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A carpenter from 2000 years ago most certainly could not by any means travel to india and all around the world. There is no jesus, not even historical jesus, just a few historical people slightly like him which the myth of jesus has been built from and also many many male godmen/supermen/saviors of pagan religions and other religions which predate christianity.

Actually this is wrong. The roman empire allowed a high degree of movement and I can give you numerous inscriptiory evidence from tomb stones that show individuals, including many craftsmen and traders who have settled in flung regions of the empire and beyond; such as On Hadrian's wall in England/Scotland, you can read the tomb stone of an inidvidual who originally came from Palmyra in the Syrian desert. Many are soldiers who of course were transfered to various regions of the empire but many craftmen and other traders/merchants also moved around and there is plenty of epigraphic evidence to support this (tomb stones mainly).
The roman road network , unsurpassed until today, was the backbone that allowed this mobility.

India was a well known and connected area bordering the empire, and was well known since alexander's day, esp among the merchant community and it is not unlikely that someone from Judea could end up in India, a far shorter distance that Syria to Scotland I might add.

Douglas

PS whether 'Jesus' actually went there or not is a different question.
As an interesting note, It is either Suetonius or Tacitus who mentions that an official delegation from the king of India, including a Brahman priest visited the court of emperor Augustus in the late 1st century bce

In a historic event today, a Scottish Baron has officially apologised and pardoned the witches his ancestors burned at the stake over 300 years ago in the Crammond region of Scotland, one of the focal points in the Scottish witch hunts.

Over 5000 women and some men were executed during the witch hunting craze initiated by the Scottish king James vi, (later to be king of England as well). A little known fact is that Scotland, along with Salem, were the only two regions to actually burn witches. In most other areas, they were hanged in the usual manner; it is believed that Scotland's and Salems' presbetyrianism encouraged a more fanatical form of persecution than in other regions.

Scotland's present day witches and neo-pagans rejoiced at the symbolic event today, along with the decendants of those executed. The move is seen as a reflection of the growing acceptance of multi-faith communities in the country.

It isnt all rosy however as only recently the Church of Scotland (which is presbetyrian, not Anglican like the church of England) was urging people not to celebrate Halloween since it falls on a Sunday this year, or if they must then to do so on Saturday or Monday instead!

Regards,
Douglas

Frank_ I was wanting to ask about the level of conscious awareness that we get upon physical death. Once we 'die' ie physical bodily death is it usual that we manifest our *full* sense of conscious awareness in the astral somewhere? (even if its at a low level, or some scenario where it hasnt twigged we've 'passed on', are we at least fully aware?)

I ask since the scenario you gave worries me, wherein someone 'dies' and is stuck in a dream level of awareness.

I would say that most of the time when I am asleep I am usually at normal dream level, so what does this mean for when I 'check out': am I likely once again to be at this sub-level of awareness? this seems unfair as it comes across like a bit of a lottery at physical death.

Its just that dream-level awareness is so crud I would hate to think that its likely that I'll be stuck in such a state upon end of physical.

Douglas

Fallenangel_
yes, I have read his 'Necroscope' books, have you read them? They are his vampire based cycle.

btw if you want a great UK fantasy author I would recommend David Gemmel, his books have begun to be released in the US.
Read 'Legend' it is awesome, he manages to combine heroism with a sense of realism, you really feel like you are in the battle scenes.
His characters like 'Druss the Legend' and 'Waylander' are great.

Douglas

yeah, I guess that's the problem with international forums!

Doug

please don't get hung up on terms like 'white magick' vs 'black magick'. They are all the same thing.. channeling own's own innate abilities to connect with the universe. This ability is a tool, a powerful tool but a tool non the less.
Mustardseed is wrong. Yes it can have negative consequences but that does not mean the tool is wrong.
Christians use 'spells' as well. They pray to their god for some desired effect. While they insist this is 'better' somehow since it appeals to their god instead of their own innate ability, this is just a point of view, they feel it justifies the concept of using a higher power to achieve an end. Both approaches have the same end result however. (although christianity, like any religion is self justifying)

Some christians pray to smite their enemies etc. this is wrong, however this does not mean that praying is wrong.
Some magicicians use magick for selfish reason, this does not make magick wrong.
The difference is only in the mind of the christian; for those christians, that is up to them, for the rest of us, dont worry about it, but remember that like any powerful tool, you can end up shooting yourself (or others) in the foot if you dont know what you are doing.

Douglas

PS as for that book review that Runlola quoted... that was the biggest pile of crap I've read in a long time!

