Saturday, December 27, 2008

Secret Doorways


I am wishing that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Mine is still being savored and has made me look at myself and my family in different ways. I still struggle with the who I am, what I am here to accomplish, and how did I end up with the family I have and who are they in relation to me and vis versa. Holidays are a struggle to polish up all our hurts and make up shiny personas that hide the real stories of who we are on the inside and all those hurts. And all those hurts seem to manifest more deeply at the holiday time. I have been cleaning, scrubbing and painting and decorating trying to make my home the perfect backdrop for a wonderful Christmas. I have been in a frenzy to make everything perfect, that having the perfect backdrop would make it all a wonderful christmas story just like in the movies.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Friday, November 14, 2008

Planet Earth - Part 1

When you make the finding yourself - even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light - you'll never forget it. (Carl Sagan)

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Tori Amos and her Rendition of REM's Losing My Religion



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqJDfRD9Vp4

Oh Mama, I am so sorry that I could not be who you wanted me to be. I had to be me.

Oh life, is bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no I've said too much
I set it up

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spot-light
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said enough

I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Every whisper, of every waking hour
I'm choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt, lost and blinded fool, fool
Oh no I've said too much
I set it up

Consider this
Consider this, the hint of the century
Consider this the slip
( From: http://www.elyrics.net )
That brought me to my knees, failed
What if all these fantasies come
Flailing around
Now I've said too much

I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream
That was just a dream

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spot-light
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said enough

I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream
Try, cry, fly, try
That was just a dream
Just a dream
Just a dream, dream

Copy Cat

I have almost zero comments on my blog. But one comment that was left here felt like an arrow straight into my heart. The poster seemed to think I was stealing her writings and posting them here for my own.



I have no claim to any of the beautiful things that I paste and copy here. Just like I decorate my home with beautiful paintings by artists other than myself, and read beautiful literature by wonderful authors other than myself. I cherish beautiful things that make my heart sing, things that feed my brain , my eyes and my heart. I always try to make sure the original poster is given credit for their work.

I appreciate wonderful things but as of yet have not been able to create any of my own. Still trying though, the wonderful artist Varo whose works follow below only began to paint in the last ten years of her life.

And in my own little way, this blog, is my creation, even if most of it is merely appreciation of other's works. But is that a bad thing? Perhaps in my own little way I help to point out bits of beauty and song here and there.

I hope so.

So please if I have offended by my copying and pasting to my blog, please forgive me, I had only cherished what you had created and wanted to save it in my treasure box of curious and beautiful things.


The Female Quest of Remedios Varos

(from Arthurian Legends)
The quest motif in Arthurian literature is traditionally a male paradigm, but some contemporary women writers and artists have been creating a counter tradition of "revisionist mythmaking"--a re-writing or re-visioning of the quest that foregrounds the female implications of traditional quest/grail imagery and addresses specifically the relations among women, nature, and the creative imagination. Scholar Estella Lauter claims that the fantasy and female-centered art of Remedios Varo reveals the same stages found in traditional quests: the Separation, the Initiation, and the Return. See what you think as you view the following images accompanied by selected quotations from Lauter's Women as Mythmakers: Poetry and Visual Art by Twentieth-Century Women (Indiana UP 1984).

Born in 1908, Anglés Cataluńa Spain. Died 1963, Mexico City, Remedios Varo is probably one least known of the great Surrealist painters, even though she is rumored to have taken classes together with Salvado Dalí. Her presentation of dreams, imagery and symbolism has a unique style all its own, entriely fanatastic, yet still full of subtle wit and enigma.

In 1942 she moved to Mexico City with her husband, Benjamin Péret, to escape the nazi occupation of France. It was in Mexico that she painted many of her finest works.


Rupture
(Ruptura)1955




[Page 89] "One of Varo's first paintings . . . shows a cloaked and hooded female descending a walled flight of steps from an imposing building, under the ominous gaze of six human figures. She walks straight toward us with . . . her hands folded in resolution. . . . Her garment suggests that she is leaving a convent; its folds, however, suggest the vaginal shape that surrounds several questers in Varo's later work."



Solar Music
(Musica Solar)1955
[Page 81] "[In Solar Music] . . . a woman plays a stringed sunbeam with her bow, and the music releases the birds in nearby trees from their cocoon-like capsules. Where illumination from the sun falls, it makes both the forest floor and her mantle green; but [Page 83] it is her own music, rising in arcs from the point where her bow touches the strings, that releases the birds from their torpor. . . ."







Celestial Pabulum
(Papilla estelar)
1958



[Page 90] "[This painting creates] an image of female nurturing . . . . The protagonist is seated at a table inside an octagonal enclosure in the sky. She is grinding the food from the stars and feeding it to the moon in its cage. She is at once powerful and impotent. Because the moon is waning, it seems likely that she is saving it from death. . . . A closer look at her setting reveals the source of her ambivalence; although there are steps leading from her enclosure, she could not take them unless she could walk on clouds. . . . [She] is as caged as the moon. . . ."




Creation of the Birds
(Creacion de las aves)
1958


[Page 84-5] ". . . [T]he protagonist has assumed the form of an owl in order to paint birds who will come to life and take flight for the first time. . . . She dips the brush, attached to her own violin (in the place of her heart), into paint from an alchemical alembic where the substance from the stars is stored. With her other hand, she holds a triangular magnifying glass to intensify the light from the moon. . . . The woman/owl gives wings to her visions of the birds."
[Page 91] ". . . [This] is her image of what will be required if human creators wish to make a world in which all the species of life can survive. Her choice of the owl, always a figure of wisdom, is clarified by the information that the pre-Hellenic, Cretan Athena was a patron of the arts and a goddess of renewal . . . ."




Exploration of the Sources of the Orinoco River
(Exploracion de las fuentes del rio Orinoco)
1959

[Page 92] "In the midst of all these images of the transformed or the stymied quester is Varo's most explicit image of a journey. In Journey to the Sources of the Orinoco River, an amazon dressed in army fatigues and a bowler hat nagivates a womb-like egg-shaped vessel . . . riveted together and equipped with modern instruments for navigation. The journey has ended in a primeval forest which has drowned in the water that spouts from a goblet-fountain on a table in a hollow tree-trunk. . . . This may have been a sacred place of origins, but now it is nothing more than another landmark of civilization."


Born Again
(Nacer de Nuevo)
1960


[Page 92] "The moment of discovery in Varo's rendition of the quest occurs in Born Again. It is the discovery of the grail, which eluded all but three of King Arthur's knights. The naked female breaks through a wall into a sacred space that contains the grail, miraculously full and containing the reflected image of the crescent moon. . . . It is an ecstatic moment, . . . entirely feminine because of the ancient association of the woman with the vessel and the moon, and because of the vaginal imagery presented in the tearing wall. . . . [T]he protagonist has become her own fate."










The Calling
(or, The One Who Is Called; La llamada)
1961

[Page 92] ". . . [T]he quester is dressed in an incandescent flame-like garment. Her[Page 94] red hair reaches up to and wraps around the largest celestial body in the dark sky. She moves forward swiftly, carrying a vial of precious fluid and wearing an alchemist's mortar around her neck. The citizens, so immobile that they have become part of the city walls, indicate no awareness of her presence. No one acknowledges her triumph, her apotheosis as a goddess of fire or as a spiritual alchemist who has produced the elixir of life."




