Spiritualism
London Spiritualist Church
I've heard about Spiritualism several times in my life, and each time it was referred to as being popular from the mid-1800s to the early 1920s.
Last week I watched a QTV interview with Dan Aykroyd and his father, Peter, who had just written a book about Spiritualism in his home life, which was usually buzzing with seances. Dan was introduced to ghosts through Spiritualism, and it was a big factor in his writing the script for the 1980s hit movie "Ghostbusters". He said he learned the lingo at home.
Anyway, after seeing them on QTV I looked up Peter's book "A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Seances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters" on Amazon. Then I googled it a bit. Then, for some reason, I googled "Spiritualim London Ontario", looking for historical details.
What I found startled me.
Nothing I'd seen or read ever implied that it was still alive and well. Much to my surprise, there is still an active Spiritualist Church in London, just 5 minutes from our house. WTF?
So, yesterday, Ula and I attended their Sunday service, at 47 Boulee Street, at 2pm.
The sign out front (see right) had olde tyme details. The building was humble, and the inside was decorated with sunflowers (what's the symbolism there?). There was an organ, and some coffee & tea at the back. Stacking chairs were arranged around a central spot on the floor.
The Reverend started by saying that attendance was low this week, but there were still at least 50-60 people there.
She gave a quick talk and then we sang a couple of hymns. I forget what they were, but they were very bouncy. The kind of tune that appeared in the movie "O' Brother, Where Art Thou"... You know, things like "Sunny Side of Life", etc.
All I could picture was a guy accompanying us on a banjo. There wasn't one, but a little later on, 2 people picked up acoustic guitars and did just that! Picture 60 adults singing that kind of song together. It had a crazy-happy energy about it.
Then a guest speaker got up and gave the reading, which included quotes from Neale Donald Walsch (Conversations with God), Dr Wayne Dyer, and other popular new age authors (right up my alley).
THEN, at about the time that a Catholic church would invite people up to partake communion/the eucharist, everyone was invited up to receive ... some Reiki healing!
4 members of the congregation stood behind stools. Everyone was invited up, 4 at a time, to receive healing hands. Ula and I were shy, so we didn't go up, but it was interesting seeing loads of people go up like it was totally normal. One of the healers looked like Michael Moore, and seeing him hand-heal people with his energy made me smile 
Then another hymn and a reading of the 7 principles of Spiritualism. THEN came the real shocker.
The Reverend got back up and said "As you know, we're one of the only churches that not only believes in an afterlife, but believes we can access it. Please give a big round of applause for today's Readers", at which point two mediums stood up, and took turns giving readings to people in the crowd.
It was like "Crossing Over with John Edwards", except there were no cameras, and no tricks. As we were listening to the first reading I got the strange feeling that she would read me next... Sure enough, as soon as she'd finished the first reading, she came right over to me! I won't go into the details here, because it's a little personal, but suffice it to say that it was startlingly specific, and accurate, and that I was very impressed.
The entire service was VERY informal, quaint, and utterly accepting/fun. I can't remember the last time I held hands with strangers and sang. It made for a very unusual, but quite nice afternoon.
Life Plan
I was reading Spencer Fry's blog the other day, and he was talking about his new 50 year life plan. He created one because he believes thinking about the big picture because gives him a horizon to drive towards, regardless of whether he'll achieve everything or not. I thought that was a pretty good idea, and decided that I'd try to write one, too.
You can't achieve your goals until you define your goals, so here I am, putting them down "on paper", ready to be put into action on the first day of 2010. If ever I feel that I've lost perspective, I'll refer back to this.
My list is different from Spencer Fry's in a few key ways, though.
His plan is serial. He plans our year by year what he wants to get done.
It's a great theory if you know exactly what you want to do, and if you love doing 1 thing at a time.
That's not me, though. I love to be doing lots of things regularly, so my plan will be more parallel.
I will have 3 streams of focus, and each stream will have its own set of projects or goals. I'll be free to adjust my projects & goals along the way, as life happens and things change. What I don't see changing are my main areas of focus -- the streams themselves.
