It is interesting to see life from the perspective of the weeks after 12/21/2012 - the date the world "ended." I have gone back and read a number of the predictions of Nostradamus, apocalyptic literature, etc. Beliefs and ideas, perhaps the fundamental currents of history, are fascinating things indeed. What lessons can we learn from what we saw in the last few weeks? What gifts do we discern? What warnings and precautions should we take as well?
I was sitting up last night, watching a documentary called the Nazi Gospels on H2 (History International). It went back over some of the original founding beliefs, occult ideas dating back into the mid to late 1800s. It was interesting to note some of those ideas and how similar they are to some of the current day metaphysical beliefs I've been studying. It shows me how easily beliefs based upon love and transcendence can become corrupted and turn into evil.
The specifics of the belief system are not as important as the process of corruption itself. We have seen nearly every belief system become corrupted this way at some point in history. Christianity, Islam, Socialism, and the neo-pagan metaphysics that became part of the Nazi beliefs.
In the Nazi Gospels, they talked about the idea of proto-civilizations, the Aryans, Atlantis, Thule and other quasi-mythical lands, realms and societies in the pre-dawn of our current civilization. During the mid to late 1800s, these ideas were popular, a bit of a flip-side to the prim and proper Victorian society. During that time, Spiritualism was in vogue. This was when the Theosophical society came into being with the writings of Mme Blavatsky. It was at this time when the ideas of the root races took hold. One of these was the Aryan root race.
In recent years, it has become apparent that there was likely such an ancient civilization. While I need to explore the details a lot more, this is considered by many to be the origination of the Vedic traditions, etc.
The idea that at least some in this previous cycle of civilization had superpowers such as telepathy, psychokinesis, etc., is intriguing. It roughly correlates with the Vedic ideas of Siddhi - the extraordinary effects that are said to arise as a result of meditation practice, etc. If a civilization is based upon such practices, perhaps certain extraordinary abilities might have been common. Yet In some way, these powers were apparently lost. This appears to be the core of mythology along the lines of the Tower of Babel, the Garden of Eden, etc. Yet the desire for power is ever-present, and the belief that by some means, we can reattain these elements of power is seductive, indeed.
Another idea injected into the post-world-war-1 ideas stew, was that these powers were lost due to mixing with "inferior" humans. The superior proto-people let the bloodline somehow become diluted, causing their powers to become weakened to the point of vanishing. Unfortunately, this gave rise to the idea that the Aryan race could be reconstituted through some kind of selective breeding - the core of the Nazi beliefs.
This shows us both how ideas can evolve, and how they can become corrupted from light to dark. They can morph from a positive love-based quest for enlightenment, service to others and universal healing - the core of meditative/spiritual traditions, to the negative, service-to-self quest for superiority and the subjugation of others.
Today, I see a number of similar (though less vitriolic) themes emerging. I regularly see postings on Facebook about the New World Order, finger-pointing about economic chaos, etc. A recent Facebook post described how the Rothschild dynasty, the CIA and "International Bankers" are behind various issues of today including 9/11, etc. I have even seen articles connecting them to the recent episodes of school violence.
While I can't say how much truth is or is-not present in any given allegation, conspiracy theories are always rampant. They are convenient in that they offer easy targets to blame for whatever ill society faces. When kept on the fringe, they are harmless. And sometimes, perhaps, they hold a degree of truth. I am not asserting that such beliefs are false, only that they are easy to grab onto and form an easy, potentially toxic crutch during rough times.
As we saw during the late 1930s, it is very easy to latch onto easy solutions, quick fix ideas. It is easy to cast blame, easy to follow a leader who promises to make it all better. It reminds us that anytime we hear such ideas, we need to apply a lot of discernment.
We need to remind ourselves of this anytime we hear "us and them" ideas presented. What is the motivation behind such ideas? What are the consequences of considering one group of people to be an enemy? What happens when a belief turns from a focus on love and healing to a focus on blame and conflict? How is any given idea "refined" and "implemented" in a given group or organization. Does that group look like a cult? a political or religious (perhaps fundamentalist) movement? Above all, does the advocacy of a particular belief improve conditions for the entire world? Is it based upon love and healing? Or is it based upon something else less positive?
Whatever the case, it is vital that before accepting any belief - whatever that belief may be - that we apply due discernment to it. Ultimately, for good or ill, one of humanity's most powerful tools is belief. It is a gift - and like all such gifts, we need to use it with care, love and respect
Monday, December 31, 2012
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
100YSS - star travel sooner than we think?
All my life I have been a space junkie. The idea of travel to the stars has always been one of the driving forces of my life. What will we find there? Who is out there already? What if you or I could actually go there? It has been the corner stone of my life from the starry eyed dreams of my youth all the way to the present day. in the back of my mind, I have always wondered - what would it take? What would it require for "Us" to go "There?"
In all of the work I've been involved with in anomaly and close encounter research, work with MUFON, etc., I have been focused on either the idea of "Them" coming here, "They" being already here, or "They" somehow being part of "Here" - either part of our own consciousness, multidimensional, spiritual or something else. Yet sometimes, I get back to what originally motivated me to get interested in all of this in the first place - the idea of star travel - of "Us" going "There".
In the Cosmic bridge, I suggest that humans are much closer than most of us think to being able to travel to the stars. While most of our efforts in the last fifty years have involved traveling in orbit around our own pale blue dot, I believe they are the just beginning. Given the incentive, I believe there is no limit as to what humans can do. And given the state of modern physics, only the speed of human thought limits how quickly we can do it.
This month's National Geographic had an article on this very topic, traveling to the stars. It looked at a lot of options, primarily dealing with some of the possibilities of interstellar travel such as multi-generation ark ships, robotic probes, etc. The biggest question is, of course, propulsion - how do we go fast enough to cover the distance in a reasonable amount of time - a few years, maximum.
Part of the article was a brief reference to the 100 Year Starship (100YSS) Initiative. So this afternoon, I did a little web surfing and found some interesting articles on 100YSS. Click - I was hooked. This really is kewl stuff.
Unfortunately, what they left out was probably the most promising material - the idea of gravity manipulation. And it is here that, I believe the biggest breakthroughs will come. Everything I have studied in the extensive body of unexplained UFO sightings, everything in current advanced concepts in physics, to me points toward some form of gravity control and warp drive or wormhole technology.
I pulled out some of the more recent books on quantum mechanics - something like "quantum physics for advanced beginners." The key word in that title was "advanced" - I had to scramble to recall the mathematical skills I had let atrophy over the years. Ultimately, I have been able to get the gist of what the author was saying (I think), but if it were a college course, my grade wouldn't be all that great... :-)
Still, it tells me that the knowledge base is there, people are working the edge and that one day there will be enough effort in just the right location to break down that wall of impossibility. Just like humans flying, going to the moon and other "impossibilities", I believe that within a hundred years or so we will have the fundamental physics worked out. Within few hundred years, we will be traveling to the stars, routinely. In short, I believe we will have the capability of star travel sooner that we think.
In all of the work I've been involved with in anomaly and close encounter research, work with MUFON, etc., I have been focused on either the idea of "Them" coming here, "They" being already here, or "They" somehow being part of "Here" - either part of our own consciousness, multidimensional, spiritual or something else. Yet sometimes, I get back to what originally motivated me to get interested in all of this in the first place - the idea of star travel - of "Us" going "There".
In the Cosmic bridge, I suggest that humans are much closer than most of us think to being able to travel to the stars. While most of our efforts in the last fifty years have involved traveling in orbit around our own pale blue dot, I believe they are the just beginning. Given the incentive, I believe there is no limit as to what humans can do. And given the state of modern physics, only the speed of human thought limits how quickly we can do it.
This month's National Geographic had an article on this very topic, traveling to the stars. It looked at a lot of options, primarily dealing with some of the possibilities of interstellar travel such as multi-generation ark ships, robotic probes, etc. The biggest question is, of course, propulsion - how do we go fast enough to cover the distance in a reasonable amount of time - a few years, maximum.
Part of the article was a brief reference to the 100 Year Starship (100YSS) Initiative. So this afternoon, I did a little web surfing and found some interesting articles on 100YSS. Click - I was hooked. This really is kewl stuff.
Unfortunately, what they left out was probably the most promising material - the idea of gravity manipulation. And it is here that, I believe the biggest breakthroughs will come. Everything I have studied in the extensive body of unexplained UFO sightings, everything in current advanced concepts in physics, to me points toward some form of gravity control and warp drive or wormhole technology.
I pulled out some of the more recent books on quantum mechanics - something like "quantum physics for advanced beginners." The key word in that title was "advanced" - I had to scramble to recall the mathematical skills I had let atrophy over the years. Ultimately, I have been able to get the gist of what the author was saying (I think), but if it were a college course, my grade wouldn't be all that great... :-)
Still, it tells me that the knowledge base is there, people are working the edge and that one day there will be enough effort in just the right location to break down that wall of impossibility. Just like humans flying, going to the moon and other "impossibilities", I believe that within a hundred years or so we will have the fundamental physics worked out. Within few hundred years, we will be traveling to the stars, routinely. In short, I believe we will have the capability of star travel sooner that we think.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
The day after yesterday
As I write this, it is December 22nd, 2012. It's one day past the end of the world - and last I checked, we're all still here.
For most of the people I know, the "End of the World" was a great excuse for a party. As I left my the studio at Joanie's Metaphysical, in Wyoming, MN, where I do Friday afternoon hypnosis sessions, I saw the bar next door had an 'End of the World' special. This was complete with with half-priced margaritas and a tag line on their sign - "party like there's no tomorrow." Several other friends of mine held parties or observances as well. Some of them were involved a significant degree of partying. Others were more spiritual, contemplative occasions. The one I chose to attend was the latter - at least at first, until later when the beer and wine, etc. came out.
While generally light-hearted, greeted with humor, celebrating, and ceremonies, there was still a deeper underlying realization. The world is not ending, but is IS changing. Earlier in the afternoon, while at Joanie's Metaphysical, we held a brief meditation - guided imagery about shifts in energy, beginnings and crossroads. Later, at the evening gathering I attended, we held a series of spiritual atunements, toning using Tibetan singing bowls, mantras, a collective meditation, and a few other wonderful experiences.
On nearly every occasion, talk turned to the meaning of what was going on. Many (including myself) had experienced tremendous shifts over the last couple of days. A lot of challenge occurred and, like me, several people had felt a tremendous sense of resolution, a surge of energy as the "Fifth World" began.
There was general agreement. The changes we see are subtle but profound. One analogy I often use is from Christian theology, the story of the empty tomb. At the time Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene discovered the stone rolled away from the door, and Jesus' tomb empty, suddenly the world was changed. A new era had begun in history. Yet only the two Mary's (and perhaps Salome and/or a sleepy Roman guard) knew that anything at all had happened.
Another metaphor I use at times is that of a mile marker on a highway. The marker denotes a certain relationship - a certain distance from/to a particular location. As you pass that marker in your car, nothing extraordinary happens. There is nothing about the road or the pavement to indicate that this spot is special. It simply denotes that you are on your journey, and that you have passed an arbitrary point. To me, this is the meaning of 12/21/2012, an arbitrary but all-important mile-marker on a journey of transformation.
Yesterday, there were no clouds of glowing fairy dust from heaven. No sudden pole shifts or pieces of the continent collapsing into the sea - there was only the moment when we acknowledged we had passed a certain point. I suspect it is a point of no return, like crossing the event horizon (into a wormhole or black hole). The location is all important, vitally affecting your destiny, but there is no noticeable change at that exact instant. Perhaps it's the passage of a tipping point - which I think is likely. This is all part of the journey, a transformation for better or for worse. But at this exact instant, the change is not immediately apparent. The milepost is arbitrary, only it's relationship to destiny is important.
We have come far in the last twenty five years. We have solved quite a few problems, but these are only the beginning. In the end, we have a prodigious amount of work to do if we are going to pull this out - if we are going to stay out of the abyss. But I left last night's gathering with more optimism than I have had in a long time.
I don't see us in the scenario of '2012' in the disaster film. Nor are we in 'The Day after Tomorrow' as depicted in the film based upon Whitley Strieber's book 'The Coming Global Superstorm' (at least I hope not, although the jury is still out on how the gamble/experiment we call climate change will play out).
For me, and for pretty much everybody else I know, today is merely today - it is merely the day after yesterday.
For most of the people I know, the "End of the World" was a great excuse for a party. As I left my the studio at Joanie's Metaphysical, in Wyoming, MN, where I do Friday afternoon hypnosis sessions, I saw the bar next door had an 'End of the World' special. This was complete with with half-priced margaritas and a tag line on their sign - "party like there's no tomorrow." Several other friends of mine held parties or observances as well. Some of them were involved a significant degree of partying. Others were more spiritual, contemplative occasions. The one I chose to attend was the latter - at least at first, until later when the beer and wine, etc. came out.
While generally light-hearted, greeted with humor, celebrating, and ceremonies, there was still a deeper underlying realization. The world is not ending, but is IS changing. Earlier in the afternoon, while at Joanie's Metaphysical, we held a brief meditation - guided imagery about shifts in energy, beginnings and crossroads. Later, at the evening gathering I attended, we held a series of spiritual atunements, toning using Tibetan singing bowls, mantras, a collective meditation, and a few other wonderful experiences.
On nearly every occasion, talk turned to the meaning of what was going on. Many (including myself) had experienced tremendous shifts over the last couple of days. A lot of challenge occurred and, like me, several people had felt a tremendous sense of resolution, a surge of energy as the "Fifth World" began.
There was general agreement. The changes we see are subtle but profound. One analogy I often use is from Christian theology, the story of the empty tomb. At the time Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene discovered the stone rolled away from the door, and Jesus' tomb empty, suddenly the world was changed. A new era had begun in history. Yet only the two Mary's (and perhaps Salome and/or a sleepy Roman guard) knew that anything at all had happened.
Another metaphor I use at times is that of a mile marker on a highway. The marker denotes a certain relationship - a certain distance from/to a particular location. As you pass that marker in your car, nothing extraordinary happens. There is nothing about the road or the pavement to indicate that this spot is special. It simply denotes that you are on your journey, and that you have passed an arbitrary point. To me, this is the meaning of 12/21/2012, an arbitrary but all-important mile-marker on a journey of transformation.
Yesterday, there were no clouds of glowing fairy dust from heaven. No sudden pole shifts or pieces of the continent collapsing into the sea - there was only the moment when we acknowledged we had passed a certain point. I suspect it is a point of no return, like crossing the event horizon (into a wormhole or black hole). The location is all important, vitally affecting your destiny, but there is no noticeable change at that exact instant. Perhaps it's the passage of a tipping point - which I think is likely. This is all part of the journey, a transformation for better or for worse. But at this exact instant, the change is not immediately apparent. The milepost is arbitrary, only it's relationship to destiny is important.
We have come far in the last twenty five years. We have solved quite a few problems, but these are only the beginning. In the end, we have a prodigious amount of work to do if we are going to pull this out - if we are going to stay out of the abyss. But I left last night's gathering with more optimism than I have had in a long time.
I don't see us in the scenario of '2012' in the disaster film. Nor are we in 'The Day after Tomorrow' as depicted in the film based upon Whitley Strieber's book 'The Coming Global Superstorm' (at least I hope not, although the jury is still out on how the gamble/experiment we call climate change will play out).
