Messages

Well, nothing like a nice, prompt response -- sorry folks!  

Novice, Yes, my experience is much like yours. I have seen other faces, people, along with the Cougar, and none of them with emotion.

Nita, You raise an interesting thought -- hadn't occurred to me. But why would my power animal be a cat? I am most definitely a dog person! Although, come to think of it, I think Cougars are pretty neat!

NodesOfYesod, It could well be you were seeing glimpses of something more than imagination. My meditations have given me some interesting pictures. Mind you, I have no idea what any of it might mean at this point.

Telos,

First, I hope your holidays were happy! I thoroughly enjoyed the days off, but am now faced with the first full week of work in awhile -- yuck! Oh well, salt mines and grist mills, and all that stuff...

Yes, the first few Xanth books were metaphorical. Since then he's gotten so much into the puns that I think he's writing primarily for that. Even the plots suffer in order to maximize the opportunity for puns. But that one on the source of magic is, at least to me, deeper than it may first appear.

As to God, from my experience, it is not just degree, although that's a part of it. So I guess you could say it's quality. There is something that is just outside of our normal perception that, when experienced, will absolutly knock your socks off! But I cannot tell you with certainty it's "God" -- I don't have a clue what it is. I'll give you two examples of what's happened to me. I'm sort of a semi-geek and was taking an exam for a computer certification once. I knew the material, but do have strong test anxiety. I'm staring at the screen, with no answers coming to my head -- call it full panic mode. All of a sudden,  I had this flash, and saw myself walking down a hallway with bunches of doors on either side. I "knew" each door was a question and it was easy to just turn the door handle and there was the answer. It was the strangest, almost "buzzy" feeling I've had lately, but I sailed through the rest of the test, no problem. Adrenalin overdrive? Higher self? God helping me out? I haven't a clue. But whatever it was "lifted" me from my normal "muddy" mindset into, pardon the pun, "crystal clarity." It didn't last but for a few minutes, just long enough to get me in back in the groove. And try as I might, I can't call it up again. Another instance was my visit to Muir Woods. I can't even begin to describe the feeling that place gave me. If you're interested, and I can find it, I can block and copy my earlier post on that experience. But again, it was just waaaay different, and that one was so incredibly blissful! I wondered then, and now, if I wasn't tapping into something the Druids might have experienced. I know I just barely touched -- "something."

And in case of question, I do not do drugs, alcohol, or anything else that will mess with my brain. I could discuss that subject for an hour or two, but will leave it at that.

Telos, have you ever read any Xanth books by Piers Anthony? If not, you might want to find the one that explains who/what "Xanth" is (I think it might be called "The Source of Magic" or some such, but it's one of the earlier ones). Interesting premise and sort of counterpoint to your thought. Anthony writes metaphorically, but the logic leap is not hard. Your point about God being an atheist because of some personal need hinges on "God" being similar to you and me. Maybeso, but I'm not puttn' money on it. I've had a couple of experiences with what I thnk might be "God" and, if it was, it's as much like us as a tornado is like a spring breeze.

Gandalf, thanks! I really don't like to risk hurting feelings, but I do believe in sharing knowledge. There's a lady at my work I discuss world affairs with periodically. When we began our dialogs she had me branded a "card-carrying conservative". It wasn't long when she told me one day "You're just full of contradictions!", and acknowledge she couldn't put a label on me. I took that as a compliment. All that by way of saying, there may be times you think I'm jumping on you over a matter, but be assured that's not the case. If I ask introspective questions, I am just trying to learn a bit about where the logic-chain originates.

Daidaluz, oh very well put!    I agree -- where people are not, perfection is! I don't pretend to understand it, but I have certainly experienced it -- if my Muir Woods posts are still around, they tell one story.

Gandalf, I'm sorry. I promised myself I would stay positive, but sheesh! First, slavery has not been abolished. It is alive and well in our world this very minute. Second, it was not "enlightenment" that led to the abolition of slavery in the US in the Civil War era (I'm assuming that's what you were referring to), it was economics and politics, a/k/a money and power. The names have changed, the motivations have not.  

