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Dear Friends,
http://www.realitysandwich.com/playing infinite game
Be Well.
David
"PLAYING THE INFINITE GAME "
Kevin Kelly
"The following is adapted from" What Technology Wants, "published by Viking/Penguin, used with permission." There are two kinds of games in the universe: finite games and infinite games. A finite game is played to win. Card games, poker rounds, games of chance, bets, sports such as football, board games such as Monopoly, races, marathons, puzzles, Tetris, Rubik's Cube, Scrabble, sudoku, online games such as "World of Warcraft", and "Halo" -- all are finite games. The game ends when someone wins. An infinite game, on the other hand, is played to keep the game going. It does not terminate because there is no winner.
Finite games require rules that remain constant. The game fails if the rules change during the game. Altering rules during play is unforgivable, the very definition of unfairness. Great effort, then, is taken in a finite game to spell out the rules beforehand and enforce them during the game.
An infinite game, however, can keep going only by changing its rules. To maintain open-endedness, the game must play with its rules.
A finite game such as baseball or chess or Super Mario must have boundaries -- spatial, temporal, or behavioral. So big, this long, do or don't do that.
An infinite game has no boundaries. James Carse, the theologian who developed these ideas in his brilliant treatise "Finite and Infinite Games", says, "Finite players play within boundaries; infinite players play with boundaries."
Evolution, life, mind, and the technium are infinite games. Their game is to keep the game going. To keep all participants playing as long as possible. They do that, as all infinite games do, by playing around with the rules of play. The evolution of evolution is just that kind of play.
Unreformed weapon technologies generate finite games. They produce winners (and losers) and cut off options. Finite games are dramatic; think sports and war. We can think of hundreds of more exciting stories about two guys fighting than we can about two guys at peace. But the problem with those exciting 100 stories about two guys fighting is that they all lead to the same end -- the demise of one or both of them -- unless at some point they turn and cooperate. However, the one boring story about peace has no end. It can lead to a thousand unexpected stories -- maybe the two guys become partners and build a new town or discover a new element or write an amazing opera. They create something that will become a platform for future stories. They are playing an infinite game. Peace is summoned all over the world because it births increasing opportunities and, unlike a finite game, contains infinite potential. The things in life we love most -- including life itself -- are infinite games. When we play the game of life, or the game of the technium, goals are not fixed, the rules are unknown and shifting. How do we proceed? A good choice is to increase choices. As individuals and as a society we can invent methods that will generate as many new "good" possibilities as possible. A good possibility is one that will generate more good possibilities... and so on in the paradoxical infinite game. The best "open-ended" choice is one that leads to the most subsequent "openended" choices. That recursive tree is the infinite game of technology.
The goal of the infinite game is to keep playing -- to explore every way to play the game, to include all games, all possible players, to widen what is meant by playing, to spend all, to hoard nothing, to seed the universe with improbable plays, and if possible to surpass everything that has come before. In his mythic book "The Singularity Is Near", Ray Kurzweil, serial inventor, technology enthusiast, and unabashed atheist, announces: "Evolution moves toward greater complexity, greater elegance, greater knowledge, greater intelligence, greater beauty, greater creativity, and greater levels of subtle attributes such as love. In every monotheistic tradition God is likewise described as all of these qualities, only without limitation.... So evolution moves inexorably toward this conception of God, although never quite reaching this ideal."
If there is a God, the arc of the technium is aimed right at it. I'll retell the Great Story of this arc because it points to an infinite game.
The story and game begin at the beginning. As the undifferentiated energy at the big bang is cooled by the expanding space of the universe, it coalesces into measurable entities, and, over time, the particles condense into atoms. Further expansion and cooling allows complex molecules to form, which self-assemble into self-reproducing entities. With each tick of the clock, increasing complexity is added to these embryonic organisms, increasing the speed at which they change. As evolution evolves, it keeps piling on different ways to adapt and learn until eventually the minds of animals are caught in self-awareness. This self-awareness thinks up more minds, and together a universe of minds transcends all previous limits. The destiny of this collective mind is to expand imagination in all directions until it is no longer solitary but reflects the infinite. Everything present in the universe is a winner.
There is even a modern theology that postulates that God, too, changes. Without splitting too many theological hairs, this theory, called Process Theology, describes God as a process, a perfect process, if you will. In this theology, God is less a remote, monumental, gray-bearded hacker genius and more of an ever-present flux, a movement, a process, a primary self-made becoming. The ongoing self-organized mutability of life, evolution, mind, and the technium is a reflection of God's becoming. God-as-Verb unleashes a set of rules that unfold into an infinite game, a game that continually loops back into itself.
I bring up God here at the end because it seems unfair to speak about autocreation without mentioning God -- the paragon of autocreation. The only other alternative to an endless string of creations triggered by previous creation is a creation that emerges from its own self-causation. That prime self-causation, which is not preceded but instead first makes itself before it makes either time or nothingness, is the most logical definition of God. This view of a mutable God does not escape the paradoxes of self-creation that infect all levels of self-organization, but rather it embraces them as necessary paradoxes. God or not, self-creation is a mystery.
In one sense, this is a story about continuous autocreation (with or without the concept of a prime autocreation). The tale tells how the ratcheting bootstrapping of increasing complexity, expanding possibilities, and spreading sentience -- which we now see in the technium and beyond -- is driven by forces that were inherent within the first nanospeck of existence and how this seed of flux has unfolded itself in such a manner that it can, in theory, keep unfolding and making itself for a very long time.
A single thread of selfgeneration ties the cosmos, the bios, and the technos together into one creation. Life is less a miracle than a necessity for matter and energy. The technium is less an adversary to life than its extension. Humans are not the culmination of this trajectory but an intermediary, smack in the middle between the born and the made.
For several thousand years, humans have looked to the organic world, the world of the living, for clues about the nature of creation and even of a creator. Life was a reflection of the divine. Humans in particular were deemed to be made in the image of God. But if you believe humans are made in the image of God, the autocreator, then we have done well, because we have just birthed our own creation: the technium. Many, including many believers in God, would call that hubris. Compared to what has come before us, our accomplishments are puny.
"As we turn from the galaxies to the swarming cells of our own being, which toil for something, some entity beyond their grasp, let us remember man, the self-fabricator who came across an ice age to look into the mirrors and magic of science. Surely he did not come to see himself or his wild visage only. He came because he is at heart a listener and a searcher for some transcendent realm beyond himself." That's Loren Eiseley, anthropologist and author, ruminating on what he calls our "immense journey" so far under the stars.
The bleak message of the stars in their overwhelming infinitude is that we are nothing. It is hard to argue with 500 billion galaxies, each with a billion stars. In the mists of the endless cosmos, our brief blink in an obscure corner is nothing at all.
Yet the fact that there is something in one corner that sustains itself against the starry vastness, the fact that there is anything bootstrapping at all, is an argument against the nihilism of the stars. The smallest thought could not exist unless the entire universe and the laws of physics were in some way encouraging it. The existence of a single rosebud, a single oil painting, a single parade of costumed hominins strolling down a street of bricks, a single glowing screen waiting for input, or a single book on the nature of our creations requires life-friendly attributes baked deeply into the primeval laws of being. "The universe knew we were coming," says Freeman Dyson. And if the cosmic laws are biased to produce one bit of life and mind and technology, then one bit will flow after another. Our immense journey is a trace of tiny, improbable events stacked into a series of inevitabilities.
The technium is the way the universe has engineered its own selfawareness. Carl Sagan put it memorably: "We are starstuff pondering the stars." But by far humanity's greatest, most immense journey is not the long trek from star dust to wakefulness but the immense journey we have in front of us. The arc of complexity and open-ended creation in the last four billion years is nothing compared to what lies ahead.
The universe is mostly empty because it is waiting to be filled with the products of life and the technium, with questions and problems and the thickening relations between bits that we call "con scientia" -- shared knowledge -- or consciousness.
And whether we like it or not, we stand at the fulcrum of the future. We are in part responsible for the evolution of this planet proceeding onward.
About 2,500 years ago most of humanity's major religions were set in motion in a relatively compact period. Confucius, Lao-tzu, Buddha, Zoroaster, the authors of the Upanishads, and the Jewish patriarchs all lived within a span of 20 generations. Only a few major religions have been born since then. Historians call that planetary fluttering the Axial Age. It was as if everyone alive awoke simultaneously and, in one breath, set out in search of their mysterious origins. Some anthropologists believe the Axial Age awakening was induced by the surplus abundance that agriculture created, enabled by massive irrigation and waterworks around the world.