My 3 Streams are:
- Body (health, fitness, fun)
- Mind (learning, problem solving, working)
- Spirit (love, family, giving, oneness)
Body Goals
- Eat well (whole foods, mostly plants, not too much)
- Exercise regularly
- Reduce or eliminate caffeine intake (if I need to stay awake, go for pure sugar instead)
Mind Goals
- Continue to advance in my trade (web development & entrepreneurism)
- Create my own revenue generating websites and become self-sustaining
- Become competent in electronics & magnetism
Spirit Goals
- Develop my ability to concentrate, imagine, & visualize (necessary for lucid dreaming, gnosis, etc)
- Raise a family in our home & yet-to-be-acquired cottage. Build as much as possible with my own 2 hands. Travel with family as much a possible.
- Develop my community, both in my neighbourhood, and with like-minded people in the city, by seeking out existing groups and creating new ones. Examples: Habitat for Humanity, St John's Ambulance, Community Choir, CSETI Contact Teams, Paranormal Researchers
How will I work on all of this?
Well, I'm sure the process will evolve quite a bit over time (especially when a kid/kids are added to the mix), but here's my initial stab at it:
Weekday Routine (work & personal project focus)
6:30-07am - spirit - meditation to plan the day
07am-08am - spirit (reading for fun) OR body (workout)
08am-12pm - mind - work
12pm-01pm - body - healthy lunch sitting at the dining table
01pm-04pm - mind - work
04pm-05pm - body (workout) OR spirit (reading for fun)
05pm-06pm - body - healthy dinner sitting at the dining table
06pm-07pm - mind/spirit - electronics/magnetism
07pm-08pm - mind/spirit - electronics/magnetism
08pm-09pm - mind/spirit - personal web dev project
09pm-10pm - mind/spirit - personal web dev project
10pm-11pm - body/mind - watch TV or play video game to wind down
11-11:30pm - spirit - meditation to end the day (plan dreams/probs to solve, express gratitude)
Saturday Routine (family focus)
6:30-07am - spirit - meditation to plan the day
07am-08am - spirit (reading for fun) OR body (workout)
08am-12pm - spirit - chores/renovations
12pm-01pm - body - healthy lunch sitting at the dining table
01pm-04pm - spirit - chores/renovations
04pm-05pm - body (workout) OR spirit (reading for fun)
05pm-06pm - body - healthy dinner sitting at the dining table
06pm-11pm - spirit - family time
11-11:30pm - spirit - meditation to end the day (plan dreams/probs to solve, express gratitude)
Sunday Routine (community focus)
6:30-07am - spirit - meditation to plan the day
07am-08am - spirit (spiritual reading for fun) OR body (workout)
08am-11am - spirit - volunteer/community involvement
11am-12pm - spirit - church/zen/temple/community event
12pm-01pm - body - healthy lunch sitting at the dining table
01pm-04pm - spirit - volunteer/community involvement
04pm-05pm - body (workout) OR spirit (spiritual reading for fun)
05pm-06pm - body - healthy dinner sitting at the dining table
06pm-11pm - spirit - family time
11-11:30pm - spirit - meditation to end the day (plan dreams/probs to solve, express gratitude)
Because I'm not specifying years, I am free to adjust plans accordingly. I don't think it's important that I plan specific goals so much as it is important that I set aside the time for everything I want to be able to do. If I can stick to the plan most of the time, I should be able to accomplish a great deal.
Oddly, when I finished writing this, I went into a directory of images to find one for this post, and I stumbled upon a photo that was taken 10 years ago tonight! We had just finished making a "couch cushion fort" at Amy's house, to hide in, because it was about to switch from 1999 to 2000, and everyone was mildly worried about the Y2K bug. Shortly after this photo was taken, we decided it would be better to be outside at midnight, so we went out into the corn field to hunt for sharks. Long story.
To infinity, and beyond.
Inside The Matrix
The Real World is Energy
On the surface "The Matrix" appears to be about a world where people realize their minds are simply running simulation lives inside a computer, while their physical bodies lay dormant inside energy harvesting capsules. Small groups of people realize this and to break free. At the time, that blew a lot of people's minds.
Ironically, The Matrix movie itself was just another layer of illusion & metaphor. It is a metaphor for REALITY. Our consciousnesses aren't living inside computer generated bodies; they're living inside biologically generated bodies.
The important thing to realize is this:
We are the consciousness, not the container.
Furthermore, we can escape the container at will, just as Morpheus and the other rebels did in The Matrix. But first, we must realize that we are inside containers, and "I am not my container".