Woman Coming Out of the Psychoanalyst's
(Mujer saliendo del psicoamalista)
1961


[Page 94] ". . . [T]he woman, wearing a green cloak, holds her father's head by the beard and prepares to drop it into the well. . . . Her vision has enabled her to discard her father's head (the most powerful embodiment of all that is threatening to her) along with other elements (a clock, a key, a pacifier) that Varo labels 'psychological waste.' Part of her mask has slipped in the process, but her mouth is still covered."

[Page 96] "Far from achieving atonement with the father, she must dispose of his head and assume the ultimate task of creation, the resurrection of nature, by herself. . . ."




Still-life Being Resurrected
(Naturaleza muerta resucitando)
1963


[Page 86] "[This painting] shows plates of fruit being set in motion by a candle in the center of a table, and spiralling upward and outward until the fruit smashes to release its seeds, which become plants and flower immediately . . . . Varo's creator must now resurrect vegetable life. . . . Perhaps this is the most radical image of human creativity we can imagine--this god-like responsibility for the continuation of inanimate life."

Thomas Pynchon – The Crying of Lot 49

“In Mexico City they somehow wandered into an exhibition of paintings by the beautiful Spanish exile Remedios Varo: in the central paintings of a triptych, titled ‘Bordando el Manto Terrestre’, were a number of frail girls with heart-shaped faces, huge eyes, spun-gold hair, prisoners in the top room of a circular tower, embroidering a kind of tapestry which spilled out the slit windows and into a void, seeking hopelessly to fill the void: for all the other buildings and creatures, all the waves, ships and forests of the earth were contained in this tapestry, and the tapestry was the world.”
Thomas Pynchon – The Crying of Lot 49



http://www.dcpages.com/Museums/Art/041700varomus.shtml
National Museum of Women in the Arts : The Magic of Remedios Varo
Review by: Marilyn Millstone

Step inside the gold-and-marble grandeur of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), and you'll find on view the remarkable surrealist paintings of Spanish artist Remedios Varo.

Varo, who was born in 1908 and died of a heart attack at age 55, devoted herself to painting only in the last decade of her life. Seventy-seven of her most famous works are on display at NMWA, many for the first time ever in the U.S.

The exhibit is aptly entitled "The Magic of Remedios Varo," for the word magic conjures an aura of whimsy, unpredictability and a bit of spookiness. Varo's paintings deliver exactly that: images, juxtapositions and allusions so fantastic and haunting that audiences have been entranced by them since her first one-woman show was held in Mexico in 1956.

Passionately interested in the sciences, the occult and the place of women in the world, Varo uses a wide array of subject matter in her work. Sometimes, she depicts women in traditional roles like weaving, though, characteristically, her depiction veers toward the fantastical. In "Weaver of Verona," an ashen woman seated in a dim room knits what is perhaps her alter-ego -- a winged woman in a bold red dress who is flying toward the light of the open window, her face turned enigmatically toward the viewer. In another piece called "Weaving of Space and Time," Varo interprets in delicate, swirling strokes the meaning of Einstein's theory of relativity.

The exhibit elicits a lot of "oohs" and "ahs" from viewers. "I've been to most of the famous art museums in the world, and I've never seen one of her works, or even heard of her," said one young Hispanic woman visiting the exhibit. "She's just wonderful."

Thematically complex and technically superb, Varo's challenging paintings take time to fully absorb and appreciate. You'll want to give yourself at least a full hour to experience the richness of the exhibit. A word of advice: be sure to follow from the beginning of the exhibit the beautifully written text panels offering insights that will enhance your understanding of Varo's work.

"The Magic of Remedios Varo" runs through May 29. The National Museum of Women in the Arts is located at 1250 New York Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20005, and is open Monday through Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 12-5. Admission is free; donations are requested.

-- Marilyn Millstone

Do you dream of the Magdalene?

from Blog Mary Magdalene Within)


There is a beautiful 14th century altar piece with the familiar Mary Magdalene and a worried looking "Authority Father". We see Mary's symbols of red clothing, a jar of special oil or ointment, a look of "all knowing", and long beautiful hair. Her hair is most often red or blonde, and it's almost always loose and flowing.


The lore of the Goddess from time immemorial has told us about her hair; how beautiful, magical, mystical is Her hair. No matter the insults, denigrations, mistellings of her story that Mary "called the Magdalene" has endured, she seems to have always kept claim to the glory of her hair. Painters and sculptors through the last 2,000 years have felt compelled to keep her hair long and beautiful. Apparently hair was so very potent an attribute of Woman that St. Paul needed to proclaim it forbidden in church. Woman's hair should be covered "because of the angels" (1 Corinthians 11:10), referring to a belief that women's hair would draw demons into the building. By that time, of course, the Magdalene's fate was sealed , even though Jesus had said so explicitly , "Wheresoever the gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of in memorial of her..." (Mark 14:3-9 ) In Memory of Her.

Before Jesus the Christ and Mary the Magdalene stepped onto the world stage as Divine Couple, Isis and Osiris were the ones to enact the stories of Sacred Union on all levels, and hair was a potent force in those stories too. When Osiris died and Isis was in her lamentation period, she cut a lock of her hair to place on his burial garments. And when she was bringing to effect the resurrection of Osiris, it was her hair spread over him which represented the Life Force which brought him back. It was said that her hair created the warmth which started his heart again, and allowed her to conceive a child. And there we have the story of the life cycle within the Sacred Union, restoring her bounty to earth.

Isis and Osiris painting by Susan Seddon Boulet

Legends have it that Mary Magdalene was with child after she had played her part in enacting the ancient story of creation and re-creation. Her "Princess Sarah" of "the journey in the boat with no oars" went underground in the European tales of the fate of the feminine world soul.


Mary the Magdalene also lived through the feeling and intuition and love of the artists who brought her alive, with her long flowing tresses of power and magic and beauty. Perhaps her stories of the great love between she and Jesus met up with northern European stories of glorious women diety like Rhiannon and Gwenhwyfar. Both of these goddesses were said to have long, long beautiful hair and both inspired the love of the best of the kings. We know that the fair Guinevere was known, as was Mary Magdalene, as "female wisdom"...The Woman Who Knows the All. Rhiannon was Britain's woman diety with long and powerful hair, and she most often came riding to people on an enormous white unearthly horse.

One of our Christian stories (Revelations xix 11-14) tells us that Jesus will return on an unearthly white horse.....we can only hope that it belongs to the Goddess Rhiannon.

Rhiannon painting by Stevie Nicks

Rhiannon by Stevie Nicks


Rhiannon rings like a bell throu the night

And wouldnt you love to love her

Takes to the sky like a bird in flight

And who will be her lover

All your life youve never seen a woman

Taken by the wind

Would you stay if she promised you heaven

Will you ever winShe is like a cat in the dark

And then she is the darkness

She rules her life like a fine skylark

And when the sky is starless

All your life youve never seen a woman

Taken by the wind

Would you stay if she promised you heaven

Will you ever win

Will you ever win

Rhiannon


"Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath wetted my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. Thou gavest me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet." (Luke 7)
magdalene jesus feet hair

Her love flows easily like her unbound hair, she is the love capacity of the Goddess, the wisdom of the Goddess to love the Sacred Masculine with whom she creates life.
Photobucket

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Silent Lucidity




I am spending my summer learning new things like making this video (my first ever), and loved this! And keeping my hands in the dirt growing lots of wonderful beautiful things. Life is good and rich!

