrily confronted Susanto with help from some neighbors, police said. When Susanto tried to run, more than 20 girls chased him down the block. Two men from the neighborhood caught him and the girls took their revenge.

"The girls came and started kicking him and punching him, so I wasn't going to stop them," neighbor Robert Lemons told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Susanto was later treated for injuries at a local hospital. Police said he would be charged with 14 criminal counts including harassment, disorderly conduct, open lewdness and corrupting the morals of a minor.

© Reuters 2003. All Rights Reserved.  

Harry Potter Causing Hogwarts Headaches?
Thu October 30, 2003 07:59 AM ET

(Page 1 of 2)
BOSTON (Reuters) - The spell cast by the latest Harry Potter book may have an unintended side effect.
A Washington doctor warned that he has seen three children complain of headaches caused by the physical stress of relentlessly plowing through the epic 870-page adventure.

Call them Hogwarts headaches, named after the wizard school that Harry attends.

Dr. Howard Bennett of George Washington University Medical Center wrote in a letter to this week's New England Journal of Medicine that the three children, ages 8 to 10, experienced a dull headache for two or three days.

Each had spent many hours reading "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

After ruling out other potential causes, Bennett told his patients to give their eyes a rest. But the spell cast by the book was clearly too powerful.

"The obvious cure for this malady -- that is, taking a break from reading -- was rejected by two of the patients," Bennett said, adding that the children took acetaminophen instead.

Hi!  I'm trying to pull up Franks old messages, and I don't get squat.  Is it me?

Now, this topic could easily degenerate into sex-talk.  This is not my sole intent . . . although references, jokes and puns are welcome.

My intent is to set talk of polarity magic into motion.  The stage is set, she spins the top . . . so let's dance!

This thread is the only proof you need that I am truly, truly evil.

The question is posed in a magical context. Are men more skilled at magic, or are women?  Who's got the most power?  Or is there true balance in this magical kingdom, with no one gender possessing more "juice" than the other?  If the magic is different between the genders, how is it different?





(she ducks behind a bush to watch)

 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Beware, angry young men: you may grow up to be unhealthy middle-aged men, according to new research.

The study found that people who displayed high levels of hostility during college tended to have more health risk factors than people who were more mellow in college.

But hostile college students are not doomed to an unhealthy life, according to the report. Their health is better if their hostility declines appreciably as they get older.

As any parent of a teenager knows, hostility usually peaks in late adolescence. Dr. Ilene C. Siegler of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and others set out to see what effect hostility in the late teen years has on health later in life.

The study included more than 2,000 people -- mostly white men -- who started college in the mid-1960s. Hostility was measured when participants were in college and approximately 23 years later. Health risk factors, such as smoking and obesity, were measured in the 1990s.

Higher hostility in college was related to greater health risk factors in middle age, the researchers report in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

People with higher hostility in college were more likely to smoke, to drink more than recommended and to feel a lack of social support. They also were more likely to have symptoms of depression and to think that their family life was going downhill.

The researchers also uncovered some good news for people who were hostile in college. Hostility tends to diminish over time, but people who experienced a greater-than-average drop in hostility level as they got older had reduced health risk factors.

In contrast, people who became more hostile as they got older experienced more health risks, including twice the risk of being obese or depressed.

The results of the study highlight the need to nip hostility in the bud early in life, according to the authors.

"Interventions designed to reduce or (potentially more important) prevent gains in hostility ... may well help to reduce health risk behaviors and thus enhance the health of the population," the authors conclude.

I'm starting this thread so that people may discuss what they know, or more like, what they THINK they know [] about Witches.  If you call yourself Witch, speak up!  If you have some authoritative material to throw in, feel free! (also, feel free to rip up other people's references: that's half the fun!).

First, let's clear one thing up:  Not all Witches are Wiccan.  We can chat about Wicca here, but you are also welcome to visit the Wicca thread in the RELIGION section, if you want to talk about religion. What makes you a witch is what YOU DO, not what you believe.

So, what do Witches do?  How many kinds of witches do you think there are?  What is the origin of the word "witch?"

There, that should get things rolling.

Hey, I don't know which ones George Carlin actually said, or if he said any of them, but these kinds of things still make me laugh, after all these years.


How come wrong numbers are never busy?

Do people in Australia call the rest of the world "up over"?

Does that screwdriver belong to Philip?

Can a stupid person be a smart-butt?

Does killing time damage eternity?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

Why is it called lipstick if you can still move your lips?

Why is it that night falls but day breaks?

Why is the third hand on the watch called a second hand?

Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Are part-time bandleaders semi-conductors?

Can you buy an entire chess set in a pawn shop?

Daylight savings time - why are they saving it and where do they keep it?

Did Noah keep his bees in archives?

Do jellyfish get gas from eating jellybeans?

Do pilots take crash-courses?

Do stars clean themselves with meteor showers?

Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID that he just whipped out a quarter? [NOTE: Geo. Washington's picture is on a quarter]

Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

Have you ever seen a toad on a toadstool?

How can there be self-help "groups"?

How do you get off a non-stop flight?

How do you write zero in Roman numerals?

How many weeks are there in a light year?

If a jogger runs at the speed of sound, can he still hear his Walkman?

If athletes get athlete's foot, do astronauts get mistletoe?

If Barbie's so popular, why do you have to buy all her friends?

If blind people wear dark glasses, why don't deaf people wear earmuffs?

If cats and dogs didn't have fur would we still pet them?

If peanut butter cookies are made from peanut butter, then what are Girl Scout cookies made out of?