Just thought I would let any sf & fantasy fans know that a new social club for those into sf and fantasy (as well as horror etc) has started up. 'Area 42' meets up every Wednesday evening, downstairs at the Jekyll and Hyde pub on Hanover street, Edinburgh, from 8pm til late.
The downstairs section of the pub is exclusively reserved for the club on
these nights and has its own bar (essential requirement!).

web site: www.area42.org.uk

Cheers everyone!

Dougie
//www,.area42.org.uk

I agree that there will be some big changes but these changes will be political and social changes, due to having been forced into it by the enviroment.. its always the way, people will only start doing somthing about it once they see the way it affects them.

I certainly dont believe in 'vibration changes', apoclaypses etc that is all crap. and if anyone else mentions 2012 and 'demon wars' I'll make them eat their manga collection which inspires all that teeny dribble. Sorry for being a cynic but I've heard it all before, july 1999 anyone?

I also get annoyed by the phrase 'end of the world' and 'destruction of the planet'. While I agree that we are harming it (and this is wrong;we have no right to inflict all these problems on the earth and all its species), we are slightly above ourselves if we think we can actually destroy the earth itself or all life on it.
think of the big asteroid that hit earth 65 mil years ago... wiped out 98% of ALL life on earth.. a few million years later, you would never have noticed, apart from all the new life forms of course.

What we should be saying is that we are risking *destroying humanity*. the earth itself was here before and it will still be here long after the human race is a distant memory.

btw because I dont believe all these witterings about vibration changes etc, but at the same time I have a high regard for Monroe, I have long been vexed at all that weird earth change stuff he was going on about... with his visit to the earth in the year 3000 etc.... it all seemed a bit dodgy. perhaps he misinterpreted or it was a test; or maybe it IS true!

Regards,
Douglas

Over the past 6 months or so i have expressed a desire to contact my disk/astral family (often known as the 'higher self') when I am phasing or otherwise out of body.
So far I have had inconclusive results but last night I think I hit on somthing.

I found myself lucid early yesterday morning (while dreaming) so right away I expressed a desire to go 'higher' (not to make contact with anyone in particular, funnily enough). I found myself outside on a green hillside, the sun was a pure brilliant yellow and the sky was the purest blue, I willed myself to travel through this scenery, the more i looked on the purer it became, it was quite beautiful.

As I was travelling over the hillside, admiring the sun and the sky and the wonderful contrast with the deep green of the hills, I saw a group of people standing over on one hill in the distance.
Right away I beckoned to them and they responded by waving.
I moved towards them until I was right up to them.
There were maybe 10 of them i can't remember quite how many.
I sensed a deep feeling of joy upon meeting them and they seemed to radiate this back. There was a great feeling of JOY and fun... humour! all the nice things in life!

What was weird was that I seemed to recognise them even though I dont know (now) who they were. Likewise they recognised me. I actually embraced the guy who approached me initialy and it was like meeting some dear friend or family member that I hadnt seen for many years.
Then I recognised one of the others and said, 'hey dad.... wait a minute, Why did i call you dad?'. Everyone found this hilarious and i couldnt help feel that I was missing somthing here. Was this guy my dad in a past life? Who knows!

The feeling of homecoming, joy and laughter was remarkable, but then irritatingly I was pulled back to 'realtime', before I could explore this feeling of 'coming home'.

Upon reflection I found this to be a deeply significant experience since the feeling of recognition of these people and theirs of me was unmistakable even although I have no idea who they are now.
I feel this time that these people were from my astral family, what monroe would call my 'disk', although in more conventional terminology you would call 'spirit guides' or 'higher selves'.

It was a feeling that i found absent from previous encounters with individuals who called themselves 'guides'.

Again, I wish i had been 100% so that i could have made more of this encounter, instead of being the usual 90% which comes from waking up within a 'lucid dream'. Still I'll try again tonight.

On a contrasting note, I would definatly argue against negative thinking when projecting. Earlier that morning I had awoken (lucid state) but in a rather negative mood for some reason. I emerged in the RTZ and floated over my roof, then i must have entered the astral at somepoint and came across some nasty creatures lying around in the crud.. these were half rotten, degenerated creatures lying there. I kind of stumbled over them and tried to get their attention for some reason, one of them told me to go away or he would to something nasty to me... he or it, wanted to be left to rot in peace....
It was the same deal with one of the other ones further on...

I do feel that these creatures were real, ie degenerated humans who I was coming across on my way up the lower astral, although I am slightly concerned that my line of thinking at that point should lead me there! Note: must ensure to quit excess negative thinking, after all, like + like... still the fact that I later had a wonderful experience shows that I can't be all bad!

Regards,
Douglas

I had an interesting dream last night but I'm still usure as to whether it constituted a communication with a guide or not, although it sure was bizarre!