Loving the life I have.

My life is Beautiful..............

Monday, April 07, 2008

The Genesis Factor


The Genesis Factor
by Stephan A. Hoeller

The following article was published in Quest, September 1997. It is presented here with permission of the author.
SOME YEARS AGO, Elaine H. Pagels, the noted religious historian, had the importance of the Book of Genesis brought to her attention in a most unusual manner. She was in Khartoum, in the African Sudan, holding a discussion with the then foreign minister of that country, who had written a book on the myths of his people. A prominent member of the Dinka tribe, her host told her how the creation myth of his people relates to the whole social, political, and religious culture in that part of the Sudan.

Shortly after this conversation, Pagels was reading a Time magazine in which several letters to the editor took issue with a particular article on changing social mores in America. To her surprise, four of the six letters mentioned the story of Adam and Eve--how God created the first human pair "in the beginning," and what kind of behavior was therefore right or wrong for men and women today. Stimulated by her conversation in Africa, she quickly recognized that many people, even those who do not literally believe it, still return to the archaic story of creation as a frame of reference when faced with challenges to their traditional values.

Pagels realized that, like creation stories of other cultures, the Genesis story addresses profound and basic questions. Americans and Dinka tribesmen are not so different after all; both look to their creation stories when attempting to answer such questions as, what is the purpose of human beings on earth? How do we differ from each other and from animals? Why do we suffer? Why do we die?

Recent events on the intellectual scene have served to affirm these insights. Autumn of 1996 brought a considerable revival of interest in Genesis. Foreshadowed by a series of semi-informal conversations at Manhattan's Jewish Theological Seminary, led by Rabbi Burton Visotzky, the major event of this revival became a much publicized television series entitled "A Living Conversation," devoted entirely to the Book of Genesis. Hosted by Bill Moyers, himself an ordained Southern Baptist minister who had later shifted his allegiance to the more liberal United Church of Christ, the series raised high expectations in many quarters. A number of recent books have also dealt with the Genesis story.

Robert Alter, one of the most recent translators of Genesis, said: "Moyers has hit upon an idea whose time has come. At this moment of post-cold war confusion about where we're going as a civilization, with all kinds of murky religious ferment, it makes sense to do some stocktaking. Let's go back to the book that started the whole shebang."

Moyers's panelists included Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, a Hindu, a Buddhist, and several agnostics. Not included, however, were persons who could represent Gnostic Christianity, one of the most ancient and at the same time most timely and creative approaches to the interpretation of the Bible. Nor was there any appreciable mention of Gnostic views in the cover story of Time magazine (October 28,1996), which followed upon the television series, or in several books published in the ensuing months.

Had the recent revival of interest in Genesis occurred fifty or sixty years ago, this omission might have been understandable. Sources offering alternative interpretations of the Book of Genesis then were few and far between. All this changed, however, after 1945, when a veritable treasure trove of Gnostic scriptures was discovered in the Nag Hammadi valley in upper Egypt. This discovery would transform the character of biblical studies forever. The Nag Hammadi scriptures contain numerous creative variants of biblical teachings.

A Different View of Adam and Eve

William Blake, the Gnostic poet of the early nineteenth century, wrote of the differences between his view and the mainstream view of holy writ: 'Both read the Bible day and night; but you read black where I read white." The same words could have been uttered by Gnostic Christians and their orthodox opponents in the first three or four centuries A.D.

The orthodox view then regarded most of the Bible, particularly Genesis, as history with a moral. Adam and Eve were considered to be historical figures, the literal ancestors of our species. From the story of their transgression, orthodox teachers deduced specific moral consequences, chiefly the "fall" of the human race due to original sin. Another consequence was the lowly and morally ambivalent status of women, who were regarded as Eve's co-conspirators in the fateful deed of disobedience in paradise. Tertullian, a sworn enemy of the Gnostics, wrote to the female members of the Christian community thusly:

. . . you are the devil's gateway. . . you are she who persuaded him whom the devil did not dare attack. . . . Do you not know that you are each an Eve? The sentence of God on your sex lives on in this age; the guilt, necessarily, lives on too.

The Gnostic Christians who authored the Nag Hammadi scriptures did not read Genesis as history with a moral, but as a myth with a meaning. To them, Adam and Eve were not actual historical figures, but representatives of two intrapsychic principles within every human being. Adam was the dramatic embodiment of psyche, or soul, while Eve stood for the pneuma, or spirit. Soul, to the Gnostics, meant the embodiment of the emotional and thinking functions of the personality, while spirit represented the human capacity for spiritual consciousness. The former was the lesser self (the ego of depth psychology), the latter the transcendental function, or the "higher self," as it is sometimes known. Obviously, Eve, then, is by nature superior to Adam, rather than his inferior as implied by orthodoxy.

Nowhere is Eve's superiority and numinous power more evident than in her role as Adam's awakener. Adam is in a deep sleep, from which Eve's liberating call arouses him. While the orthodox version has Eve physically emerge from Adam's body, the Gnostic rendering has the spiritual principle known as Eve emerging from the unconscious depths of the somnolent Adam. Before she thus emerges into liberating consciousness, Eve calls forth to the sleeping Adam in the following manner, as stated by the Gnostic Apocryphon of John:

I entered into the midst of the dungeon which is the prison of the body. And I spoke thus: "He who hears, let him arise from the deep sleep." And then he (Adam) wept and shed tears. After he wiped away his bitter tears he spoke, asking: "Who is it that calls my name, and whence has this hope come unto me, while I am in the chains of this prison?" And I spoke thus: "I am the Pronoia of the pure light; I am the thought of the undefiled spirit. . . . Arise and remember . . . and follow your root, which is I . . . and beware of the deep sleep."

In another scripture from the same collection, entitled On the Origin of the World, we find further amplification of this theme. Here Eve whose mystical name is Zoe, meaning life, is shown as the daughter and messenger of the Divine Sophia, the feminine hypostasis of the supreme Godhead:

Sophia sent Zoe, her daughter, who is called "Eve," as an instructor in order that she might raise up Adam, in whom there is no spiritual soul so that those whom he could beget might also become vessels of light. When Eve saw her companion, who was so much like her, in his cast down condition she pitied him, and she exclaimed: "Adam, live! Rise up upon the earth!" Immediately her words produced a result for when Adam rose up, right away he opened his eyes. When he saw her, he said: "You will be called 'mother of the living', because you are the one who gave me life."

In the same scripture, the creator and his companions whisper to each other while Adam sleeps: "Let us teach him in his sleep as though she (Eve) came to be from his rib so that the woman will serve and he will be lord over her." The demeaning tale of Adam's rib is thus revealed as a propagandistic device intended to advance an attitude of male superiority. It goes without saying that such an attitude would have been more difficult among the Gnostics, who held that man was indebted to woman for bringing him to life and to consciousness.

The Western theologian Paul Tillich interpreted this scripture as the Gnostics did, declaring that "the Fall" was a symbol for the human situation, not a story of an event that happened "once upon a time." Tillich said that the Fall represented "a fall from the state of dreaming innocence" in psychological terms, an awakening from potentiality to actuality. Tillich's view was that this "fall" was necessary to the development of humankind.

The Serpent of Wisdom

The sin of Eve, so the orthodox tell us, was that she listened to the serpent, who persuaded her that the fruit of the tree would make her and Adam wise, without any deleterious side-effects. It was Eve who then seduced the righteously reluctant Adam to join her in this act of disobedience, and thus together they brought about the fall of humanity.