For me, and for pretty much everybody else I know, today is merely today - it is merely the day after yesterday.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
transcending a rough day
It's been a bit of a rough day. i've seen a fair amount of contention in the business world, today. I won't go into details, but I had some rather frank discussions with a friend about hypnotherapy topics. It's never easy to set aside the ego and accept disagreements with peers. Yet for each of us, constructive back and forth is vital for growth. We can't all see the world the same way. Yet every time we turn around we learn something new.
This has been pretty much the nature of the day. it's probably an exaggeration, but it feels like everybody is criticizing each other - and they don't seem to be very nice about it, either. A lot of the commentary i have heard flying back and forth today have been pretty harsh. some of the worst have been the back and forth about gun rights vs controls. I wrote in an earlier blog post about how a rise in the stakes seems to merely cause a rise in the intensity of the conflict. Today has been mostly a continuation of this. Several of the conversations have gotten really nasty.
In other posts, I am seeing stuff about police state, tying it in with various political beliefs - usually the beliefs opposite of those of the writer. Again, lots of contention, lots of acrimony.
This has been pretty much the nature of the day. it's probably an exaggeration, but it feels like everybody is criticizing each other - and they don't seem to be very nice about it, either. A lot of the commentary i have heard flying back and forth today have been pretty harsh. some of the worst have been the back and forth about gun rights vs controls. I wrote in an earlier blog post about how a rise in the stakes seems to merely cause a rise in the intensity of the conflict. Today has been mostly a continuation of this. Several of the conversations have gotten really nasty.
In other posts, I am seeing stuff about police state, tying it in with various political beliefs - usually the beliefs opposite of those of the writer. Again, lots of contention, lots of acrimony.
Last night, we saw a documentary on the Dali Lama's teacher (can't pronounce/spell his name). It was one of those moments where it struck me how difficult it is to move toward non-attachment, etc. Yet it also reminded me of how vital it is as well.
In a number of areas, people have made comments that I have had to make a great effort to look beyond. It takes a lot to move beyond attachments, let go of outcomes and live a mindful existence. In one way, perhaps this is simply a driver toward that exact thing - a lesson in the transcendence of a rough day.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Learning something new every day
I wrote this last week, but never got around to posting it....
I had an interesting experience a few days ago. As I was doing a work swap with a friend who is a relatively new hypnotist, exchanging sessions of trance work. The interesting thing was that being new, she had very recently studied a lot of the techniques and ideas we were practicing. At the same time, I had been doing this for about 15 years and have learned to trust a lot to intuition. However, she pointed out some interesting thoughts - things I had never thought of.
Mostly, it was on styles of hypnosis work, making post-hypnotic suggestions, etc. I had wondered about them at the time. But when I looked up some of what she had said I found that sure enough, there it was. What I had learned a long time ago had since been significantly improved (surprise, surprise).
Most of the changes were relatively small details, but we all know how much details can affect the big world in a big way. So as I took her suggestions to heart, I found that indeed, she was right. We learn something new every day.
Every day life serves us up events and challenges to stress our knowledge. Most of the time we succeed at what we set out to do. Sometimes we just have a learning experience. Every moment, if we are paying attention enough, we learn something new.
Later the same day, as I was driving down the freeway, I saw someone doing something extremely dangerous. He had missed his exit from the interstate and so had stopped along the right shoulder. Now he was backing up and once he reached the exit, turned off the freeway and accelerated rapidly down the ramp. If I hadn't been looking at just the right time, I would have hit him.
I think of this every time my cell phone rings while I am driving. I think of this every time I see a new hypnosis script, or any time there is a minor hiccup in the routines of the day. Lots of little lessons each day challenge our awareness. They combine to teaches us a big and fundamental lesson. We learn something new every day.
I had an interesting experience a few days ago. As I was doing a work swap with a friend who is a relatively new hypnotist, exchanging sessions of trance work. The interesting thing was that being new, she had very recently studied a lot of the techniques and ideas we were practicing. At the same time, I had been doing this for about 15 years and have learned to trust a lot to intuition. However, she pointed out some interesting thoughts - things I had never thought of.
Mostly, it was on styles of hypnosis work, making post-hypnotic suggestions, etc. I had wondered about them at the time. But when I looked up some of what she had said I found that sure enough, there it was. What I had learned a long time ago had since been significantly improved (surprise, surprise).
Most of the changes were relatively small details, but we all know how much details can affect the big world in a big way. So as I took her suggestions to heart, I found that indeed, she was right. We learn something new every day.
Every day life serves us up events and challenges to stress our knowledge. Most of the time we succeed at what we set out to do. Sometimes we just have a learning experience. Every moment, if we are paying attention enough, we learn something new.
Later the same day, as I was driving down the freeway, I saw someone doing something extremely dangerous. He had missed his exit from the interstate and so had stopped along the right shoulder. Now he was backing up and once he reached the exit, turned off the freeway and accelerated rapidly down the ramp. If I hadn't been looking at just the right time, I would have hit him.
I think of this every time my cell phone rings while I am driving. I think of this every time I see a new hypnosis script, or any time there is a minor hiccup in the routines of the day. Lots of little lessons each day challenge our awareness. They combine to teaches us a big and fundamental lesson. We learn something new every day.
Guns, shouts and answers
We were all saddened beyond words at the latest school shooting. I think President Obama put it best with his words, "Our hearts are broken..."
This morning, the news feed on my Facebook page was full of arguments about guns - gun control versus gun rights. Both sides had a lot to say, and to me, none of it was new.
When something like a school shooting occurs, we often hear two things happen. Gun control advocates increase their advocacy for more restrictions on handguns, and gun rights advocates increase their calls for more freedom to carry weapons. I've seen both arguments and some of them have been pretty strident. And to a degree, they are both correct.
In our recent politics, it seems that when the stakes go up, rather than people uniting around a common need, all that happens is that the intensity of the debate goes up. Both sides "have the answer" and with the increasing urgency, that "answer" gets more urgent as well. I've seen this with global warming, the fiscal cliff, the wars of the last 10 years, and now with weapons in school settings.
What's at the root of the needs of each side. Isn't there a better way to look at issues than as "us vs them"? And at least in part, might this adversarial "us vs them" viewpoint actually be a big contributor of this epidemic of violence in the first place?
I recall seeing Steven Covey speak many years ago at a workshop on the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. One thing he advocated was to "Think Win-Win" - not compromise, but Win-Win. The best solution to differing opinions is to listen first, then work out what both sides need.
Another of Covey's points was "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." And perhaps this gets to the core of the question. Can we stop shouting at each other and actually hear what the other side really wants/needs? Can we work out a solution that meets the needs of both? Is it more important to be right for those within the country who agree with you, or to solve the problem in a way that benefits all?
Both sides have legitimate arguments. When we get these high-emotional-stakes debates, I often wonder if a Buddhist-style "middle path" might be more of an option. Isn't there a solution that benefits everyone, from gun owners to safety in the schools? What is it that each side really wants? What do gun owners need in order for constitutional rights to be protected? What do we need to keep school shooting disasters from happening again - for more protection from home invasions, for hunter safety, etc
In the end, I believe a solution is possible that accomplishes both - keeps constitutional rights intact and provides more protection - and intervention if needed, to those who might end up being in harms way. I hope we can find that solution soon.
This morning, the news feed on my Facebook page was full of arguments about guns - gun control versus gun rights. Both sides had a lot to say, and to me, none of it was new.
When something like a school shooting occurs, we often hear two things happen. Gun control advocates increase their advocacy for more restrictions on handguns, and gun rights advocates increase their calls for more freedom to carry weapons. I've seen both arguments and some of them have been pretty strident. And to a degree, they are both correct.
In our recent politics, it seems that when the stakes go up, rather than people uniting around a common need, all that happens is that the intensity of the debate goes up. Both sides "have the answer" and with the increasing urgency, that "answer" gets more urgent as well. I've seen this with global warming, the fiscal cliff, the wars of the last 10 years, and now with weapons in school settings.
What's at the root of the needs of each side. Isn't there a better way to look at issues than as "us vs them"? And at least in part, might this adversarial "us vs them" viewpoint actually be a big contributor of this epidemic of violence in the first place?
I recall seeing Steven Covey speak many years ago at a workshop on the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. One thing he advocated was to "Think Win-Win" - not compromise, but Win-Win. The best solution to differing opinions is to listen first, then work out what both sides need.
Another of Covey's points was "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." And perhaps this gets to the core of the question. Can we stop shouting at each other and actually hear what the other side really wants/needs? Can we work out a solution that meets the needs of both? Is it more important to be right for those within the country who agree with you, or to solve the problem in a way that benefits all?
Both sides have legitimate arguments. When we get these high-emotional-stakes debates, I often wonder if a Buddhist-style "middle path" might be more of an option. Isn't there a solution that benefits everyone, from gun owners to safety in the schools? What is it that each side really wants? What do gun owners need in order for constitutional rights to be protected? What do we need to keep school shooting disasters from happening again - for more protection from home invasions, for hunter safety, etc
In the end, I believe a solution is possible that accomplishes both - keeps constitutional rights intact and provides more protection - and intervention if needed, to those who might end up being in harms way. I hope we can find that solution soon.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
The business of healing and spirit
Money and spirit can be a delicate balancing act. It can be difficult at any time to reoncile the two. And no time have I seen this more than I have in the last few weeks.
I have always heard - and been told emphatically - do what you love, follow your passion. When you do what you are meant to do, the money will follow. etc... A few weeks ago, I was doing my usual marketing thing, looking into presenting, showing at trade shows, etc. - both to promote my business and to reach close encounter experiencers. I do this to get my message out, bringing my healing work to as many people as possible, while also learning as much as possible about the unexplained realms through which my path travels.
Well, I inquired into working at one particular trade show and learned that another hypnotherapist was already booked to work a booth there. The person there is a dear friend of mine, and in my view, he was a perfect fit for the show. So in my view, great. It's his territory, let him have it. Time to move on. No problem, right? wrong....
A few weeks later, as I was tossing back a brew with him, I suddenly found out it actually wasn't 'no problem' - he was really pissed, but had never told me so. That evening, he suddenly looked at me with a sense of betrayal in his eyes. How could I...? I asked him what his issue was, and he told me that he saw an unwritten rule, peoples' geographic territories are sacrosanct. I told him that, now that I knew he felt that way, I would respect his wishes. Once he was mollified, the evening continued with business networking and social chit-chat. But the exchange left a metaphorical bad taste in my mouth. If he's doing what he loves, then why did he view me as competition. He had long ago told me that he felt there was enough business for everyone, and neither of us were hurting for clients from that segment of society, so what was he concerned about? I have seince let the matter pass, yet for me the quetion remains
Time passed. Good fences make good neighbors. We're still good friends. Then, a few months later, another event, with a totally different person, networking group and economic theatre got me to thinking the same questions once more. This time, in a particular networking organization where the rules are that once in, you have that market niche, somebody on the board of the organization decided that one of my self-hypnosis CD offerings stepped on the toes of someone else's business. While that was certainly not my intent, I can understand how one could conclude this. I agreed and again, good fences make good neighbors.
I wish both of the friends well. What they are doing is great and the last thing I want to do is step on their toes. Still, I was struck by the delicate balance between the world of business, money and economic competion, and the world of spirituality, healing and compassion. I try to live in the latter world. Each of us has our strengths, physically, spiritually and economically and I can live with that. Yet it so often brings us to a reality check where we find ourselves bumping into that wall, experiencing those flint-and-steel sparks as two peoples' paths unexpectedly and unintentionally collide..
Probably, the best advice I've heard is simply to proceed with the best of intentions. Try to do the right thing, for the right reasons. Ultimately, we are physical humans - spiritual beings living in a material realm. While we can be like the lillies of the fiels and trust in God, we still have to travel our paths, actively pursue our passions. These won't come to us while we sit on a log and wait. We have to actively pursue them. God helps people who help themselves. We just need to make sure we stay in integrity. If sparks fly for some reason, we just have to deal with whatever issues have come up.
Combining the spiritual and pragmatic sides is never easy. It's a delicate balancing act, this business of healing and spirit.
I have always heard - and been told emphatically - do what you love, follow your passion. When you do what you are meant to do, the money will follow. etc... A few weeks ago, I was doing my usual marketing thing, looking into presenting, showing at trade shows, etc. - both to promote my business and to reach close encounter experiencers. I do this to get my message out, bringing my healing work to as many people as possible, while also learning as much as possible about the unexplained realms through which my path travels.
Well, I inquired into working at one particular trade show and learned that another hypnotherapist was already booked to work a booth there. The person there is a dear friend of mine, and in my view, he was a perfect fit for the show. So in my view, great. It's his territory, let him have it. Time to move on. No problem, right? wrong....
A few weeks later, as I was tossing back a brew with him, I suddenly found out it actually wasn't 'no problem' - he was really pissed, but had never told me so. That evening, he suddenly looked at me with a sense of betrayal in his eyes. How could I...? I asked him what his issue was, and he told me that he saw an unwritten rule, peoples' geographic territories are sacrosanct. I told him that, now that I knew he felt that way, I would respect his wishes. Once he was mollified, the evening continued with business networking and social chit-chat. But the exchange left a metaphorical bad taste in my mouth. If he's doing what he loves, then why did he view me as competition. He had long ago told me that he felt there was enough business for everyone, and neither of us were hurting for clients from that segment of society, so what was he concerned about? I have seince let the matter pass, yet for me the quetion remains
Time passed. Good fences make good neighbors. We're still good friends. Then, a few months later, another event, with a totally different person, networking group and economic theatre got me to thinking the same questions once more. This time, in a particular networking organization where the rules are that once in, you have that market niche, somebody on the board of the organization decided that one of my self-hypnosis CD offerings stepped on the toes of someone else's business. While that was certainly not my intent, I can understand how one could conclude this. I agreed and again, good fences make good neighbors.
I wish both of the friends well. What they are doing is great and the last thing I want to do is step on their toes. Still, I was struck by the delicate balance between the world of business, money and economic competion, and the world of spirituality, healing and compassion. I try to live in the latter world. Each of us has our strengths, physically, spiritually and economically and I can live with that. Yet it so often brings us to a reality check where we find ourselves bumping into that wall, experiencing those flint-and-steel sparks as two peoples' paths unexpectedly and unintentionally collide..
Probably, the best advice I've heard is simply to proceed with the best of intentions. Try to do the right thing, for the right reasons. Ultimately, we are physical humans - spiritual beings living in a material realm. While we can be like the lillies of the fiels and trust in God, we still have to travel our paths, actively pursue our passions. These won't come to us while we sit on a log and wait. We have to actively pursue them. God helps people who help themselves. We just need to make sure we stay in integrity. If sparks fly for some reason, we just have to deal with whatever issues have come up.
Combining the spiritual and pragmatic sides is never easy. It's a delicate balancing act, this business of healing and spirit.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Thoughts on a long-neglected journal
This evening, as I was doing some internet research on another topic, I stumbled across Whitley's Journal, the semi-regular writings of Whitley Strieber on www.unknowncountry.com. I used to follow his column regularly - back when I lived in CubeWorld, and was frequently looking for a mental outlet from the world of corporate America. Now, since I am on my, own, a number of regular news columns dropped off the edge of the radar. Whitley's Journal was among them.
Whitley always has some powerful things to say. As I went back and read some of his writings over the last few months, I saw his commentaries on the election, the environmental tipping point, and related current events. To my relief, he did not endorse any candidate for president, or for any other office. Yet one comment he made was telling - and that was to point out one of the most critical decision factors. What will the current president do when push comes to shove in Iran?
