Dreaming

Have you ever been woken up by a noise, partner, or child when you're in the middle of an enjoyable dream?

I have and was so upset at my mom for waking me that I shouted at her when a 'Freddy Krueger' type vampire was about to catch me. My mom asked why I was cross with her for waking me, and I answered, "I wanted to see if it's true that when you die in a dream, you die in real life". Her laughing response, 'Well, you bloody fool, if you had died you wouldn't have known now, would you?'

Loosely put, Sigmund Freud's take on dreaming, was that they are the unconscious mind fulfilling a wish the dreamer desires often related to sex or some type of hidden aggression and Carl Jung saw them as a way for the unconscious mind to use dreams to self-regulate or bring to the fore aspects of a different point of view and even future possibilities. Whatever their differences and conclusions, they both believed that dreams convey messages from the unconscious and were vital parts of our psyche.

Modern thinking leans towards the belief that it's a way for our subconscious mind to process everything in our daily lives to help alleviate mental stress.

Dreams have been analyzed and studied for eons to try and understand their meaning, especially repetitive dreams. Seers and mystics did this as part of their service.

I grew up with a dream interpretation book in my home, and my aunt had several. On Saturday afternoons the books would be carted to her home and cross-checked to identify the most likely meaning. Bookshops still carry a variety of dream books and dictionaries.

Christianity, Islam, and to a lesser extent Judaism, refers to the importance of dreams in the Bible, Quran, and Torah. They have websites dedicated to dreams online.

In fact, there are hundreds of sites offering interpretations. There are Chinese, Indian, and western thoughts on them too. If you look at them, you will likely find an extensive list of meanings, but please note many of them have been copied, word for word, from what others have posted.

These interpretations can be, quite simply, silly. Let me explain why. You'll notice dreams are a big part of my life.

As a child, I would have been under six years old; I remember dreaming of a snake. I don't recall the dream, just the events following.

I told my mother about it and was asked all kinds of questions (just as you would find online, this was pre-internet), and then told my enemies were out to get me and I should be careful. Imagine the impact this had on my six-year-old self.

I believed from then on that if you dreamed of a snake, it was a bad thing unless you killed the snake and got away unscathed. If you check the meanings in this day and age, whether in a book or online, it will still say more-or-less the same thing.

A few years ago, my adult self was thinking back and realized just how ridiculous that was. What enemies could a small child have? I still don't have any I know of, and I dream of snakes – a lot!

A sangoma friend explained that according to African belief, to dream of a snake means that an ancestor or deceased loved one is trying to get your attention. That's a lot less scary and makes more sense to me.

I admit, I still look for interpretations online, but I take it with a pinch of salt.

Many believe that when looking for meaning in your dream, your specifics need to be taken into account and what it means to you personally. I love dogs and to dream about one running toward me might be a good dream for me, but for someone who has a chronic fear of them, it's completely different.

Here are a few questions and some tips to consider when interpreting your dreams:

·         What do you remember? Note it down, especially those that wake you in the middle of the night.

·         What does the focus of the dream mean to you personally? As mentioned in the case of the dog above, this is vital.

·         Were there colors, shapes, numbers, etc.?

·         Did you feel happy, sad, scared, or something else? Note whether there was physical feeling as well as mental and emotional?

·         Were you the person in the dream, were you observing, or perhaps you were someone else, known or unknown?

·         Who else or what else was there?

·         Where did the dream take place? Was it familiar or strange to you? Often we find ourselves in unfamiliar places, but when dreaming, we 'know' where it is.

·         What was unusual in the dream, if anything?

·         How did the dream progress? Sometimes they jump around and are scrambled.

I've had dreams that have come true, but they are very few.

Dreams may be a message from your psyche as the famous gentlemen Freud and Jung concluded.

They may be messages from elsewhere.

On the other hand, they may simply be dreams. 

*Picture by Nadi Lindsay, courtesy of Pexels 3078831

Done to Death

   

A short while ago, we lost a family member. This started a conversation, once again, between my daughter and me.

What, she wanted to know, should she do with my body once I die?

In my early teens, my mother received instructions on what to do if I died. I was adamant that no casket should be bought. They could simply put me in a box my father had built for me—a big pine Kist, cut off the pieces that wouldn’t fit (my legs), pack them around me and bury me in my box. My mom had a great sense of humor and thought my instructions were hilarious!

In my opinion, I’ll be gone. Only my body will be left behind and I’ve honestly never seen the point of spending a fortune on someone who’s gone, and let’s face it, funerals are expensive.

On the one hand, I’m at a loss as to why it’s so important to her. I’m not a sentimental person.

On the other hand, her concerns resonate on some level. Years ago upon moving to a suburb close to the cemetery where my grandfather is buried,  I asked my family where his plot was. I didn’t know him but wanted to connect with my ancestor at the time. The thing is, only three of his seven children actually knew where his grave was.