A Gnostic treatise, The Testimony of Truth, tells a different story. While repeating the words of the orthodox version of Genesis, the Gnostic source states that "the serpent was wiser than all the animals that were in Paradise." After extolling the wisdom of the serpent, the treatise casts serious aspersions on the creator: "What sort is he then, this God?" Then come some of the answers to the rhetorical question. The motive of the creator in punishing Adam was envy, for the creator envied Adam, who by eating the fruit would acquire knowledge (gnosis). Neither did the creator seem quite omniscient when he asked of Adam: "Where are you?" The creator has shown himself repeatedly to be "an envious slanderer," a jealous God, who inflicts cruel punishments on those who transgress his capricious orders and commandments. The treatise comments: "But these are the things he said (and did) to those who believe in him and serve him." The implication clearly presents itself that with a God like this, one needs no enemies.

Another treatise, The Hypostasis of the Archons, informs us that not only was Eve the emissary of the divine Sophia, but the serpent was similarly inspired by the same supernal wisdom. Sophia mystically entered the serpent, who thereby acquired the title of instructor. The instructor then taught Adam and Eve about their source, informing them that they were of high and holy origin and not mere slaves of the creator deity.

What, one may ask, motivated the Gnostic interpreters of Genesis to make these unusual statements? Were they purely motivated by bitter criticism directed against the God of Israel, as the Church Fathers would have us believe? Many contemporary scholars do not think so. These contemporary scholars suggest that the unfavorable image of the creator contrasted with the favorable one of Adam, Eve, and even of the serpent alludes to an important issue not frequently recognized.

The orthodox interpreters, both Jewish and Christian, tend to emphasize the distinction between the infinite creator and his finite creatures. Humans and animals are on earth, while God is in heaven, and never the two will meet. The orthodox have held, with Martin Buber, that the human's relationship to God is always "I and Thou." In the Gnostic position one can discern a keynote that is reminiscent of the attitude of certain other religions, notably Hinduism, which rather declares: "I am Thou."

The Gnostics share with the Hindus and with certain Christian mystics the notion that the divine essence is present deep within human nature in addition to being present outside of it. At one time humans were part of the divine, although later, in their manifest condition, they more and more tended to project divinity onto beings external to themselves. Alienation from God brings an increase in the worship of deities wholly external to the human. The Gospel of Philip, another scripture from Nag Hammadi, expresses it well:

In the beginning God created humans. Now, however, humans are creating God. Such is the way of this world-humans invent gods and worship their creations. It would be better for such gods to worship humans.

True God, False God

When discussing the story of Noah and the flood, author Karen Armstrong (A History of God, 1993), as a panelist on Moyers's program, asserted that God is "not some nice, cozy daddy in the sky," but rather a being who decidedly behaves frequently "in an evil way." With his actions in connection with the flood, Armstrong said, God originated the idea of justifiable genocide. Hitler and Stalin, one might deduce, acted on the instruction of such stories as that of the flood and of Sodom and Gomorrah when instituting the holocaust and the camps of the Gulag. Had the panelists called on Gnostic scriptures, they could have quoted many precedents for Armstrong's criticism of the vengeful God of the Old Testament.

The Gnostic Hypostasis of the Archons, for example, states that the cause of the flood was not the turning of humans to wickedness, causing God to repent of his creation, as the "official" version of Genesis declared. Quite the contrary, people were becoming wiser and better, so an envious and spiteful creator decided to wipe them out in the flood. Noah was told by the creator to build an ark and place it atop Mount Seir-a name that does not occur in Genesis, but in one of the psalms referring to the flood. Noah's wife, unnamed in Genesis but called Norea by the Gnostics, is a special person, possessing more wisdom than her husband. Norea is the daughter of Eve and a knower of hidden things. She tries to dissuade her husband from collaborating with the schemes of the creator, and ends up burning down the ark which Noah had built.

The creator and his dark angels then surround Norea and intend to punish Norea by raping her. Norea defends herself by refuting various false claims they make. Ultimately she cries out for help to the true God, who sends the golden Angel Eleleth (Sagacity), who not only saves her from the attack of the creator's dark servants, but also teaches her regarding her origins and promises her that her descendants will continue to possess the true gnosis.

There are other scriptures of the Nag Hammadi collection that repeat or refer to the story of Norea, including the Apocryphon of John and The Thought of Norea. The former does not mention her by name, but states that Noah's descendants were wise ones who were hidden in a luminous cloud, adding significantly, "[This was not] as Moses said, 'They were hidden in the ark."' In the latter it is not only one angel but "three holy helpers" who intercede on her behalf.

It is quite apparent that the creator god who visits humanity with the disaster of the flood is not identical with the "true God" to whom Norea calls out for help. Viewing the character of the deity of Genesis with a sober, critical eye, the Gnostics concluded that this God was neither good nor wise. He was envious, genocidal, unjust, and, moreover, had created a world full of bizarre and unpleasant things and conditions. In their visionary explorations of secret mysteries, the Gnostics felt that they had discovered that this deity was not the only God, as had been claimed, and that certainly there was a God above him.

This true God above was the real father of humanity, and, moreover, there was a true mother as well, Sophia, the emanation of the true God. Somewhere in the course of the lengthy process of pre-creational manifestation, Sophia mistakenly gave life to a spiritual being, whose wisdom was greatly exceeded by his size and power. This being, whose true names are Yaldabaoth (child of the chaos), Samael (blind god), and also Saclas (foolish one), then proceeded to create a world, and eventually also a human being called Adam. Neither the world nor the man thus created was very serviceable as created, so Sophia and other high spiritual agencies contributed their light and power to them. The creator thus came to deserve the name "demiurge" (half maker), a Greek term employed in a slightly different sense by philosophers, including Plato.

To what extent various Gnostics took these mythologies literally is difficult to discern. What is certain is that behind the myths there are important metaphysical postulates which have not lost their relevance. The personal creator who appears in Genesis does not possess the characteristics of the ultimate, transcendental "ground of being" of which mystics of many religions speak. If the God of Genesis has any reality at all, it must be a severely limited reality, one characterized by at least some measure of foolishness and blindness. While the concept of two Gods is horrifying to the monotheistically conditioned mind, it is not illogical or improbable. Modem theologians, particularly Paul Tillich, have boldly referred to "the God above God." Tillich introduced the term "ground of being" as alternative language to express the divine. The ideas of the old Gnostics seem not so outdated after all.

The Mysteries of Seth

Almost anyone today could declare that Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. The third son is more difficult to name; he is Seth. The third son was provided by God as a replacement for the slain Abel, according to Genesis. He was sired rather late in life by Adam, for Adam is said to have been 130 years old at the time. The historian Josephus wrote that Seth was a very great man and that his descendants were the discoverers of many mysterious arts, including astrology. The descendants of Seth then inscribed the records of their occult discoveries, according to Josephus, on two pillars, one brick, the other stone, so that they might be preserved in times of future disasters.

In the treatise The Apocalypse of Adam, the Gnostics presented us with a scripture that tells not only of Seth (and his father) but of the future of the esoteric tradition of gnosis in ages to come. It begins:

The disclosure given by Adam to his son Seth in his seven hundredth year. And he said: "Listen to my words, my son Seth. When God created me out of the earth, along with Eve your mother, I went along with her in a glory which she had seen in the aeon from which she came forth. She taught me the word of Gnosis of the eternal God. And we resembled the great eternal angels, for we were higher than the God who created us."