I have started keeping a dream journal recently in order to increase awareness of my dreams/improve recall.

(i am of the school that believes that ALL dreams are astral experieces, the difference being your level of conscious awareness. Once you rise to lucid or above levels, you can dismiss your local enviroment which is an astral scenario created by your subconscious, and you then emerge somewhere in the astral proper).

btw i would recommend the dream journal, my recall is shooting through the roof in only one week, AND my awareness is increasing!

now, for the past week I have been placing affirmations before i go to sleep, stating that I wish to contact my 'guide' (whatever 'they' are).

so far nothing, but then last night, I woke up with the 'astral screen effect' which i get fairly often, where you get some hyper-real image playing out in your minds eye; I guess I was at 'lucid' awareness level, ie 90% aware but that 10% of my faculties always illudes me, which is annoying!

Right awaay I placed intent to visit my guide. I then saw a scene on the screen that appeared to show a large group of people, milling around in some outdoor location.
I willed myself to step into the scene, meaning that I 'phased' into that location;
I walked around a bit, the area was some open expanse of grass outside somewhere. People seemed to be milling around talking to each other, although I didnt know anyone!

I started asking aloud for my guide to appear.
This is where it gets wierd!
Suddenly this odd looking character comes up to me, i say odd because although he was humanoid, he had the head of a bird!
Kind of like those pictures you get of that egyptian god, (osiris?) although it wasnt Osiris!

I asked if he was my guide and he said 'yes, that would be correct'.
Right I thought, the first thing i need to get is his name.
He then said his name was 'Byzantium'.
er...right. Now, from what I have read of others in the past, many guides seem to give themselves bizarre names so maybe this isnt suprising, but 'byzantium'?

Byzantium is of course the name that historians sometimes give to the Eastern Roman Empire, the bit that continued after the western half collapsed.

Why anyone would call themselves byzantium is beyond me however, unless it is some kind of symbolic name, which i have thought about: eg  byzantium, rising from adversity (collapse of western half of empire) carries the torch of civilisation from constantinople? Maybe it is symbolic, who knows, or maybe its bollocks!

Anyway, after exchanging some small talk which I have forgotten, I then woke up.

I'll try to contact this character again tonight, and see if anything happens!

Cheers,
Douglas

Just wondering if anyone will be in town for the festival this year.
If so, we could meet up!

Regards,
Douglas

I was just wondering how common it is for others to wake up with this effect.
For those who are not familiar with it, I guess it is what would be regarded as a 'hypnogogic' image playing out in your minds eye; however it is ultra real, better than the best quality dvd! The scenes are usually full motion, full colour and sometimes with sound.

What I call the 'astral cinema screen effect' is what I believe is called by Monroe and others focus 22 or thereabouts. It is  the point at which you can observe a portal to some point in the astral; you can just sit back and observe the screen until it fades, or jump in, by willing yourself into it; you will then find yourself in that location.

Now, I have had quite a few adventures in these locations, which are always different but also seemingly random, although I'm sure they are in fact not so, I have probably been drawn to these regions for some reason.
Anyway, I have noticed that a great many people work really hard to meditate and bring on this 'screen effect'.
However, I am lucky because for some reason, I tend to wake up in just the right frame of mind, usually once a week on average. Usually this is the early morning, I am in a deeply relaxed state and within moments I begin to see the screen appear.

While allowing this to occur naturally saves me a lot of work, the downside is that because I have just woken up from sleep my awareness is not always full on, and I often get frustrated later in the day, when I think of all the obvious things I should have done, but which were not apparant at the time.

I was just wondering how many others get this effect at random, and if it occurs in the same way, ie in the morning just after waking up.

Regards,
Douglas

PS up until now I was happy to continue my explorations by allowing this effect occuring naturally, but the awareness thing is proving too much of a blockage; I am now thinking that the only way to progress is to enter *with* full awareness to begin with- that means hard work!

I have at last got round to watching this world famous pagan themed cult movie from the early 1970's; now I see what all the fuss was about.... what an awesome film, and not just a straightforward horror movie either, but an intelligent film that deals with important topics! And the music...
(btw if anyone wants to see this, I strongly urge them to get the director's cut which came out two years ago and contains 15 mins of essential footage thought lost for decades!)

There have been several books written about The Wicker Man, I haven't read them but my take on the film is as follows:

Brief synopsis: Scotland, 1970's:  strict Presbyterian police sgt. Howie of the West Highland constabulary is told of the disappearance of a young girl on the remote island of Summerisle off the west coast of Scotland. Summerisle is famous for its apples and other agricultural exports (the climate is warmed by the Gulf Stream which affects certain part of the west coast, which is a real phenomenon) and the island is overseen by the local Laird, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). Howie soon finds his strict Christian upbringing shocked by the apparent pagan blasphemies which the islanders have taken up, fully supported it seems, by Lord Summerisle himself.