He pointed out that confrontation with Persia has in many ways been a defining factor in the development of western civilization - from the Greco-Persian wars, to the wars fought between the Roman and Parthian empires, to the medieval battles between the Eurpoeans and the Muslim powers of the near east, to the travails of today. And now, as the west loses its nuclear monopoly, the conflict will only intensify. How will the president handle it?
As I write this, the election has come and gone. The result is decided - President Obama won re-election. Whether this is good or bad depends upon your point of view. But my own belief is that he will (and must) have a decisive role to play in the coming conflict - most likely for the better. Still, that is a guess. I'm not much of a prophet, so take that guess with a really big grain of salt.
Iran aside, we are at the tipping point in a multitude of other ways, as well. As another article in Whitley's Journal, Superstorm Sandy and the Future, pointed out, the drift toward the coming environmental change has now passed the point of no return. We spent too many years on meaningless debate on the reality of global warming - years when we should have been acting to address the issues. Now it's too late. The best we can do is to prepare for the consequences and try to minimize them as best we can.
To be fair, I've heard a number of commentaries on Whitley Strieber's writings over the years. A number of rationalist friends of mine have used rather non-positive adjectives. Many such objections have been around since the days Communion was first published. They are old, and to me, most don't hold a whole lot of merit. Still, each of us needs to exercise our own discernment. Each of us will believe what we will. But that belief needs to be tempered by the evidence behind what the articles I am describing have to say. We are now at the critical point.
There were several other articles in the backlog that I read this evening, but I thought the ones mentioned above were the most telling. Again, none of us can see the future, but Whitley has been pretty accurate on a number of things, and my guess is that this is probably in that league. Unfortunately, it is not a pleasant set of predictions. They are indeed, some of the darker thoughts in this particular long-neglected journal collection.
Whitley always has some powerful things to say. As I went back and read some of his writings over the last few months, I saw his commentaries on the election, the environmental tipping point, and related current events. To my relief, he did not endorse any candidate for president, or for any other office. Yet one comment he made was telling - and that was to point out one of the most critical decision factors. What will the current president do when push comes to shove in Iran?
He pointed out that confrontation with Persia has in many ways been a defining factor in the development of western civilization - from the Greco-Persian wars, to the wars fought between the Roman and Parthian empires, to the medieval battles between the Eurpoeans and the Muslim powers of the near east, to the travails of today. And now, as the west loses its nuclear monopoly, the conflict will only intensify. How will the president handle it?
As I write this, the election has come and gone. The result is decided - President Obama won re-election. Whether this is good or bad depends upon your point of view. But my own belief is that he will (and must) have a decisive role to play in the coming conflict - most likely for the better. Still, that is a guess. I'm not much of a prophet, so take that guess with a really big grain of salt.
Iran aside, we are at the tipping point in a multitude of other ways, as well. As another article in Whitley's Journal, Superstorm Sandy and the Future, pointed out, the drift toward the coming environmental change has now passed the point of no return. We spent too many years on meaningless debate on the reality of global warming - years when we should have been acting to address the issues. Now it's too late. The best we can do is to prepare for the consequences and try to minimize them as best we can.
To be fair, I've heard a number of commentaries on Whitley Strieber's writings over the years. A number of rationalist friends of mine have used rather non-positive adjectives. Many such objections have been around since the days Communion was first published. They are old, and to me, most don't hold a whole lot of merit. Still, each of us needs to exercise our own discernment. Each of us will believe what we will. But that belief needs to be tempered by the evidence behind what the articles I am describing have to say. We are now at the critical point.
There were several other articles in the backlog that I read this evening, but I thought the ones mentioned above were the most telling. Again, none of us can see the future, but Whitley has been pretty accurate on a number of things, and my guess is that this is probably in that league. Unfortunately, it is not a pleasant set of predictions. They are indeed, some of the darker thoughts in this particular long-neglected journal collection.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Catching up
Thanksgiving weekend. It's been nice to get away from home - and business, since they are pretty much the same thing - and spend some time just reading. It's given me a chance to read several of the books I've bought in the last couple of months, at the Paradigm symposium, on-line, and various forays to the local Barnes & Noble. But mostly, I've been buried in the Kindle app on my laptop.
A couple of days ago, as we were driving to Gwyn's mom's home for the family Thanksgiving celebration, the weather was gorgeous. Warm, sunny, it was a day more like September than late November. Today, that's all changed. As I sit here blogging, I can hear the wind whip around the corners of the house, a chill and lonely sound that makes me enjoy curling up with a book - or a laptop - in a warm room. It was a day to wake up late, a day to catch up.
Some things I have gotten interested in lately have been more on the geeky side. As I've studied reports of close encounters, UFO sightings, etc., I've again found myself wondering about the physics of it all. As I've heard the words 'quantum' and 'nonlocal' bandied about, I've wondered - where does all that come from? Where does the zero point field come from, the unified field, the idea of the holographic universe, etc. etc. etc.? So I decided to find a couple of books that would re-introduce me to the topic (I studied this a fair amount in undergrad - about thirty years ago).
One thing led to another and, before I know it, I pulled out a couple of books on quantum physics. In the process, I discovered I have forgotten a lot in the time since I studied physics in undergrad (the field has also advanced considerably in three decades), so I have had to re-learn a lot of material. As I read through one (inexpensive) book I bought on Kindle - 'Understanding Quantum Physics' - I discovered that I don't. The book was written at the PhD-plus level, and assumes that you thoroughly know the topic already. After only about twenty pages I fell off the mathematical train. So I went back on to the Kindle store and got the earlier book in the series (Introduction to Quantum Physics).
'Introduction to' appears to only assume that you have an advanced undergrad level of mathematical sophistication. But in that, it's a firebath and I found myself recalling a lot of the mathematics I learned in college. I guess I got what I was looking for, an intermediate level primer. And now we'll see just how 'intermediate' it really is. I have a lot of catching up to do.
There is a lot of other catching up to do as well. A lot of MUFON and business stuff still undone. Meanwhile I can hear the wind outside. Work can wait until I get home.
It's a chill November day, a good day to sit inside and curl up with a book. The math only holds my attention for so long. So for now, I'm setting the serious material aside and picking up a novel (yes, reading one, not writing one). I seldom have time for recreational reading, and I had started reading this one several months before, and then set it aside as I got busy with my business stuff. Now, I decided it was time to resume that.
As for the rest of the stuff, it's time to do some serious ignoring. I need to catch up on doing nothing, and I have a lot of work to do.
Monday, November 12, 2012
A new location
The studio location travels continue.
I have now made arrangements to see clients at a new location, north of the cities at:
This is about 1/2 hour north of the cities on I35 (north of where 35E and 35W come together).
I hope to hold classes there in the future on self hypnosis, stress management, past-life and Akashic record exploration, spirituality, meditation, etc.
Check out my ever-improving locations at: www.explore-with-hypnosis.com/location.html as I add additional locations to better serve my hypnotherapy clients.
I have now made arrangements to see clients at a new location, north of the cities at:
Joanie's Metaphysical,
26789 Forest Blvd (US Hwy 61).
Wyoming, MN.
This is about 1/2 hour north of the cities on I35 (north of where 35E and 35W come together).
I hope to hold classes there in the future on self hypnosis, stress management, past-life and Akashic record exploration, spirituality, meditation, etc.
Check out my ever-improving locations at: www.explore-with-hypnosis.com/location.html as I add additional locations to better serve my hypnotherapy clients.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
A gathering of experiencers
One of the most enjoyable aspects of attending any conference, symposium, meeting, etc., is the networking that gets done in the halls and at the bar in the evening. The October 2012 Paradigm Symposium was no exception. This was the first of these conferences and based upon the popularity of this one, I imagine there will be many more. It was a gathering of like-minded people, minds open to the idea that we are being visited. Something from out there is visiting us, and has been here for a long time. I suspect that most of the people at the symposium had experienced their fair share of encounters with the unexplained, and at least half had likely had at least one UFO close encounter. Thus, it was no surprise that I heard quite a few stories of encounters.
I spent a chunk of time (and money) in the vendor room, looking at books, CDs, DVDs, etc. And in the process, I got to talking with quite a few people there. It turns out I had corresponded with a few of them by e-mail over the last few years. A few others remembered my name from this newsletter, a radio broadcast, a past symposium, etc. So more than once, I ended up talking with someone unexpectedly, and usually the person had a fascinating story to tell.
Later that evening, after Linda Moulton Howe's talk, I ended up conversing with a few of these same experiencers. Several had had classic abductions, yet most also described non-abduction contact experiences and information downloads. All of them had grown up with psychic abilities, several of them sensitive enough to do readings professionally. Most had family histories of strong psychic abilities - mother, grandmother, etc. Several had children who were psychic, empathic, etc., classic indigo children.
While meeting experiencers was a common occurrence over the weekend, I did note one unusual thing this time - something I had not seen before this. Most of the experiencers I talked with seemed more at home with the phenomenon in their lives. While still carrying the burden of mystery, and in some cases fear, the degree of acceptance I sensed was remarkable.
Perhaps it was the comfort level of the social setting. It was safe to talk in this group. There was no danger of ridicule here. Yet in some of the people I talked with, I sensed a stronger degree of resolution, extending beyond the safety of this group. Many of them had been aware of their unique life experiences for a long time. Many had already explored them and now had reached some degree of integration.
The overall result was that a growing core of experiencers appears to be increasingly comfortable with who they are. They are becoming a Cosmic Bridge between the normal work-a-day world and the world of the extraordinary. I suspect that as others become aware of their experiences, or as more people begin to have overt sightings and/or encounters, this aware core will continue to grow. And perhaps they can begin to provide a level of comfort to those who remain isolated, alone and afraid.
The conversations in the bar frequently make up the highlight of a conference and this one was no exception. And on this particular evening, it was neat to see so many people together with so many interesting stories to tell. This was a unique group of sympathetic, like minded people, a rare, delightful - and safe - gathering of experiencers.
I spent a chunk of time (and money) in the vendor room, looking at books, CDs, DVDs, etc. And in the process, I got to talking with quite a few people there. It turns out I had corresponded with a few of them by e-mail over the last few years. A few others remembered my name from this newsletter, a radio broadcast, a past symposium, etc. So more than once, I ended up talking with someone unexpectedly, and usually the person had a fascinating story to tell.
Later that evening, after Linda Moulton Howe's talk, I ended up conversing with a few of these same experiencers. Several had had classic abductions, yet most also described non-abduction contact experiences and information downloads. All of them had grown up with psychic abilities, several of them sensitive enough to do readings professionally. Most had family histories of strong psychic abilities - mother, grandmother, etc. Several had children who were psychic, empathic, etc., classic indigo children.
While meeting experiencers was a common occurrence over the weekend, I did note one unusual thing this time - something I had not seen before this. Most of the experiencers I talked with seemed more at home with the phenomenon in their lives. While still carrying the burden of mystery, and in some cases fear, the degree of acceptance I sensed was remarkable.
Perhaps it was the comfort level of the social setting. It was safe to talk in this group. There was no danger of ridicule here. Yet in some of the people I talked with, I sensed a stronger degree of resolution, extending beyond the safety of this group. Many of them had been aware of their unique life experiences for a long time. Many had already explored them and now had reached some degree of integration.
The overall result was that a growing core of experiencers appears to be increasingly comfortable with who they are. They are becoming a Cosmic Bridge between the normal work-a-day world and the world of the extraordinary. I suspect that as others become aware of their experiences, or as more people begin to have overt sightings and/or encounters, this aware core will continue to grow. And perhaps they can begin to provide a level of comfort to those who remain isolated, alone and afraid.
The conversations in the bar frequently make up the highlight of a conference and this one was no exception. And on this particular evening, it was neat to see so many people together with so many interesting stories to tell. This was a unique group of sympathetic, like minded people, a rare, delightful - and safe - gathering of experiencers.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Ancient aliens, quantum holograms, and another day on Earth
It's a warm fall day and after a weekend in the stratosphere, now I'm home raking leaves and taking care of business-related stuff (including this blog entry). It's another day on Earth.
As I write this article, it is the first day after the Paradigm conference. The last few days have been filled with talks, presentations, panel discussions and perhaps most important, conversations in the bar on the topic of the weekend - the unexplained, both ancient and modern. I met a lot of researchers and writers working in the areas of the paranormal, archaeology, UFO studies and ET contact. This was a weekend where I was among my own. There was little need to justify my interest in the extraordinary - does this stuff exist, is it real, etc. Instead the focus was on what does it mean, how long has it been with us, and what does it imply for our future.
To be fair, I did hear a lot of things I didn't believe. But the beauty of events like this is that you can try on ideas, see if they square with your own discernment, and then move on to another. In each case, the result is a lot of provocative questions - and perhaps new ideas.
The first talk was on Thursday evening, put on by Linda Moulton Howe. She always puts on a good talk, and this time was no exception. I had heard some of the material she presented at the MUFON conference in 2011. But there was a lot of new information within it, as well. The most interesting of this was on the ruins of Gobekli Tepe, in Turkey.
I'm not an archaeology expert, so I don't have a lot of ability to evaluate what I heard as would an expert in the field. Yet apparently, the ruins were from over 12,000 years ago. This flies in the face of the idea that civilization began only 5000 years (or so) ago. In addition, the ruins were apparently deliberately buried, for reasons unknown. Only a small amount of the area has been excavated, but apparently, it is a large ceremonial site.
At that time, Earth was still in the ice age. The Mediterranean seabed was dry and the area (now desert) was a temperate and fertile. It would have made a good location for a civilization. She build a good case for the idea that this was part of an earlier cycle of civilization, one that somehow came to a big crashing halt some time around 10 to 12 thousand years ago.
Linda does a great job of tying together a lot of rather disparate topics into one bundle of mystery. In this case, she related a number of previous topics (such as the self-activating technology she talked about in 2011) with paleoarchaeology sites. She talked more about the photos of dragonfly drones, observed extensively in about 2007, or so (several photo analysts have since declared the photos to be fakes using photoshop). She related this to the CARET documents, purportedly leaked documents describing eforts to replicate and commercialize alien technology.
The biggest piece of information, at least for me, was the idea, in which a set of symbols seemed to comprise some form "software" that would execute on its own, without the need of a computer to execute it. According to "Isaac" the pseudonym of the person who apparently leaked the documents to Linda, it executed when exposed to some type of field - perhaps a consciousness/quantum field, perhaps an EM field, etc. (use your imagination). At first, the thought ran square into my discernment filter - leaving me cold until a bit later when I got a chance to think about it a bit more. Then I began to wonder - could this be similar to the budding technology of 3D printing, where they can manufacture parts directly using 3D imaging? The idea was intriguing.
Usually, at conferences, the real science gets done at the bar, often after a few glasses of wine, and Thursday evening was no exception. I ended up talking with Linda and a couple of other people about this idea. What if, rather than being some kind of executable "software" as we would think of it, the symbols formed a kind of holographic encoding. Apparently, the symbols were mounted on a seemingly-inert substrate, something like glass or crystal. So what if the symbols, when exposed to some kind of field, would generate a 3D hologram within the material. Like a 3D printer, the projected image would contain information that would cause the material to change its properties in a way that would make it functional.