It would not surprise me if we saw another axial awakening someday, powered by another flood of technology. I find it hard to believe that we could manufacture robots that actually worked and not have them disturb our ideas of religion and God. Someday we will make other minds, and they will surprise us. They will think of things we never could have imagined, and if we give these minds their full embodiment, they will call themselves children of God, and what will we say? When we alter the genetics in our veins, will this not reroute our sense of a soul? Can we cross over into the quantum realm, where one bit of matter can be in two places at once, and still not believe in angels?
Look what is coming: Technology is stitching together all the minds of the living, wrapping the planet in a vibrating cloak of electronic nerves, entire continents of machines conversing with one another, the whole aggregation watching itself through a million cameras posted daily. How can this not stir that organ in us that is sensitive to something larger than ourselves?
For as long as the wind has blown and the grass grown, people have sat beneath trees in the wilderness for enlightenment -- to see God. They have looked to the natural world for a hint of their origins. In the filigree of fern and feather they find a shadow of an infinite source. Even those who have no use for God study the evolving world of the born for clues to why we are here. For most people, nature is either a very happy long-term accident or a very detailed reflection of its creator. For the latter, every species can be read as a four-billion-year-long encounter with God.
Yet we can see more of God in a cell phone than in a tree frog. The phone extends the frog's four billion years of learning and adds the open-ended investigations of six billion human minds. Someday we may believe the most convivial technology we can make is not a testament to human ingenuity but a testimony of the holy. As the technium's autonomy rises, we have less influence over the made. It follows its own momentum begun at the big bang. In a new axial age, it is possible the greatest technological works will be considered a portrait of God rather than of us. In addition to holding spiritual retreats in redwood groves, we may surrender ourselves in the labyrinths of a 200-year-old network. The intricate, unfathomable layers of logic built up over a century, borrowed from rainforest ecosystems, and woven together into beauty by millions of active synthetic minds will say what redwoods say, only louder, more convincingly: "Long before you were here, I am."
The technium is not God; it is too small. It is not utopia. It is not even an entity. It is a becoming that is only beginning. But it contains more goodness than anything else we know.
The technium expands life's fundamental traits, and in so doing it expands life's fundamental goodness. Life's increasing diversity, its reach for sentience, its long-term move from the general to the different, its essential (and paradoxical) ability to generate new versions of itself, and its constant play in an infinite game are the very traits and "wants" of the technium. Or should I say, the technium's wants are those of life. But the technium does not stop there. The technium also expands the mind's fundamental traits, and in so doing it expands the mind's fundamental goodness. Technology amplifies the mind's urge toward the unity of all thought, it accelerates the connections among all people, and it will populate the world with all conceivable ways of comprehending the infinite.
No one person can become all that is humanly possible; no one technology can capture all that technology promises. It will take all life and all minds and all technology to begin to see reality. It will take the whole technium, and that includes us, to discover the tools that are needed to surprise the world. Along the way we generate more options, more opportunities, more connection, more diversity, more unity, more thought, more beauty, and more problems. Those add up to more good, an infinite game worth playing.
That's what technology wants.
"
11/7/2011
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HISTORY OF QURAN PUBLISHED IN AZERI
The book "History of Quran" penned by the late Ayatollah Mohammad-Hadi Marefat is rendered into Azeri and recently published in Baku.
2011/07/11 20:20
HOLY CITY OF MEDINA NAMED NEW CAPITAL HUB OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Medina announced as the cultural center of the Islamic World in 2013.
2011/07/11 20:14
LEBANESE SHIA CLERIC CALLS FOR COMPETENT PEOPLE IN INSTITUTIONS
Vice President of the Higher Shia Islamic Council Sheikh Abdel Amir Qabalan called on Sunday "for appointing the right people in the right places, and choosing honest and competent people to assume public office," the National News Agency reported.
2011/07/11 20:51
BAHRAINIS DEFY SAUDI-BACKED CRACKDOWN
Bahraini protesters have taken to the streets across the country once again, defying the Saudi-backed crackdown on peaceful demonstrations and calling for the downfall of the regime.
2011/07/11 20:48
BAHRAIN FREES PHOTOGRAPHER
The Bahraini regime has released a photographer Shaikh Jameel who was detained for peaceful pro-democracy protests.
2011/07/11 20:48
TUNISIANS PROTEST PROSPECT OF ISRAEL TIES
Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of the Tunisian capital calling on their government to refrain from establishing diplomatic ties with Israel.
2011/07/11 20:47
16 KILOMETERS LONG FLAG RAISED IN SYRIA + PHOTOS
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians on Sunday raised the largest national flag in the world, 16 kilometers long and four meters wide, in Lattakia.
2011/07/11 20:45
IRAQ'S SADR: I WILL NOT REACTIVATE MAHDI ARMY
Iraqi Shiite cleric says his "Promised Day Brigade" militia will oppose US forces if they extended their deployment in Iraq.
2011/07/11 20:44
GOVERNMENT BACKED TERRORISTS MARTYRED 3 PAKISTANI SHIA MUSLIMS
Three Pakistani persons, belonging to Shiite community, were shot martyred in provincial capital on Sunday.
2011/07/11 19:22
THE SON OF SOUTH SUDAN'S PRESIDENT EMBRACES ISLAM
One of the sons of South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has reportedly converted to Islam following the country's independence from Sudan.
2011/07/11 19:00
SAUDI ARRESTS HARDLINE WAHHABI CLERIC AL-AHMED
Hardline Saudi cleric Sheikh Youssef bin Abdallah al-Ahmed, known for his controversial views on Saudi society, was arrested on Friday, Saudi activists told Reuters on Saturday.
2011/07/11 19:45
16 ARRESTED ON TERRORISM CHARGES IN BABEL, IRAQ
Police forces arrested 16 people wanted for terrorism charges in northern areas of Babel province, police sources said today.
2011/07/11 19:41
BAHRAIN: PRESSURE MOUNTING FOR FACT-FINDING MISSION
The political crisis in Bahrain has deepened in the past few days after it became clear that the long-awaited "dialogue" has failed drastically....
2011/07/11 19:37
CAIR-NY SEEKS HATE CRIME CHARGES FOR ATTACK ON MUSLIM WOMAN
Assailants allegedly beat Muslim woman they called 'f**king terrorist
2011/07/11 19:32
NEW AIRPORT AT MADINAH TO HANDLE EIGHT MILLION PASSENGERS
Work is under way to construct a completely new airport in Madina with a capacity to deal with eight million passengers.
2011/07/11 18:25
ISRAELI SETTLER RUNS OVER PALESTINIAN CHILD IN BETHLEHEM
An Israeli settler Sunday ran over a Palestinian child, 6, in Khirbet 'Beit Sakarya' located in central of 'Gush Etzion' settlement compound, south of Bethlehem, according to witnesses.
2011/07/11 18:04
THE FIRST MARTYRDOM ANNIVERSARY OF ZAHEDAN'S JAMI MOSQUE SHABANIYE MARTYRS
The first anniversary for Zahedan's Jami Mosque Shabaniye martyrs will be held on July 14, 2011.
2011/07/11 18:01
KAZAKH PREACHERS ON MISSION FOR UNITY
Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan plans to send a group of expert preachers and Imams to different regions of the country, particularly Temir.
2011/07/11 17:24
THOUSANDS OF PALESTINIANS DEMONSTRATE DEMANDING FREEDOM FOR SHEIKH SALAH
housands of Palestinians demonstrated in the streets of Nazareth to the north of 1948 occupied Palestine demanding the immediate release of Sheikh Raed Salah from his UK jail.
2011/07/11 17:18
SEMINAR TO SUPPORT DIABETICS IN RAMADAN IN UAE
Doctors highlight the importance of proper nutrition during Ramadan and caution residents, especially those with diabetes, not to overeat during Iftar time
2011/07/11 17:17
UAE: 300,000 TO BENEFIT FROM RAMADAN RATION PROJECT
The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Humanitarian Foundation (KZHF) has launched its "Ramadan Ration" project for the year 2011, it announced on Sunday.