The family member who recently passed was Catholic and wished for his remains to be cremated and scattered in the sea. I discovered that while the Catholic Church now allows cremation, it forbids the scattering of ashes, they have to be buried.  

My son follows Islam, and cremation goes completely against his faith, so he wasn’t permitted to participate.  This, along with my daughter’s question led me to look at unfamiliar rites to see the options people around the world have.

Personally, I love African funerals and would like to go into them, but Africa’s a big continent and it’ll take a whole lot of pages to begin to even scratch the surface.

Day of the Dead parade

I had to start with the Dia de Los Muertos, a South American tradition celebrated mostly in Mexico.  It takes place over two days—usually the 1^st and 2^nd of November, when the living make offerings to the departed through temporary altars adorned with photos, favorite foods, marigolds, and include representatives of the four elements; earth, wind, fire, and water.  It’s a colorful fiesta to communicate with those who have passed on. The offerings are made to encourage them to come from the land of the dead and join in the fun. It’s a wonderful tradition about celebrating life rather than mourning death. People dress up, paint their faces and wear costumes.  There’s reminiscing, dancing, music and singing.

Whilst researching the subject of burial rites, I found that they have more to them than I’m able to capture here and I narrowed the list down to those I thought were really interesting. These are those that piqued my interest.

For the practical:

1.       Sky Burials – In Tibet and parts of China and Mongolia where Buddhism is practiced, bodies are dismembered, taken to a high point, such as a mountain top or cliff, and left for the birds and animals to eat. The remaining bones are then ground up and fed to hawks and crows. It’s seen as a final act of kindness to give sustenance to other creatures on the earth. On a practical note, the ground in these areas is too hard to dig up for burials and wood is scarce which means cremation is also not a viable option.

Eternal reef burials – The ashes of the dead are mixed into a neutral PH balanced concrete and formed into a ball. It’s placed on the ocean floor and the idea is that coral will attach itself and grow, and marine life will populate the area. Again, a practical use where other life forms benefit, this seems to be most popular in the USA in the Florida area and has increased in popularity recently.

Death beads – the ashes from a cremated body are compressed into colorful beads. They are often kept in a jar or urn in the home to honor the deceased so they don’t become an unsettled spirit. In South Korea, space is an issue and burial plots are in short supply. It seems to be a relatively recent way of disposing of remains.

Odd but fun:

1.       The Philippines have many rites, but here’s a fun one—The dead are dressed in their finest clothes and placed sitting in a chair usually at the front door, with a cigarette in their mouth. The cigarette is replaced and in some cases, the body stays for several months and sometimes years.

 Jazz Funerals – We’ve all seen movies where a body is paraded through the streets of New Orleans led by a jazz band. The band plays sad music from the home to the graveyard. After the funeral, the band plays upbeat music at a party held in the deceased person’s honor.

Kiribati Skull Burial – Months after the body has been buried, the body is exhumed and the skull removed. It is polished and preserved and often displayed in the home. Offerings of food and tobacco are sometimes made to it. When the teeth fall out, they may be worn on necklaces. Eventually, the skull is reburied with the top sticking out of the ground.

Oh, my horrors:

1.       Funerary Cannibalism – The dead are cremated and the ashes mixed with food into a paste. This is then eaten to absorb the knowledge of the deceased. A variation allows the body to decompose until a certain point and then stuff it in a big urn. The body ferments and the juices are mixed in with the family’s food.  As far as I can tell it is only still practiced in the Amazon. It is seen as a way to honor the life of the deceased.

All-time favourite:

1.       Famadihana—practiced in Madagascar, the family of the deceased dig up the bones every 5 to 7 years. At this point, they clean them, perfume them, re-wrap the bodies in clean burial cloths and re-write their names on the cloths. They are then introduced to new members of the family (they meet their ancestors/descendants).  All attending are treated to a feast, and the dead are spoken to and danced with. Imagine, me dancing with my family to Shake, Rattle and Roll by Bill Haley! Yes, uncle Vic, I’m thinking of you!

Back to my daughter. A few years ago, she mentioned she wanted my ashes turned into a diamond pendant so I could always be with her. It’s a nice sentiment but I’m an organ donor so I don’t know what’ll be left—if anything. Feed the sharks, plant a tree on top of me, cremate me and scatter my ashes, or keep them. It’s totally her decision.

 

* Top picture courtesy of pexels.com by Richard-Loya-5070454

 *Centre Picture courtesy of pexels.com by Amaury-8757646

Tested

 

My faith has always been strong, unwavering, and unshaken. Without going into detail, recent months have challenged me to a point where I questioned even the most basic spiritual lessons I had learned or been taught.