Firstly, the more straightforward horror element plays on the familiar theme of being stuck in some backwoods environment with some weird inbred locals whose close relatives have probably been a little too close, and the film plays up this fear very well indeed!

Secondly and more importantly, the film is certainly not 'anti pagan'. Those who come to this conclusion are completely missing the point of the whole film.
The point is that the film is 'anti religious extremism', and makes the WM more topical now than ever before.
In the film it is the pagan community that descends into religious extremism and the disaster that this leads to, but the point can be applied to any religion.
Just as an aside, most neo-pagans whom I know absolutely love this film.

Thirdly and in connection to this, it is not a straightforward case of 'christians vs. pagans', since it is somewhat difficult for the viewer to completely sympathize with Sgt. Howie's viewpoint either, he represents another form of extremism... christian fundamentalism (unless of course you live in the bible belt, which is probably filled with 'sgt. Howies', in which case you will back him to the hilt!)
Even his other officers have problems with his views.

From the moment he steps on the island and is confronted with this pagan community, he finds himself unable to sympathize with it in any way.

This is another of the films main points: Both sides, Lord Summerisle, and Sgt Howie, are completely convinced of their own self righteousness, and neither side is able to accept the other's point of view. If only someone with some decent negotiation skills had been on hand then perhaps both sides could have met each other half way!
Instead, neither side is able to communicate in any meaningful way, which ultimately leads to disaster. This also is an extremely topical point in today's world.

The music is also awesome, with the extended edition; new tracks have been recovered which were thought lost. The music which tried to sound like authentic folk music really worked, helped by inclusion of actual songs/poems by Robert Burns but used in specific ways. The folk music is wonderful and evocative but which also has a dark and somewhat disturbing underside to it. 'Willow's song', 'Gently Johnny' and 'Corn Riggs' are particular examples.

Although the film is set on the fictional island of Summerisle off the west coast of Scotland, the film was actually shot on the coast of the southwest of Scotland in the Galloway region. I was over there last year and visited the pub (The Green Man in the film). The pub is full of memorabilia and is a must for any WM fan. This is what got me interested in seeing this film.
You can also visit the cliffside where the WM stood and you can still see where the wooden stumps actually stood!

On the whole, highly recommended. However, do not watch expecting some instant 'shock horror' style Hollywood movie which is immediately forgotten on exiting the cinema. This is an intelligent 'slow burn' film, which will disturb you and linger with you long after you have watched the film. The film also has a distinct sense of humour which also works well. It will likely be one of the most distinctive and unique films you will ever see!

Some will be interested (and or/horrified) to hear that there are plans for a Hollywood remake, set in the US with Nic Cage in the sgt. Howie role......please no!
I just can't see this working; it's in a completely different cultural environment!
Well, we'll see!

Regards,
Douglas

Apologies for those outside of Europe who have no idea what I'm talking about!

(or those who do, but think Eurovision is rubbish... come on, its cheesey fun!)

Ukraine have just won in tonight's live Europe-wide televised final, held in Turkey (last year's winners). I don't know if you saw their act but it was certainly visually impressive, ie lots of Xena warrior princess style babes in leather dancing around

Pity about the actual song though, what a load of c**p!

Still, Well done Ukraine!

I was personaly going for Cyprus' entry, the only decent song imo and the girl singing it was very nice.

Turkey looked liked winning for a bit, which was disturbing; their group 'Athena' was truly c**p, however they did manage a close second or third I think.

As for the UK entry, I'm ashamed to say it was utterly sh*t but at least we got some votes this time. Apparantly the excuse for Britain getting Zero votes last year was a protest vote by the rest of Europe because Britain sided with America in the Iraq war... a truly dire excuse... lets face facts, nobody voted for it because it was a pile of streaming horse***t!

This year was slightly better than last year, although still pretty dire. Come on guys!
This year's lowest scorer was Norway, which came very close to getting nothing, but some nation felt sorry enough to eventially award them with 7 points!

The most anoying thing about Eurovision is how all the Baltic countries always team up and vote for each other in order to boost their chances, this has been going on for the past few years and was on full display tonight!

Ok, I have bored you enough!

Regards,
Douglas

PS You have to watch the 'Eurovision' episode of Father Ted, it's awesome!

Hi folks,

I just thought I would start making an effort to post my own experiences to the forum again, after people were quite rightly complaining that many of us don't make the effort any more. Here goes!