2011/07/11 17:06
ISLAMIC PAINTINGS ON DISPLAY IN INDIA
An exhibition of Islamic paintings has been held by the Office of Education for Minority of India People at the gallery of the National University of Delhi.
2011/07/11 17:59
OVER 6000 INDIVIDUALS FROM KHUZESTAN TO BE DISPATCHED FOR HAJJ
As many as 6450 pilgrims from Khuzestan province will travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj congregation this year.
2011/07/11 17:56
ISRAELI SOLDIERS ARREST PALESTINIAN JOURNALIST
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested Palestinian journalist Mohammed Basharat from his home in village of Tamun, Tobas province, on Sunday, sources in the village told the PIC reporter.
2011/07/11 17:50
THE STATUS OF REASON IN SHIA ISLAM
Islam regards reason as one of the greatest blessings bestowed by God on human beings. It is by means of reason that we understand ourselves and the world around us. It is by means of reason that we realise the necessity of investigating our origin and the One who has created us. If we had no reason, we would not be responsible for our acts or beliefs. In Shi'i Islam in particular, great emphasis has always been placed on reason and the rational sciences. This emphasis derives from the Qur'an and the traditions of the Prophet and the Imams of his household. The Qur'an says in several verses: Surely there are signs in this for those who ponder. (13:4; 16:12; 30:24) 2011/07/11 17:47
US LIKELY TO DELIST MKO TO ENCOURAGE MORE TERROR AGAINST IRAN
Recent Media reports unveiled Washington's growing enthusiasm for the anti-Iran terrorist group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, warning that the US intends to take the MKO off its blacklist in a bid to use the terrorist group as a proxy to launch attacks against Iranian interests.
2011/07/11 17:47
Former IRGC Commander:
IMAM KHOMEINI'S MOVEMENT TO INSPIRE ALL MUSLIM STATES
The movement started by the Late Imam Khomeini in Iran decades ago can spread to the entire Muslim world, a former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said, adding that the growing waves of Islamic awakening and popular uprisings in the Middle-East and North Africa today indicate the same fact.
2011/07/11 17:45
REPORT: YEMEN'S SALEH TO RETURN ON JULY 17
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh plans to return to his country on July 17, Al Arabiya broadcaster reported Sunday, citing unidentified sources.
2011/07/11 17:44
US CALLS ON SALEH TO SIGN OFF ON POWER TRANSFER
A top aide to US President Barack Obama called Sunday on Yemen's injured president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to sign a deal transferring power, during a face-to-face meeting in Saudi Arabia.
2011/07/11 17:41
RECENT UPRISINGS IS THE THIRD WAVE OF ISLAMIC WORLD
Head of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization called the recent uprisings and revolutions in Islamic countries as the third wave of Islamic awakening.
2011/07/11 17:36
MASS FRAVE OF 222 KURDS UNDER SADDAM HUSSEIN REGIME FOUND IN IRAQ
A mass grave containing the remains of 222 ethnic Kurds was found in the southern Iraqi province of Diwaniya, Baghdad's Human Rights Ministry said on Sunday.
2011/07/11 17:34
THE ZIONIST ENTITY SEEKS A U.N. OPINION ON MARITIME BORDERS WITH LEBANON
The Zionist entity is to seek a U.N. opinion on its maritime borders with Lebanon in the Mediterranean, where lucrative offshore gas fields have been found, Zionist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday.
2011/07/11 16:23
TURKISH FM: TEL AVIV MUST APOLOGIZE FOR ITS CRIMES
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has reiterated that Tel Aviv must formally apologize for its attack on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid flotilla last year.
2011/07/11 16:18
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS SYRIANS RALLY TO BACK REFORMS
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have taken to the streets in the coastal city of Latakia, raising the country's national flag and voicing support for reforms promised by the Syrian president.
2011/07/11 16:15
GERMAN MUSLIMS SUFFER JOB DISCRIMINATION
Well-qualified, ambitious and skilled Germen Muslims are complaining of growing discrimination against them in the job market, especially veiled women, who are taking the full brunt for their dress.
2011/07/10 06:59
QURAN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION TO HOST ART EXHIBIT
An exhibition of visual arts displaying artworks with the central theme of Quranic concepts will open concurrent with the 19th International Holy Quran Exhibition at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Mosalla, running from July 28 to August 26.
2011/07/10 06:49
IRAQ APPEALS TO BAHRAIN FOR FOOTBALLER'S RELEASE
The president of the Iraqi Football Association, Najeh Hamoud, told The Associated Press that Baghdad is trying to "secure the release" of Zulfiqar Naji, a 16-year-old player on the junior team for Bahraini club Al Muharraq.
2011/07/10 06:38
FREEDOM OF THE SPIRIT AND MIND
The freedom of human spirit and intellect from material bonds is one of the goals of Islam. God has created the human with a noble spirit and intellectual power. The dignity of man is lowered and his freedom compromised when he succumbs to his lusts or social pressures. Spiritual and intellectual freedom is the hallmark of justice and free life.
2011/07/10 06:34
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE AMERICAN SHIA: PART I
This article will explore the responsibilities that come with the unique identity of being an American Shia Muslim. This means it will not include the many responsibilities that come with American citizenship alone or the countless more that come with the practice of the Twelver tradition. Surely, the scope of such an endeavor would require more effort than this writer can muster.
2011/07/10 05:37
THE POWER OF MAN'S WILL (POEM)
2011/07/10 04:27
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Eight days is how long we spent visiting the Central California Coast, a place that we dearly love. The last time we were there, Q. was about 8-months old. What an adventure to see her running all over the place while O. took her spot in the stroller!For eight days, we spent time together as a family. For eight days, we saw beautiful places. For eight days, we...took field trips! {That is the schoolish way of looking at it.}So the question remains: "What does a young family of six do on the Central Coast for eight days without spending a million dollars?"Rule Number One: Use the beach hour your father rented for the month.Rule Number Two: Cook your own meals.Rule Number Three: Remember that sunsets are free.If you don't have rule number one lined up, the rest isn't going to fall into place very well. But I'll tell you what we did anyhow.DAY ONEWe went to the threshing bee at Jack Creek Farms in Templeton, which is inland from our home base in Pismo Beach. The website explains it perfectly:Starting with standing wheat we will bind, stack, thresh, sack, clean and grind the grain into flour the same way it was done in the early 1900s.There was a display of antique farm equipment. We sampled homemade bread. We watched the wheat processing. We bought a small container of fudge for the children to eat for dessert that evening {which resulted in Q. spinning like a top}. Our resident Farmer Boy was enthralled.DAY TWONew day, new farm, this time closer to the sea. We caught a trolley at Port San Luis Harbor in Avila Beach. The harbor pier, incidentally, is a wonderful place to see brown pelicans in all stages of maturation. They are incredibly tame, so children can get a good look. Mind that your seven-year-old doesn't chase one off right when a large group of tourists is trying to take its photo.I'm just saying."Ahem."Anyhow, we took the trolley {for a quarter-per-person donation} and sat comfortably along the route until we reached the Avila Valley Barn, a small nearby farm. We petted all the animals, fed them scrap greens from the farm store, shopped in the market, and were treated to 2 per person ice cream scoops {farm-made ice cream!} by the children's Great Gran, who was with us, along with my parents, for the first two days. We would have taken a hay ride, but it was very crowded, being Labor Day weekend, and we needed to catch the trolley back to our car.DAY THREEThis was a lazy day at the beach. Avila Beach is a delight for small children, and so we headed to our favorite spot there, which is the estuary, where the river meets the sea. When the tide is coming in is the perfect time of day; the waves are small in the river area, and little ones can learn the ways of the water without danger. Our four-year-old spent hours running in the water while the others built a sand castle. This is also a great spot for finding egrets.DAY FOURWe spent almost two hours {slowly} hiking the Bob Jones City to the Sea Bike Trail. I love bike trails because I can use my stroller. We brought our birding field guide and saw one bird we hadn't seen before, a spotted towhee. When the children became tired, we headed to a nearby park {with an ocean view}, and I gave O. his bottle while they played on the toys.DAY FIVEThis was our Expensive Day. We even ate out at a real restaurant! But first, we spent all morning at the San Luis Obispo Children's Museum, which we consider worth every penny we spent. The museum had something for everyone, even Baby O., who played dress-up with his sister and also hung out in a padded ring filled with cushioned Velcro blocks. The first floor of the museum sports a giant bubble machine, and a few other displays that are aimed at older children. The second floor was where we spent most of our time. It is basically a child's Let's Pretend dream-come-true! There was a place to play restaurant, with literally everything a child could want for it, right down to the toy hamburger buns. There was a play firetruck, with fireman costumes in various sizes. Also, a farmer's market, toy police motorcycle, and a place to play veterinarian. The third floor was more for little ones, with lots of puzzles, books, blocks, and a huge train table.It was the play room every child dreams of.And what I appreciated most was that, unlike so many children's museums, it was "not" political. Five stars from all of us!DAY SIXWe can't make a trip to the coast without visiting Morro Bay State Park, land of the wild turkeys, great blue herons that are as tall as my seven-year-old {I do not joke}, double-crested cormorants egrets, and brown pelicans. Our hike was pretty mild, though the children loved spotting seals from the shore. We headed up to an area near the museum of natural history {we didn't go in because we have been before and nothing had changed and we weren't all that impressed the first time}. That's when it happened. It was like magic. We saw a literal feeding frenzy! There must have been large schools of fish in the bay. We have never seen anything like it. The birds were diving all over, and then the seals were thrashing about in the water, and it was so loud that it was astounding!That made the whole morning worth it. It felt like we were watching some sort of miracle. The children were under the spell as much as the adults; it was enchanting. We were told by another onlooker that when the children are older we can rent kayaks and be out there in the middle of it when it happens.DAY SEVENThis day, we went back to Avila Beach, and did our whole routine all over again. It was just as fun the second time, but this time we had grandparents with us, too.That evening, we returned for the Friday Night Farmer's Market. There was live music, and we also walked the pier one last time, and ate cookies. Yum.DAY EIGHTI needed to pack, but the children accompanied their granmama to an art store {with decent works in it, by the way}, a pet store, and took an overall interesting walk, which was a great way to end the week.