It takes Neo a while to realize the repercussions of this, but when he does, you see him turn into the computer, and enter the "digital world". When we realize that we are consciousness, we can enter the astral/cosmic/consciousness world.
Neo becomes one with the digital world. He exists inside it, yet he is not separate from it.
It is the same with us and The One Consciousness.
We can exist as individuals within it, but we are not separate from it.
We are literally one.
All Is One.
But how can we come to this realization?
I'm happy to tell you that it's not theoretical or imaginary.
You can actually experience this awakening.
The interesting thing about this is that consciousness is by definition subjective.
It is called subjective because it is different for everyone.
But it is only different because we are powerful, and we each, literally, create our own realities.
In the physical world, our containers limit our vision.
We don't see our power, and so we all obey the the laws that physicality seems to imply.
This is called objectivity, and it is the same for everyone, and it is incredibly DIS-empowering.
When you awaken, you can leave objectivity behind.
Science wants you to believe that Objectivity is good and Subjectivity is bad.
But why?
Because subjectivity is hard to measure?
Why worry about measuring when you can experience and feel in your bones that things are the way you want them to be?
Part of the problem is that Scientists are very attached to physical, objective reality.
More than most people, that IS their definite world view, and they are biased toward interpreting everything through that lens.
It is more difficult for them to realize that these containers are all illusory.
They can measure it, so it must be real.
No - it's not real, it's just objective.
Within the objective world, scientists are correct.
Within the subjective world, subjectivists are correct.
Furthermore, scientists do not realize that what they believe literally creates their reality.
This is problematic because scientists do not believe in subjective reality / unmeasurables.
Scientists by definition require proof, whereas Believers are willing to accept things without tangible evidence.
The scientists' disbelief prevents them from directly experiencing the very thing they would love to prove.
Their disbelief of it prevents them from ever being able to measure it.
Is it possible for a believer to measure?
I don't know. Maybe, maybe not.
But the important thing is that if a believer experiences it, he knows it to be true.
Experience is our most important measurement.
There are those who say experience cannot be trusted, because our senses and memories are not dependable.
While that may be true in the objective sense, it is not true in the subjective sense.
What I remember IS my experience.
If I believe that I know God intimately, what does it matter if you cannot measure that?
To quote The Architect: "The function of The One is now to return to The Source, allowing a temporary dissemanation of the code you carry, re-inserting the prime program." -- sounds like shared consciousness & reincarnation to me!
To quote Morpheus: "The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work; when you go to church; when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth: that you are a slave born into bondage; into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch; a prison for your mind. Unfortunately no one can be told what The Matrix is.
You have to see it for yourself."
To go back a little further, "The Force is what gives the Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together." -Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars
BOTH films are talking about unbounded consciousness & oneness.
Shared consciousness/connectedness is how Vader could tell Obi Wan was nearby.
The fact that everything IS consciousness is what allowed Luke to lift heavy things; grab his lightsabre at a distance; and slice the training droid with his eyes shut.
He could see them with his Mind's eye -- his consciousness.
This isn't fiction.
This is our true potential.
What is “Occult”?
Isn't "occult" about cults and devil worship and crazy shit like that?
No. Absolutely not.
The word "occult" comes from the Latin "occultus", which means:
- clandestine
- hidden
- secret
and has come to refer to:
- the knowledge of the hidden
- the mysterious
- things having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence
- things beyond ordinary understanding
- things difficult to see or know
- the secret learning of the ancients
This word is also often used in reference to secret societies, cover-ups, conspiracies, and various faiths/religions/belief systems.
Depending on how you know me (if at all) you might not know that this is one of my two favourite areas of interest (the other being the paranormal). This blog will contain all manner of thoughts pertaining to the occult, esoterica, paranormal, UFOs, cryptozoology, conspiracy, cover-up, etc.
If you've ever looked at my YouTube favourites, it's easy to see that's what I spend most of my time thinking about.
So, to start things off, how about that satellite collision a few weeks back?
Pretty unfortunate loss of technology, eh?
Or was it?
At least one Russian General is saying that the satellite collision was a U.S. plot ! A plot? To do what?
Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Leonid Shershnev believes it was not a collision at all, but a test of the US's new space-based weapon, designed to "monitor and inspect orbital spacecraft by fully-automated satellites equipped with robotic devices", and that the "U.S. may now be capable of manipulating 'hostile satellites' including their destruction, with a single command from a ground control center."
You'll be seeing me use a few words from here on out, so I might as well define them now:
- Mundane: the opposite of 'occult'. Practically synonymous with "apparent" and "obvious".
- PRS (Problem Reaction Solution): a simple (but popular) mechanism for mind control. I don't mean "evil looking magician/wizard" mind control; just a no-nonsense way for "Them" to get you on their side, and thinking along the same lines.
How does Problem Reaction Solution work?
- First you create the problem
- You then report the problem to the media in the way that you want it reported
- Then you get the public to react to your problem by saying:
"Something must be done; this can't go on. What are THEY going to do about it?"
(Remember "they" are the people who created the problem) - You offer your original plan as the solution to the problem, and the public demands that you take action immediately.
This is also known as the Problem Reaction Solution Paradigm (The Hegelian Dialectic), and to put it more succinctly:
- The government creates or exploits a problem, blaming it on others
- The people react by asking the government for help, and are willing to give up their rights
- The government offers the solution that was planned long before the crisis occurred
Real Life Example of Problem Reaction Solution
- Your country wants more oil for less money, but the countries that have it want to raise prices instead (i.e. they want to charge a fair price, or at the very least they want to charge you the same they charge the rest of the world). This oil shortage is costing your country billions of dollars a year, and the oil producing nations won't budge on price, but the public won't approve attacking a foreign nation just to get cheaper oil.
- Time to create the problem: you make some fake passports identifying citizens of the oil producing country, and you put them in a plane. You then fly that plane into a national monument, killing several thousand people, and destroying the monument. This plan only takes a few million dollars to pull off. Maybe even less. Now you report the problem: People from country X did this to us! They are terrorists, and their nation is letting them get away with it.
- Reaction: The public is outraged and incensed, and demands retaliation for the loss of their families, and the attack on their freedom.
- Solution: "If you're not with us, you're with the terrorists." CountryX won't kill their own citizens, so they are branded a terrorist country, and they deserve to be overthrown. We go in and overthrow them. In order to prevent the terrorists from doing something horrific like blowing up their own country's oil pipelines, we station our troops around them 24/7. We become the interim government, and create & sign contracts to provide our own country with cheap oil for the forseeable future.
- The original *real* problem (expensive oil) is solved. The public demanded that you attack the foreign country. They thought the attack was about terrorism, when it was really about oil. Who is the real terrorist in this scenario? That's right -- we are. Not "Them".
I didn't make this up; it has been in use since at least 284 A.D., by The Roman Emperor Diocletian.
THIS is what I'm talking about when I say "hidden knowledge", and "occult".
I was a bit of an activist in University, but I only really got upset when people in positions of power mis-used their authority. Turns out that's happening all around us, all the time.
Anyway, back to the satellite collision...
Can we really believe that it was just an accident? NASA tracks ALL objects in space in real-time! Could they not have predicted this collision and warned someone?
Was it really an accident, or could it be the first stage of a Problem-Reaction-Solution scenario? Let's take a stab at it:
- Situation: UFOs keep entering our air space and we can't stop them, because the public would see us launching missiles etc. If the public learns that UFOs are real, they will realize that we have been lying to them for years. They will further realize that the UFOs are the ones with Air Superiority, not the United States Air Force. Governments could lose control.
- Problem: There's so much stuff in orbit of us that it's starting to damage our space station, and communications satellites! This stuff won't go away! It'll be around for thousands of years!
- Reaction: Public says "We can't have that! We need our cell phones!"
- Solution: Government & NASA approve spending increase to build a network of stationary satellites in outside the earth's orbit (this hasn't happened, but will it?). They wouldn't be visible from earth. They could contain various weapons we wouldn't know about. They could form a line of defense against any threat, earthly or otherwise. They would give the government a higher vantage point for tracking any "inbound" traffic. And perhaps most importantly, they would allow NASA to say "What you saw in the sky today was a piece of the satellite collision of 2009, falling out of orbit. There are still 10,000 pieces up there. Expect to see them more frequently."
Don't believe any of this? That's fine.
Even Neo contemplated taking the blue pill, and staying in The Matrix.