This is something christianity failed to do.. in fact it actually reinforced slavery as an insititution.

If you must pick on individual religions, then let's share the wealth. Muslims have a large hand in the slave trade, historically and geographically, right up to the present day. Hindus aren't blameless either -- their "untouchables" live in virtual slavery, they just don't wear the name.

Okay, I apologize, I am really not picking on you!  It's just one of my "hot" buttons. Information on modern slavery is scattered all over National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, etc. You just won't find it on the evening news.

As to the nature of God, I am content with that perfection of nature Daidaluz mentioned. Was it John Campbell that wrote about the mythology of religion? Almost everything I see and hear is simply a manifestation of humankind's desire to have a parent to run to for protection and solace -- someone to "kiss it and make it well". And that's okay, if we could just get past fighting about whose mythology is "right".  

If we go to war with North Korea, yup, that might just take our minds off Iraq!  

I love your quotation, by the way -- couldn't have said it better!  

Tyciol, I've heard about the "air-eaters".    So funny how they stoutly maintain they don't need to eat, but generally can be found "snacking" pretty regularly -- just for the fun of it, of course!  

Oh, believe me, my "harm none" philosophy is a work in progress. My temper, and my blood pressure, regularly get a lot higher than I prefer.    But think about it. When we get angry, who are we hurting? Certainly not the jerk who ticked us off! If they know they've gotten next to us, it makes them happy!      If they don't know, it doesn't bother them. So where's the gain to anger? What has your experience been?

Tyciol, short is not always sweet. Legend is entitled to his (or her) opinion. just as you are -- neither wrong nor ignorant.    Your posts up to now have been well expressed. If you're just having a bad day, I hope things start looking up for you.

Some are undoubtedly just dreams. And more than a few are just the "grand imaginings" of folks who wish they could do what they describe. But I can guarantee you that some of them are quite "mind-bogglingly" real! Like Robert has said repeatedly, I take as fact only those things I know are true from personal experience. I have only a brief experience with AP, but it left an indelible impression.

If you're interested in the astral, get ready for a long, steady course of meditation, study and practice. You will not achieve anything meaningful with hit-or-miss techniques. By the way, I am talking to myself here!    

It's a fascinating topic. By the way, it looks like you are a "newby" -- welcome aboard!  

It occurs to me I may be sailing under false colors and need to clarify a bit. While my focus is on kindness, and I qualify as a "tree-hugger", I am not a vegetarian -- yet. I don't know if my logic is valid, but just feel that whoever or whatever put our "ground rules" into effect perhaps didn't intend that we circumvent them by our dietary habits alone.

When you think about it, every single thing must kill or destroy in order to survive. Those were the cards we were dealt. If there is no "creator," and no "reason for existence," then I suppose it really doesn't matter how we go about that killing or destruction. But what if there is an intelligent design at work? And what if the purpose is not to see how we handle the physical situation, but how we rise above it? In that spirit, I treat animals humanely and the environment gently -- with a hard and fast rule that nothing will die just for decoration. If I need leather for shoes, that's one thing -- if I think coyote fur looks really lovely, that's a whole 'nother thing! (It is lovely, by the way -- on the coyote).

The one reason I may one day go vegetarian is the potential it has for clearing the mind for meditation. I am working that logic-chain through at present, as I'm not convinced that's a real phenomena. I have found no difference so far.

If there is nothing beyond death, then I have made myself happier by trying to do the right thing (as I can figure out what that is). And if there is something or someone out there who will be giving me a final exam, well, so be it and I suppose I'll just have to find out then whether I was right or wrong.

I don't know why I felt I needed to mention this point, but just didn't want to give a wrong impression.

Truth to tell, I have no idea where the phrase "harm none" originates. I like the connotation. In many religions the core teaching appears to be kindness. That's the principle I take from whichever religion offers it. The trouble with 90% of organized religions is they take that core and bury it deep inside other "me vs them" dogma. That dogma frequently requires blood sacrifice to "work", either animal or human. I cannot accept a religion built on blood! My sympathies lie in the direction of the druids, but the question is still open as to whether they practiced animal sacrifice or not.