I want to relate my latest phasing experience which occurred last night/this morning. Could it have been a trip to a BST (belief system territory)? Who knows?

For those who don't know me, I am a random 'phaser'. I usually find myself waking up early, approx once a week, in 'phasing condition', a state of wakefulness which allows me to bring on the phasing process quickly; it only take me a few minutes to bring on the 'astral screen' effect which I then step into in order to enter that region of the astral. However I am still at an early stage in my explorations.


Anyway, very early this morning, I woke up to find myself in the correct state. I concentrated for a few minutes until I perceived the 'astral screen' effect come into view, which Monroe labels focus 21 (I think).

In ultra 3d style vision, I saw the interior of some kind of building complex. I quickly willed myself into the scene and found myself in a maze like building, quite futuristic in design, with metallic and light coloured decor and glass windows.
Right away I could sense a feeling of fear in the place.
I started walking around and met a few people who were all engaged in various activities and jobs of work, this place was like a big industrial/office/sports centre combo!

There were strange large crab-like machines patrolling around the place and they guarded certain corridors preventing access. I was also aware that everyone was being monitored and if anyone stepped out of line they would be severely punished.
There were also guards/wardens patrolling around the place keeping an eye on people.
Part of this structure was glass and I went over to have a look outside. I was struck by the realisation that none of these people were ever allowed outside, and on the rare occasion that they were moved, it would be inside a vehicle which would take them to a similar facility somewhere else.
The realisation that these people were all trapped in here under this harsh regime was horrible.
I started to get the realisation that the rules here were super strict and the punishments were feared and nasty.

The next thing I know, I bump into this guy who is being chased up a corridor past the crab like machines, who try to stop him but fail.
I join him and we both make a run for it.
We both run into a room which has a control panel which shuts and locks the door behind us. We activate this and move on. After following the new corridor, we enter a similar room, however, at this point a group of guards run in and try to apprehend us, again I hit the switch but this time it fails to close in time and we get nailed.

The next thing I know we are marched to some kind of office where I am to face punishment for my wrong doing and stepping out of line.
The other guy was taken to a separate office to hear his punishment.

I was told that I had transgressed the law and was to be disciplined.
Then in a matter of fact manner they told me the nature of my punishment. All the time, a sinking feeling of dread sunk into me.

The guy in charge then told me that I would receive a standard punishment usually meted out to males in my circumstances, which should teach me not to cause disruption.
He stated that a small robotic device, like an insect in form, but barbed and serrated, was to be inserted into the end of my penis (I kid you not!), this device would work its way up my urinal tract and into my bladder in a slow fashion, causing unbearable agony. He told me that this device was very effective.

The same punishment would be meted out to the other guy.
I was then led away.

It was at this point that I basically thought 'f**k this, I'm out of here!' and phased out and back to c1 (physically awake) right away... Pheew!

I wonder how the other guy got on? He's probably in unbearable agony as we speak!

Anyway, interesting experience!

Regards,
Douglas

In response to the recent discussion concerning thought-form beings, I am posting this genuine Occult technique for creating a thought-form entity.  For those unfamiliar with this concept, it concerns the creation, through thought power, of an artificially constructed 'spirit familiar', which can serve its creators in many ways.

Note: People attempt this at their own risk: There IS an element of danger involved which will be explained below!

This technique is as follows:

The technique requires about 5 or 6 people. Six is ideal as the greater the group, the more energy is available; however, you don't want too many people as you want the atmosphere to remain intimate. This group should plan to meet up in a designated place for two to three sessions per week (sessions last for 1 hour). Several weeks will be required before results are obtained, so a degree of patience is essential. The place should be a clutter-free dark room (pitch-black or as far as possible) as this makes it easier for the thought-form to initially manifest. It helps if the room is far enough away from other people so as not to attract attention, as things can get pretty noisy later on. Everyone should sit around a table placed in the middle of the room.

At the first session, the group begins thinking up an imaginary life story for the entity, including, his/her name, when and where they were born, events in their life, what they look like, when they died etc. They should try to make it as detailed as possible, filling it out as much as possible and really getting creative with it.

The group will finalise the basic outline of the being's history quite quickly, so as the sessions go on, try to think of the session as a reminiscence of the being; talk about what they were like, the things they used to get up to, events in their life etc. Start asking aloud if this person would like to join the group now.

Now, after perhaps two to three weeks of these sessions (as I said, twice or three times per week, for one hour is enough), the group will start to notice effects, like rappings, loud knocks, sighs and other odd sounds; sometimes this can get quite noisy. After this, progress will be rapid. After a couple more sessions, the being will attain the ability to speak audibly, at first hardly a whisper and you will need to strain to hear it, but after another session or so, it will become quite clear. You will now be able to communicate directly with it.