Origin: spells-and-chants.blogspot.com
Some of us visualise or create an image when we want to attract something or other into our lives. Others do an evocation ritual to gain a similar affect.
This post is about a Welsh woman, I'll call her Gwen, who wanted to learn more about alchemy. Okay she could have done a Google search but she wanted something more personal and meaningful. So she chose to perform a magical ritual.
The invocation was to Sophiel, a lunar spirit, who has been described as one who "'teacheth the knowledge of herb and stone.'"
Gwen carried out the ritual on a Monday at the full moon which is, supposedly, a good time to contact lunar spirits. Unfortunately nothing happened. No lunar spirit materialised so she simply asked for help in interpreting alchemical texts. Still no immediate response or flash of thunder, or whatever else should happen on such an occasion.
However, exactly nine weeks later to the day, Gwen was at a conference. Afterwards an elderly American gentleman walked straight up to her and her opening words were, "Are you interested in Alchemy?"
A coincidence some will say, but Gwen would answer that 9 is the Lunar number of the cabbala (kabbala).
The elderly American gentleman and Gwen met up the next day and he spent twenty-four hours helping her understand the subject - and, yes, I'm still talking about alchemy! He also put her in touch with a group of practical alchemists.
So Gwen's ritual did work. As to whether she would have got the same result with visualisation or something similar is debatable. Some will say that it was a chance meeting but there is also a saying that when the time is right the teacher will find us.
Credit: asatru-religion.blogspot.com
Before the exception of love-magick, wish-magick is possibly the greatest extent stylish form of white magick clever in modern get older. it is absolutely easy to perform, and can be as simple as wishing on a star, crack open a wishbone, or plummeting a coin in the sphere of a admiringly or wishing well. Abundant magically minded everyday soberly expect in the power of the seven-knob candle (or "wish-candle" as it is sometimes called) to make desires come true. It is a magickal tool awfully stylish amid practitioners of hoodoo folk magick in the southern regions of the Related States. Seven beat candles are genuinely publicized in greatest extent occult supply shops and are revealed in a type of colors. At the same time as hand-me-down correctly, they can work powerful magick, but be definite what you wish for, as the old idiom goes, so you perfectly cogency get it!To perform the at the back wishing spell, you leave want a nadir seven-knob candle, myrrh oil, and a consecrated athame. Observe your wish on each of the seven knobs of the candle. Lace the candle with the myrrh oil and say:I deify and bless this candlein the divine name of the DivinityLet all despondency and intervalbe cast forth hencefrom.Harvest up your athame with your right hand. Decide the lifeless tilt of the steel on top of the candle and picture magickal energy as a white light at liberty from your largest part downstairs the athame and in the sphere of the candle. At the same time as you begin to actually affection the energy at liberty say; I charge thee nowBefore magickal powerIn the divine name of the DivinityEstimate the candle for at token five account, return the athame to the altar, and subsequently light the top beat of the wish candle, Say the at the back incantation seven times; Seven magick knobs of nadirConcept this wish of mine come true.As the candle burns, corner upon the thing you desire and fancy yourself earlier in leverage of it. Trash the candle at the rear of the leader beat has burned down, and mimic the broad spell for the next-door six nights in a row, frying specific one beat of the candle each time.
Reference: pagan-wiccan.blogspot.com
Late night purrs, my Springtime dreaming Kittens... grayish, then overcast on the tame prairie today, and storms could pop up... wow, are the squirrels ever taking over the gorgeously leafing trees... oh, one of the apple trees is covered with beautiful blossoms, so maybe there will be lots of apples.
An authoress busy day, preparing for the Year of the Rabbit Blog Hop for one, and joining in the Just Another Paranormal Monday ~ groups.yahoo.com/group/ParanormalMonday ~ DEATH was the creature feature. Lots of utterly fascinating info about how death stars as a character in the movies and literature. Poetry about death from famous poets like Shelley. And, so much more! The things you don't know. And, well, the Grim Reaper never seemed all that appealing to this Big Cat. However, her mind was definitely expanded into other realms
Darling KitKats, in these tough times, the Kougaress hopes you are safe and well. She sends you love vibes, and prosperity vibes.
Magical, Fantastical Moon... last night the moon gloriously ruled the mist-black sky. Her surreal radiance captured the tame prairie like a powerful spotlight. Entranced, this Big Cat gazed up at her for a time, and couldn't help but feel deliciously enchanted. The effects were subtle, and difficult to understand. Yet, being caught in the mystical bright white rays, this Big Cat felt magical in a new way.
Currently, the Kougar is penning her post for SHAPESHIFTER SEDUCTIONS around this theme of the magical, fantastical moon.
Big Cat by-the-numbers ~
11:11 pm... 12:12 am... 2:12 am... 2:22 am... 3:33 am... 5:55 pm... 10:10 pm... 11:11 pm...
Weekly Angelic Forecast from Volcano
Straight from the Carnal Cherub himself...
Angelic Forecast ~ #137
For the following full-moon week, and for the next four weeks THOSE who are the 'Usurpers of Power' will make major moves against humanity. This will become obvious by how the continued strife and conflict on the world stage plays out.
Unless there is an intervention, it is likely that a major city in the US will also be a demonstration of this global power grab. These tighten-the-noose moves are in opposition to the AWAKENING that is lighting up the minds of everyone on Earth. At warp speed 'the people' are becoming wise to the centuries-old con games used to control them.
As more of the states decide to stand up to the Usurpers, and take back their rights, this will signal the beginning of a Civil War, one that is fought with the power of ideas. And with money.
With the deliberate death of the dollar looming on the horizon, now is the time to organize the best ways to trade, barter, and create your own local commerce. Also, an expansion of the underground economy is advisable. If you have those skills put them to good use. Be Robin Hood.
At this time, there will be a massive campaign to centralize, and take over the internet by the Usurpers. The carrot will be held out while the big stick is readied to strike down anyone who is opposed.
From this point forward, there will be massive movements of the world's populations due to the ongoing wars and rebellions. This will also occur because of the natural and orchestrated catastrophes. Once several of Earth's largest volcanoes erupt, this scenario will intensify. Be prepared as you are able.
Remember, at this time in history, possession is nine-tenths of the law, as far as survival is concerned. Whatever you can hold against the enemies of humanity will benefit not only you, but everyone. THOSE who know how to live outside the system, as far as the use of technology and basic farming, will become the new heroines and heroes of the future.