There are plenty of examples of material changing in response to fields, including lenses that darken when exposed to sunlight and LCDs, in which the material changes properties in response to an electric field. Also, integrated circuit technology such as the gate array, does a similar thing, taking on functional properties based upon information input. So the idea of a holographically encoded field that, when decoded using some type of reference beam or field, contains functional information causing an otherwise inert material to take on functional properties, might not be as far fetched as it seems. There is a lot of work to be done there. And I'm betting that in some R&D lab in some solid state electronics company, somewhere, this very thing is being done.
But how does this relate to paleo-archaeology and the ruins of Gobekli Tepe? To me, that was a bit of a stretch. She stated there were a number of symbols that loosely matched those shown in the CARET documents. Thus, she speculated that perhaps there was a similar function associated (in some way) with the ruins. Indeed, from a larger perspective such as a satellite view, the ruins appear to have a symbolic nature to them. So she speculates that perhaps the site, itself, has some type of functionality. While interesting, I found this a bit of a stretch - yet this was a weekend for stretches - and questions.
I thought Linda's was probably the best of the talks, but others were intensely fascinating. Most of the talks were on closely related topics along the ancient-aliens theme. This included presentations by Georgio Tsoukalos, Eric Von Daniken, and several more. There were a lot of references to Zachsaria Sitchin's writings and the idea that most religions were, at least in part, influenced by ET contact.
The upshot of the collected talks at the symposium was that we are not alone. We never have been alone. We have been visited all along. Visitation has left its mark on our history as well as on the present. Whether you believe any particular assertion, or even whether you accept any of the idea of paleo-archaeology, ancient ET contact, etc., each gives us food for thought. There are a number of fascinating archaeology anomalies coming to light, and they challenge our present models of human history.
As we got into the final day or two of the conference, I overheard a couple of people describing feelings of loss, primarily over the notion that after Sunday, they were going to have to return home to the same old thing. It's difficult to get into the daily routine after having spent the weekend on topics like human history, Armageddon prophecy, alien contact, etc. The quarterly sales report doesn't seem very fascinating. It's hard to get back into calculating store inventory, or whatever other work-a-day elements one's life might contain. Yet Sunday finally ended, and I drove home (only a few miles), as quite a few others caught airplanes (or began long drives) back to their respective homes.
It was time to return from a world of ET contact, ancient aliens and quantum holograms to another day on Earth.
As I write this article, it is the first day after the Paradigm conference. The last few days have been filled with talks, presentations, panel discussions and perhaps most important, conversations in the bar on the topic of the weekend - the unexplained, both ancient and modern. I met a lot of researchers and writers working in the areas of the paranormal, archaeology, UFO studies and ET contact. This was a weekend where I was among my own. There was little need to justify my interest in the extraordinary - does this stuff exist, is it real, etc. Instead the focus was on what does it mean, how long has it been with us, and what does it imply for our future.
To be fair, I did hear a lot of things I didn't believe. But the beauty of events like this is that you can try on ideas, see if they square with your own discernment, and then move on to another. In each case, the result is a lot of provocative questions - and perhaps new ideas.
The first talk was on Thursday evening, put on by Linda Moulton Howe. She always puts on a good talk, and this time was no exception. I had heard some of the material she presented at the MUFON conference in 2011. But there was a lot of new information within it, as well. The most interesting of this was on the ruins of Gobekli Tepe, in Turkey.
I'm not an archaeology expert, so I don't have a lot of ability to evaluate what I heard as would an expert in the field. Yet apparently, the ruins were from over 12,000 years ago. This flies in the face of the idea that civilization began only 5000 years (or so) ago. In addition, the ruins were apparently deliberately buried, for reasons unknown. Only a small amount of the area has been excavated, but apparently, it is a large ceremonial site.
At that time, Earth was still in the ice age. The Mediterranean seabed was dry and the area (now desert) was a temperate and fertile. It would have made a good location for a civilization. She build a good case for the idea that this was part of an earlier cycle of civilization, one that somehow came to a big crashing halt some time around 10 to 12 thousand years ago.
Linda does a great job of tying together a lot of rather disparate topics into one bundle of mystery. In this case, she related a number of previous topics (such as the self-activating technology she talked about in 2011) with paleoarchaeology sites. She talked more about the photos of dragonfly drones, observed extensively in about 2007, or so (several photo analysts have since declared the photos to be fakes using photoshop). She related this to the CARET documents, purportedly leaked documents describing eforts to replicate and commercialize alien technology.
The biggest piece of information, at least for me, was the idea, in which a set of symbols seemed to comprise some form "software" that would execute on its own, without the need of a computer to execute it. According to "Isaac" the pseudonym of the person who apparently leaked the documents to Linda, it executed when exposed to some type of field - perhaps a consciousness/quantum field, perhaps an EM field, etc. (use your imagination). At first, the thought ran square into my discernment filter - leaving me cold until a bit later when I got a chance to think about it a bit more. Then I began to wonder - could this be similar to the budding technology of 3D printing, where they can manufacture parts directly using 3D imaging? The idea was intriguing.
Usually, at conferences, the real science gets done at the bar, often after a few glasses of wine, and Thursday evening was no exception. I ended up talking with Linda and a couple of other people about this idea. What if, rather than being some kind of executable "software" as we would think of it, the symbols formed a kind of holographic encoding. Apparently, the symbols were mounted on a seemingly-inert substrate, something like glass or crystal. So what if the symbols, when exposed to some kind of field, would generate a 3D hologram within the material. Like a 3D printer, the projected image would contain information that would cause the material to change its properties in a way that would make it functional.
There are plenty of examples of material changing in response to fields, including lenses that darken when exposed to sunlight and LCDs, in which the material changes properties in response to an electric field. Also, integrated circuit technology such as the gate array, does a similar thing, taking on functional properties based upon information input. So the idea of a holographically encoded field that, when decoded using some type of reference beam or field, contains functional information causing an otherwise inert material to take on functional properties, might not be as far fetched as it seems. There is a lot of work to be done there. And I'm betting that in some R&D lab in some solid state electronics company, somewhere, this very thing is being done.
But how does this relate to paleo-archaeology and the ruins of Gobekli Tepe? To me, that was a bit of a stretch. She stated there were a number of symbols that loosely matched those shown in the CARET documents. Thus, she speculated that perhaps there was a similar function associated (in some way) with the ruins. Indeed, from a larger perspective such as a satellite view, the ruins appear to have a symbolic nature to them. So she speculates that perhaps the site, itself, has some type of functionality. While interesting, I found this a bit of a stretch - yet this was a weekend for stretches - and questions.
I thought Linda's was probably the best of the talks, but others were intensely fascinating. Most of the talks were on closely related topics along the ancient-aliens theme. This included presentations by Georgio Tsoukalos, Eric Von Daniken, and several more. There were a lot of references to Zachsaria Sitchin's writings and the idea that most religions were, at least in part, influenced by ET contact.
The upshot of the collected talks at the symposium was that we are not alone. We never have been alone. We have been visited all along. Visitation has left its mark on our history as well as on the present. Whether you believe any particular assertion, or even whether you accept any of the idea of paleo-archaeology, ancient ET contact, etc., each gives us food for thought. There are a number of fascinating archaeology anomalies coming to light, and they challenge our present models of human history.
As we got into the final day or two of the conference, I overheard a couple of people describing feelings of loss, primarily over the notion that after Sunday, they were going to have to return home to the same old thing. It's difficult to get into the daily routine after having spent the weekend on topics like human history, Armageddon prophecy, alien contact, etc. The quarterly sales report doesn't seem very fascinating. It's hard to get back into calculating store inventory, or whatever other work-a-day elements one's life might contain. Yet Sunday finally ended, and I drove home (only a few miles), as quite a few others caught airplanes (or began long drives) back to their respective homes.
It was time to return from a world of ET contact, ancient aliens and quantum holograms to another day on Earth.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Paths, doors and unexpected walls
In my last post, I wrote about how when one door closes, another door opens. For myself and for quite a few other people I know, this has been a week of possible new paths, of doors opening and closing, and of walking into unexpected brick walls. Sometimes, it seems, that open door leads nowhere.
In my own life, I have gotten discouraging news and responses as I've tried to find a new location. Since the Healing Loft closed, I have been looking for a group of complimentary healers with whom I could hook up, part time. A couple of the places I have looked at have indicated they were not interested in having a part time sublease or contracting practitioner. One person, another therapist said her life was already too chaotic to have another person associated with her studio. Another group said that things were too uncertain, etc.
The most recent disappointment was from a possibility I had really hoped would pan out. It was with a group located in the community center near my home. It was a very professional looking venue and it looked like it would really work - No Such Luck. I still have some more options to look at, none of them as ideal as the ones I had hoped would materialize. Beyond that, I'm not sure where the footpath is leading me. In short, the responses I have gotten have been rather discouraging. So, what's the lesson here? What is the take-away message from all of this?
One of them, I see as being the difference between hopes and intentions. Steven Covey describes in his Seven Habits book series, the difference between the circle of influence and the circle of concern. The circle of concern is the set of things you care about. These are the external factors in your life, in which you are, in some way, a stakeholder.
Meanwhile, the circle of influence is the set of those things you can control or at least influence. Ideally, it is best to have the two circles be as close together as possible. Or in Saint Francis's prayer, "to change the things I can, accept the things I can't."
The other lesson I see is to actually learn the right lesson from whatever is happening. As I felt totally disappointed by the response I got yesterday I was tempted to slam the door on everything. It was a very reactive response. I often see this response in people when they get disappointing news.
In actuality, when something like this happens, one needs to count to ten - to step back and take stock of what's going on. The best thing we can do is to let the reaction pass. Sleep on it and look at it again in the morning. What's the big picture? What are the implications of whatever decision you make? It's at times like this when we need to take some time to put on the thinking cap.
In the last few weeks (months, actually), many of the people I know have had significant challenges.
Several have had financial or health reverses, including the place where I had previously practiced, The Healing Loft. The suddenness of the closing took me by surprise, but in the context of the things I have seen since approximately mid August, abrupt changes like this make sense. More than one friend of mine has described sudden relationship problems, sudden financial problems, and unexpected health problems, many of these in combination to create a 'perfect storm' of challenge. And all seem to have the same major theme - the events were largely unexpected.
So where is this going? I'm still not sure. For myself and for many others, it looks like there are more paths and more doors. Some of the doors seem to be open. Do they actually lead to new paths? Or like so many around me in the past few weeks, do we find that the doors and paths lead smack into an unexpected wall?
Thursday, September 27, 2012
For every end, there is a new beginning
I did my final session at The Healing Loft in northeast Minneapolis this afternoon. It was a wonderful way to finish, doing very heart-warming work with someone who was ready to move beyond fear and pain and into light and confidence. It is my passion, my reward. It is why I do this work.
Unfortunately, it was probably the last session I will ever do at that location. They are closing their doors as of the end of the week (or probably the next week or two, depending upon how their shutdown goes). So that means I need to find a new location. For the moment, I'm now back working at my home studio location in Brooklyn Center and once again, looking for practice space. Check the location tab on the Explore with Hypnosis website
It is the end of a (rather brief) era. I started working there in January, not too long after I left my day job. It was the ideal opportunity for me. I was able to rent space by the session, to pay as you go, allowing me to build up my practice without having to jump feet-first into a full-time rental of space.
I'm really gonna miss that place. I loved the atmosphere there. Duncan and Katie were absolute sweethearts to work with and the combination of practice space and informal atmosphere were great. It was wonderful to simply have a different place to go to do my work, not working from my home.
Unfortunately, some things don't last. And I learned only Monday that they were going to close their doors. So now, I'm looking for space again.
Hopefully, I can find a similar deal to what I found at the Loft. I'm putting that out to God. Hopefully God will answer that prayer just like the last ones. Yet at the moment, the things that have come back have been somewhat less than encouraging. I've had several disappointments so far. There is a lot of office space open but not much in the form that I'm looking for.
They say that when one door closes, another door opens. I'm eager to see where that new door leads.
In the last couple of months, I have also been finishing (again) my rewrites of The Fifth Key (5K for short) after numerous comments, critiques, etc. Personally, I think it's pretty good. I also just redrafted my query letter and I'm getting ready to send it out. In the mean time, I'm resuming work on Children of the Stars, the sequel to 5K.
I'm also beginning to work on the second edition of The Cosmic Bridge, something I've been putting off for a long time. Time to get to work on that.
I said I wanted more time to write. I guess the universe took me at my word. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. It is in times of disappointment that we need to remember: For every end, there is a new beginning. After the darkness comes the dawn.
Unfortunately, it was probably the last session I will ever do at that location. They are closing their doors as of the end of the week (or probably the next week or two, depending upon how their shutdown goes). So that means I need to find a new location. For the moment, I'm now back working at my home studio location in Brooklyn Center and once again, looking for practice space. Check the location tab on the Explore with Hypnosis website
It is the end of a (rather brief) era. I started working there in January, not too long after I left my day job. It was the ideal opportunity for me. I was able to rent space by the session, to pay as you go, allowing me to build up my practice without having to jump feet-first into a full-time rental of space.
I'm really gonna miss that place. I loved the atmosphere there. Duncan and Katie were absolute sweethearts to work with and the combination of practice space and informal atmosphere were great. It was wonderful to simply have a different place to go to do my work, not working from my home.
Unfortunately, some things don't last. And I learned only Monday that they were going to close their doors. So now, I'm looking for space again.
Hopefully, I can find a similar deal to what I found at the Loft. I'm putting that out to God. Hopefully God will answer that prayer just like the last ones. Yet at the moment, the things that have come back have been somewhat less than encouraging. I've had several disappointments so far. There is a lot of office space open but not much in the form that I'm looking for.
They say that when one door closes, another door opens. I'm eager to see where that new door leads.
In the last couple of months, I have also been finishing (again) my rewrites of The Fifth Key (5K for short) after numerous comments, critiques, etc. Personally, I think it's pretty good. I also just redrafted my query letter and I'm getting ready to send it out. In the mean time, I'm resuming work on Children of the Stars, the sequel to 5K.
I'm also beginning to work on the second edition of The Cosmic Bridge, something I've been putting off for a long time. Time to get to work on that.
I said I wanted more time to write. I guess the universe took me at my word. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. It is in times of disappointment that we need to remember: For every end, there is a new beginning. After the darkness comes the dawn.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
No, it's not free - meeting the challenge of the healer's doorway way
I had some interesting dialogs in the last day or two. Interesting but a bit dismaying. I received inquiries from several potential clients. One in particular was from a person who had significant issues and needed some deep healing work. During her call, I learned quite a bit about her issue, listening extensively as she bent my ear. We got to the point where she clearly knew I could help her. We agreed to that and started the process.
As we talked, I brought up my scheduling program to book the initial session. She finally asked what my rates were, which I told her. There was a sudden silence, followed by "why so much?"
I explained that I charged the standard rate for NGH (National Guild of Hypnotists) hypnotherapists in the metro area (actually I currently charge a little less, since I haven't raised my rates in a while. I plan to do that in January).
There was a grudging "OK" and I could almost hear the sticker shock reverberating in her mind. We set a session appointment time and I asked her for her credit card number to confirm the booking.
There was a "What?" followed by stony silence on the other end of the line.
I repeated my request, adding that I asked people to pay for the initial session at the time they booked.
Most hypnotherapists ask for payment for the first session up front. Some in the guild actually ask for the cost of five sessions at initial booking.