This is where the dark room comes in handy, as after a few sessions of communication with the being, it will attain the power to manifest *visibly*. The being will appear as a faint red outline against the dark background. At first this is *very* faint, so that is why the room must be dark. As things progress, it will become more easily visible, eventually being able to manifest in full day-light, right in front of you.

This being has the power to carry out a wide range of tasks and as I said, appears to be quite sentient.

The being will be obliged to serve the group. In addition, control of the entity can be given to specific people. The entity can bring them pretty much anything they want, such as cash or other material goods. Alternatively, the being can tell them where such things can be found. The being can also be sent out to possess other people's minds, either overtly or with stealth, influencing their decisions; such actions are regarded by many as black magick and I wouldn't personally advocate this, but I think it's fair to describe to people what thought-forms are capable of doing. It is likely that some psychic attacks are a result of this practice.

A word of warning: Occultists warn that if anyone of unstable mind is a part of the group, then this element will influence the creation of the thought-form, making it unpredictable, possibly even *deadly*.
Because of this, you should vet all those taking part carefully; basically as long as no-one has a history of mental instability or related problems, you should be alright. People do this at their own risk however and should take it very seriously, it isn't a game; all accounts indicate this DOES work, to the surprise of the para-psychologists I mentioned in another post, who succeeded in creating such an entity.

Regards,
Douglas

I was just wondering. I have read that his book on Magick is very good and highly sought after, however there is zero info about him or his books on the web, which is unusual.

I thought I would ask here to see if any of you 'magick' types have heard of him.

Douglas

I often come across this when I have an astral experience.
Most often it occurs when I am in an outdoor location, everything is bathed in a beautiful golden sunset effect. The sun is a beautiful golden colour and it feels great!

Other times the light does not appear to be the sun but comes from elsewhere.

I DO love sunsets of course but the only time I got anything that approached this magical effect in the 'real world' was when I was in Athens and I was walking around the classical Agora (ancient town centre) of the city and the sun was just setting with that magical light you only get in Greece.

Maybe i am generating this light by thinking about it when I am projecting, but certainly the first few times it happened it occured by itself!

Regards,
Douglas

Does anyone have any further info on what happened to Frank? The last we heard he was leaving the forums for a while as he was busy moving house, but that was months ago... MANY months ago.

I'm sure that many members of the forum who greatly appreciated Frank's input miss him, I sure do.

I'm actually a bit concerned about him. I know he accessed the forums from work mostly so he should have been back in touch by now. If he had simply outgrown the forums and decided to move on, I'm sure he would have told everyone about this first, especially given his level of input previously.

The fact that all posts just ceased without any followup whatsoever worries me slightly and I hope he's ok.

If anyone has any updates on Frank's status then let me know!

Regards,
Douglas

I have wondered about this in the past.
I have read much about how occultists can create 'thought forms' which go on to have a life of their own, growing on the belief of others.
The occultist Basil Crouch gives detailed instructions on how to create thought forms, along with many other occultists such as Zolar etc.

Several occultist talk about how it is possible for the magician to 'lay a ghost', a though form creation which once noticed by the locals, grows in power due to people believing, fearing or generally thinking about them. The thought form is also quite sentient.

I was wondering if 'gods' or deities can be created this way as well, just by believing them. In this way, Man really does create God in his own image. Also the folks who complain about 'anthropomorphism' can be answered by saying 'well yes, the gods DO have human characteristics, as they are created BY humans.

In this way, all the pagan gods along with the classical gods such as Zeus, Apollo, etc DO exist as they have been brought into existence by their thought form creaters 9without realising it).

In the same way, Christ and other contemporary deities have also been brought into existence using the same method, simply thropugh the power of their belief.
I would suggest that there are actually at least three 'Christs' vying for supremacy at the moment, due to the fracture in the Christian community; the Orthadox one, the Catholic one and the Protestant one.


The question is whether, through lack of belief, deities disolve due to lack of belief. I would suggest that once created they cannot dissolve but perhaps are reduced in power greatly or become dormant until they gain believers again which allows their power to grow once more. In this way, the pagan deities are coming back in a big way due to the 'pagan revival'.

Prhaps they can even compete against eachother although their power may be limited to their specific believers.

Thoughts?

Douglas

PS anyone who has looked into the idea of 'thought forms' should at least consider the ideas of 'god' thought forms, never mind any greater creator or 'god' above this level;IMO it is the 'thought form' gods who actually interact with us.

Hi all!