Trendwise, if you are able, now is the time to purchase *real* gold and silver coins, and secret them away. However, DO NOT yield to any form of panic. There is no need. Because the scammers are coming out of the woodwork like fleas, seek out ONLY reputable dealers. As well, remember, food and good water, are far more valuable as barter items.
There is a Grand Angelic surprise on the horizon. Take heart, and trust the divine inside you. Trust the magickal and spiritual being you are.
Angelic blessings from Volcano color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">
MORE...Volcano's Angelic Forecast for this week ~ sirenbookstrand.blogspot.com ~
Authoress news and mews ~
Featured at SHAPESHIFTER SEDUCTIONS ~
Fork(ed tongue) in the Road
by Pat Cunningham
"Enough, already," Lamar muttered at the insistent blast of the front doorbell. He opened the door, and swore in Spanish. "Maggie."
"Lamar," she purred. "Is that you? It's been so long. I almost didn't recognize you on your feet." She coolly looked him up and down. He had on a short robe that showed off his smooth chest and lovely legs and only just covered the spot where normal males carried their attributes. She took in his flush and tousled dark hair and added, "I hope I'm interrupting."
Featured at ROMANCE WRITERS BEHAVING BADLY ~
Today is Full Moon Monday...
...yes we are expecting a full moon tonight.
By Mary Quast
The other day I looked up and noticed the moon during the day. I wasn't the only one who noticed but also my kindergartner; he them bombarded me with questions about the moon and why we could see it during the day. Anyways, here is a poem I wrote. It may or may not be about the moon... your guess.
BIG CAT SNARL AND SNARK ~
Gee, four hundred classmates at Columbia University, as interviewed by Fox news, can't remember the prez... can't remember him in a class, or at graduation... there are no pics, no vids... no one from his hazy dazy school days has come forth and talked about knowing him, or even seeing him... gee, can anyone say manchurian candidate?
The most powerful weapon is the human soul on fire. ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
~ May the April showers drench you in happiness and prosperity!
~ MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE ENOUGH ~
And, May you live the dreams of your heart, not in interesting times...
Magical, Fantastical Moon kisses from the Kougar...
Place a flame at the north point of the stone circle, saying:
"I give honour to the Lands of my Gods,
Ancient and good.
And the power that is within them.
Hail Odin!"
Put a flame at the east point, saying:
"I give honour to the Winds of my Gods
Ever fresh and new,
And the power that is within them.
Hail Odin!"
Put a flame at the south point, saying:
"I give honour to the warm Sun of my Gods,
Ever giving of new life,
And the power that is within.
Hail Odin!"
Put a flame at the west point, saying:
"I give honour to the seas and lakes
And rivers of my Gods,
And the power that is within them.
Hail Odin!"
Stand before the altar and place a light before the Rune of Odin, saluting and saying:
"hail Odin, giver of victory,
Thou who knowest the runes of wisdom,
And of power.
Bring me again to be with thy people.
Those who know the strength of thy
Ancient ways.
Give me of thy wisdom.
That I may better honour thee
As I prosper in thy name.
Hail Odin!"
Add any other items which you might wish to mention to Odin, and then drink in his honour. Next place a light before the Rune of Thor, saluting and saying:
"Hail Thor, laughing, red-bearded
Thundered and guardian.
Bring me again to be with thy people.
Those who know the joy and robust power of thine
Ancient Ways.
Give me of thy might, and of thy laughter
That I may better honour thee
As I prosper in thy name.
Hail Thor!"
Add any other items which you might wish to mention before Thor, and then drink in his honour. Next place a light before the Rune of Freya, saluting and saying:
"Hail Freya the Fair One,
Beautiful enchantress, jewel of the Gods
And chooser of the mortals who are most honoured.
Bring me again to be with thy people.
Those who know the magick and beauty
And triumph of thine Ancient Ways.
Give me of thy pride and persuasion
That I may better honour thee
As I prosper in thy name.
Hail Freya!"
Add any other items which you might wish to mention before Freya, and then drink in her honour.
Stand silently for a long while, meditating on the presences of the Old Ones, the Gods of our folk who are eternally young, eternally powerful, and returning again here and now to cast their sacred presences about you. Sense their power about you. Now is the time to add any words which you would deem appropriate, for yourself or for others.
When you feel that the rite should end, face the runes of the Gods and take up the chalice one last time, saying:
"O Great Ones of High Valhalla,
I give honour to thee
For being with me here.
May some of thy presences
Remain within me as I leave.
And be ever near me, as well as with
Those who are my true people.
To thee do I drink this toast,
And pour this libation.
Hail Freya! (salute)
Hail Thor! (salute)
Hail Odin! (salute)
Pour some of the drink out before the altar, and drink what remains. Then put out the candles at the North, East, South and West. Stand before the altar with your arms out, saying:
"I thank thee, O Great Ones.
The rite is ended."
Credit: candle-magic.blogspot.com
While I firmly believe in the importance of taking EPHESIANS 5:11 and MATTHEW 10:16 to heart and trying to apply it on a daily basis here, I also believe there's such a thing as "going too far" sometimes.
At all times, we must make sure that our spiritual anchor is the Holy Bible and God's Word as contained in that wonderful Book. Otherwise, we end up doing things ass-backwards (excuse me) by attempting to make the prophecies contained within the Scriptures fit within these "observed connections" rather than the other way around.
Recently, a reader left a comment that really challenged me. No, it convicted me in a sense to the point where I couldn't simply ignore it outright, but had to pray about it, think about it, and be completely honest with myself.
In fact, if I'm being completely honest, I've thought about it a lot for the past few days. I don't know if this is genuinely from the Holy Spirit warning me to stop this kind of research into "Synchro-Pop" once and for all (because it's ultimately leading us astray), or if it's Satan attacking me and trying to get me to think that because we're getting too close and exposing his evil schemes more than he'd like us to.
The comment I'm referring to was:
"You're excitement is palpable regarding the deciphering of secular media. However, given the definition and verse below, where does one draw the line as a Christian when seeking to understand future events by interpreting 'occult' messages or agendas? No offense, but might you be involved in interpreting 'omens'? Thanks, Omen = an occurrence of phenomenon believed to portend a future event (Webster Dictionary) Deut. 18:10 10 'Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in [a] the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,'"
Great point, right? Tough to argue with Scripture. To which I replied:
"I get your concern. Believe me I do. That verse has always been on my mind since I began writing about such things. In the end, it's about exposing the darkness of deceit with the light of truth and applying the clear command we find in Matthew 10:16. Plus, I've reconciled this with the fact that all of these 'observations/studies' point to our Lord and Creator if not Jesus Christ, and, more importantly, I use them to encourage others (prophecy skeptics and/or the unsaved) to get right with God and make a decision for Christ by attempting to demonstrate that if this really is God using anything and everything within His creation to get people's attention (one last time) before it's too late, then maybe this is an ok practice. Like I said, that's always been on my mind as well as the verse where Jesus Himself tells the believer to depart from Him even though they claimed to have prophesied in His name. Sobering thoughts, but I trust that if God doesn't want me to write about such things anymore (especially if these are 'wrong' or if I'm 'doing it wrong'), then He'll let me know somehow or stop me from continuing down the wrong path or from leading people astray. Great question/point though. Would love to see what others have to say. Thanks for stopping by and for commenting."
I truly believe every word I wrote in that response. This entire study of Synchro-Pop hinges on the very real phenomenon known as Synchronicity, or what Carl Jung called "the Hand of God". I look at this phenomenon and see it as God's way of attempting to use anything and everything within His wonderful creation that He can to try to get people's attention one last time before it's too late. It certainly would fit what we know about Him as being a loving God who doesn't want to see anyone perish just as we're told:
2 PETER 3:9 -- "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
Yes, I know I'm speculating here and making that conclusion on my own, but because we know that He loves us so much that He doesn't want to see anyone perish, then is it really so far-fetched to assume that God would use anything and everything within His marvelous creation to try and get the same message across? I mean, it's almost like He's trying to whack us over the head with these messages -- these truths -- so that even those of us who love Him dearly, but maybe perhaps aren't into studying prophecy as much as we should, can find the same "signs that the end times are upon us" just by noticing things like the Synchro-Pop examples I've referenced here in the past week.