"You mean we have to pay you in advance?" the woman's voice demanded, indignant
"Yes," I replied, "I ask for payment for the first session to confirm the reservation."
"Er - let me get back to you. I need to check with my husband."
I sometimes get this response when someone changes her mind and decides not to book a session. This 'missing man' argument is a graceful way to chicken out. Usually, this happens on learning that hypnotherapy costs money.
As our dialog concluded, we hung up and left it at that. I sincerely doubt I will hear from her again.
In retrospect, I wondered if she had expected me to offer her some kind of inexpensive healing trick that would solve all her problems. Was she expecting her problem to be fixed by my waving a "hypnosis wand"? At bargain rates?
On the flip side - I have learned a fair amount in the business world in the last six or so months. And one of the biggest lessons has been on the need to make it easy for the customer to do business with you. In retrospect I can see how the sticker shock would have affected her. I suspect that many hypnotherapists have encountered the same issue, where clients back out on encountering this financial barrier. Clearly, some change was needed to make it easier for people like her to get into my studio in the first place.
I have lately been migrating to a new business model advanced by one of the leading instructors in the NGH, Scott McFall. Scott advocates conducting an initial consult session. In this new business model, I don't ask for a lot of $ in advance for the initial consult session. If the client and the hypnotist agree that it will work to move forward then (in my variation) the initial consult becomes part of the first session, incorporated into the full hypnotherapy healing package. If the client decides not to proceed, there is only the charge for the consult session.
Healing work, especially the type this particular client needed to do, is difficult. My bet is that she had backed away from work with several other potential hypnotherapists as well. This inability to commit is part of what I call the challenge of the healer's doorway. Often, it can be one of the biggest pieces of the problem. And when that occurs, when the client won't even enter the studio, there is little the healer can do.
So in order for the process to work, the client first has to come in through the doorway. The person needs to understand and feel comfortable with the healing process, and then with the idea that it will cost money. The commitment occurs only when we begin, when the client understands and is comfortable with the process. At that point, we the person needs to commit to the work.
They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For this particular person, the first big hurdle was simply to begin the work - and to accept that she actually had to pay for it. In short, she needed to overcome the challenge of the healer's doorway.
Once in the door, hypnotherapy can offer an amazing toolbox to help the client resolve issues deep within the subconscious. Yes, the client can and should learn about the process, become comfortable with it before beginning the work. But in the end, healing work is a commitment.
No, it's not free.
As we talked, I brought up my scheduling program to book the initial session. She finally asked what my rates were, which I told her. There was a sudden silence, followed by "why so much?"
I explained that I charged the standard rate for NGH (National Guild of Hypnotists) hypnotherapists in the metro area (actually I currently charge a little less, since I haven't raised my rates in a while. I plan to do that in January).
There was a grudging "OK" and I could almost hear the sticker shock reverberating in her mind. We set a session appointment time and I asked her for her credit card number to confirm the booking.
There was a "What?" followed by stony silence on the other end of the line.
I repeated my request, adding that I asked people to pay for the initial session at the time they booked.
Most hypnotherapists ask for payment for the first session up front. Some in the guild actually ask for the cost of five sessions at initial booking.
"You mean we have to pay you in advance?" the woman's voice demanded, indignant
"Yes," I replied, "I ask for payment for the first session to confirm the reservation."
"Er - let me get back to you. I need to check with my husband."
I sometimes get this response when someone changes her mind and decides not to book a session. This 'missing man' argument is a graceful way to chicken out. Usually, this happens on learning that hypnotherapy costs money.
As our dialog concluded, we hung up and left it at that. I sincerely doubt I will hear from her again.
In retrospect, I wondered if she had expected me to offer her some kind of inexpensive healing trick that would solve all her problems. Was she expecting her problem to be fixed by my waving a "hypnosis wand"? At bargain rates?
On the flip side - I have learned a fair amount in the business world in the last six or so months. And one of the biggest lessons has been on the need to make it easy for the customer to do business with you. In retrospect I can see how the sticker shock would have affected her. I suspect that many hypnotherapists have encountered the same issue, where clients back out on encountering this financial barrier. Clearly, some change was needed to make it easier for people like her to get into my studio in the first place.
I have lately been migrating to a new business model advanced by one of the leading instructors in the NGH, Scott McFall. Scott advocates conducting an initial consult session. In this new business model, I don't ask for a lot of $ in advance for the initial consult session. If the client and the hypnotist agree that it will work to move forward then (in my variation) the initial consult becomes part of the first session, incorporated into the full hypnotherapy healing package. If the client decides not to proceed, there is only the charge for the consult session.
Healing work, especially the type this particular client needed to do, is difficult. My bet is that she had backed away from work with several other potential hypnotherapists as well. This inability to commit is part of what I call the challenge of the healer's doorway. Often, it can be one of the biggest pieces of the problem. And when that occurs, when the client won't even enter the studio, there is little the healer can do.
So in order for the process to work, the client first has to come in through the doorway. The person needs to understand and feel comfortable with the healing process, and then with the idea that it will cost money. The commitment occurs only when we begin, when the client understands and is comfortable with the process. At that point, we the person needs to commit to the work.
They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For this particular person, the first big hurdle was simply to begin the work - and to accept that she actually had to pay for it. In short, she needed to overcome the challenge of the healer's doorway.
Once in the door, hypnotherapy can offer an amazing toolbox to help the client resolve issues deep within the subconscious. Yes, the client can and should learn about the process, become comfortable with it before beginning the work. But in the end, healing work is a commitment.
No, it's not free.
Moving, Moving, Moving
This week has been "entertaining," to phrase it euphemistically.
Early in the week, I learned that the studio where I have been conducting my hypnotherapy sessions is closing. As a result, Explore with Hypnosis is moving to a new location, my home studio in Brooklyn Center, MN. This is planned to be a temporary location until more permanent digs can be found. However, the client will find it a homey place to conduct hypnotherapy - literally.
Check the Location tab on the Explore with Hypnosis, hypnotherapy homepage to find the location of my home studio in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
For many years - in fact, since I was originally certified with the National Guild of Hypnotists back in 1998 - I have been conducting hypnotherapy work at my studio in Brooklyn Center, MN. Even while located at the Healing Loft in Minneapolis, I still have conducted evening sessions at my Brooklyn Center location. Well, I'm now back there for a while.
When you enter through my front door, you will be greeted by my wife, Gwyn and myself - and our canine "office staff" - two eight-year-old shelty-poo pups named Libby and Stormy. You will find a delightful atmosphere here, homey, family-centered, and deeply healing.
I focus on helping those who feel stuck in life, be it in the middle of career or life transition, coming to terms with extraordinary experiences, dealing with personal or spiritual crises, or other forms of crossroads in one's life-path. I invite you to let me be a deeply caring guide. Allow me to help you shine new light on your footsteps along the road to success.
I'll keep ya all posted on how the location situation develops. And in the mean time, I will continue on as before, helping build the Cosmic Bridge for those experiencing the extraordinary and playing my part in the process of growth, exploration and healing for mind, body, spirit and beyond.
Early in the week, I learned that the studio where I have been conducting my hypnotherapy sessions is closing. As a result, Explore with Hypnosis is moving to a new location, my home studio in Brooklyn Center, MN. This is planned to be a temporary location until more permanent digs can be found. However, the client will find it a homey place to conduct hypnotherapy - literally.
Check the Location tab on the Explore with Hypnosis, hypnotherapy homepage to find the location of my home studio in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
For many years - in fact, since I was originally certified with the National Guild of Hypnotists back in 1998 - I have been conducting hypnotherapy work at my studio in Brooklyn Center, MN. Even while located at the Healing Loft in Minneapolis, I still have conducted evening sessions at my Brooklyn Center location. Well, I'm now back there for a while.
When you enter through my front door, you will be greeted by my wife, Gwyn and myself - and our canine "office staff" - two eight-year-old shelty-poo pups named Libby and Stormy. You will find a delightful atmosphere here, homey, family-centered, and deeply healing.
I focus on helping those who feel stuck in life, be it in the middle of career or life transition, coming to terms with extraordinary experiences, dealing with personal or spiritual crises, or other forms of crossroads in one's life-path. I invite you to let me be a deeply caring guide. Allow me to help you shine new light on your footsteps along the road to success.
I'll keep ya all posted on how the location situation develops. And in the mean time, I will continue on as before, helping build the Cosmic Bridge for those experiencing the extraordinary and playing my part in the process of growth, exploration and healing for mind, body, spirit and beyond.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Transcendence and democracy
Since I started with transcendental meditation a few months ago, I've been attending the Friday study group at the Saint Paul TM center. They usually begin with 20 minutes of meditation, then have some really interesting topics associated with meditation and spiritual growth. This study in particular was most interesting in that it dealt with the idea of transcendence in our society, in our politics, economics, etc. In an election year such as this, the topic seems even more germane.
The speaker (can't remember her name, but she's a professor at Maharishi Uiversity in Fairfield, IA), talked about the idea of transcendence (a step toward enlightenment) gradually taking hold in the west. Going back to the mid 1800s, with Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, etc., the idea of a society founded upon enlightened principles - and beyond that, to unity, itself - took hold.
Emerson spoke of the USA one day advancing from a purely political democracy to become a spiritual democracy. What would such a society entail? What would be the hallmarks of such a society? Are we moving in that direction at all? As I look at the political ads a few months before Election Day, I seriously wonder.
I imagine a time when we begin to see ourselves as citizens of Earth, as well as of the USA. Like being citizens of the particular city and state, then the nation, ultimately will we see ourselves as citizens of Earth? Will we begin to see the interconnection of all things? The unity of all things created by God?
Will we see a more civil politics? Will we see less greed in the financial world? Or will something completely different happen?
In other posts and articles, I have talked about the rise of the Indigo and Crystal children, of changes as they come into positions of leadership. Will this have any effect on the national politics? etc... Only time will tell. And then, if the new age pundits are right, we'll see whether transcendence and democracy mix.
The speaker (can't remember her name, but she's a professor at Maharishi Uiversity in Fairfield, IA), talked about the idea of transcendence (a step toward enlightenment) gradually taking hold in the west. Going back to the mid 1800s, with Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, etc., the idea of a society founded upon enlightened principles - and beyond that, to unity, itself - took hold.
Emerson spoke of the USA one day advancing from a purely political democracy to become a spiritual democracy. What would such a society entail? What would be the hallmarks of such a society? Are we moving in that direction at all? As I look at the political ads a few months before Election Day, I seriously wonder.
I imagine a time when we begin to see ourselves as citizens of Earth, as well as of the USA. Like being citizens of the particular city and state, then the nation, ultimately will we see ourselves as citizens of Earth? Will we begin to see the interconnection of all things? The unity of all things created by God?
Will we see a more civil politics? Will we see less greed in the financial world? Or will something completely different happen?
In other posts and articles, I have talked about the rise of the Indigo and Crystal children, of changes as they come into positions of leadership. Will this have any effect on the national politics? etc... Only time will tell. And then, if the new age pundits are right, we'll see whether transcendence and democracy mix.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Upcoming Radio Show
Another item checked off the checklist - my newsletter is out for this month. And only two weeks late. Life has been going at a fever pitch the last two weeks and I haven't had time to stop and breath, much less finish my newsletter. Life is what happens while you are busy making plans - or writing newsletters, I guess. Which is probably a blessing in disguise. It gives me the chance to add another item to my upcoming events list:
I will be on Live at the Healing Loft on Monday Sept 24th at 7PM discussing hypnotherapy, extraordinary experiences and rediscovering your path in life.
Listen to it on blog talk radio at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thehealingloft or show up for the live gathering at The Healing Loft: 2112 Broadway St. NE Suite 250, in northeast Minneapolis.
Hope you can tune in and join me.
I will be on Live at the Healing Loft on Monday Sept 24th at 7PM discussing hypnotherapy, extraordinary experiences and rediscovering your path in life.
Listen to it on blog talk radio at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thehealingloft or show up for the live gathering at The Healing Loft: 2112 Broadway St. NE Suite 250, in northeast Minneapolis.
Hope you can tune in and join me.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
A cool fall night
I just got back from taking the dogs for their nightly walk. I love this time of year - clear, crisp and stark. The clouds that had been heavy in the sky were clearing out, leaving sky black and starry. In the east, the Pleiades are half way up in the sky and Jupiter low on the horizon. It was one of those nights that makes you imagine anything is possible out there.
The movie we played back earlier this evening (see my previous post) had gotten my own childlike sense of wonder going. So I spent some time simply staring up at the sky. Just like I did as a little kid, I found myself looking up and wondering - was something looking back?
In the year or two - or ten - we have made so many science breakthroughs. Biology, astronomy, physics, and so many other fields have seen rapid advances. We are on the verge of discovering life somewhere out there and I believe we are in for some really big science surprises.
But the I think biggest thing - something pretty much unacknowledged - is that we are probably on the verge of developing star travel. Several groups have sprung up, with names like the 100 Year Starship Program and American Antigravity, just to name a few. If any of these trees bear any fruit, we are probably at the very humble beginnings of our journey to the stars.
I believe that our destiny is among the stars. Yet, I also believe that we need to be good neighbors when we go - and current events suggest to me that at the moment, we would probably be anything but. If we do begin to travel out there in a fleet of starships armed with phasers and photon torpedoes, I suspect the neighbors wouldn't let us get very far. Likely we would be in for a very rude, catastrophic surprise.
So as our technology advances, my own view is that it is imperative that our level of civilization advance, too. Our collective souls need to catch up to our technology before we become the barbarians at our neighbors' gates. And in the process we need to maintain that childlike sense of wonder, the same sense I had tonight as I stared up into the stars of a cool fall night.
The movie we played back earlier this evening (see my previous post) had gotten my own childlike sense of wonder going. So I spent some time simply staring up at the sky. Just like I did as a little kid, I found myself looking up and wondering - was something looking back?
In the year or two - or ten - we have made so many science breakthroughs. Biology, astronomy, physics, and so many other fields have seen rapid advances. We are on the verge of discovering life somewhere out there and I believe we are in for some really big science surprises.
But the I think biggest thing - something pretty much unacknowledged - is that we are probably on the verge of developing star travel. Several groups have sprung up, with names like the 100 Year Starship Program and American Antigravity, just to name a few. If any of these trees bear any fruit, we are probably at the very humble beginnings of our journey to the stars.
I believe that our destiny is among the stars. Yet, I also believe that we need to be good neighbors when we go - and current events suggest to me that at the moment, we would probably be anything but. If we do begin to travel out there in a fleet of starships armed with phasers and photon torpedoes, I suspect the neighbors wouldn't let us get very far. Likely we would be in for a very rude, catastrophic surprise.
So as our technology advances, my own view is that it is imperative that our level of civilization advance, too. Our collective souls need to catch up to our technology before we become the barbarians at our neighbors' gates. And in the process we need to maintain that childlike sense of wonder, the same sense I had tonight as I stared up into the stars of a cool fall night.
Monday, September 17, 2012
A Fairy Tale
I saw an interesting re-play of an old movie, A Fairy Tale, which we played back this evening during the Movie Night at the Theosophical Society. The movie was made in the late 1990s (it was on VHS, complete with previews for coming attractions in 1998). It gave a great look back into the mind of one of the strangest phenomena yet described - at least in my book - fairies.