I've been reading up a bit on Buddhism recently, as its one religion I have never really examined in any detail.
However, after reading a lot of Buddist material on the web I am stumped and confused by a few concepts and was wondering if any *actual* Buddhists might be able to explain them a little better:

1) 'The soul': From what I have read, buddists regard everything as illusion and ever changing, including ourselves, which I dont have a problem with.
However, they seem to imply that our 'consciousness' is also illusion and they do not believe in any kind of 'soul' as such, rather they believe in energy forms.
One site I read stated that at death, all the different energies that make up the illusion of the 'mind' such as 'visual energy', 'audible energy' and so on disperse and go their different ways. This implies that the sentient individual disapears forever at death.

However at the same time these texts talk of the 'wheel of life' and how 'sentient beings' travel through succesive lives in various realms, through the process of reincarnation.
How can this be so if the elements that make up our minds (or illusion of mind) disperses. How can Buddhism talk about 'sentient beings' at all when their doctrine appears to suggest that such 'sentient beings' are pretty much an illusion?

Of course I am probably misinterpreting this so any clarification would be helpful. It also appears to be the case that there are several branches of Buddhism, all with differing views on this subject. All the sites I have read appear to 'fudge' over the issue of the 'soul' or what happens to an individual at death.

2) The Brahman: The All.
This is a fairly common concept which I like, However is it the case that when an 'emlightened one' merges with the 'All', they lose all sense of their individuality?
This is what I thought before, however, the Buddha (Sid) appears to have various powers and to be able to communicate and appear to people, suggesting that he still has some kind of individuality.
Perhaps the scenario is similar to some new age concepts I have read where it is said that it is possible to merge with the 'all' AND still have some kind independant reality AT THE SAME TIME. An impossiblity according to Aristotlean (and neo-platonic) thought but possible when we think of 'fuzzy logic' where it is possible to be and not be something at the same time.

3) General Buddhist religion in eastern countries / lay buddhism

I was thinking about all the eastern countries like Japan, China, Korea, etc etc, which refer to themselves as 'Buddhist countries'.
Now, the majority of these citizens refer to themselves as Buddhists.
I have many chinese friends who are Buddhist however they have never meditated in their life, however, they celebrate all the usual festivals and try to adhere to the ethical code of Buddha, they also sometimes go to temples and pray to various buddhist deities if they want help with something.

The vast majority of the population of Hong Kong, China etc are not Buddhists in the sense of 'buddhist monks', but must be classed as Buddists in the sense that they accept the reality of Buddha's teaching and at least try to live according to an ethical code he advised.
I just wonder what they get out of it. Obviously the majority of the population, which I might call 'lay buddhists' hardly beleive that they are likely to 'escape the wheel of life' when they die, so what are they after?
One of my chinese friends said that most 'normal' chinese and so on, hope that they will improve their lot and be reborn in one of the heavens, where they can chill out for a while, perhaps even becoming a god, until they eventially fall back to human level again, or somewhere else.
Can anyone give more detail on this? Obviously it is only a small portion of buddhists who are actually monks. In my experience most Buddhist Chinese that I know, do not meditate or have a monk like intent to escape from the circle of life. They just adhere to the Buddha's code as far as they can, go to festivals and hope for one of the heavens when they die.

One Buddhist site I read says there is no strict definition of a 'buddhist'. Rather, anyone who accepts the reality of the Buddha and what he teaches and attempts to live by his ethics, or at least accept the reality of them, can be classed a Buddhist.
Its just that in the west, we have a stereotype vision of a Buddhist that equals *monk*, but this is in fact only the seriously dedicated variety who are on a mission. However, the 'Buddhist monk' variety of Buddhism seems to be the type that is promoted in the west. I havnt found very many 'causual Buddhists' here like you get in any Asian country.

Any further info clarification much appreciated!

Regards,
Douglas

Thought that might get your attention!

I woke last night with the vibrations/pounding 3rd eye etc which for me usually precedes some kind of phasing experience.

I then appeared outside my home, and in the park. I live near a large city park, but although I could recognise the area due to its geographic shape, it was quite different. The trees and plants looked different somehow. I walked to the top of the hill and couldnt believe my eyes. In the distance there were several large dinosaur like creatures grazing and moving through the landscape... However, when I looked closer, some of them looked like they might have fir, so perhaps they were large mammals of some kind.

Anyway, my immediate reaction was 'er....no, this..isnt happening... this has got to be some kind of mad dream'.
I recognised the area as the park but its like Iv'e been transported back a few aeons of prehistory.

I tried to 'wake up' but instead my awareness increased even more, so that the whole reality of the situation pressed in on me.