The analogy I like to use is one that involves a past Valentine's Day. My wife went to bed the night before and I spent a few hours decorating the entire house from top to bottom with balloons, flowers, and little cut-out pictures with little notes on them. I even made a path of little heart-shaped footprints that led her from the bedroom door upstairs all the way downstairs and through the whole house until they reached the gift I had waiting for her. My point is that no matter where she turned, no matter where she looked, there was evidence all around her pointing to the same conclusion -- that she was very special and that today was a very special day.
That's what I think our Heavenly Father might be doing here with all this Synchronicity and Synchro-Pop stuff because in the end it all points to the same conclusion when you get right down to it -- that we're all standing on the cusp of the beginning of the Tribulation, the rise of the Antichrist, and the One World Government because it's much closer than we even realize.
At least, that's what I've believed about this phenomenon since I began exploring it back in December 2008. I have to believe it! Again, our Heavenly Father used a tragedy like 9/11, a false prophet like Nostradamus, and the occult to get my attention so I often wonder if this is sort of the same thing. Still, the challenge is to always make sure that God's Word as found in the Holy Bible remains our spiritual anchor at all times, otherwise, we'll go so far down the rabbit hole that we'll become useless here on Earth because we've lost our spiritual bearings.
Those last few paragraphs are what I told myself in response to the comments left by concerned readers. For awhile, they even quieted my spirit and I felt at peace with the conclusions I had reached. Yet, once more, the subject came up again from a different person a few days later, and this time I was wondering if this was God's response to what I wrote: "I trust that if God doesn't want me to write about such things anymore (especially if these are 'wrong' or if I'm 'doing it wrong'), then He'll let me know somehow or stop me from continuing down the wrong path or from leading people astray."
Consequently, I was forced to revisit this serious subject all over again. Why is it such a "serious subject" you ask? Because I can't shake the following verses, which I suspect might have something to do with all this:
DEUTERONOMY 18:9-14 -- "Now if you enter into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to act according to the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you one who cleanses his son or his daughter by fire, one who practices divination, one who acts as a diviner, ONE WHO PRACTICES ORNITHOMANCY, a sorcerer, one who casts spells, a ventriloquist and ONE WHO OBSERVES SIGNS and one who inquires of the dead. For anyone who does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God, for it is because of these abominations that the Lord your God will destroy them utterly from before you. You shall be perfect before the Lord your God. For these nations that you are about ti dispossess, these will hear omens and divinations, but as for you, the Lord your God has not granted you to do so." (emphasis mine)
MATTHEW 7:21-23 -- Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. MANY WILL SAY TO ME IN THAT DAY, LORD, LORD, HAVE WE NOT PROPHESIED IN THY NAME? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? AND THEN WILL I PROFESS UNTO THEM, I NEVER KNEW YOU: DEPART FROM ME, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY." (emphasis mine)
Ironically, I EVEN WROTE ABOUT MY CONCERNS ABOUT STUDYING THIS WAY BACK IN EARLY JANUARY, but eventually got drawn back into the study of this seducing spirit (is that what we're really dealing with here?). Worse, ONE OF THE VERY FIRST ENTRIES I WROTE ABOUT SYNCHRONICITY/SYNCHRO-POP was a pretty clear warning (looking back and re-reading it) that this probably wasn't the best thing to be investing my time with. Maybe I should've taken my own advice back then.
Well, leave it to our incredible God (or, again, is it Satan?) to use yet another individual (3 total now!) to force me to consider some things on the entire matter. I received a message from a reader via Facebook that simply said:
"Hi Jeff! I ran across this, at a rather unreliable site, however, I think it should serve as a bit of a wake up call to all of us who have been 'studying' these crop circles. Most of it is the usual mumbo jumbo from the dark spiritual side. However, what they view the purpose of those circles for, is something we have never heard before. Maybe adding to the spreading of those images and subsequent analysis, isn't such a 'great idea' regardless of our intentions. Please give it some prayerful thought, we are!"
HERE'S THE COMMENTARY HE REFERENCED AND ASKED ME TO READ.
The idea that I could've been disobeying God's clear commands all this time while also encouraging others here to research and study other possibly forbidden practices like the study of Synchronicity pains me to no end. I want to please my God! I want to bring glory and honor to Him at all times -- not shame! Is this what I've allowed to happen!?!
It's the fine line between exoteric and esoteric knowledge that if crossed can open Pandora's Box. Men and women have always wanted to know the future, to be foretold of the vagaries of nature. For that very reason, we believe in superstitions and in supernatural powers. The skill or act of telling what will happen in the future or discovering something that is unknown or secret by seemingly magical methods gives a person -- who is believed to have the ability -- a special status.
The oldest profession in any culture or society could have been that of a soothsayer. That's why I'm beginning to think my initial assessment of studying this phenomenon was spot on. If a majority of people can't identify and make these same "connections" and "observations" for themselves, then isn't that like elevating myself to some sort of "preferred status" and crossing over into the esoteric realm? If it is, then I need to cease and desist immediately!
Wow! On one hand, I wonder if this truly is cause for concern or if it's just Satan trying to cause doubt. On the other hand, I see this as our Heavenly Father being right on cue to perhaps gently nudge me in the right direction and get me back on track so to speak. Not that it's entirely wrong to warn people about the spiritual and Satanic agenda at work in Hollywood and pop culture in order to prevent it from seducing us and having its intended influence, but maybe my journeys down the rabbit hole in regards to all the Synchro-Pop nonsense in our daily existence is going too far.
Plus, I'm beginning to wonder if these cases of Synchro-Pop have at their core a dangerous premise that we can "hear God's voice", not through His Word, but through extra-Biblical revelation. Churches are currently filled with people who think they are hearing a "word from the Lord", often contradicting one another and causing endless wrangling and divisions within the Body of Christ. That has been me to an extent these past few weeks, and what I fear I may have done inadvertently.
God's Word is to be our authoritative source of wisdom because it is "God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17). If the Bible is sufficient to thoroughly equip us for every good work, how could we think we need to seek a mystical experience in addition to it?
At the same time, "the only thing that has kept me from writing Synchronicity/Synchro-Pop off completely "is the fact that I know that the things that are most important for Satan to distort are the things that are true; the things that have the most impact and power. The Gospel is obviously number one, and then also the idea of Jesus Christ coming back again. Everything is fair game to him including these sorts of things.
As Christians, I recognize that we MUST look at what the enemy is doing because the end times has a component to it that focuses on Christianity very precisely, and that's this idea that there's going to be this great lie, a great delusion coming -- the Great Deception -- and if you're not well versed in what's going on and especially in knowing the Word itself (knowing it inside and out and understanding that if someone throws something at you that no matter what it is it will NEVER negate the facts of the Bible) you're going to find yourself in serious trouble.
That's why if you leave out things like Astronomy (that's in the Bible), Numerics/Numerology (that's in the Bible), the Nephilim giants (that's in the Bible), and Symbolism (that's in the Bible too!) you're disarming yourself and leaving yourself vulnerable to becoming on the "the elect" who's deceived during the coming Great Deception because ALL OF THESE THINGS have been stolen and usurped by Satan to use against us.
We have to know that this stuff is there or else the lie will work. That's why I'm so concerned about all of this lately. I get that, but I don't want to cross any line. I don't want to disobey God either. Lord have mercy and forgive me if I have sinned in this regard.
I think from now on I'll try to reign it in some. At least, that's the lesson I think I'm supposed to learn from this -- analyze, assess, watch, and warn. However, don't get so wrapped up in EVERY LITTLE DETAIL because that's going too far.
So, the bottom line is that while all the examples of Synchro-Pop can be seducing it's not the kind of seduction that leads to anything good other than the edification of this "Global Consciousness" idea that "we are all one with the universe" or that "we are god, and god is within" even.
In that sense it also borders on PANTHEISM, which literally means "God is All" and "All is God" and it is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing abstract God; or that the Universe, or nature, and God are equivalent.
An oft-cited feature of Pantheism is that each individual human, being part of the Universe or nature, is part of God. One issue discussed by Pantheists is how free will may exist in this framework. In answer, the following analogy is sometimes given (particularly by Classical Pantheists): "You are to God as an individual blood cell in your vein is to you."