After thus informing us once again of the spiritually superior status of Eve, the scripture goes on to recount how the creator turned against Adam and Eve, robbing them of their glory and their knowledge. Humans now served the creator "in fear and in slavery," so Adam stated. While previously immortal, Adam now knew that his days were numbered. Therefore, he said he now wanted to pass on what he knew to Seth and his descendants.

In the prediction it becomes apparent that "Seth and his seed" would continue to experience gnosis, but that they would be subject to many grave tribulations. The first of these would be the flood, during which angels would rescue the Gnostic race of Seth and hide them in a secret place. Noah, on the other hand, would advise his sons to serve the creator God "in fear and slavery all the days of your life." After the return of the illumined people of Seth's kind, the creator would once again wrathfully turn against them and try to destroy them by raining fire, sulfur, and asphalt down on them-an allusion, perhaps, to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Once again many of the Gnostics would be saved by being taken by great angels to a place above the domain of the evil powers.

Much later there would be a new era with the coming of the man of light ("Phoster"), who would teach gnosis to all. The Apocalypse of Adam concludes with this passage:

This is the hidden knowledge of Adam which he gave to Seth, which is the holy baptism of those who know the imperishable Gnosis through those who are born of the Logos, through the imperishable Illuminator, who himself came from the holy seed (of Seth) Jesseus, Mazareus, Jessedekeus.

These names, which are obviously versions of the name of Jesus (they are found in other scriptures also), identify the culmination of the Gnostic tradition in the figure of Jesus. The "Race of Seth" is thus a biblical metaphor for those following this tradition. In the Gnostic book Pistis Sophia, Jesus identifies himself as coming from the "Great Race of Seth".

Old Answers to New Controversies

The current interest in Genesis raises many serious questions. Not a few of these have been illuminated by the neglected light shed by the scriptures quoted earlier. Not unlike the old Gnostics, today's questioning scholars and laypersons are provoked by Genesis to critiques and even to inventions of new variations on the ancient theme. Consider how deeply the social conditions of many countries have been influenced by the picture the orthodox version of Genesis presents concerning Eve and, by implication, women in general. Any of the several scriptures of the Nag Hammadi collection would shed an entirely different and more benign light on these issues.

Secondly, consider the political implications of the story of Genesis. Elaine Pagels, in her fascinating book Adam, Eve, and the Serpent (1988), pointed out that the long-held attitude of the Christian church of submitting to greatly flawed systems of secular government was usually justified by the "fallen condition" of humanity as first described in Genesis. Following largely the interpretations of Saint Augustine, most Christians felt that even bad governments were to be preferred to liberty because humans are so corrupted by Adam and Eve's original sin that they are in capable of governing themselves. The libertarian fervor of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that gave rise to the American and French revolutions was clearly not motivated by the spirit of Genesis. The statement that "all men are created equal" does not occur in that scripture, but sprang from the inspiration of the American revolutionaries, who drew from Hermetic, Gnostic, and similar non-mainstream sources.

Thirdly, there remains the terrifying problem of the character of the God of Genesis. Agreeing with Karen Armstrong, we find Jack Miles, in his provocative book God: A Biography writing: "Much that the Bible says about him is rarely preached from the pulpit because, examined too closely, it becomes a scandal." Perhaps we may need to take a second look at the Gnostic proposition that the creator mentioned in Genesis is not the true and ultimate God. The unfavorable potential present in the Book of Genesis did not go unnoticed throughout history. Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, a religious teacher prominent in the years after A.D. 70, warned that the Genesis story of creation should not be taught before even as many as two people. Saint Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin, wrote that many of the narratives in the Old Testament were "rude and repellent." He certainly included those in Genesis.

The Dinka tribesmen of the Sudan have a point. The creation myth of any culture has a profound effect on the attitudes, social mores, and political systems that prevail. So long as the Book of Genesis remains a basic text for Jews, Christians, and Muslims we can expect the societies within which these religions flourish to be influenced by this book. Still, there is some hope on the horizon. Although the Gnostic alternatives to the content of Genesis are still usually neglected, as indeed they were on television and in the press last year, some prominent figures of our culture are beginning to take notice. To mention but one such figure, Harold Bloom has become one of the most prominent voices calling attention to the creative character of the Gnostic alternative to mainstream religion. His books American Religion (1992) and Omens of Millennium (1996) have made a powerful case for the timeliness and perennial value of the positions taken by Christian Gnostics, Jewish Kabbalists, and Sufi mystics, all of whom are inspired by a common gnosis. It may be useful to conclude with an incisive and in our view definitive statement from the pen of this scholar:

If you can accept a God who coexists with death camps, schizophrenia, and AIDS, yet remains all-powerful and somehow benign, then you have faith, and you have accepted the covenant with Yahweh.... If you know yourself as having an affinity with the alien or stranger God, cut off from this world, then you are a Gnostic, and perhaps the best and strongest moments still come to what is best and oldest in you, to a breath or spark that long precedes this Creation.

Gnosticism - The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory


http://www.snant.com/fp/archives/gnosticism-the-ultimate-conspiracy-theory/

I’ve heard it mentioned a number of times, usually in a derogatory fashion, that Gnosticism in its more traditional form is something of “The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory.” This actually makes a whole lot of sense, and explains why the basic patterns of Gnosticism and conspiracy theory meld so well together (check out Tim’s “Crossing the Streams” for more). After all, the basis for Gnostic ontology is the idea that none of the human made ideological constructs of this world is really real, that instead they’re a sugar-spun web of deceit woven over the material universe like so much evil cotton candy by an extra-dimensional cabal overseen by a schizophrenic false deity. It’s no big stretch to trace this cabal downwards through the Aeons to the level underlying human social interaction, especially regarding the political and cultural.

No matter how often it is denied by the establishment, the universe consists of signs and symbols. Understanding reality and our place within it is a matter of arranging these signs and symbols into what Tim Boucher calls “Story Systems,” by which we are able to attempt to communicate our impressions to others. We have no other way to do so; we’re not yet telepathic, and are limited by our perceptions. The basis for both Gnosticism and conspiracy theory is to take established story-systems, break down their structures into individual signs and symbols and to try to identify patterns which exist within apparently unrelated concepts. When these patterns are identified, they are then reassembled into story-systems which more accurately reflect the underlying structure. These new story-systems are then made available in various ways and via various media, each time creating a tiny chink in the walls of the Black Iron Prison.

Within the context of Gnosticism and conspiracy theory, understanding reality is like playing a game of whack-a-mole. When it comes to understanding the nature of reality, those of us who choose to play are handed mallets, told to stand in front of the machines and whack away. Occasionally we’re able to knock one of the little bastards back down, about as often as we’re able to glean valid information from mainstream sources.

Most people, after playing for some time, get tired and give up– after all, why bother with a silly game that seems so pointless? The conspiracy theorist, however, thinks to herself, “Well, I could get rid of these moles by trying to bash ‘em, or, I could try to dismantle the machine and stop them at the source.” She then attempts to remove the game’s casing (often drawing the adverse attention of the arcade management) and understand the mechanisms that cause the moles to rise and fall, and stop them by shorting the circuitry.

The Gnostic goes a step further. We could dismantle the case, but then we should find out where the game is made, who made it, and why the heck they’re forcing us to play the damnable game in the first place.