Referred to as an eternal optimist even when things do get to me occasionally, I always manage to pick myself up and carry on with a smile and a positive attitude – no matter what gets thrown my way. 

However, years of struggle finally got to me and so I withdrew from everything spiritual, and I questioned.

And so I took myself away from everything spiritual (so, no blog for a while) and I questioned.

I had to go deep, and, being one of those people who over-think and over-analyse, that’s exactly what I did.

After a few weeks and seriously considering an old atheist friend and his belief that any spiritual practice simply provided a crutch, I had to wonder if he was right. Perhaps that’s exactly what we’ve created for our own piece of mind. We don’t want to believe that we live only to die and rot in the ground. No after-life, no heaven, paradise, Havana or Nirvana.

If that’s the case then what’s the point of our existence? And if that’s all there is, how are we better than any other creature? Why do we work so hard? We can simply exist, just be.

This led to a definite sense of loss and a feeling of despondence. I felt as if I had lost my closest friend, my strongest ally, my faith. I was in a state of heartache experiencing a sense of betrayal and decided if there is a God, universe, whatever, I didn’t want to communicate. I needed some time to myself and like a sulking teenager that slams the door behind her, I took it.

I had to go back through the years of my spiritual unfolding. My parents never dictated our religion. As children, they told us we were free to choose our path when we were older. My mother was raised as Catholic, my father was Lutheran and both of them examined other faiths open-mindedly. They believed firmly that all faiths have a measure of truth and good principles, and this became my outlook too, that all religions are right, all have their place and provide for those who are at a particular stage of their spiritual evolution. It’s not for me to judge their journeys.

Thankfully, we grew up accepting people's rights to practice whatever faith they chose. I explored. Catholic, Baptist, Evangelical, Mormon, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. Over the years I was baptised, converted and reverted.

From childhood, I knew I was a healer, and that it involved energy although I couldn’t express it at the time. Wicca and Paganism came naturally but still didn’t quite fit ME. Finally, I discovered that there was a word for what I believed and now identify as an Omnist.

So then back to my questions, did I conjure up a demon as a child (I remember it clearly), or do they exist, and if I did, why? My glimpses into past lives, were those a figment of my imagination? If they were why didn’t I invent something better? Telepathy, physic moments, clairaudience, were all of these experiences of my own making, or was there something larger? If I was on the “right” path all this time, trying to be good, do good, and be the best I could, why am I not seeing the benefits? Why did I choose this journey, and is it possible for me to throw the towel in? Can I simply say to the universe, “Okay, I’ve had enough; I obviously can’t handle what I signed up for, so pull me off this assignment.”?

I am not a mean person, have seldom wished bad things on others, and always try and lift others up, so if there is such a thing as karma, isn’t it time for me to have some sort of respite?

Anyway, you get the idea.

When I got to the stage of acceptance (as you do when grieving), hurting, I chose to open myself up for communication once more and see what happened.

The next day I received a book as a gift. It contains a message from a guide and is recorded by date. It directs toward a sense of connectedness, of being part of the collective and the oneness of all. These are things I've explored and I put it aside after reading about 30 pages. 

A couple of weeks later I had a dream with a specific date. It niggled at me, why would I dream of a particular date, what did it mean? Out of curiosity I opened the book and found a passage recorded for that day. The passage addressed exactly how I had been feeling, and why.

In Islam, unlike many other religions, one is encouraged to question what is taught, investigate, pray, and seek counsel until a satisfactory answer is received. My answer didn’t come from Islam, but it did convince me that my spirituality wasn’t for nothing, it’s not a crutch. The passage I refer to is about three-quarters through the book. “Someone” guided me there.

This is my journey, I don’t know where it will take me, I’ll continue to meditate and look for answers, signs and validation. I have to trust that I am being led in the right direction. Wherever it leads, I pray that I maintain my integrity, honesty, and a sense of wonder.

If "Conversations With God" by Neale Donald Walsh appealed to you, you may want to check out his website and download the "Holy Experience". It's free and may help ground or elevate you, depending on your needs. 

Picture courtesy of Pexels.com Ref-muhammad-tayyib-7506650

Autumn Equinox - Mabon

 

The second harvest is celebrated and seeds are saved and set aside for the spring planting. It’s a time of reaping what you’ve sown, both literally and figuratively, of seeing what your goals were and what you’ve manifested. When fields rest and we reflect on what did and did not work for us, releasing that which hasn’t served us, and plan new strategies to implement in the spring.

Mabon takes place at the time of the Autumn Equinox which falls around 22 March each year in the Southern hemisphere and 22 September in the Northern hemisphere. Symbolically it’s about balance, night and day (light and dark) are of equal length, about masculine (day or sun) and feminine  (night or moon), the transition of the dark slowly conquering the light. Stories about the Earth Mother and Sun God as well as others relate to Mabon depending on your outlook, and who you ask.