The movie entitled Fairytale, is based upon a true story, told from the point of view of two children, living in England during the time of world war 1. The children, it turns out, have been having regular interactions with wee folk, or faeries (not sure of the actual spelling). At one point, they "borrow"a brand new (circal 1916) box camera and get several pictures of tiny winged people - fairies - interacting with them.
This takes place as world war 1 is raging in France and their father is off fighting for the British. Their mother is also dead, so they are living with their uncle and aunt. Their Aunt is badly missing her sister, their mother, and desperately wants to believe in anything that might connect her to the afterlife. Meanwhile, the uncle is a rather open-minded but skeptical - skeptical, that is, until he sees the photographs. The father is a photographer, a rare breed in the early 20th century. He develops the pictures and discovers the images - and the rest of the story stems from there.
We meet two famous historical figures of the early 1900's, Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle has lost his son (not sure if it was in the war, or what) and is also predisposed to the idea of mediumship. We see Houdini portrayed initially as quite a skeptic and debunker. As the story progresses, they get wind of the pictures and investigate for themselves.
The movie does a great job of portraying Houdini as a skeptical investigator, and in the end he appears to be stumped. He doesn't really believe in fairies, but at the same time, he comes to the conclusion that the pictures are legitimate. Thus, like so many rational investigators are forced to do when finally confronted with something that cannot be easily explained, he simply says that whatever happened is beyond his understanding. Thus, the movie does a good job of portraying him as a good model for an investigator - rational but open to the eventuality that some things occur far beyond our explanation.
In the movie, we see everything from the childrens' point of view, with the fantastical being real. We see the fairies flitting around and thus, in the context of the film, we know they are real. Yet then we look at them from the adult point of view and see how they "couldn't possibly be real". In the end, we are left with the age-old paradox - it couldn't possibly be real but it couldn't be anything else but.
On my own website, I have an article entitled Wonder and Rationality, the Dilemma of a Skeptical UFO Investigator, in which I posit the same scenario - using UFOs rather than fairies. What does the rational investigator do when confronted with the extraordinary. In the end, Houdini does exactly what I would endeavor to do. He concludes that there does not appear to be a hoax and whatever happened has been legitimately recorded (making absolutely sure that is correct, of course). He states that whatever the children experienced is unexplained - then leaves it at that.
While I would have to be pretty skeptical about the actual premise, that fairies are real, in the context of the movie we simply accept that they are and build the story around that. Ultimately, the real lesson is in the joy of seeing the world through the eyes of the child. The fantastical is real and the world is wondrous. Like the shamans of native cultures, they see the world as a place of spirits and wonders and it is only our hard-nosed western world that takes that away as we grow up.
I loved the movie for that, if nothing else. It was a great study in contrasts between the child, greedy skeptical adults and lovely earth spirits flitting about in the garden. It was truly aptly named - A Fairy Tale.
The movie entitled Fairytale, is based upon a true story, told from the point of view of two children, living in England during the time of world war 1. The children, it turns out, have been having regular interactions with wee folk, or faeries (not sure of the actual spelling). At one point, they "borrow"a brand new (circal 1916) box camera and get several pictures of tiny winged people - fairies - interacting with them.
This takes place as world war 1 is raging in France and their father is off fighting for the British. Their mother is also dead, so they are living with their uncle and aunt. Their Aunt is badly missing her sister, their mother, and desperately wants to believe in anything that might connect her to the afterlife. Meanwhile, the uncle is a rather open-minded but skeptical - skeptical, that is, until he sees the photographs. The father is a photographer, a rare breed in the early 20th century. He develops the pictures and discovers the images - and the rest of the story stems from there.
We meet two famous historical figures of the early 1900's, Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle has lost his son (not sure if it was in the war, or what) and is also predisposed to the idea of mediumship. We see Houdini portrayed initially as quite a skeptic and debunker. As the story progresses, they get wind of the pictures and investigate for themselves.
The movie does a great job of portraying Houdini as a skeptical investigator, and in the end he appears to be stumped. He doesn't really believe in fairies, but at the same time, he comes to the conclusion that the pictures are legitimate. Thus, like so many rational investigators are forced to do when finally confronted with something that cannot be easily explained, he simply says that whatever happened is beyond his understanding. Thus, the movie does a good job of portraying him as a good model for an investigator - rational but open to the eventuality that some things occur far beyond our explanation.
In the movie, we see everything from the childrens' point of view, with the fantastical being real. We see the fairies flitting around and thus, in the context of the film, we know they are real. Yet then we look at them from the adult point of view and see how they "couldn't possibly be real". In the end, we are left with the age-old paradox - it couldn't possibly be real but it couldn't be anything else but.
On my own website, I have an article entitled Wonder and Rationality, the Dilemma of a Skeptical UFO Investigator, in which I posit the same scenario - using UFOs rather than fairies. What does the rational investigator do when confronted with the extraordinary. In the end, Houdini does exactly what I would endeavor to do. He concludes that there does not appear to be a hoax and whatever happened has been legitimately recorded (making absolutely sure that is correct, of course). He states that whatever the children experienced is unexplained - then leaves it at that.
While I would have to be pretty skeptical about the actual premise, that fairies are real, in the context of the movie we simply accept that they are and build the story around that. Ultimately, the real lesson is in the joy of seeing the world through the eyes of the child. The fantastical is real and the world is wondrous. Like the shamans of native cultures, they see the world as a place of spirits and wonders and it is only our hard-nosed western world that takes that away as we grow up.
I loved the movie for that, if nothing else. It was a great study in contrasts between the child, greedy skeptical adults and lovely earth spirits flitting about in the garden. It was truly aptly named - A Fairy Tale.
The Akashic library and life at a psychic fair
I'm now decompressing after a fascinating and fast-paced weekend. I spent the weekend at the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community Psychic Fair and it was a wonderful experience. I met a lot of fascinating people, sold a fair number of books and self-hypnosis CDs and, equally as important, I learned a lot.
Saturday was probably one of the best days I've had for visitors to my table. I spent several hours talking with various people about hypnosis and hypnotherapy, parapsychology, anomalies and close encounters, and lots of related stuff. Quite a few people came up to me and told me what was going on in their lives - and frequently, their stories were filled with emotion. I was truly struck at the degree of healing, and the need for healing, that is present in our world.
One continuing favorite at my table was my self-hypnosis CD entitled In the Akashic Hall. It is a guided meditation taking the listener into an imaginary library and to a book with information about whatever question(s) he/she may be considering . In past shows and talks, I have gotten interesting comments about insights people have experienced when they let their own subconscious guide them to their particular answers. And hopefully, their experiences with this are no exception.
The whole concept of the Akashic records fascinates me. It is an ancient Vedic concept that the universe has an underlying information storage - a memory of all that is, has-been and will-be. Until recently, I probably would have poo-poohed such an idea, yet in the last few years, I have read material in the scientific literature about the very same thing.
Michael Talbot's book, The Holographic Universe, was the first to sway my thoughts on the topic. In it, he describes in layman's terms, the non-local quantum hologram. The quantum hologram effectively forms a record within the fabric of space-time itself, a memory of everything - thoughts, physical events, forces, and anything that could be said to exist. When you stop to think about it, this is a truly amazing concept - the idea that there is a 'God' field out there, recording and knowing everything about everything.
On Saturday evening, I attended a talk put on by Dawn Marian, a psychic who specializes in working with the Akashic records. She conducted a reading using her own process and rituals, to address what appears to be happening and what we can expect in the final quarter of this fabled year 2012. In her readings, she apparently dialogs with the keepers of the records, themselves, letting them interpret the questions and answers. While many are probably quite discerning about whether they accept such channeled informaton, I found it thought-provoking at the very least.
One thing she emphasized during the readings was that the transitions that we often refer to as 2012 have already happened. We are in the midst of them. The very fact that the talk had so many people in attendance was evidence for that very point.
She further stated that there will probably not be any one event - a specific disaster or symbolic event.
Rather, she indicated that changes would be within each person. The news is full of portents of disaster. Environmental collapse, war, economic chaos, etc. Her take on this was that what is breaking down is what is already broken. The old needs to be swept away as the new arises.
And what is the new that is arriving? As I plink away on my next novel in the Children of the Stars series, I have been asking this very thing. I have never gotten a really solid (left brained) answer to this question. So I posed the question to her during the reading. She replied in several ways, generally indicating I already knew the answer. Her specific reply was that I should have the main character be on a hero's journey - which is probably the most likely course the book will take.
Like most other seers I have heard address this question, she stated that there will not be any defining symbolic or cataclysmic event. Rather, there will seem to be a continuing acceleration of the pace of events. As we reach the critical point, will that pace climax and then slack off? Her answer was no. Rather, we will collectively appear to catch up to the faster pace.
The next day, back at my table, I noted a even more interest in my In the Akashic Hall CD. It struck me how this self-hypnotic journey could be a great follow-up after having someone do a reading such as I had heard the evening before. I believe that each person can be their own best psychic. By taking the listener into a guided meditation where they can enter the library of the sub/super-conscious, they can access their own higher knowledge. Like any psychic answers, one need to use a lot of discernment. Yet I have found that, looking for the answers in one's own higher mind can be an excellent tool for insight into the deeper questions of life.
It will be fascinating to see what the next few months has in store for us. How accurate were the readings and predictions I heard this weekend? And as the the final quarter of 2012 unfolds, it will be interesting to recall and compare events to what I heard channeled from the Akashic library and from life at a psychic fair.
Saturday was probably one of the best days I've had for visitors to my table. I spent several hours talking with various people about hypnosis and hypnotherapy, parapsychology, anomalies and close encounters, and lots of related stuff. Quite a few people came up to me and told me what was going on in their lives - and frequently, their stories were filled with emotion. I was truly struck at the degree of healing, and the need for healing, that is present in our world.
One continuing favorite at my table was my self-hypnosis CD entitled In the Akashic Hall. It is a guided meditation taking the listener into an imaginary library and to a book with information about whatever question(s) he/she may be considering . In past shows and talks, I have gotten interesting comments about insights people have experienced when they let their own subconscious guide them to their particular answers. And hopefully, their experiences with this are no exception.
The whole concept of the Akashic records fascinates me. It is an ancient Vedic concept that the universe has an underlying information storage - a memory of all that is, has-been and will-be. Until recently, I probably would have poo-poohed such an idea, yet in the last few years, I have read material in the scientific literature about the very same thing.
Michael Talbot's book, The Holographic Universe, was the first to sway my thoughts on the topic. In it, he describes in layman's terms, the non-local quantum hologram. The quantum hologram effectively forms a record within the fabric of space-time itself, a memory of everything - thoughts, physical events, forces, and anything that could be said to exist. When you stop to think about it, this is a truly amazing concept - the idea that there is a 'God' field out there, recording and knowing everything about everything.
On Saturday evening, I attended a talk put on by Dawn Marian, a psychic who specializes in working with the Akashic records. She conducted a reading using her own process and rituals, to address what appears to be happening and what we can expect in the final quarter of this fabled year 2012. In her readings, she apparently dialogs with the keepers of the records, themselves, letting them interpret the questions and answers. While many are probably quite discerning about whether they accept such channeled informaton, I found it thought-provoking at the very least.
One thing she emphasized during the readings was that the transitions that we often refer to as 2012 have already happened. We are in the midst of them. The very fact that the talk had so many people in attendance was evidence for that very point.
She further stated that there will probably not be any one event - a specific disaster or symbolic event.
Rather, she indicated that changes would be within each person. The news is full of portents of disaster. Environmental collapse, war, economic chaos, etc. Her take on this was that what is breaking down is what is already broken. The old needs to be swept away as the new arises.
And what is the new that is arriving? As I plink away on my next novel in the Children of the Stars series, I have been asking this very thing. I have never gotten a really solid (left brained) answer to this question. So I posed the question to her during the reading. She replied in several ways, generally indicating I already knew the answer. Her specific reply was that I should have the main character be on a hero's journey - which is probably the most likely course the book will take.
Like most other seers I have heard address this question, she stated that there will not be any defining symbolic or cataclysmic event. Rather, there will seem to be a continuing acceleration of the pace of events. As we reach the critical point, will that pace climax and then slack off? Her answer was no. Rather, we will collectively appear to catch up to the faster pace.
The next day, back at my table, I noted a even more interest in my In the Akashic Hall CD. It struck me how this self-hypnotic journey could be a great follow-up after having someone do a reading such as I had heard the evening before. I believe that each person can be their own best psychic. By taking the listener into a guided meditation where they can enter the library of the sub/super-conscious, they can access their own higher knowledge. Like any psychic answers, one need to use a lot of discernment. Yet I have found that, looking for the answers in one's own higher mind can be an excellent tool for insight into the deeper questions of life.
It will be fascinating to see what the next few months has in store for us. How accurate were the readings and predictions I heard this weekend? And as the the final quarter of 2012 unfolds, it will be interesting to recall and compare events to what I heard channeled from the Akashic library and from life at a psychic fair.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
A red aura and a heavy load
A few days ago, while in my booth at a healers' trade show, I had the opportunity to talk with a wonderful lady in her sixties. She was a font of life experience with a wonderful sense of humor - and a lot of problems. She had just had her aura read and photographed. She described the reading and showed me the picture - a solid red orb surrounding her body.
As she talked, it became apparent she was under considerable life stress. Her shoulders were stooped, as if carrying a heavy weight. Her voice sounded furtive, as if she were worried that the next person she talked to would hurt her - perhaps once more. I asked her if there was a way I could help her. In response, she described a lifetime of difficulty with pain, primarily in her neck and shoulders. Unfortunately, her situation is all too typical.
When I work with people undergoing a lot of stress, one of the physical manifestations I see is in the shoulders. Posture is often stooped, shoulders hunched and back braced, as if the person was carrying a heavy weight on their shoulders. Indeed, like Atlas, she was carrying the responsibilities and concerns of her world.
Often, stress - or vulnerability to stress - stems from a past event, probably early in life. At some point, an event occurred which instilled fear, perhaps at an early age. During hypnotherapy, as we follow the trail of emotion back into the person's past, we find that something occurred in early childhood - something that told them they were not good enough, it was their fault, or a related fallacy.
As we discover the event, release and forgive whatever the source might have been, and let that tiny wounded child understand that it really does have the capability to handle the challenges of today's world, I often see something amazing. The shoulders relax. The client sits up taller in the chair. Posture becomes taller. It is as if the person has cast aside a heavy weight, moving from fear into freedom.
I'm not all that good at seeing auras, especially colors, but in many cases, I note that as the person't outlook changes from fear to hope, their life field changes as well. One can almost see the change as the weight is shed from the shoulders. Fear gives way to freedom and gives way to becomes joy.
As she talked, it became apparent she was under considerable life stress. Her shoulders were stooped, as if carrying a heavy weight. Her voice sounded furtive, as if she were worried that the next person she talked to would hurt her - perhaps once more. I asked her if there was a way I could help her. In response, she described a lifetime of difficulty with pain, primarily in her neck and shoulders. Unfortunately, her situation is all too typical.
When I work with people undergoing a lot of stress, one of the physical manifestations I see is in the shoulders. Posture is often stooped, shoulders hunched and back braced, as if the person was carrying a heavy weight on their shoulders. Indeed, like Atlas, she was carrying the responsibilities and concerns of her world.
Often, stress - or vulnerability to stress - stems from a past event, probably early in life. At some point, an event occurred which instilled fear, perhaps at an early age. During hypnotherapy, as we follow the trail of emotion back into the person's past, we find that something occurred in early childhood - something that told them they were not good enough, it was their fault, or a related fallacy.