As an example, there’s been much talk lately (over the past few years, certainly) in an increasing number of places about the connections between UFOs, occultism, conspiracy theory, current politics of the Neocon variety, the economy, and an upcoming crash of civilization. To most people, each one of these items, taken singly, doesn’t seem on the surface to have much to do with one another. To most people, each is independent moles in the above game. Whack one, and another appears, but they’re certainly not related.

To some, however, enough study reveals that patterns emerge. A reporter in the White House Press Corp is revealed to be a Gay Prostitute, and that’s where most people stop. Then it’s discovered that said Gay Prostitute may be linked to verifiable mind control experiments. Another level. These mind control experiments may be linked to child sex rings within high level government and economic circles. This is where other people might stop.

But another level. These sex rings may be related to sex magick and other occult practices. Another level. These practices may be related to opening extra dimensional portals that allow certain entities to interact with our reality. Another level. These entities may be the same entities who have been summoned by magicians like John Dee for centuries. Another level. And this is where other people might stop.

But another level. These entities may be related to UFO phenomenon, which share common characteristics with entities supposedly summoned in 1947 by Jack Parsons and L. Ron Hubbard. Another level. Parsons worked for the government as a rocket scientist. Another level. Hubbard established a new religion with ties to the entertainment industry and the President (through Jeb Bush, sympathetic to the Scientologists). Another level. And again, one could stop there.

Or, one could keep going, further, further. Why not? It’s all questions and questions. So, let’s keep at it. Jacques Vallee shows, beyond any question, that the UFO phenomenon is the modern manifestation of an experience reported in previous epochs as contact with “fairies,” religious visions, travellers in steam-driven airships, etc. Another level. These phenomena seem to set certain “control systems” in motion when they manifest. Okay, another point where some stop.

But not us. We go deeper. According to the Gnostics, the establishment of Control Systems within the Black Iron Prison was under the purviews of the Archons. There are striking similarities between the Archons and the entities of UFO folklore, explained in detail by John Lash. The Archons believe that they are in control of the Materia, and their modus operandi is to establish these control systems to maintain their power by blinding people to the true nature of Reality. Everyone who has experienced the UFO phenomenon has experienced an Archonic control system indirectly, but those individuals who use magick and ceremony to summon these entities directly into our Reality play a dangerous game by turning the tables. Victims of UFO abduction/contact are the passive recipients of this interaction and can often fight back against them. Those who, through ceremony or other means, open themselves to these entities invite their control, and if individuals involved in politics, science or religious establishments open themselves to these entities, they invite them to control all of us, too.

There are other “entities” working against the Archons, the Secret Grey-Robed Christians, who hope to destroy the layer of illusion surrounding the Materia and free the divine spark within each one of us, establishing a realm of Divine Anarchism wherein we all realize our true natures as a plurality of a single Universal Consciousness and live in true freedom, where we can travel together and explore time and space and live sustainably within the wonderful Kingdom of Heaven.

This is the Archons’ worst nightmare. They want nothing more than to build and maintain a Universal Police State, wherein each being exists to give fealty to the Demiurge and marches lock-step to the beat of illusion. The best way to do this is through dogma and literalism, the insistence that everything must be taken at its face value, the restriction of our mallets to one mole at a time. Radical Islam and Rapture-based Christianity are both Archonic manifestations of this restriction. Both have the power to end civilization as we know it. So, they plant tools into the Black Iron Prison. But, we know from the Gnostic texts that they work in image, and their ability to create image leaves something to be desired. When one finds one of these images, one of these Cosmic Clues, one can trace it backwards using the above methodology and use it to verify one’s personal story-system, unmasking the perpetrators like a villain on Scooby Doo. “I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for you stupid Grey-robed Christians and your stupid dog!”

So, using Gnostic conspiracy theory as a vehicle, we’ve actually traced the Jeff Gannon story-system all the way back to a possible source related to the collapse of civilization! This is how it all ties in. We can now publish this material, allowing the living information therein into the Materia. Chink!

As the population of the planet begins to grow and our resources (like oil) become depleted, we’re nearing the tipping point. *Something* is coming down the chute. That Mayan end-date of 2012 is approaching at breakneck speed. Geopolitics is volatile and crazier than ever. Sacrifices to the Archons occur daily, on battlefields and in prison cells. The environment is going mad– anybody who experienced the weather this past winter can’t deny it.

But, on the other hand, people seem to be, in my opinion, awakening more quickly than ever before. More people are interested in anti-civ ideas and alternative spiritualities. An unconnected network of individuals who are willing to help one another instead of compete with one another in trying times grows apace. Should the Archons emerge victorious, destroy the environment, murder millions of individuals, establish prison camps operated by evil extra dimensional entities, a clamor has been raised and we will have been warned, and hope will continue. On the other hand, if the Archons are defeated during the current crisis, a powerful new society might emerge, based on compassion and love instead of violence and horror and literal interpretations of subjective materials.

This is how, to me, it all connects, how one can start at Jeff Gannon and end up addressing the very nature of Reality itself. Of course, this is just my story-system. If you’re not inclined to take it literally, then by all the Gods, *please do not.* The point is, discovering the keys to your own Ultimate Conspiracy is a matter of questions, questions, questions. You don’t have to agree; in fact, it’s better if you don’t, because then you can start asking your own questions, and that’s what will eventually free us all, when we all ask the questions which will save the universe by allowing it to understand itself.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Love


"And the angel said- 'I have learned that every man lives not through care of himself...but by love'..." - Leo Tolstoy

Beauty and the Bird




Beauty and the Bird

She fluted with her mouth as when one sips, And gently waved her golden head, inclin'd Outside his cage close to the window-blind; Till her fond bird, with little turns and dips, Piped low to her of sweet companionships. And when he made an end, some seed took she And fed him from her tongue, which rosily Peeped as a piercing bud between her lips. / And like the child in Chaucer, on whose tongue The Blessed Mary laid, when he was dead, A grain,--who straightway praised her name in song: Even so, when she, a little lightly red, Now turned on me and laughed, I heard the throng Of inner voices praise her golden head. ~DGR, 'Beauty and the Bird' (Alternately titled: 'Bella's Bulfinch') [Source: The Rossetti Archive, from 'Poems. A New Edition.' (1881)]

Poems and art from a wonderful place that you just have to visit, called
Art Magick.

Rumi- Like This

On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it.
Jules Renard

Monday, March 31, 2008

The Great Story




Thomas Berry – The Great StoryMar 18, 2008Positive News Issue 55

‘The Great Story is the story of the changing story. Whenever a new discovery is made in the sciences, this creation story changes. Change is to be welcomed — not feared.’A brilliant and moving new 50 minute documentary DVD on the life and work of a most respected and eminent elder, Thomas Berry, is available to buy from GreenSpirit Books. “This is a powerful film about one of the most important thinkers of our time,” says Matthew Fox, renowned theologian, priest, author and exponent of ‘Creation Spirituality’.‘The Great Story’, also known as the ‘Epic of Evolution’, is humanity’s story of creation. It is the 14 billion year long science-based sacred tale of our cosmic genesis, from the birth of the galaxies and the origin of Earth’s life, to the development of consciousness and the onset of human technology. Using wonderful images and music, the film begins with the natural world and all its beauty, as the narrative yarn of creation unwinds.