It’s often associated with apples as cider is prepared along with bread, berries or squash. For your feast think of apple cider, warm crusty bread and butternut soup. South Africa tends to have a moderate climate during autumn so perhaps an apple and berry pie with a dollop of whipped cream, or scones and strawberry jam.

In parts of Europe and America it is still practised in farming communities to a certain extent. Everyone gets up early, a portion of grain harvested at Lammas is traditionally used to bake for the day. Fruit and vegetables are harvested from gardens and fields. Pickles and preserves are made for the winter months, and everyone brings baskets full of goodies to share at a picnic-style community feast in gratitude and celebration of a successful crop. Building strong bonds with your neighbours was important. In the event of a disaster, they would be the ones who assisted you during rough times.

Harvest festivals go way back: 

In ancient Greece, the harvesting of wine festival held in autumn was called Oschophoria, celebrating Dionysus, the god of the vine.  

The Chinese celebrate the Harvest Moon, or Moon Festival which is the second-most important celebration after the Lunar New Year. 

Thanksgiving was originally celebrated on the third of October in line with the last days of harvest. 

The Oktoberfest is a more modern celebration that actually starts towards the end of September.  

Whichever way you choose to celebrate, it’s about giving thanks and feeling gratitude. If you’re so inclined, it’s a great time to start a gratitude journal. Let people who have blessed you during the past year know you appreciate them, and pay it forward. Clean out your closets and donate to charity. Mabon is the transition of moving from autumn into winter, in addition to your annual spring clean, do an autumn clean. It helps to clear the mind and the clutter and allows new energy to flow.

Here are two recipes perfect for Mabon. 

Apple cider recipe

12 red or pink apples

2 granny smiths

One or a combination of spices i.e. cinnamon, clove, allspice, star anise, ginger, nutmeg etc. whichever you prefer.

300ml brown sugar

2 litres water

Pinch of salt

Place all ingredients into a pot (except the sugar)

Using a slow cooker on high for 8 hours, or on medium for about 12 hours is ideal.

Press out all the liquid using a strainer or muslin cloth.

Stir in the sugar till dissolved.

Serve hot or cold as you prefer, add a dash of rum for an alcohol version.

Store in the refrigerator.

Decadent apple dessert (an old family favourite)

60g butter

200g sugar 

3 eggs

125g flour

5ml baking powder

Pinch salt

125ml milk

825g cooked apples – you can use half the amount, it still works well

Syrup

200g sugar

250ml cream

Cream butter and sugar together until light and creamy.

Add eggs one at a time.

Alternate dry sifted ingredients with mil

Pour into a lightly oiled dish.

Spoon apples over.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25 – 30 mins

In the meantime prepare the syrup.

Bring sugar and cream to the boil stirring continuously.

Boil for approx. 15mins until slightly thick and syrupy

Pour over pudding and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

It should form a lovely caramel sauce on top.

This is a very rich dessert and can be enjoyed with custard, cream, or ice cream.

Enjoy and let me know how they turned out.

Picture courtesy of pexels-mălina-sîrbu-9929754

Just listen.

 

We are born able to see, hear, and sense things that are considered “unreal” by society. Throughout history these have been referred to by various terms: supernatural, paranormal, esoteric, spooky, weird, and gifts, when really, they are completely normal,  there is nothing “para” or “super” about them. Other people may hear better, or see clearer, or have a more sensitive palate than the rest of us, we accept it. It gives us diversity, it’s natural.

We accept dogs, cats and other animals are good judges of character, taking for granted they can sense fear and natural disasters, that they see things we may not be able to. Yet we force our children to give up their imaginary friends, make them kiss or hug someone they’re not comfortable with and so on.  Babies are able to sense discomfort in whoever is holding them and will respond accordingly, naturally and instinctively. They are empaths. A child instinctively knows who they do and don’t like and where to place their trust. 

The result is a whole bunch of us “lost” or buried a part of ourselves. During our life’s travels, we may discover this as we age and try and “find” the missing part.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found it difficult. I come from a matriarchal family of seers and clairvoyants. My grandmother was a full-blown witch, which she kept secret until she gave all of her books to me with instructions to not tell anyone, I was to hide a revelation that had me totally floored–and terrified!

In spite of having family who knew and maybe even understood this side of our nature and being taught to embrace who we are, fear was still conveyed to us. The various religions we followed taught us it was evil and it didn’t help that the 1980s and ’90s were inundated with horror movies.

About 15 years later my cousins and I reconnected and we realized we had all chosen to follow similar paths, healers, witches, pagans. No one was aware until then that our grandmother had been a practicing witch.

At the start of this path, we find ourselves buying up as many books on as many topics as possible, crystals, candles and a myriad of things. I have books not yet read, and a bunch of other tools still to be used. We get so bogged down with doing things the right way, we forget to tune in to our higher selves which is where the lessons actually are.