If space is a vacuum, who changes the bags?

If swimming is good for your shape, then why do the whales look the way they do?

If tin whistles are made out of tin, what do they make fog horns out of?

If white wine goes with fish, do white grapes go with sushi?

If you can't drink and drive, why do bars have parking lots?

If you jog backwards, will you gain weight?

If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented?

Why do the signs that say "Slow Children" have a picture of a running child?

Why do they call it "chili" if it's hot?

Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game, when we are already there?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

My sister sent me this link, it is VERY important, please read!


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1469&item=2950751243

[HIV/AIDS Becoming Young Person's Disease]

Let's talk about safe sex, m'kay?

********************
HIV/AIDS Becoming Young Person's Disease
Wed Oct 8,11:05 PM ET  Add Health - AP to My Yahoo!


By JANE WARDELL, Associated Press Writer

LONDON - Young people are increasingly responsible for the spread of HIV (news - web sites)/AIDS (news - web sites) around the world because of poverty and a severe lack of information and prevention services, the United Nations (news - web sites) said Wednesday.
Every 14 seconds a person between 15 and 24 is infected with the virus. They now account for half all new cases of the disease, the U.N. Population Fund said in its annual State of the World's Population report.


"We will have a global catastrophe if we ignore young people and ignore their needs," said Thoraya Obaid, the agency's executive director, told a news conference in London.


The "Making 1 Billion Count" report cautions that there is now the biggest generation of adolescents in history — 1.2 billion of the world's 6.3 billion population are between 10 and 19 — and many are facing deadly diseases, unwanted pregnancy and poverty.


HIV/AIDS has emerged as one of the greatest threats. Aside from the high infection rate, the epidemic also has orphaned 13 million children under age 15, the report said.


If those trends continue, the next generation of adults will face greater poverty and stunted economic progress, the report said.


The report estimates the economic benefit of a single averted HIV/AIDS infection is $34,600 for a poor country — and the social benefits are even greater.


It called for more investment in youth-friendly services, family planning and education programs to help young people with reproductive health issues.


"This is a huge opportunity. It is a one-time opportunity that will not occur again," said Alex Marshall, an author of the report.


Poverty is a factor in the spread of HIV, the report said, because some poor girls exchange sex for money for school fees or to help their families, placing them at risk of infection.


Discussing sexual behavior is taboo in many countries, so many young people do not know how to protect themselves. In Somalia, the report says, just 26 percent of adolescent girls have heard of AIDS and only 1 percent know how to protect themselves.


Obaid said she didn't believe educating youngsters about safe sex would make them more sexually active.


"I would like to stress that giving young people this information is safe, it doesn't lead to promiscuous behavior, as some people say," she said. "On the contrary, it empowers young people to take positive action in their lives and may save their lives as well."


Obaid said the U.N. agency's core message was "ABC" — abstaining from sexual activity, being faithful to one partner and the correct use of condoms.


In sub-Saharan Africa, which has the most cases of HIV/AIDS among youths, about 8.6 million have HIV/AIDS — two-thirds of them female. In South Asia, 1.1 millions youths are infected — 62 percent of them female.


The rate of new infections also is growing rapidly in countries like India and Russia, Marshall said.


The U.N. report also said poverty, early marriage, unwanted pregnancy and homelessness were major issues facing the world's adolescents. Half are poor and a quarter live in extreme poverty — less than a dollar a day.

 



Among the poorest and least-educated populations, early marriage of girls and expectations of early childbearing persist, contributing to high maternal mortality and reducing girls' chances for education.

Teenage mothers are twice as likely to die in childbirth as women in their 20s; girls under 16 are five times more likely to die than women in their 20s, and 14 million young mothers aged 15-19 give birth each year. About 5 million girls between 15 and 19 undergo unsafe abortion every year, the report said.

___

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6605

hi! something is not letting me download this file . . . I know I'm using my correct screen name and password.

Also, I seem to be getting an inordinate number of "internet explorer script errors" these days.  HM.

I thought we could take a moment and post the poetry that means the most to us, from a magical perspective.

To begin, I'm going to post a song from a play, Cirque du Soleil.  It captures pretty well my feelings about the need for focus, surrender, and sacrifice (to the irrevocable changes), the deeper one delves into magic:

Let Me Fall
*James Corcoran and Jutras Benoit


Let me fall
Let me climb
There's a moment when fear
And dreams must collide

Someone I am
Is waiting for courage
The one I want
The one I will become
Will catch me

So let me fall
If I must fall
I won't heed your warnings
I won't hear them

Let me fall
If I fall
Though the phoenix may
Or may not rise

I will dance so freely
Holding on to no one
You can hold me only
If you too will fall
Away from all these
Useless fears and chains

Someone I am
Is waiting for my courage
The one I want
The one I will become
Will catch me

So let me fall
If I must fall
I won't heed your warning
I won't hear

Let me fall
If I fall
There's no reason
To miss this one chance
This perfect moment
Just let me fall [/b]

Beth,  I need to know where the theory "flesh = bad" came from.  Once upon a time, the Divine was imminent in the flesh; there was no conflict between spirit and matter, no effort to separate them, to exalt one and corrupt the other.  How did this change in ideas effect the development of Christianity?  

In my opinion, the person (or people) who developed this idea had a huge impact on the way the Western world experiences reality, and our ability to experience the Divine is greatly diminished because of it.  Are there any attempts within the Christian communities to re-integrate spirit and matter?

So what happened?  Thanks in advance.