Cainam_nazier, it sounds as though we have a similar philosophy. I worship no diety, and follow no "official" path. The wiccan "god" and "godess" are just as much a human creation as those of the greeks and romans and israelites and mayans and ... you get the idea.  But having said that, I do believe there is "something" out there. I've used this phrase before: "the energy we swim in." In my rituals I call on the elements and the spirits of creation (again, my own rationalization of something I do not understand).

Gandalf, you raise a good point about awareness. Agreed, there are many folks in the world who have limited knowledge of ideas beyond their own birth faith. I expect very little from people as a whole, and I am rarely disappointed.   My family has two couples who have recently "found the faith" (doesn't matter what faith). Other members of the family just can't stand 'em. I don't understand the animosity. What does it hurt to listen to someone talk? You don't have to take it as your own dogma.

As to your thought about ignorance -- oh yes, no argument! But that's not limited to any specific religion. Ignorance may be bliss, but it's also really, really common!  

Cainam_Nazier, so what is it about wiccans you notice?  And where would you put me, if you had guess?  

I agree that America (so far) is predominantly Christian, but I disagree that it is forced on anyone. No one has told me I "must" be a Christian, nor have I been refused employment or housing or (take your pick) because of religion, or lack of same. I'm coming from a U.S. perspective, but logic tells me the same situation would apply in England. Both countries are predominantly Christian. So, so what? I do not take offense at the beliefs of any other being -- we are all following our path, as we perceive it to be. Mister Anjilek, I think I am basically recapping what you already said.

I just wish with all my being that we could lose the anger! Hatred is perhaps the most useless, destructive emotion on this earh of ours! Harm none, in thought, word or deed! (That's not necessarily wiccan, just my goal!) Mind you, I still have my own anger issues to deal with -- I am definitely in the "glass house" mode!  

Tyciol, you have nailed agnosticism! It is not a denial of anything, just an open mind -- in this person's never-to-be-humble opinion. Atheism, on the other hand, is as much a religion as any other, and has produced just as many zealots.

Mister Anjilek, I like your mother's comments, especially as relates to "if" the higher power has a consciousness. That strikes a responsive cord!  

StaticExperiment, how can you say "it is a fact" that there is no god? How do you prove the absence of anything? I think you phrased it better when you left it as your belief.

Gandalf, if you were Christian, or Jewish and were discussing your beliefs, wouldn't it be logical to use the foundation book of your faith as a source? What else would they use? And why do you seem to view that use almost as a condemnation?

Just some thoughts, hopefully more later.  

I've heard of Randi, and believe he serves a good purpose, even though he is firmly self-convinced that nothing "paranormal" exists. We all know there are a lot of charlatans around. As with everything else, I take him with a grain of salt.

Narfellus, I absolutely agree about your mental state affecting your abilities. It's hard enough to get things working properly when you are perfectly relaxed. I think it would be impossible if you were stressed out.

Atalanta, would you (or anyone else for that matter) be interested in working together to try a mental telepathy type of experiment? What I would lilke to do is have one person meditatingn and concentrating on an object, and have the other person meditating and trying to focus in on what that object is. I've had one taker so far, but only one attempt (not successful).

Mind you, I am not proposing any sort of channelng or possession. I have wards up to prevent that sort of thing and would suggest anyone involved in metaphysics do the same. Don't want any uninvited "guests" after all!  

Novice,

I have also been "playing" with the mirror deal lately. As in your case, I just look at my face and let my eyes sort of unfocus. Then I start seeing my face change. I've seen a few different people faces, but the one that hangs around most strongly is a Cougar (Mountain Lion). I much prefer wolves, especially if it's a past life I'm seeing, so I tried to "will" the figure to turn into a wolf. It seems to be pretty strongly convinced of its own identity however!  

Nita has given me some advice as to what this is, and recommends putting shields or wards in place before doing the practice. Last time I put Obsidian and Celestite in front of the mirror and surrounded them with quartz crystals. I am not getting a sense of evil from the face though. It's just watching me watching it.