As we discover the event, release and forgive whatever the source might have been, and let that tiny wounded child understand that it really does have the capability to handle the challenges of today's world, I often see something amazing. The shoulders relax. The client sits up taller in the chair. Posture becomes taller. It is as if the person has cast aside a heavy weight, moving from fear into freedom.
I'm not all that good at seeing auras, especially colors, but in many cases, I note that as the person't outlook changes from fear to hope, their life field changes as well. One can almost see the change as the weight is shed from the shoulders. Fear gives way to freedom and gives way to becomes joy.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Callers from 'out there'
My phone rang again a few nights ago - at about 1 O'clock in the morning. This has happened several times over the last month, with varying degrees of seriousness. On a few occasions, it's been someone who had a few too many and decided to call the 'UFO guy' he read about on the web a few days before. Those calls don't last long, fortunately. Then there are the other ones - the calls that really get my attention - calls from someone who has had a very legitimate and very frightening experience.
I've gotten a few more of those in the last few weeks - not sure why, but I suspect that the common mythology of 2012 has something to do with it. The person sounds genuinely puzzled and legitimately frightened. A few days ago (as of the time of this writing), I got a call from someone who had just gotten a 'download'. She didn't think she had been abducted, but somehow she awoke in the morning with a vast storehouse of knowledge in her mind and an urgent mission - she just didn't know what that mission was. All she knew was that she had received an uninvited and unwelcome call from 'out there.'
Another caller told me about his abduction and sudden knowledge. Until about a year before, he had never had anything unusual happen. Then, suddenly, he had begun to experience unexplained events - close UFO sightings, missing time, strange health problems, etc.
When a person tells me they have never had anything unusual happen before that point, I wonder - do they simply not remember such events? Or is there a sudden new aspect to their lives? If so, has something in their relationship with the Universe abruptly changed? Or, alternatively, has their mental health changed? How do we know the difference? Can we really tell that difference at all?
Another caller, a couple of weeks before told me that he, too had begun to have strange occurrences. A particular being had begun routinely showing up in his life. Not human, the caller felt the being was an alien trying to contact him. When I asked further, the caller told me that he had never had anything happen until a few years before. When I asked him how old he was at that time, he said 'twenty'.
Alarm bells went off in my mind. If you have seen the movie, 'A Beautiful Mind', you will recall that this is about the age when the main character began experiencing wild scenarios in his life, scenarios that turned out to be entirely fantastical. Several mental illnesses apparently begin to onset at that age - why? I don't know. This is a topic of intense research at the moment. But for me, the best thing to do is to make sure that the caller is connected with his/her mental health system.
Many experiencers - regardless of what they are experiencing - tend to be leery of that same mental health system. Regardless of whether their unexplained events are the result of physical entities from beyond our world, or from within their own central nervous system, the implication that their phenomenal visitation is the result of some illness is at best, invalidating. Yet, if there is a medial problem, the health system is the very place they need to go.
Usually, it is important to visit a mental health professional, if only to rule out the more prosaic events. If there really is a health concern, then hopefully the general health process will catch it. If not, then we are left with the elements of a phenomenon that can defy ordinary explanations.
In the case of my twenty year old caller, I asked him if he had visited his doctor? He indicated that he had, and that he had been diagnosed with Schizophrenia. He didn't believe the diagnosis and refused to take any medications. I thanked him for his time and told him there wasn't much I could do. In order to distinguish between health issues and other causes, I suggested he needed to work with his doctor. Our conversation ended at that point, with the unhappy caller giving me a few choice words, quickly followed by a dial tone.
Unfortunately, I couldn't help the person on the other end of the line. However, on most occasions, I have been able to connect him/her with a local MUFON organization, a hypnotherapist in their area, or something along those lines. For many, simply knowing that there are resources available is a great relief. Ultimately, I can only hope that the particular caller has completed the connection, and found the help they need
Is the volume of experiences increasing? Judging by the number of people I have heard from in recent months, it appears to be picking up in pace. Is this a sign of the times? As we gallop toward the historically critical moments of December 21, 2012, will researchers continue to hear more reports of - of what? Is there a real phenomenon out there - extraordinary and unexplained? And is its interaction with humanity picking up in pace? Or is this a social phenomenon - perhaps partially driven by the cultural intensity of the 2012 narrative? Or might it be something else, perhaps something we don't understand at all? In the end, I can only guess - and wait for the next caller from out there.
I've gotten a few more of those in the last few weeks - not sure why, but I suspect that the common mythology of 2012 has something to do with it. The person sounds genuinely puzzled and legitimately frightened. A few days ago (as of the time of this writing), I got a call from someone who had just gotten a 'download'. She didn't think she had been abducted, but somehow she awoke in the morning with a vast storehouse of knowledge in her mind and an urgent mission - she just didn't know what that mission was. All she knew was that she had received an uninvited and unwelcome call from 'out there.'
Another caller told me about his abduction and sudden knowledge. Until about a year before, he had never had anything unusual happen. Then, suddenly, he had begun to experience unexplained events - close UFO sightings, missing time, strange health problems, etc.
When a person tells me they have never had anything unusual happen before that point, I wonder - do they simply not remember such events? Or is there a sudden new aspect to their lives? If so, has something in their relationship with the Universe abruptly changed? Or, alternatively, has their mental health changed? How do we know the difference? Can we really tell that difference at all?
Another caller, a couple of weeks before told me that he, too had begun to have strange occurrences. A particular being had begun routinely showing up in his life. Not human, the caller felt the being was an alien trying to contact him. When I asked further, the caller told me that he had never had anything happen until a few years before. When I asked him how old he was at that time, he said 'twenty'.
Alarm bells went off in my mind. If you have seen the movie, 'A Beautiful Mind', you will recall that this is about the age when the main character began experiencing wild scenarios in his life, scenarios that turned out to be entirely fantastical. Several mental illnesses apparently begin to onset at that age - why? I don't know. This is a topic of intense research at the moment. But for me, the best thing to do is to make sure that the caller is connected with his/her mental health system.
Many experiencers - regardless of what they are experiencing - tend to be leery of that same mental health system. Regardless of whether their unexplained events are the result of physical entities from beyond our world, or from within their own central nervous system, the implication that their phenomenal visitation is the result of some illness is at best, invalidating. Yet, if there is a medial problem, the health system is the very place they need to go.
Usually, it is important to visit a mental health professional, if only to rule out the more prosaic events. If there really is a health concern, then hopefully the general health process will catch it. If not, then we are left with the elements of a phenomenon that can defy ordinary explanations.
In the case of my twenty year old caller, I asked him if he had visited his doctor? He indicated that he had, and that he had been diagnosed with Schizophrenia. He didn't believe the diagnosis and refused to take any medications. I thanked him for his time and told him there wasn't much I could do. In order to distinguish between health issues and other causes, I suggested he needed to work with his doctor. Our conversation ended at that point, with the unhappy caller giving me a few choice words, quickly followed by a dial tone.
Unfortunately, I couldn't help the person on the other end of the line. However, on most occasions, I have been able to connect him/her with a local MUFON organization, a hypnotherapist in their area, or something along those lines. For many, simply knowing that there are resources available is a great relief. Ultimately, I can only hope that the particular caller has completed the connection, and found the help they need
Is the volume of experiences increasing? Judging by the number of people I have heard from in recent months, it appears to be picking up in pace. Is this a sign of the times? As we gallop toward the historically critical moments of December 21, 2012, will researchers continue to hear more reports of - of what? Is there a real phenomenon out there - extraordinary and unexplained? And is its interaction with humanity picking up in pace? Or is this a social phenomenon - perhaps partially driven by the cultural intensity of the 2012 narrative? Or might it be something else, perhaps something we don't understand at all? In the end, I can only guess - and wait for the next caller from out there.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Mysterious, conflicting signals from the Universe
As I read more about SETI, I read of a worldwide community of scientists listening with radio ears tuned to the Universe. Listening, they hear the faint cry of - nothing.
We have listened for fifty years. We have sent our own radio waves out into the interstellar void. The universe has responded only with silence. Only once has anything been heard - the Wow signal in the 1970s. It never repeated and to this day it is a mystery - a conflicting and ambiguous signal from a mysterious universe.
To me, sometimes this is a metaphor. As I try to forge ahead in my endeavors as a healer, researcher, etc., I find that the signals I send out to the universe are often unanswered. Which direction am I to go? The affirmations and intentions I send out - my signals to the Universe - seem to go unanswered.
We live by the calendar, we die by the calendar. In the last few weeks, as I have been trying to schedule talks, booths at trade shows, networking events, etc., I have found one obnoxious problem always crops up. Many of the events I want to attend seem to occur at the exact same time. Now, for better or for worse, the local chapter has elected me to be state chairman of Minnesota MUFON. It still needs to be confirmed by national before I am Minnesota state director, but for the moment, I am probably state director elect. And as I have begun to take the reins of Minnesota MUFON I find that the monthly meetings - which I now get to chair - fall exactly on top of most of the trade shows I need to attend for my business - things I need to do to attract new clients. We live by the calendar, we die by the calendar.
At the same time, as I do advertizing, networking, speaking, etc., I wonder - what is the response of the Universe to this new entry into the world of freelance healers? Does it care? Do the powers that be simply laugh at this latest pretender? When I put out my affirmations to the Universe, doing the 'law-of-attraction thing', are those words simply hitting a wall of silence? Or is there something else going on there - something I don't even begin to understand?
Occasionally things seem to go great. New clients book, people line up in e-space to buy my books or MP3s. Then it ends. Somebody cancels, somebody's check bounces. Encouraging and discouraging results mix to form a conflicted message - what is the Universe trying to tell me? What is the answer?
More than one seer has told me that the biggest lesson is to not get hung up on outcomes. Presently, people tell me (nearly unanimously) that I'm doing the right things. Yet I continually wish the results would occur faster. Lord give me patience - Now!!!
Ultimately, I am told that only intentions count. We can't control outcomes, only our own actions. Yet I often wonder, am I doing the right things? Is there something else/more/different I should be doing? The divine powers - the universal God that I ask to guide me - is amazingly and frustratingly silent on that question. Sometimes God looks like a god of blind alleys, blank walls and dead ends. Sometimes God is merely a wall of silence. But most of all, God is a god of mystery, with ways far beyond what we can understand.
All we can control are the signals we send out - we have no control, and perhaps little understanding of the signals we get back. We can pray, meditate, put out affirmations, 7th Path recognitions, etc. - ultimately God does what God will. The result can be a lot of random-looking, confusing noise from the world around us. We send out our own signals and get back - nothing.
Analogous to SETI researchers all around the world, I look for signs that something is out there - that I am searching in the right place. Yet what I see is mystery. There must be something out there but the answer is cryptic. There must be a vast realm full of possibilities, yet the Universe sends me silence.
Why? Instead of plenty, why do we get only silent, mysterious, conflicting signals from the Universe? There must be something going on that we don't understand. Perhaps, but if so, only God knows.
We have listened for fifty years. We have sent our own radio waves out into the interstellar void. The universe has responded only with silence. Only once has anything been heard - the Wow signal in the 1970s. It never repeated and to this day it is a mystery - a conflicting and ambiguous signal from a mysterious universe.
To me, sometimes this is a metaphor. As I try to forge ahead in my endeavors as a healer, researcher, etc., I find that the signals I send out to the universe are often unanswered. Which direction am I to go? The affirmations and intentions I send out - my signals to the Universe - seem to go unanswered.
We live by the calendar, we die by the calendar. In the last few weeks, as I have been trying to schedule talks, booths at trade shows, networking events, etc., I have found one obnoxious problem always crops up. Many of the events I want to attend seem to occur at the exact same time. Now, for better or for worse, the local chapter has elected me to be state chairman of Minnesota MUFON. It still needs to be confirmed by national before I am Minnesota state director, but for the moment, I am probably state director elect. And as I have begun to take the reins of Minnesota MUFON I find that the monthly meetings - which I now get to chair - fall exactly on top of most of the trade shows I need to attend for my business - things I need to do to attract new clients. We live by the calendar, we die by the calendar.
At the same time, as I do advertizing, networking, speaking, etc., I wonder - what is the response of the Universe to this new entry into the world of freelance healers? Does it care? Do the powers that be simply laugh at this latest pretender? When I put out my affirmations to the Universe, doing the 'law-of-attraction thing', are those words simply hitting a wall of silence? Or is there something else going on there - something I don't even begin to understand?
Occasionally things seem to go great. New clients book, people line up in e-space to buy my books or MP3s. Then it ends. Somebody cancels, somebody's check bounces. Encouraging and discouraging results mix to form a conflicted message - what is the Universe trying to tell me? What is the answer?
More than one seer has told me that the biggest lesson is to not get hung up on outcomes. Presently, people tell me (nearly unanimously) that I'm doing the right things. Yet I continually wish the results would occur faster. Lord give me patience - Now!!!
Ultimately, I am told that only intentions count. We can't control outcomes, only our own actions. Yet I often wonder, am I doing the right things? Is there something else/more/different I should be doing? The divine powers - the universal God that I ask to guide me - is amazingly and frustratingly silent on that question. Sometimes God looks like a god of blind alleys, blank walls and dead ends. Sometimes God is merely a wall of silence. But most of all, God is a god of mystery, with ways far beyond what we can understand.
All we can control are the signals we send out - we have no control, and perhaps little understanding of the signals we get back. We can pray, meditate, put out affirmations, 7th Path recognitions, etc. - ultimately God does what God will. The result can be a lot of random-looking, confusing noise from the world around us. We send out our own signals and get back - nothing.
Analogous to SETI researchers all around the world, I look for signs that something is out there - that I am searching in the right place. Yet what I see is mystery. There must be something out there but the answer is cryptic. There must be a vast realm full of possibilities, yet the Universe sends me silence.
Why? Instead of plenty, why do we get only silent, mysterious, conflicting signals from the Universe? There must be something going on that we don't understand. Perhaps, but if so, only God knows.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Managing fear - set aside the burden and become free
As I have grown ever more experienced in fear management using hypnosis, I have found some fascinating little tidbits - interesting ways to manage, reduce, or release the burden of fear. Here are some of those little tidbits to help you or someone you know release the burden.
Some time ago, I was returning home to Minneapolis, Minnesota from a conference in Denver. I had just gotten through security. I was putting my shoes back on after having passed through the metal detector, putting my luggage back together, etc. This included my satchel which (not by accident) had a National Guild of Hypnotists logo prominently visible. Suddenly, amid the flow of people, a woman stopped me with an "excuse me, sir - could you hypnotize me?"
She had a frightened look on her face. I asked her how I could help her. She answered that she was afraid of flying. She had never been on an airplane before and wanted to know if I could help her get over her fear.
I asked her if she had ever been hypnotized before. She hadn't. She knew about it, though and had always been interested in it. I asked her if she had ever daydreamed, gotten lost in a good book or movie, lost herself in something she was doing, etc. Her answer was a resounding yes, so I invited her to sit comfortably (as much as possible in an airport waiting area) and close her eyes. She went immediately into a light trance, enough to do some useful NLP work. I asked her to recall a few times in her life when she felt strong, confident, in control of her world. She easily slipped into some positive scenarios. As she experienced the emotion of each, I invited her to touch a finger to her thumb - anchoring a tiny reminder of these moments.