It was at this point that I found myself surounded by a group of apes/gorillas! They were all fully bipedal and upright, so more like something out of 'planet of the apes' (which btw I've never seen, I've only seen a picture years ago).

They were intelligent and spoke to me normally, or perhaps used some kind of telepathy which my mind then translated into somethnig meaningful, I'm not sure. At this point, I was like 'this is some kind of astral f**k up, Im misinterpreting everything.. these guys DO NOT look like extras from planet of the apes!'..

I tried to dispell their appearence and tried to percieve more clearly but nothing happened, in fact, they just became more 'real', its hard to describe, but I was getting some kind of data back that this is indeed what they look like.

I was then asked a series of questions, which I cant remember much about.. I then asked the leader what the hell was going on. I asked,  'is this place 'real' or is it in the astral?'  He smiled and said, 'well, it is in the astal AND it is real'. He was right of course, stupid question.

I asked if this place was what I call F27 (Monroe speak) and he seemed to understand and said that it was 'along those lines'.
I also got the impression that this place was an astral reconstruction of their natural enviroment, wherever that was... perhaps it was a reconstuction of the past, perhaps these guys had once lived in the region that is now my local park, meaning that these guys are some earlier form of humanity... who knows.

I cant remember the next part of the conversation but it had something to do with my astral family or what Monroe would call my 'disk' (although I've always thought 'disk' sounded corny so I prefer 'Astral family' myself)...

I later re-awakened, and thought 'whooooooooooah!'

so, am I a neanderthal?  hehe

Anyway, an interesting, fun, if a little odd, experience!

Thanks for reading!

Douglas

A question folks:
Do you activly try to project during the week or do you save it for weekends?

I ask because I am going back to university next week and I don't want astral training to interfere with my studies; myself, like many people, find the best time to practice is if I wake a few hours earlier as i am in the right mode to do some OBE/phasing work.

However, I am worried that during term time this might impact on my studies as getting enough sleep is crucial fof me right now; sometimes when training to phase etc I remain awake the whole time and I have then effectivly lost a few hours sleep!

I remember someone else had this problem and they advised that people worried about this or who are busy during the week, should concentrate on their obe/phasing work during the weekends ie Saturday and Sunday mornings.. of course during holidays etc this can be extended.
What do others think of this idea? Or am I the only one who has these kinds of concerns?

Cheers,
Douglas

I was just wondering. I live in Scotland (in Edinburgh) and it would be great if there were any other AP fans living nearby!

I suspect not however; I am probably the only individual in my area who is into astral stuff, a scenario which is probably common to most members here, which is why this board is so essential for sharing advice and experiences!

Regards,
Douglas

Hi folks,
Its taken me a while to work out my own system here but I now see that my astral experiences so far have actually involved a *combination* of traditional obe mixed with 'phasing' techniques.
Whenever I read about them, they are presented as two separate systems but this is not the case with me, let me explain:

Firstly, I tend to obe 'naturally', in that I just wake up during the night with the right frame of mind for the astral, this happens once a week or so.. no prep is required.

I wake up and feel the vibrations (traditional obe) I settle into this and gently drop off to a light sleep.
Within a few moments I get the 'astral cinema screen' effect where I see an ultra real 3d movie image of some astral scene in front of me
(this is a feature of phasing although I cant remember the focus number for the astral screen effect).

I can just sit and watch this or I can engage with it.
To do this I will myself to move forward, I then enter the scene and the region of the astral depicted. (again this is standard phasing practice).
Now, a notable differnce is that while the 'cinema' effect is described as a way of entering the astral proper, I can often use this to enter the physical (Real Time zone) as well. Again, I just place intent to visit a RT location and it should appear in windowed mode, I can then enter that scene.

Last time I projected to the RT zone (using phasing) I was floating above some treetops. I wanted to check out some of the traditional obe effects that Robert Bruce talks about.
Sure enough I was able to notice the melting hands phenomenom that RB describes when you look at your hands for more than a moment.. very interesting!
I was also able to switch on a form of auric vision to see auras in my immediate enviroment.

I appeared back in my bedroom but across the room from my bed. I then walked over to the bed and got into it wherupon I woke up.
Interestingly, although I remembered everything during my encounter, I also found that I could recall a completly seperate dream that seems to have occured at the same time as my experience!
In the past this would have confused me but after reading RB, I believe this is a feature of the mind split phenomenon that he talks about.

So it seems that in my case at least, traditional obe and phasing techniques can be combined. After reading Robert Monroe's books I can now see that his own technique for getting out of body and going astral also seems to be a kind of mix of the two.

Thanks for reading!

Douglas