Our intuition is always there and if you think back you will recognize the time your gut told you something was wrong, when you got lost and automatically knew which way to go, or when you had a dream or feeling about something and it turned out to be right.

Occasionally we are given a nudge by the universe, God, your higher self, whichever you prefer, and yet we still choose to ignore this side of ourselves—usually to our detriment. I’ll share an experience I had.

I was attending college classes on Saturday mornings as I worked during the week. Our class was told that the following Saturday’s lecture was crucial and had to be attended.

That morning  I got in the car and found it wouldn’t start. My mom’s partner came out, got in and started it. I sat behind the wheel, and you guessed it, it wouldn’t start.  We did this several times before deciding I would switch cars. Off I went, and because I was running a few minutes late, I deviated from my usual route although that voice—you know the one, told me to go the normal way. Anyway, someone skipped a red light and smashed right into me. I was traumatized—it was my first car accident, and got really irritated with myself for not paying attention to my “spidey senses”.

Often, our ego gets in the way because we want to do, be, or say… no matter what our intuition tells us.

I’ve learned through trial and error; I hope, when things aren’t going my way, and the universe seems stacked against me no matter what I do, to stop and ask myself, is this what the universe/God/my higher self is guiding me to, or is it what my ego has decided.  Do the words “I want” come into play? If the answer is yes, it needs re-thinking.

I consciously seek to open myself up to listen to my intuition each day. Being human means we easily get caught up in the daily grind, so I try and ground, center and be mindful whenever I have a quiet moment. It’s been slow, but I’m making progress and I can already see my life-changing for the better.

If our parents were more open, less fearful, and taught us to embrace who we are from an early age, imagine the great strides we could have made in the world. But, I believe, it was not meant for us.

I love this “new generation” that we belong to, it circumvents age, culture, and societal bias. It’s a state of perception, of freedom, in many cases it allows us to be who we are without fear, and gives us the ability to have a meaningful discussion between peers regardless of whether we’re 18 or 80. It is my hope our next “generation” is able to put egos aside and listen. Listen and learn and allow our children to embrace a very natural state of being.  I believe it is they who will teach us how to move forward with grace. Change is meant to be created by them, and we are here to bear witness.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Samuel Theo Manat Silitonga from Pexels

The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge

One of the most exciting and important lessons I've learnt on my own spiritual journey, is known as The James Randi Challenge. Back in the 1960s, there was a famous Canadian magician call James Randi AKA Randal James Hamilton Zwinge better known as The Amazing Randi. Randi was a stage magician and illusionist and made his living touring around doing stage magic from the age of around 15.

Several years later, Randi, was challenged on a radio talk show, to “put his money where his mouth is” while discussing the public being scammed under the false pretense by con artists using ‘magic’ as some form of paranormal activity. Randi put out a challenge. The challenge which started at $1000, which he later added $9000 to make the grand prize a very attractive $ 1000 in 1964. A fair sum back then, which was further increased, to eventually became $ 100 000, when a TV broadcasting company. added $ 90 000. In the 1980's, one of the first internet millionaires, Rick Adams, donated one million dollars to the challenge. The challenge was for anyone, anyone at all, in the world, to prove under agreed conditions, that they had supernatural powers. Any medium, fortune teller, telepathist, spiritualist, illusionist, dowser, psychic, even evangelist, was welcome to claim the prize if they could prove that their claim of magic or miracle was supernatural and not sleight of hand or illusion. For 50 years the James Randi Challenge, also called the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, was up for grabs and over a thousand people, from all over the world tried their luck, but none succeeded to fool Randi and his panel of scientists. The challenge was withdrawn in 2015 and the money assigned to other beneficent causes. Several celebrity mediums like John Edward, Rosemary Altea, Sylvia Browne, Leigh-Catherine Salway, Uri Geller and others were challenged publically and on TV shows. Those that were brave ( or deluded) enough to attempt it, failed. Some agreed in public but never showed up or simply declined for fear of damaging their careers. On a Larry King Live show in March, 2001, King asked psychic Sylvia Browne, if she would take the challenge and Browne initially agreed. When Randi appeared with Browne on the show in September, 2001, she again accepted the challenge. However, she changed her mind and refused to be tested, so Randi kept a clock on his website, recording the number of weeks as they passed, since Browne first accepted the challenge but never followed through. Eventually the clock was replaced with a statement tat simply read “ More than 5 years". Browne passed away in 2013.

There is a famous clip on You Tube, Randi assisted  Johnny Carson, who set up Uri Geller, in a similar test, when the spoons he claimed he could bend, were replaced by Carson's crew and Geller sat with ‘egg on his face’, as he could not bend the spoons, even slightly. Randi made sure Geller could not tamper with the props. Randi and Geller have been life long enemies, since Randi called Geller out as a hoax, years before. Geller has since tried to sue Randi several times, but all the cases so far have been thrown out by the judge as unwarranted.