Thomas’s life work is to wake us up to this special and sacred story. “We’re mad,” he says, “for the way we are despoiling our home, our planet, its beauty and its living systems. What can be more cosmically significant than the fact that we humans are presiding over the greatest extinction spasm of the past 65 million years? We are the ones who are responsible.”


Thomas urges us all to try and change our ways. In poetic language, he leads us into the ecstasy of union with the divine beauty of creation. At the very heart of the film is Thomas’s experience of the universe as a cosmic liturgy. His insight says: “The universe is not a collection of objects but a sacred communion of subjects.” His values are rooted in this sacredness, which includes the entire natural world – the mountains, rivers, animals, birds, fish and vegetation. Thomas believes that these living organisms are not there for our use but for a union of being, which is necessary for us to become who we are. Thomas Berry’s venerable voice needs concentration at times but it is worth the effort in order to really appreciate the supreme significance of this film.

“As a theological person,” says the Rev. James Parks Morton, founder of The Interfaith Centre of New York, “it really turned my whole thinking upside down.”

‘Thomas Berry - The Great Story’ on DVD is available from GreenSpirit Books Tel: +44 (0)1380 726224Website: www.greenspirit.org.uk/booksThomas BerryPhoto: © The Gaia Foundation

And the spirit of John Lennon lives on in his son - Julian who is accomplishing some wonderful things. Julian is a wonderful metaphor for all of us old baby boomers and children of the 60s and the evolution of our children and our children's children. It's all so wonderful.

Sex, Love and Oxytocin: A Real Love Story





I've been corresponding with a man who totally understands the oxytocin bond, and has very powerful ideas about the male/female, sex/love dichotomy. He has kindly allowed me to publish his story. Warning: You may, like me, be jealous of his marriage. -- Susan


Intrigued by research results of oxytocin, and the need to help repair a damaged relationship with my wife, I decided to try using oxytocin. I was especially interested in oxytocin when I saw it described as a “bonding” hormone – that really resonated with me. And, it resonated with me because my wife and I have been working on re-bonding for about a year now . . . .


My wife and I had gone through a very rocky period where our relationship (after 27 years) hit a very low point; we were both upset at each other, felt resentful toward each other, and were seriously considering divorce. The rocky period lasted 3 years. We decided to enter into marriage counseling, and that has been very helpful; much improvement has been made and we both feel very confident about our future together, once again.


About 3 months ago, a friend who provides alternative healing therapies pointed me to research going on with oxytocin. As I read many articles and books, I found one aspect of oxytocin fascinating: the bonding aspect. When I read this, I realized that the oxytocin effect was what I had been trying to tell my wife about for years, related to our sex life. She and I always viewed sex somewhat differently: My appetite was stronger than hers, and I placed a much higher value on it than she did.


During many counseling sessions and private talks while we worked on our marriage, I told my wife that something special happened to me when we had sex. It went past the physical pleasure, way past it. During and after sex, I felt a recharge, a recharge of energy, of confidence, and a major recharge of my feelings of love and care toward her. I also felt that she loved me at those times. I was more productive, more creative at work. The world seemed brighter and more welcoming.


The recharge feelings were very strong and would persist for days, then start to slowly dissipate a week or so later. By two or three weeks, those feelings were low - a recharge was needed. Over the years, I have wondered, why these ups and downs ? If I love my wife, why does my interest in her drop low sometimes ? Do I really love her ? Am I oversexed ? Is something wrong with me ?


When I would discuss this with my wife, she would say, “OK, I get it - sex is important to you, but don’t you realize I love you when I do other things, like cook meals, take care of the kids, do your laundry ?” I would respond, “Yes, those all matter too and make me feel you care for me and love me, but the feelings for you that I derive through sex are so much stronger.” She would typically shake her head, not understanding why sex was so important to me. She told me many times that I placed way too much importance on sex, and this was the basic problem between us. (I can only imagine how many times that same conversation has happened in other homes !) Later, after she and I learned more about each other, and about oxytocin, she took on a completely different view.


When I thought back to the beginning of our “bad” times, I saw the cause. Due to an illness and others issues my wife was facing, our sex life began to decline. Our normal pattern of sex once or twice a week declined to once every 3, 4, or 6 months. This really affected me – I didn’t know anything about oxytocin, how it worked, and that it was released during orgasm, but I knew this; my feelings for her declined as our sex life declined. When I tried to talk to her about this and its impact on me (and us), she was preoccupied with other issues, or just not interested, and I ended up feeling alone, abandoned, and eventually decided that she no longer cared for me (this wasn’t true, but at the time I was convinced it was). When I decided she no longer cared, I stopped caring for her, and my behavior reflected it. 3 years of pain followed.


Now, I see a few things more clearly. There was a “withdrawal” going on with me when our sex life almost ceased. I was not just missing the physical part; I was missing the oxytocin effect which made me feel bonded to her, made me feel that I loved her, made me feel that she loved me. I now see why I feel like doing caring, thoughtful, loving things for her when we have an active sex life, and when we don’t, it is a struggle some days to think and feel that way. While I know I also benefit from oxytocin release thru non-sexual activities (and I have definitely felt those lately), not one of those compare to the sex-related oxytocin; it is so much stronger and lasts longer.


Now to my experiment. Since we had been actively engaged in repairing our relationship, when I learned about oxytocin, I wanted to try it to see if it would have an effect on my wife and I. I was looking for ways to help bring us closer, to help us bond, help us rekindle our love feelings for each other. And, oxytocin looked like just what we needed !


I bought some Liquid Trust, which, as you know, claims to have Oxytocin in it - not sure how much - manufacturer says potency is a trade secret. Anyway, it’s a spray to be used on your body or clothing. Instructions say it is odorless and lasts between 2 and 4 hours. Instructions say to use it "whenever you want more trust in the people around you, and when you want more passion".


I first tried it on a Friday morning, applying 2 spays on my shirt before I went to work. Interestingly, as soon as I sprayed it on, I immediately smelled it, quite strongly, which surprised me as it was supposed to be "odorless". All morning I felt like “something” was happening, but saw no real evidence of it. I work mostly alone, so its affect on others around me that morning were not observable. I could not tell if I thought something was happening simply because I hoped it would. One thing I was sure of – I could smell this odorless spray. This persisted all morning.


My wife and I had a counseling session at noon that day and before I left for it, I re-applied the spray as it had been over 4 hours since the first application. I am normally a bit anxious before these sessions as there have been some sessions where issues were raised that caused a lot of tension. I felt a bit anxious as the session started, but that soon dissipated. When I saw my wife at the beginning of the session, she appeared extra radiant and beautiful. She was in good spirits and no big, heavy issues came up in counseling. By the time the hour was up, I was mesmerized by her - I couldn't stop looking at her and admiring her glow and beauty. Even though I had an important meeting at 1:00, I blew that off and we went to lunch.


Lunch was extra delightful. At the restaurant, I found myself noticing others more and striking up conversations with people spontaneously. I found myself smiling at others and them noticing and smiling back - more than usual. While we were eating, my wife was talking but I was soaking her in - her smile, her laugh, her hair - all were extraordinarily glowing and wonderful. I was smitten big time. Everything she said was interesting. I could hardly remember to eat my lunch. She was the most beautiful, engaging, sensual woman I had ever seen.