I am not totally convinced this is anything more than optical illusion, but it is interesting!

By the way, have you perchance been reading a book by a guy named DeLong that deals with this topic? If so, I would advise against doing the channeling section of the book. Whether this is a real phenomena or not, I am extremely wary about inviting "something" to share my mind!

I just had a strange experience on a flight from California to Texas. I was meditating, just trying to hold my mind clear. I began to see stick figures, like Navaho or Hopi drawings (like I'm looking at a screen on the back of my eyelids). The figures came slowly and one at a time at first, then became more numerous, and appeared faster, becoming all crowded together. Then the number of figures began to drop off again, until in a very short time they quit appearing. It was like turning a water faucet on and off very gradually, just drops of water at first, then a torrent, then back to a trickle, then "off." I had not been thinking of Indians, or stick figures. I asked a flight attendant to see where we were at about 4:50 CST. She came back and said we had been near Big Spring, Texas. I have been investigating places of power and wonder if we flew over one, but I am not sure what happened. The experience was very forceful. Can anyone help me understand this better? Were we flying over a "place of power"? If not, why the tapering on and off? Usually, my images just sort of appear and disappear. Any comments will be appreciated. [?]

If this is the same Nita I'm thinking of, she seems very helpful and caring. I have never met her personally, but she seems very sincere and a genuinely kind person. I recommend you follow through with the repetitions she recommends, and would be interested in your progress if you choose to share.

BTW, I believe you are quite correct in thinking that playing with the occult can be dangerous. Particularly, I would advise against any form of channeling -- way too much risk!

Good luck!

Alpine9, you underestimate "good enough".

Not doing bad is way not as easy as it sounds. An example from my own personal Pandora's box: on the way to work (or school, or wherever) traffic is nuts and nearly everyone on the road seems determined to run you off it. "Not doing bad" entails remaining cool and calm, and having it together enough to let someone merge onto the freeway instead of closing the gap and making them go in behind you. "Not doing bad" in just this one instance also means not following through on (or even feeling) the urge to review the parentage, probable destination, and mental abilities of the drivers around you. I am still very much working on this little baby-step. Most days I almost get out of the driveway before I fall into bad habits! []

I agree with others here that Karma is a complicated subject. Kazbadan also has a good point. If you try for "good Karma" with the aim of gaining by it, then maybe you aren't really gaining (I don't pretend to know for sure). [?]

Interesting topic.

Heather, first I would be interested in seeing the closeup before you lightened it. Second, odds are fair to good your orbs are dust particles -- they don't look like glare to me, but I'm no expert.

At RB's Montana workshop we went to a cave and did some meditation there. One person took pictures that show what I believe are actual orbs (which still doesn't explain what they are, just shows they exist). She was at one end of the chamber and I was at the other. While meditating, with my eyes open, I could see the orbs toward her end of the cave. They varied in size. The smaller ones moved pretty quickly while the larger ones moved slowly. WHen I closed my eyes I could no longer see them, so whatever they are, they are physical, not mental. Some other folks could see them and some could not. The reason for this could be where they were sitting. I have a clear view down the length of the chamber while some were sitting behind outcrops. I tried copying over a picture of those orbs,along with a picture of confirmed dust particles, but it didn't work. I'll try it again later if you're interested.

Bottom line, you should be able to physically see genuine orbs, but that doesn't mean they are (or are not) spirits. They are just something we don't know about yet.

Maven, don't be too concerned about the fear reaction you feel. It's a normal response to the unknown. As you practice more, the fear feelings should subside. There are some good posts about how to handle threats or bad visual images -- worth reading.

Devine, the last sentence of your last post is very important. Our nightmares are made up of the things we've allowed into our mind, and visual images can have the most profound effects!

Nick, thanks for such a nice topic! []

I rarely have flying dreams anymore, but the ones I've had in the past have all been great! In one dream companions were asking me how to fly and I told them, "It's really easy, all you do is jump up and kick your feet hard." Then I proceeded to do it.