Geller also tried to sue Timex , the watch company for an ad where a Geller look alike, attempts to stop a Timex watch with his mind, but of course could not. Geller claimed that Timex benefited financially, while his reputation was damaged. A survey by Timex, on random members of the public, failed to prove that anyone even knew who the magician in the ad was supposed to be.

As an April Fool's prank on April 1, 2008, at the MIT Media Lab, Randi pretended to award the prize to magician Seth Raphael after participating in a test of Raphael's "psychic abilities". But the prank was considered in bad taste and only confused viewers who weren't aware of the full story.

Randi retired from being a magician and began touring around debunking fraudsters. Randi won a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant." and spoke at Google in August 2007. He was a founding member of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). Known as PsyCops.

Randi’s true joy comes from explaining the inexplicable.

“The ability for people to think in a medieval fashion, never ceases to amaze me,” he says. Not that he ever tires of it. “Does a doctor get tired of curing people?” he asks.

My greatest satisfaction is seeing that look in people's eye, when they eventually wake up to reality and see the light of reason.

Randi passed away in October 2020 age, 92 after announcing he was gay in 2013 age 85 and marrying his long time partner the following year.

The James Randi Challenge AKA...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Million_Dollar_Paranormal_Challenge

Randi and Geller battle

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-13-vw-2279-story.html

James Randi speaks at Google

https://youtu.be/MTPj9VlNzQ0

Water Blessings.

 

Water makes up about 60% of the human body, between 63% and 80% of animals’ bodies, and 60% to 95% of plant cells. Our planet is 71% water.

That crunchy piece of lettuce, the juicy steak, your morning coffee, a glass filled with ice…we eat it, drink it, bathe in it, clean with it and we have fun with it. Think of all the water sports, days at the pool or on the beach. It is an integral part of our life whether we are plant, animal or man.

Modern-day city folk get to turn on a faucet and are provided with clean running water. Rural area residents worldwide depend largely on wells, rain, and rivers for their water. Wherever we are, we have to have it. In 1948, the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states access to clean water is a basic human right

In ancient times aqueducts were built by the Assyrian empire, the Romans, and the Incas. They understood the value and it was piped to the homes of the wealthy. Later, cities had taps from aqueducts installed for public use. 

Water makes up most of our planet, the place we call home, and just like our residences, we should take care of it. We need to do everything we can to keep it clean, avoid pollution and appreciate it as the vital resource it is.

We are fascinated by the wonderful life it holds, I’ve never come across anyone who doesn’t love a dolphin, a whale, or a turtle. The fierceness and destruction it can bring about hold us glued to the news when there are hurricanes and tsunamis. We are enthralled by its beauty.

Japanese businessman, Masaru Emoto created a stir when he published books on how our energy affects water. He claimed that when we send positive words or messages to water, it creates beautiful formations benefitting us, and  negative emotions and words would do the opposite.

Whether or not there are formations created, I believe our energy does affect everything around us, including water. When we sit at a stream, a river, or by the ocean, it has a calming effect. The rhythm of the waves, the trickle of a bubbling stream, the gentle flow of a river, these all soothe us, we feel it to our core. When rain patters on our roofs at night, we sleep deeply and usually better than usual. Water benefits us and by giving a sense of wellbeing, we, in turn, transmit that energy back.

On a spiritual level, every full moon, some of us set out vessels to collect moon water. The thought is that the full moon will enhance the properties of water and therefore any spell work you do with it, also drinking it will give you good health, protection, or make you more tuned in to your intuition.

Note: if you’re going to drink it, make sure you seal it before you put it out, and if you include crystals in the water, please check that they are safe. Not all crystals, malachite for example, are safe for consumption.

Using water to cleanse away negativity is something I like to do while standing under the shower. Visualise all negativity being washed off and going down the drain. The same can be done with a bath, or a basin when washing hands.

I’m fortunate in that the complex I live in has a swimming pool. Just after sunset, I get in and float, watching the birds wheeling in the sky before they go to nest. I notice the sky, the treetops, the bats as they come out, and just BE! It’s meditative and a form of letting go of the stresses of the day. Use it to practise mindfulness, feel the air on your skin above the water, and the cool wetness underneath, listen to your breath, feel your lungs expanding and contracting. Let time stand still. You’ll feel refreshed and relaxed by it.

The next time you drink a glass, cook your meal, water your plants, or play with the ocean, take a moment to send your appreciation and love out to the universe. Your one small action will make a difference. 

Picture sourced from pexels-pixabay-160833

Over the moon!