The analogy further maintains that while a cell may be aware of its own environs, and even has some choices (free will) between right and wrong (killing a bacterium, becoming malignant, or perhaps just doing nothing, among countless others), it likely has little conception of the greater being of which it is a part.
That doesn't sound like the Christianity I know let alone my relationship to the Most High. Besides, if we took a Pantheistic view of God and our world then it would completely contradict everything we know and believe since as Augustine wrote, "Concerning the rational animal himself, - that is, man, - what more unhappy belief can be entertained than that a part of God is whipped when a boy is whipped? And who, unless he is quite mad, could bear the thought that parts of God can become lascivious, iniquitous, impious, and altogether damnable? In brief, why is God angry at those who do not worship Him, since these offenders are parts of Himself?"
So, while I began this personal study excited over a new discovery I have now come to a place where I no longer believe that the study of Synchronicity/Synchro-Pop is a good thing. I'm still fascinated by it all, but it is too close to Pantheism and therefore incompatible with my sacred belief system I know in my heart and mind to be true. This time I'll know better to take my own advice and conclusions here to heart.
At the end of the day, it's pure New Age, Occult, Luciferian, Satanic garbage and not something I want to be promoting any longer this late in the game. Besides, I wonder if I'm inadvertently opening a doorway to the demonic spiritual realm that can influence me and my family by dabbling with such things.
Can you tell I'm really at odds over this? Why am I having such an issue with this today and in recent days? I wonder what a guy like Russ Dizdar would say about all of this?
Don't worry, I'll still analyze and assess the hidden agendas present in movies and television that speak to this "mass conditioning" concept courtesy of those pushing for a New World Order (a.k.a. the prophesied One World Government system), but I think that's probably where I might stop until God moves me again to write about such things with a laser-like focus and attention to detail as many of the Synchro-Pop pieces here this past week have demonstrated.
Perhaps in the final analysis, and as an appropriate bookend to each and every single piece I've written about this phenomenon, I should make a conscious decision to say goodbye to Synchro-Pop on the same day the world said goodbye to the King of Pop.
RECOMMENDED READING:
The Great Deception?
LORD HAVE MERCY AND FORGIVE ME...
News summary 8/17/2014:
My sincerest apologies for the be killing and in a state that has transpired at the same time as 8/15/2014 a propos the GMG website.
The ill-defined LGG "Acuteness" email and post from the LGG donor faction about me has been irreverent from LGG online; correspondingly I carry irreverent my response to this post.
I sent a charge with a quiet unconditional to Angela and her partner at 1pm on 8/16/2014. Critically it was not acknowledged. They trade in presented a charge that would shell permanently running out the GMG ministry. Critically, we may well not welcome that. We carry chosen to move on seperately.
I know that various of you carry contacted me seeking catch to the later than GMG studies and wording. I crucially no longer carry catch to this information and correspondingly cannot revamp the GMG studies for you but with the help of a reader - some of the old studies carry been found here and there in on-line control webarchive.org - woohoo!
My partner and I purchased the arm www.GoodMorningGirls.org quiet (4) existence ago with I started this ministry and we stationary receive that heading and it's legitimate sort.
As it has interminably been, it is impartial me (and my partner with he is not at work) on the WLW end; so cheer be dogged with us from the time when we work to renovate the GMG ministry. It will take some time and thought.
I will go on here and there in statute what I've interminably done...and this will speedily be quiet.
Drastically Reaction,
Courtney
Exclusive Post:
If you are coming quiet from GoodMorningGirls.org welcome!
I woke up this break of day to the especially collect that you did! Hearty Emergence Girls has been renamed!
My unparalleled require with this is, I founded the ministry of Hearty Emergence Girls off-line in 2007, on this blog in 2009 and on its own site in 2010. I stepped down from copy this later than satisfactorily and in two shakes of a lamb's tail time was the chief new my passwords eliminating my catch to the wording.
Now the wording has all been inspired weak spot my permission to a new site! WOW!
I am the property holder of the website so the Hearty Emergence Girls ministry will go on.
The Ministry of Hearty Emergence Girls will go on here and there in starting with the book of Esthermore trivia coming speedily - but here's a talk out of turn sign at what I carry anticipated for the nominate.
Cleave to you ever read control the Bible from area to cover?
The Bible has been read out biting and recorded. It takes a total of 70 hours and 40 account to be there to the good Bible. If you do the arithmetic and outlet that stem by 365 days you get 12 account a day. 12 account a day! That's it. In impartial 12 account a day, we may well read or be there to the good Bible area to area -
every.
lone.
year.
Now for some of us, this is not likely in the function of with we read scripture we aren't rock-strewn to fleck read it but equally we picture to chew over on it and let it soak in. Others of us are in Bible study groups anywhere we are statute an in-depth study of God's word book by book. We may never make it control the good Bible.
So I am not proposing we read control the Bible in a year. That's impartial series some of us up for injury.
Sooner, I picture to summon you to read impartial one time a day from God's word with me - that's top-quality neighboring 5 account of reading a day.
Grant are 929 chapters in the Old Memorial and 260 chapters in the New Memorial. This gives a total of 1,189 chapters.
If we read one time a day - it will take me 3 1/2 existence to blog control the good Bible.
This is my notion as the rhymester here-and I comfort you will seam me. This will take some yet grit for me to do. All I ask of you, my reader, is that you take it month by month (or day by day and week by week).
In our fast paced establishment that may band neighboring a wild want time to sticky tape to this...but tailor. Do what you can. You can seam me for a month or two. Rob a break and start back whenever you can. I'll impartial be here and there in plugging disallowed for populate who picture to seam me.
Let's impartial do what we can in the function of this is not an work to earn Jesus' thanksgiving. We are ahead of avowed remedy in the function of of his fine on the go on a journey. This is an work to know God top-quality reverberatingly, to spring in righteousness, improvement with the Sovereign document and to be women living well.
I will be here and there in protection you sensible every transport of the way. Some will fall off the band wagon ill-timed - impartial hop back on whenever you can. Others will seam us in-between. I'll archive my old posts and make them really easy for populate who seam us in the interior to go back at the end and do the protuberance. I'll alike carry a check-list for populate who picture to dot off which books they carry washed up and which ones they picture to go back and do.
HOW Decision WE DO THIS TOGETHER?
Leader, I'll aid a lecture reading program every Sunday starting Sunday, August 31st and post it here and there in and on my expressive media (at Facebook, Bring in, Instagram, and Pinterest).
Then on Wednesdays, (mid-week) I will review in with you all here and there in on the blog with a devotional that goes downward embankment this week's reading.
Then on Fridays, I will carry a winding sheet up for the week post with other instrument and other moist bits and pieces - most likely a video or two.
DOES THIS Implication THAT THE BLOG - WOMEN Kick Pleasantly IS CHANGING?
No - this is in bonus to my normal lecture posts. I will resume to carry a Monday series fixed on Honeymoon, Parenting or Homemaking and I will resume to post one recipe a week.
In the role of DO I Call for TO PARTICIPATE?
Your Bible (I'll be using the ESV sort)
Optional: a journal and pen to write out your reflections and prayers.
DO YOU Cleave to A Indisputable Sheet FOR Understanding Drink Each CHAPTER?
Yes and No.
Understanding God's word does not be responsible for to be synchronize and complex. If time is temporary - honestly read your time for each day and pray. Let God speak to you control your reading of His word and for that reason you speak to God about what you carry read, your confessions and desires.
Optional Surplus METHOD:
Series OUT YOUR Piece Understanding IN YOUR JOURNAL:
S- THE S STANDS FOR SCRIPTURE- you jaggedly write out the scripture......you'll be astonished at what God will reveal to you impartial by plunder the time to conscious down and actually write out what you are reading!
O- THE O STANDS FOR OBSERVATION- what do you see in the verses that you're reading. Who is the audience? Is communicate a re-emergence of words? In the role of words stand out to you?
A- THE A STANDS FOR APPLICATION- this is with God's Contract becomes confess. In the role of is God saying to me today? How can I bring to bear what I impartial read to my own confess life? In the role of changes do I be responsible for to make? Is communicate an action that I be responsible for to take?
P- AND Eventually, P STANDS FOR Leniency. Choice God's Contract back to Him. If He has revealed something to you from end to end this time in His Contract, pray about it. Pass on if He has revealed some sin that is in your life.
Requisite I DO THIS ALONE? OR ASK A FRIEND?