I then asked her to imagine walking down the jetway, hand in hand with her husband, (who was sitting right next to her with us in the airport). She tensed up for a moment until I again asked her to touch her finger to her thumb. Instantly this reminded her of her previous positive moment. She relaxed, a smile crossing her face as in her mind, they were walking happily down the corridor to board their plane. I counted her out of trance with a few reinforcing suggestions and they were on their way. I never saw them again so I have no idea what happened after that. All I know is that in an instant, she had gone from abject terror to the happy anticipation of traveling on vacation with her husband.
This wasn't the first, nor was it the last time someone would approach me to ask for help. Airports are particularly stressful places and often bring out the worst in personal fears. But there are plenty of other times and places that bring out our fear, as well. There is a truly endless list of them in our environment. Fear of heights, public speaking, water, snakes, the dark - these are just a few that come to mind.
To some degree, fear can have a healthy role in our lives. It keeps us out of danger. It protects us from saber toothed tigers, heavy traffic and crooked financiers. It helps us avoid falling off cliffs or drowning in fast-moving water. Yet when fear goes beyond its useful role, it becomes a burden. It can limit the daily activities of life, preventing us from enjoying the many things our world has to offer.
What is fear? It is a negative emotion, an avoidance reaction to an event in the future. The event has not actually happened, at least not yet. It is merely anticipated based on what the brain has learned about similar events in the past - learning that may not be the correct one for the present day (I haven't seen too many saber-toothed tigers, recently).
Frequently, events in the distant past, even in early childhood, can create the initial thought pattern, the beginnings of the subconscious programming that will later turn into a fear response. A number of clients have described fear of certain types of people, ethnic groups, work situations, social situations, etc. This might happen when deep within their subconscious, the present situation reminds them of a time when something negative happened to them in the past - perhaps even before they had begun to remember. Several female clients have described being unable to date, or even associate with men due to an event such as childhood abuse, which happened to them early in life. Far beyond healthy caution, the reaction had become crippling, preventing interaction with males in nearly any situation.
Another experience, occurring to a friend of mine, occurred when she was on a train in Europe. Suddenly, out of the blue, her heart began to race. She felt short of breath, etc. - the beginnings of a full-blown panic attack. On returning home, she quickly made an appointment for hypnotherapy. It turned out that sometime around age two or three, she had been left waiting (for only a few minutes) at day care. To a young child, a few minutes can be indistinguishable from 'forever' and for just a moment, she had been 'abandoned.' Even though Mom showed up a few minutes later, deep in her subconscious the seed had been planted - to emerge years later as she sat alone on a train several thousand miles away from home.
There are as many ways to deal with fear as there are forms of fear, itself. One can simply try to understand the source of the fear and rely on the rational mind to reason through the underlying problem. Or one can dig deeper, unearthing the complexities of the deep subconscious.
Confrontation - getting back in the saddle
While rock climbing about twenty years ago, I took quite a fall, being caught up by the rope after about twenty feet of 'air time.' Needless to say, the event scared the willies out of me. Yet at the same time, the other climbers I was with urged me to get right back on the rock - and it was good I did. I was able to get back on the rock and keep climbing, pursing climbing as a hobby for many years after that.
The expression, 'getting back in the saddle,' is a powerful reminder of the usefulness of confronting the source(s) of fear. Getting back on the horse and riding once again can prevent the experience from fixing the fear response into your brain's neural circuitry. Getting back on the rock helped me get over my fear response after my 'air time.' Similarly, we can ease fears of the dark by turning the light on - there really is no monster in the dark. Reason, logic and renewed success can all help dispel the fear, preventing it from becoming ingrained in the psyche.
Relaxation
Sometimes, when confrontation is not possible, it may be possible to ride out the fear response - the immediate panicky experience - in the moment, using techniques such as meditation, deep relaxation breathing, etc. During graduate school, as I prepared for exams, I sometimes found this helpful. In the short time just before an exam, I found it helpful to take deep breaths, holding my chest steady while breathing with my diaphram. I found this relaxing, allowing a moment's respite from the stress of the upcoming test.
Other techniques, such as focusing on a wiggling a fingertip or toe, counting backwards from one thousand, or reciting a prayer, can also be helpful. Anything that provides concentration and relaxation in the moment can prove to be a useful tool to help the mind and body relax.
Desensitization using NLP
For many fear responses, it may be too late to get back in the saddle and there is no opportunity for relaxation. The source of the fear may be something that occurred years before. Yet in many cases, it is possible to reduce the level of the response through limited exposure, along with the assurance that one is still safe.
A few years ago, I learned a particularly interesting NLP (neuro linguistic psychology) technique from a senior member of the National Guild of Hypnotists - something I have found useful with clients again and again. The person experiencing the fear is invited to imagine he/she is observing the event on a movie screen while sitting safely in a theater. While being assured of his/her own safety, the person can watch the movie, always remaining safe from the fear. In the most extreme cases, when the fear being addressed is particularly severe, the person can even imagine watching his/herself watch the movie screen - a double dissociation from the feared scenario.
Gradually, we can replay the movie, more closely associating to the picture until it is no longer scary. In this way, the person can associate - or move closer - to the whatever has frightened them, while still assured that they are still safe and secure. After multiple passes through this pattern, it is often possible to effectively turn off the fear response.
Hypnotic regression and release
In many cases, the disproportionate fear response may be associated with an event early in life. Many clients have seen me for help with fear issues surrounding such events, buried deep within the subconscious. One of the most successful ways I have found to reduce the fear is through hypnotic regression.
As in the NLP procedure above, we first create the assurance of present safety. The client is in the here-and-now. No harm can come to them. We then recall positive events in the past, where they have felt safe, secure and in control, anchoring the positive memories to reminders such as touching a finger and thumb together.
Once we have established their core of strength and safety we then return to the circumstance(s) where the fear is present, briefly re-experiencing the fear scenario and emotion. We can then return via hypnotic regression through earlier similar experiences, back to original event, the source of the fear deep within the subconscious mind. The original event, what hypnotists call the Initial Sensitizing Event (or ISE) is usually something that occurred early in life, the nucleus of the fear-related thought complex in subconscious.
During hypnotic regression, the event is often seen through the eyes of a little child. We can assure this 'inner child' that it is safe, re-invoking the previously established memories of strength and safety. We can then re-visit the initial childhood scenario with imagery of confidence and safety, seeing that the fear is no longer needed. This helps to resolve the core issues within the subconscious that gave rise to the present day fear response.
Once we have resolved the fear complex deep within the subconscious, we then revisit the present day scenario, re-experiencing it with the newly discovered resolution, safety and security. I have frequently seen clients return to recent fear episodes, such as that train in Europe - this time without the fear.
In this article, we have seen a number of ways to reduce or release the burden of fear. How can we use these in the immediate term to free us - even temporarily - from fear.
=========================
Some time ago, I was returning home to Minneapolis, Minnesota from a conference in Denver. I had just gotten through security. I was putting my shoes back on after having passed through the metal detector, putting my luggage back together, etc. This included my satchel which (not by accident) had a National Guild of Hypnotists logo prominently visible. Suddenly, amid the flow of people, a woman stopped me with an "excuse me, sir - could you hypnotize me?"
She had a frightened look on her face. I asked her how I could help her. She answered that she was afraid of flying. She had never been on an airplane before and wanted to know if I could help her get over her fear.
I asked her if she had ever been hypnotized before. She hadn't. She knew about it, though and had always been interested in it. I asked her if she had ever daydreamed, gotten lost in a good book or movie, lost herself in something she was doing, etc. Her answer was a resounding yes, so I invited her to sit comfortably (as much as possible in an airport waiting area) and close her eyes. She went immediately into a light trance, enough to do some useful NLP work. I asked her to recall a few times in her life when she felt strong, confident, in control of her world. She easily slipped into some positive scenarios. As she experienced the emotion of each, I invited her to touch a finger to her thumb - anchoring a tiny reminder of these moments.
I then asked her to imagine walking down the jetway, hand in hand with her husband, (who was sitting right next to her with us in the airport). She tensed up for a moment until I again asked her to touch her finger to her thumb. Instantly this reminded her of her previous positive moment. She relaxed, a smile crossing her face as in her mind, they were walking happily down the corridor to board their plane. I counted her out of trance with a few reinforcing suggestions and they were on their way. I never saw them again so I have no idea what happened after that. All I know is that in an instant, she had gone from abject terror to the happy anticipation of traveling on vacation with her husband.
This wasn't the first, nor was it the last time someone would approach me to ask for help. Airports are particularly stressful places and often bring out the worst in personal fears. But there are plenty of other times and places that bring out our fear, as well. There is a truly endless list of them in our environment. Fear of heights, public speaking, water, snakes, the dark - these are just a few that come to mind.
To some degree, fear can have a healthy role in our lives. It keeps us out of danger. It protects us from saber toothed tigers, heavy traffic and crooked financiers. It helps us avoid falling off cliffs or drowning in fast-moving water. Yet when fear goes beyond its useful role, it becomes a burden. It can limit the daily activities of life, preventing us from enjoying the many things our world has to offer.
What is fear? It is a negative emotion, an avoidance reaction to an event in the future. The event has not actually happened, at least not yet. It is merely anticipated based on what the brain has learned about similar events in the past - learning that may not be the correct one for the present day (I haven't seen too many saber-toothed tigers, recently).
Frequently, events in the distant past, even in early childhood, can create the initial thought pattern, the beginnings of the subconscious programming that will later turn into a fear response. A number of clients have described fear of certain types of people, ethnic groups, work situations, social situations, etc. This might happen when deep within their subconscious, the present situation reminds them of a time when something negative happened to them in the past - perhaps even before they had begun to remember. Several female clients have described being unable to date, or even associate with men due to an event such as childhood abuse, which happened to them early in life. Far beyond healthy caution, the reaction had become crippling, preventing interaction with males in nearly any situation.
Another experience, occurring to a friend of mine, occurred when she was on a train in Europe. Suddenly, out of the blue, her heart began to race. She felt short of breath, etc. - the beginnings of a full-blown panic attack. On returning home, she quickly made an appointment for hypnotherapy. It turned out that sometime around age two or three, she had been left waiting (for only a few minutes) at day care. To a young child, a few minutes can be indistinguishable from 'forever' and for just a moment, she had been 'abandoned.' Even though Mom showed up a few minutes later, deep in her subconscious the seed had been planted - to emerge years later as she sat alone on a train several thousand miles away from home.
There are as many ways to deal with fear as there are forms of fear, itself. One can simply try to understand the source of the fear and rely on the rational mind to reason through the underlying problem. Or one can dig deeper, unearthing the complexities of the deep subconscious.
Confrontation - getting back in the saddle
While rock climbing about twenty years ago, I took quite a fall, being caught up by the rope after about twenty feet of 'air time.' Needless to say, the event scared the willies out of me. Yet at the same time, the other climbers I was with urged me to get right back on the rock - and it was good I did. I was able to get back on the rock and keep climbing, pursing climbing as a hobby for many years after that.
The expression, 'getting back in the saddle,' is a powerful reminder of the usefulness of confronting the source(s) of fear. Getting back on the horse and riding once again can prevent the experience from fixing the fear response into your brain's neural circuitry. Getting back on the rock helped me get over my fear response after my 'air time.' Similarly, we can ease fears of the dark by turning the light on - there really is no monster in the dark. Reason, logic and renewed success can all help dispel the fear, preventing it from becoming ingrained in the psyche.
Relaxation
Sometimes, when confrontation is not possible, it may be possible to ride out the fear response - the immediate panicky experience - in the moment, using techniques such as meditation, deep relaxation breathing, etc. During graduate school, as I prepared for exams, I sometimes found this helpful. In the short time just before an exam, I found it helpful to take deep breaths, holding my chest steady while breathing with my diaphram. I found this relaxing, allowing a moment's respite from the stress of the upcoming test.
Other techniques, such as focusing on a wiggling a fingertip or toe, counting backwards from one thousand, or reciting a prayer, can also be helpful. Anything that provides concentration and relaxation in the moment can prove to be a useful tool to help the mind and body relax.
Desensitization using NLP
For many fear responses, it may be too late to get back in the saddle and there is no opportunity for relaxation. The source of the fear may be something that occurred years before. Yet in many cases, it is possible to reduce the level of the response through limited exposure, along with the assurance that one is still safe.
A few years ago, I learned a particularly interesting NLP (neuro linguistic psychology) technique from a senior member of the National Guild of Hypnotists - something I have found useful with clients again and again. The person experiencing the fear is invited to imagine he/she is observing the event on a movie screen while sitting safely in a theater. While being assured of his/her own safety, the person can watch the movie, always remaining safe from the fear. In the most extreme cases, when the fear being addressed is particularly severe, the person can even imagine watching his/herself watch the movie screen - a double dissociation from the feared scenario.
Gradually, we can replay the movie, more closely associating to the picture until it is no longer scary. In this way, the person can associate - or move closer - to the whatever has frightened them, while still assured that they are still safe and secure. After multiple passes through this pattern, it is often possible to effectively turn off the fear response.
Hypnotic regression and release
In many cases, the disproportionate fear response may be associated with an event early in life. Many clients have seen me for help with fear issues surrounding such events, buried deep within the subconscious. One of the most successful ways I have found to reduce the fear is through hypnotic regression.
As in the NLP procedure above, we first create the assurance of present safety. The client is in the here-and-now. No harm can come to them. We then recall positive events in the past, where they have felt safe, secure and in control, anchoring the positive memories to reminders such as touching a finger and thumb together.
Once we have established their core of strength and safety we then return to the circumstance(s) where the fear is present, briefly re-experiencing the fear scenario and emotion. We can then return via hypnotic regression through earlier similar experiences, back to original event, the source of the fear deep within the subconscious mind. The original event, what hypnotists call the Initial Sensitizing Event (or ISE) is usually something that occurred early in life, the nucleus of the fear-related thought complex in subconscious.
During hypnotic regression, the event is often seen through the eyes of a little child. We can assure this 'inner child' that it is safe, re-invoking the previously established memories of strength and safety. We can then re-visit the initial childhood scenario with imagery of confidence and safety, seeing that the fear is no longer needed. This helps to resolve the core issues within the subconscious that gave rise to the present day fear response.
Once we have resolved the fear complex deep within the subconscious, we then revisit the present day scenario, re-experiencing it with the newly discovered resolution, safety and security. I have frequently seen clients return to recent fear episodes, such as that train in Europe - this time without the fear.
In this article, we have seen a number of ways to reduce or release the burden of fear. How can we use these in the immediate term to free us - even temporarily - from fear.
- Head on confrontation - As we saw above, we can examine the source of the fear in a new light. We can turn on the light to confirm there really is no monster in the closet.
- Relaxation/Meditation - using the techniques such as concentration, relaxation breathing or other means we discussed earlier in this article, we can unwind the stresses of the day. Such immediate tools can be a tremendous help and we can further extend these to techniques such as mindfulness meditation, progressive relaxation, etc.
- Self Hypnosis - regular use of guided imagery, stress management, etc. can further guide you toward resolution. I suggest self-hypnosis recordings such as The Path to Confidence, or Strengthen you Aura, both available in the Hypnosis Store as tools to help build confidence in the face of challenge.
- In the longer term, it can be helpful to return to the cause of the fear, resolve the core issue and throw off the burden once and for all. Hypnotic regression, guided imagery and desensitization can help you release the burden of fear.
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