 

Shiny, bright, round, invisible, she’s been an object of superstition and folklore through the ages. Whether in Africa, Asia, the Americas, or Europe, the moon has been revered, worshipped, and watched. She has been blamed for disasters, moodiness, and lunacy too. She is seen as representing the Goddess, the feminine, our emotions, change, reincarnation, the hidden, and many things of mystery.

All these beliefs were formed before science discovered that the moon actually affects bodies of water. Earthly bodies, whether human, animal, or plant, are made up of huge percentages of water and it’s logical that the moon affects all life on earth.

Farming magazines still have pages dedicated to the moon and its phases. Those of us who enjoy our herb and veggie plots often browse the internet to check when the best times are for weeding, planting, harvesting, and transplanting.

Personally, I have always been fascinated by the moon, and often have conversations with her. She is my constant, always there, even when I cannot see her.

February has been a particularly interesting month with the new moon, Lammas, and the Chinese New Year all falling on the 1^st of the month. The Chinese New Year is also called the Lunar New Year because the date is determined by the new moon. This is the year of the Water Tiger with the last occurring  in 1962. The element and sign align only once every 60 years.

Apparently, it means new beginnings and is auspicious in terms of the pandemic winding down. It’s also a period of fast-paced forward movement that needs to be tempered to prevent egos and taking on authority rashly. It’s a year of being socially conscious and family-oriented, but also of separation and drastic change.

Outside of Asia, the Lunar new year is probably celebrated most in the USA and is recognized as an important holiday. Chinese communities here at home celebrate on a much smaller scale and unless you look out for it specifically, you may miss it altogether.

Let’s take a look at what happened 60 years ago. It was the year that:

• -          Telstar had the first live trans-Atlantic television signal
• -          The Beatles released their first single “Love me do”
• -          The polio oral vaccine was released
• -          The first American orbited the earth
• -           “Dr. No”, “Spartacus” and “El Cid” were movie hits
• -          France transferred sovereignty to Algeria
• -          Cuban missile crisis began
• -          Burundi, Jamaica, Uganda became independent
• -          Robben Island was made a political prison
• -          Apartheid was condemned by the United Nations
• -          Nelson Mandela was arrested
• -          Marilyn Monroe was found dead

Looking back, it seems that there were some major political events, and that previous work put in such as the polio vaccine and the orbit around the earth bore fruit. It will be interesting to see if there are similarities this year.

Today is also a Full Moon.

I wanted to find out if there is a South African name for “our moon” as we're in summer and the names generally given online relate to the Northern Hemisphere and therefore winter. What was interesting is that I found out a lot more.

Depending on where you are, and what you believe, there are various names and I’d imagine different properties. Some are interchangeable:

Northern hemisphere and Native American - Snow or Hunger Moon

Southern hemisphere - Sturgeon Moon

Pagan - Corn Moon

Shamanic and Native American - Starving or Hunger Moon

Celtic - Moon of Ice

Neo-pagan - Snow Moon

South Africa - Dassie or Grain Moon

It makes sense that it would be the Grain Moon as this falls between Lammas and Mabon which are celebrations of the harvest.

The dassie; a rock hyrax, is a totally unique animal being the closest living relative to the African elephant, the dugong, and the manatee.  It’s also the only mammal to have an organ only found in birds. The dassie and all its abovementioned relatives are gentle, resourceful, and beautiful, and each can be fierce when challenged.

Whether you celebrate the moon or not, take a look at her this evening and revel in her light.

Feel the energy.

 

 

 

Photo by GEORGE DESIPRIS from Pexels

How can I help you?

 Today we live in a world online. A world where we can hide behind our screens
and devices. We can accept or decline invitations, contacts and communications, even from our own family members.

There was a time, not so long ago, when people were so isolated, that any stranger passing through their village, hamlet or farm, was welcomed with a warm meal, a cup of ale or ten, and a place to sleep.

Literacy only became the global average in the late 20th century. In 1900, about 79% of the world's pop. was illiterate; in 1960, about 64%. In 2015, basic literacy stood at about 86%.

So strangers, travelers and merchants were always welcomed, because they often brought knowledge and news from afar or about events in neighboring villages. Up until the 1600s the average peasant of mid adult age, knew about as much as could be contained in one single newspaper. Much of it, superstition and folklore.

But one thing made them better than we are today, and that thing was honour. In every culture honour, or honor as American English spells it, was paramount. Scoundrels thieves and murderers were few and far between. Although the average human got by with much less than we, the modern city or town folk have today, and often worked a much longer day- for a pittance, they were more satisfied with their lot and relationships were of far greater value than material goods.

When I was a child for example, we had one telephone in our home and no TV. When we did eventually get a TV, I was about seven years old. It was black and white and broadcast (nothing good) for about four hours a day, tops. Those of you who were around back then, will remember the test pattern, when Technicolor came out a few years later and how the family would leave the TV on from around five in the evening, waiting for the broadcast to begin. Usually the news was first, "with Riaan Cruywagen". The man who never aged.