You can do this at sea, smooth as glass your partner, your children or with friends from church, college, your homeschool group, or work.
If you carry been nearly this ministry at Women Kick Pleasantly want or you carry a even of my book - for that reason you know that I am the founder of the trustworthiness ministry named Hearty Emergence Girls.
Having friends to deposit us sensible in our yet epoch is such a blessing and sometimes we impartial be responsible for the contraption in place to carry the resolve to ask our friends.
In the role of IS Hearty Emergence GIRLS?
Hearty Emergence Girls Group is a group of women who love Jesus and love their sisters in Christ. THE To start with Device IS TO Sustain Each One-time Accountable IN THEIR Piece Silence Time of year Next to GOD.
In arrears you carry your yet time, each break of day you email (text or Facebook) the group impartial to say - "I read xyz in my yet time today." The primary accomplice to email for the day begins the "wind", for that reason anybody exceedingly responds control out the day to say what they learned from end to end their yet time. Remember tailor, not anybody will be proficient to review in every lone day.
I AM More willingly than A "Hearty Emergence Girl" - HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT?
I am warm about women essence in the word and the presumption of trustworthiness.
When I formed the necessary survey of Hearty Emergence Girls, it was designed to be for the most part an trustworthiness group. So a Hearty Emergence Girls group does not carry to all be reading the especially means. I know of various groups (by means of my own) with members who are each using stand-in instrument for their yet epoch. Some are statute Kay Arthur or Beth Moore studies, some are statute current studies and others are using "Understand control the Bible" reading procedure.
In arrears 2 decades of leading Bible studies, one thing I carry learned, that is inclusive, is that we all conflict to become peaceful compliant in our spiritual improvement with God. So if you be responsible for trustworthiness, ask a friend to seam you and sculpt a "Hearty Emergence Girls" group.
Not the break of day type - for that reason sculpt a "Hearty Twilight Girls" group. Beside your elementary hits the mitigate, send your group a quick email splitting up what you read in scripture that day and for that reason say "Hearty Twilight".
Sheen.
DO I Cleave to TO Record OR SIGN-UP?
Nope. On the primary Sunday of each month, I will post that month's reading program and that week's reading program on WomenLivingWell.org. All I ask is that you write to let me know if you are joining me for that month!
I'd love to multiply you downward this travel. If you are not ahead of subscribed to Women Kick Pleasantly - honestly fundamental your email quarters on the sidebar to subscribe. Then all of my posts will come uninterrupted to your email inbox.
Seal off me as we version from the Kick Pleasantly.
"Jesus designed, "whoever snacks of the water that I will expound him will never be dehydrated over. The water that I will expound him will become in him a satisfactorily of water welling up to eternal life." John 14:4"
Bar with the King!
"COURTNEY"
**More trivia coming this Monday!
You impartial unqualified reading Hearty Emergence Girls Announcement! Deem fly-by-night a comment!
Bang here and there in to download the *FREE* ebook posh >>> "THE PROVERBS 31 Living thing - ONE Purity AT A Time of year.">WOMEN Kick Pleasantly Comrade Study Oversee.
Tarot aficionada and esoteric scholar Mary K. Greer (playwright of "Women of the Golden Advantage") posted an fascinating blog on the basic Waite artwork for his order, the Fellowship of the Rose-pink Cantankerous (FRC), which was a consequent of the Pastoral Teaching of the Golden Advantage, itself a consequent of the basic GD (with haunt of the patronizing mystically prepare employees amalgamation it).
A book featuring the basic artwork in full colour, downhearted with Waite's commentaries, necessitate be out in the past the end of the time, according to Greer. Reconsideration out her post, as there's some fascinating information communicate.
Golden Advantage scholar Tony Fuller responded to the revelations with:
"It may be a early bit of a misnomer to say that are revealed. Stage are coloured versions of these cards/Keys (in addition to a spacious mode) which are in unbroken use by the FRC Teaching in London and engrossed. The FRC has continued, near here in need fissure in the same way as Waite durable it. The coloured versions are even patronizing dramatic. Dr R.A. Gilbert optional that some of the cards may conduct romantic drawings for th basic Noble of the Necklaces - Charles Williams, an effective believer of the Inklings (Tolkien, Lewis) was equally a believer of the FRC for haunt living. Past performance can be found in Gilbert's biography of Waite."
Greer supplementary the examination in response:
"The b&w images conduct been making the rounds for living. And dyed versions conduct been in riddle hands but not often co-op with others and afterward usually under inflexible vows of obscurity. Calm, these are the basic artworks-which seems in imitation of a graphic good-looking conclusion to me. Fright, nation enmeshed are spirited to measurement them with someone excessively. That's news!"
"Guest post by Carolyn Lee Boyd"
Imbolc is traditionally the celebration of the very prime stirrings of life in the spring. In New England where I vacation, all the same, Imbolc is the develop of ice. The fair December snowflakes incorporate been shoveled wearing masses and trodden wearing a view of ice mountains and fields of cessation, slick pastiness. Ice dangles from the physically powerful plants and clings to the sides of houses, stone ramparts, and lampposts. For go to regularly days I wished for an brood spring and for the February ice to lukewarm promptly, but now I imagine that an icy Imbolc has its own wisdom to assume.
Be devoted to humans, with our body/mind/spirit, water has three natures as ice/water/steam. If we associate these components, and form ice to be manner our cessation secular bodies, water as our freely flowing minds, and plunder to be our heavenly-bound spirits, the develop of ice is that time while we are best troubled with our physical being. I find that to be true of Imbolc. In time gone by hand over in New England, winter was a time of a struggle for physical life, while go to regularly hurry were best troubled about whether their products stores would confine out and the woodlots transport ample heat until the crops and humanity returned in the spring. At the extraordinarily time, Imbolc in its traditional meaning is the time while Earth's physical being is re-emerging in the form of teen flora and fauna and the prime establish buds and we are reminded that even underneath the actually dead ground new life is blossoming.
Icy Imbolc has further to teach us about our bodies and the physical world. Ice is magic. Its beauty appears in the shiny flecks of color while light hits it at entitlement the well-timed slope, in its cathedral shapes, in the magnetic heat it forms agilely fields. It seems to be reside in the way crystals join in matrimony to build the discomfited, strait, and delicate patterns of snowflakes and ice on the windows. Be devoted to ice, our bodies are moreover abusively beautiful, discomfited, strait, and delicate if we really esteem at them and comprehend all that penury corridor in order to lengthen us each following of life. Ice holds life in the form of water until it can be limitless in the spring to give food to the teenager establish and animal beings in hastily flowing springs, upward water tables, and vernal pools. Our bodies, too, confine life within us until we are regular to bring it forth wearing the world as children, art, mode acts, and other forms of blend.
In the end, ice and Imbolc teach us the condition of being advantage to move amid our three natures at inner self. Ice covers our world while it penury in winter, thaws to water that offers new get going in the spring, afterward rises as fading, becoming gas, all coming together in the water dash that makes life on our soil at all. We, too, penury be advantage to move amid our lion's share, purpose, and spirit selves as we necessitate to and whole each completely deceased our lives. Too normally we incorporate been taught that our bodies, minds, and spirits are discrete and that one is supervisor crucial than the others. Wholly while we are one inter-connected being, manner our Earth's water dash, can we be all that we are doomed to be.
As we repeat for Imbolc, maybe we can lift the time to originate our own ice ritual. If you vacation anywhere where February is icy, why don't you go sheath for a walk and announcement all the ways ice manifests itself. You power glug some drawings or bring a aloof book and make interpretation for poems or educational thoughts. Taking into consideration you come home, imagine what the ice you incorporate seen - and probably touched, tasted, heard, and even smelled -- teaches you. You power even originate artwork about the ice and what it middle to you for your altar to reminiscence yourself of the mystery of ice while the warm days lead you unfashionable to the green and jade world of the spring. This Imbolc, more readily of wishing for the disappearance of ice to unexpected spring, furrow it, learn from it, and revere it.
CAROLYN LEE BOYD is a material services police man, herb gardener, and magazine columnist whose work focuses on the sacred in the tedious lives of women. Her essays, imperfect stories, memoirs, reviews and supervisor incorporate been published in many print and online publications. You can read supervisor of her work at her blog.
Origin: invocation-rituals.blogspot.com