The thing I most remember about these dreams is the way it feels to really fly -- the air against your body, the feel of cloud mist, a difference in pressure when you're flying and when you're not. I have a theory that you won't realistically dream something you've never experienced -- the "set" might be there but the physical sensations will not. Maybe I was a bird in another life. [8D]

You folks have convinced me to work harder on the lucid dream techniques. I've had no luck so far, that I know of anyway. But I would love to be able to fly whenever I wanted to.

Gandalf, as usual, you raise a good point. I don't see your comments as necessarily negative (am I reading you right?) What I'm hearing you say is that humanity, as a whole, is pretty much unchanging. I agree. Seems like from a historical overview, folks don't learn from history - and certainly do keep on repeating it. But you leave the door open for those who achieve "enlightenment" (or call it what you will). Who knows, if humanity refrains from destroying itself and/or the earth for a long enough time, perhaps those enlightened ones will become the norm and we will, in fact, have evolved.

Moontingle, I would have to be seriously suspicious of a claimed ability to "measure" a person's energy. That's one shortcoming of science - trying to quantify everything! It wasn't so long ago I heard about a study of how much "stuff" was produced by a person with a head cold. (I'm serious!!) [] The researchers weighed tissues, then issued them to various people with head colds. The people turned in the used tissues, which were weighed again. This resulted in the group's "scientific results". Even casual thought about that "study" shows it's just not accurate. It's also not a study I would want to take part in! []

Manix, I sympathize totally! I'm not related (thank GOD!) but I have to work with a gal with that same mentality. Do things her way, and I mean exactly and all's well. Cross her and you have made a dangerous enemy. This one even types out extensive "rules of conduct" for our Christmas party! Of course, one year I did manage to get a bit of my own back. Her rules had everything orchestrated, especially how many presents there would be. So I slipped in an extra. Oh, it was sweet! [] Of course, the next year her rules specified that no extra presents were permitted. [|)]

As to dreams and color, all of mine are in color. I do notice that the tone of the dream seems to reflect what my mood is at the time. If it's a bit of a "downer" dream, then the tones, while natural, will be muted and not as bright.

Joya250, I've done meditation both ways. Generally I just focus on clearing my mind and let "come what may". I've had more success that way than when I consciously try to make something happen. Once on a plane trip I'd just succeeded in clearing my mind when pictures of indian hyrogliphs (spelling?) started appearing. They came slowly at first, then faster and faster, then trickled off and stopped. My belief is we flew over a place of power and I was picking up on its energy. Of course, I can't prove this. But things like this are why I like just "setting the stage" and waiting for events. []

It's kind of funny you ask this question. I take Tai Chi classes twice a week and last time out our instructor paused during our lesson, then said "I don't know why we're actually doing this -- once you learn the pattern it's just the same thing over again". He was half kidding and half just having a bad day.

As for me, I'm just trying to see if anything really is "out there". [?] I figure if it's all just dreams, well, I've wasted time on less interesting things in the past. But if it's real, and if I can connect...

Hyperblu, you've been getting some good advice here already, so I don't have much to add.

Tony, you absolutely took the words right out of my mouth! []

Okay, if you seriously want the best chance to recall your dreams, have a "slumber party" where someone is willing to watch you sleep. When your eyes start twitching, the person talks to you or touches you to wake you up slowly. Other posts are right when they say don't try and come fully awake right away. Just drift up. As you do, you should catch a tendril of the last dream you were having. Concentrate on just that little bit -- don't try and recall the whole dream or you'll lose it all. I never said this method was easy -- at least on the observer! []They've done dream research at universities like this. Of course, that observer is getting paid! [] A relative of mine once woke me up by tickling my nose with a feather. As I came slowly awake I dreamed of a huge mosquito hovering around my face![]

There are times when I don't recall my dreams, usually when I'm really tired over long periods, or just stressed out physically. You've got to be sure you're getting enough sleep first, and good nutrition of course.

I don't know about the chocolate, but that's one therapy I could be on board with! []