Today we have far less regard for friendships, marriage, even our relationships with our children ... and strangers are dangers. We imagine ourselves far more knowledgeable even though the average so called educated person can retain about 1 Gig of real knowledge at most.

What happens to us in this 'process of evolution?' We have certainly not become more civilized. The global society has eroded our cultural honour. We are much ruder, short tempered and worse at managing real relationships that last. Sure the corporate culture has brain washed many into thinking that they are 'oh so sophisticated', but much of it is a superficial template. A regurgitated monkey-see-monkey-do, legal gauntlet approach where, if you don't fit in, you're simply left out. Without empathy.

Democracy and 'rights' (ironic) has proven just how terrible we can be, as trolls on social media and in a mass, reminiscent of the pitch fork mobs of Medieval Europe. Only worse.

On one of Zac Efrons Netflix travel shows recently, ( I forget the name as it probably exceeds my 1G storage) a manager at a eco-village coined a phrase, speaking about managing the human waste of the hippy like inhabitants who chose to buy a remote property and live 'off the grid', who said: " find the solution in the problem."

So how can we, living in the real world ' or what's left of it, and find the solution in the problem?' The social problem that, like a dormant volcano, could erupt at any moment and change or end normal life overnight. Now before the global lock down, which no sane person could have even imagined could happen, this idea would have been far less believable. But today it is a clear and present possibility.

My over sensitive shamanic spirit tells me to - slow down. Take time to listen to other people, no matter how deluded they may seem. No matter how old, or young, educated or not, stranger or friend, or toxic family. Give a little of your time, not to do the talking but to listen. When a friend or social media request appears, think how can I find a solution to this problem. How can I help them.

The one thing I've taught my kids religiously, is kindness. Be kind to everyone religiously. If someone disagrees with your opinion or is trying to sell you something, you don't have to buy, but don't block them or decline their contact. That is no solution to social skills. Learn to listen. Probe them, give real objections, and see how they handle them. Be humane and just talk to them and in so doing, they may learn something from you, or God forbid, you may just learn something from them. 

Lammas

 

The Sabbat, Lammas is celebrated next week. It is also known as Lughnasadh, and Loaf-Mass day.

History tells us the Catholic church took many of the old pagan celebrations and incorporated them as Christian holidays to make the transition for converts easier. Christmas was taken from Yule, Easter from Ostara, and; I did not know this; Lammas is also known as Loaf-mass day and is celebrated in some English-speaking countries in the northern hemisphere. This makes total sense as Lughnasadh honours Lugh, a Celtic deity.

In Catholicism, clergy would lead parishioners in a procession to their local bakery where a blessing was given to the bakers of the bread and thanks to God for providing the grain. Nowadays, thanks is given for providing the wheat and for a successful harvest to make the Eucharist (representing the body of Christ in communion).

In Paganism, it is celebrated to mark the arrival of the first harvest. Many of us bake our own bread in a symbolic gesture or buy and eat freshly baked goodies. The idea is to give thanks to the land/Lugh/the universe/God (whichever resonates with you) for providing the grain that makes the food and gives us good health.  In days gone by, the community would bake and distribute loaves to the poor.

Some of us mark the day with a small personal ritual, some decorate our altars, and others go all out and prepare a celebratory meal and make a big day of it. Then there are those who are forced to hide who they are and can’t really do much. Whatever your situation or choice, it doesn’t really matter how you celebrate; the point is to practice gratitude and be mindful of the meaning of the day.  

Although Lammas, or Lughnasadh is primarily seen as the celebration of the first wheat harvest and bread is generally used worldwide, remember it’s about the harvest, so there are other options if you’re going gluten-free, are grain intolerant, or on a low-carb eating plan. Think root vegies, corn, or for Keto, your greens, berries, and herbs will be ready for harvest too.

As an accompanying drink, you could opt for beer, ale, mead, berry, and grape juices or berry and grape wines. A great African option for those of us here in South Africa would be umqombothi which is made from maize, and other grains, depending on your recipe.  

If you’re unable to practice openly, take a few minutes alone, outside if possible, and spend some quiet time with your drink of choice and a cookie, or a carrot, or a slice of delicious carrot cake (grain and veg)! Close your eyes and give thanks as you eat and drink, smile. You can do this anywhere at any time. Think limitless!

Lammas is traditionally celebrated annually on the 1^st of February although it falls on a different day each year depending on the timing of the solstices. This year it’s actually is on the 4^th of February which is a Friday.

Whichever day you choose for celebration, may this Lammas bring blessings of the harvest to nourish your mind, body, and soul.

 

 

Harvest  Photo by Shiwa Yachachin from Pexels

Bread and Wheat Photo by Mariana Kurnyk from Pexels