After lunch we walked out into the parking lot, I turned to her, held her hands, looked into her eyes and told her that I loved her, would always be with her, and I was coming home early to be with her - and I was 1000 % sincere in my feelings and comments. Her eyes lit up and she was delighted. We parted ways - I had to go wrap up things at work and get home !


When we re-joined at home, the afternoon was delightful. The mood was light and happy. We discussed what we would do for the rest of the day and she suggested we plan to go to bed early (her code for sex). The evening was very nice and early bedtime was very good as well. Sex was very nice; it wasn’t astronomical, it wasn’t earth-shaking beyond description, but it was very nice for both of us.


Subsequent uses of the spray have resulted in some similar results, but none as strong as that day. Which makes me wonder how much of the effect was placebo. I decided long ago that whether a perceived benefit is due to the treatment/drug/therapy or is simply a placebo effect, if it delivers the beneficial effect, that’s great – I’ll take it.


Back to my wife’s view of my placing such importance on sex. She has recently told me and our counselor that she has a new understanding of what sex means to me, and what I derive from it. She said in almost 30 years of marriage, she never realized how strongly I was affected by it (positively) and how I was affected without it (negatively). From that point on, our sex life was elevated in priority in our lives, much to my delight as you can imagine. And, this was entirely her idea.


My experiment and what it means. My view is this: I doubt the spray has enough oxytocin in it to elicit the type responses I felt that day (this is only a guess on my part). But, maybe there was a boomerang placebo effect: because I wanted it to work, when I got into oxytocin-friendly situations (pleasant lunch with my wife, feeling good progress made in counseling), then maybe that led to oxytocin release. Regardless of the cause and effect mechanics, it was a striking, profound experience that I attribute at least partially to the oxytocin spray.


Side note. Since learning abut oxytocin, I realized a new meaning (new for me, anyway) to the term, “making love”. Previously, I viewed it as a polite way of referring to sex. But, after understanding a little about how oxytocin works, I now realize that when two people have sex, they are indeed “making love”, creating the feelings of love and bonding that most people would call love. It took 57 years for me to understand this.


I have exposed her to the research materials and she is also fascinated by the subject. She has related to me how and when she knows oxytocin has been released in her - many of her triggers are like mine, and some are quite different. I am so glad I was pointed to people researching oxytocin - like yourself – and that now I understand what was happening to me all these years. Learning about oxytocin has been a big plus for me and my wife.


This article helps me put so much in perspective, I have been so turned off by my husband's need for sex. I need hugs, cuddles, and sweet whispers in my ear, or him to recognize that all of the million things I do for him should show him that I love him. But need to read some more on this amazing thing of what it is to be human. We truly are miraculous beings!

Friday, March 28, 2008

The Goddess is returning...............





The Curse of the Morrigan



Among Celtic peoples, there were historical Warrior queens, and perhaps the Morrigan remembers them well. Goddess of battle and justice, in the guise of a raven the Morrigan brought fallen heroes to the shining lands in the West, the Summerlands. And it was also the Morrigan who remained to lament those who were dead.

Along the Russian River above San Francisco there is a resort called Bohemian Grove. It hosts a retreat for corporate and military executives, annually attended by some of the most influential people in America. Bay Area political groups also demonstrate there annually, and in July of 2001, a group staged a protest remembering certain tragedies of corporate exploitation. Macha Nightmare, priestess, activist, and writer, wore the Morrigan mask as she stood in the river, washing a business suit saturated with theatrical blood that spread slowly into the water.




The CURSE OF THE MORRIGAN

You who bring suffering to children:
May you look into the sweetest, most open eyes, and howl the loss of your innocence.

You who ridicule the poor, the grieving, the lost, the fallen, the inarticulate, the wounded children in grown-up bodies:

May you look into each face, and see a mirror. May all your cleverness fall into the abyss of your speechless grief, your secret hunger, may you look into that black hole with no name, and find....the most tender touch in the darkest night, the hand that reaches out. May you take that hand. May you walk all your circles home at last, and coming home, know where you are.

You tree-killers, you wasters:

May you breathe the bitter dust, may you thirst, may you walk hungry in the wastelands, the barren places you have made. And when you cannot walk one step further, may you see at your foot a single blade of grass, green, defiantly green. And may you be remade by it's generosity.

And those who are greedy in a time of famine:

May you be emptied out, may your hearts break not in half, but wide open in a thousand places, and may the waters of the world pour from each crevice, washing you clean.

Those who mistake power for love:

May you know true loneliness. And when you think your loneliness will drive you mad, when you know you cannot bear it one more hour, may a line be cast to you, one shining, light woven strand of the Great Web glistening in the dark. And may you hold on for dear life.

Those passive ones, those ones who force others to shape them, and then complain if it's not to your liking:
May you find yourself in the hard place with your back against the wall. And may you rage, rage until you find your will. And may you learn to shape yourself.

And you who delight in exploiting others, imagining that you are better than they are:
May you wake up in a strange land as naked as the day you were born and thrice as raw. May you look into the eyes of any other soul, in your radiant need and terrible vulnerability. May you know your Self. And may you be blessed by that communion.

And may you love well, thrice and thrice and thrice, and again and again and again:

May you find your face before you were born.

And may you drink from deep, deep waters.

http://www.rainewalker.com/morrigan.htm

Twin Souls: When Love Incarnates

There can be only ONE

There can be only One. That was the underlying theme behind the Highlander TV series and five movies that followed.


The concept of The One often takes our hearts on a quest to find the Soul (Source) who makes us feel protected and complete, our twin flame. We are encoded to search for the one, which takes us to love and opens the heart chakra.


The theme of "The One" further links to Nostradamus and will be incorporated in my workshop "The Lost Book of Nostradamus" on October 27, based on a hidden manuscript, that tells a prophetic story ending in our time line. We are encoded to believe in, and search out, our connection to a creational source, by any name or description, especially at the end of time.

"Highlander The Source" The_Source goes to 2001, a code that has the same energies as 2012.


The aspects of the film I connected with were:

Anna's visions; it is the female who will 'see' at the end and lead us home.

Good (Duncan) defeats evil (the Guardian), as higher frequencies defeat lower. In our reality the Guardians are not evil. They protect the seed and perpetuate the bloodline (story line).

The Star Child


At the end of "Highlander The Source", we see a fetus. This goes to destruction and rebirth themes which link with 2001: A Space Odyssey and '2001: A Space Odyssey', 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' when the towers imploded not far from the river where the monolith stands (see 9/11/07 monolith themes below).

In the film, "Highlander The Source", the planets form a rare alignment with the sun - shades of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider . The Source of our creational story (film) goes to soul sparks, the heart chakra, the eye, or the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, which takes us to 2012, reunion with self, source. Milky Way goes to M and W and the Book of Thoth (See Below).

In the end, there can be only One!

http://www.crystalinks.com/elliesworld.html

http://www.unitone.org/naturesword/sacred_geometry/unity/in_nature/

Unity...in Nature
Let's take a look at some examples of how both nature and past cultures have represented the number one. It should be noted that it is difficult to say whether some cultures presented number in their images in a way which concurs with our current interpretation of it consciously or not (and this is effectively impossible in the case of nature's use of number). As already stated, however, the major function of sacred geometry is in that it gives its observer a filter to find connections with, and by doing so increases the intimacy of the observer with his or her environment. Sacred geometry does not necessarily provide ultimate truths in what would be considered a traditionally pure scientific fashion, because that is simply not the point.

Unity or what sacred geometry calls

The One.