Friday, October 31, 2008
WD Gann
"The circle of 360 degrees is most important for time cycles and price resistance."
WD Gann
"We use the square of odd and even numbers to get not only the proof of market movements, but the cause."
W. D. Gann, "The Basis of My Forecasting Method" (the Geometrical Angles course),
p. 1
WD Gann
"We use the square of odd and even numbers to get not only the proof of market movements, but the cause."
W. D. Gann, "The Basis of My Forecasting Method" (the Geometrical Angles course),
p. 1
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Log of Daily Activities
Since Monday, I have listened to the same subliminal message every night ("I have completely solved the forex and the financial markets, forever.") for another 3 nights. So, it's been 7 full nights of listening to the same subliminal message. I think I should go for another 7. I've learned in the past two or three days about trading, mainly, and a little bit about how banking works. But, mainly I've been to a few websites and learned some things I didn't really know about the financial markets. For instance, Gann's Square of Nine and how it works. I haven't gotten this down completely, but that's because I'm unwilling to spend the money to learn about how and when price and time "square." I've been to www.tradingfives.com; to www.marketclub.com; to www.sacredscience.com; to dynamictraders.com; to elliot wave international; I listened to bloombergtv; I've been feeling like its time to make an investment in my education as a trader. I haven't done as of yet, but it's time.
www.tradingfives.com
You don't have to predict turning points to make money in the stock market. You only have to recognize one after it has happened.
www.tradingfives.com
www.tradingfives.com
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Greenspan '04 on Interest Rates
“Rising interest rates have been advertised for so long and in so many places that anyone who has not appropriately hedged this position by now is obviously desirous of losing money.”
Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Chairman in a speech 11/19/04.
Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Chairman in a speech 11/19/04.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Sacred Mathematics.
Mathematics, I have decided after some inquiry into the subject, is about unity, or the study of unity. Mathematics is the language of the universe, and the universe means "one song." So, mathematics is the sheet music to this one song. Some people like to listen, but the sheet music provides another way to experience the song. The universe stems from unity, or God, the rootless root of all things.
The physical world, the world of manifestation, is ruled by PHI, the golden ratio. The physical world is nothing but a world of cycles. So, we have the compound word "PHI-cycle", or physical.
Life and death, in cycles, seasons, years, thoughts, feelings, everything goes up, then comes down, goes forth, then comes back, rises, declines, eats, digests, eats again ... The fastest cycles in the universe are known by us as "energy". Science identifies the practically infinite spectrum of electromagnetic energy -- of which only the most narrow range of visible light is accessible to our sight --
Everything happens as it happened before, and as Ezekiel said, "There is no new thing under the sun." "Under then sun is perhaps a reference to the mundane world," the world of manifestation ...
What gets measured gets managed, because everything moves in cycles, and everything returns from whence it came, no matter how long it takes to get there.
Evil must have a willing partner. Evil is not an energy in its own right, but a corruption, a perversion, a twisting, an inversion.
Mathematics, I have decided after some inquiry into the subject, is about unity, or the study of unity. Mathematics is the language of the universe, and the universe means "one song." So, mathematics is the sheet music to this one song. Some people like to listen, but the sheet music provides another way to experience the song. The universe stems from unity, or God, the rootless root of all things.
The physical world, the world of manifestation, is ruled by PHI, the golden ratio. The physical world is nothing but a world of cycles. So, we have the compound word "PHI-cycle", or physical.
Life and death, in cycles, seasons, years, thoughts, feelings, everything goes up, then comes down, goes forth, then comes back, rises, declines, eats, digests, eats again ... The fastest cycles in the universe are known by us as "energy". Science identifies the practically infinite spectrum of electromagnetic energy -- of which only the most narrow range of visible light is accessible to our sight --
Everything happens as it happened before, and as Ezekiel said, "There is no new thing under the sun." "Under then sun is perhaps a reference to the mundane world," the world of manifestation ...
What gets measured gets managed, because everything moves in cycles, and everything returns from whence it came, no matter how long it takes to get there.
Evil must have a willing partner. Evil is not an energy in its own right, but a corruption, a perversion, a twisting, an inversion.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry (Workbook 3)
The square root of 5 is the proportion which opens the way for the family of relationships called the Golden Proportion. The Golden Proportion generates a set of symbols which were used by the Platonic philosophers as a support for the ideal of divine or universal love. It is through the Golden Division that we can contemplate the fact that the Creator planted a regenerative seed which will lift the mortal realms of duality and confusion back towards the image of God.
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry (Workbook 3)
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry (Workbook 3)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957)
The following article is from http://www.orgonelab.org/wrhistory.htm:
Wilhelm Reich's Discoveries
by James DeMeo, Ph.D.
Around 1970, during my studies at the university, I became intrigued with the writings of the late Dr. Wilhelm Reich on the controversial subjects of "biological energy" and his thesis that blocked emotions and sexual repression led to mental illness and neurosis. I met and studied with some of the scientists who had worked with Reich, experienced the orgone therapy Reich had developed, undertook simple experiments, and eventually became the first student at a mainstream American university to earn a Ph.D. for scientifically testing Reich's ideas.
For those who don't know, Reich was one of Freud's inner circle -- some say he was being groomed to take over leadership of the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) -- but he was ultimately centrifuged out of that organization for his social reform and anti-Nazi work. Historians have since documented the general capitulation of German psychoanalysis to the Nazis, but not so Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian-Ukranian of Jewish background. Freud's early work strongly suggested emotions and sexuality were expressions of a tangible energetic "something", but it was Reich who provided the clearest evidence that the Freudian libido was a real energy, discharged during emotional expression and sexual orgasm. Parental or social punishments against the youthful expression of emotion, or of sexual love, led to internalized repression -- but this was accomplished only by literally tightening one's muscles, binding the energy down within the body and creating a powerful conflict of internal bioenergetic tension. If repression became chronic, the consequent chronic internal tension formed a neuro-muscular armoring (much like the metal armor of a Medieval knight) by which the individual protectively walled themself off from an outer world of painful experiences. Reich developed therapeutic methods to help people give up their emotional armor; but he also approached the problem from the social and political side of things, working to pass laws against child abuse, to give women equal rights and pay, and to make divorce and contraceptives more freely available. For this, he was severely attacked by the Nazis, who were in fact very extremist "moral majoritarians".
By the mid-1930s, Reich had been kicked out of the IPA, his books attacked and burned by the Nazis and German Communist Party. He fled to Denmark, and later to Scandinavia; while there, he undertook some of the first bioelectrical experiments on the subject of human sexuality and emotional expression. Reich's bioelectrical experiments proved that human emotion, sexual excitation and orgastic discharge were measurable phenomena. It was a breakthrough discovery in the field of human sexuality and psychology -- but the first of a series of discoveries that would increasingly put him at odds with the prevailing academic/scientific status quo of his time, and of the present time as well. Science of the 1930s was intolerant of open discussion of "orgasm", and Reich's books uncompromisingly focused upon such issues: The Function of the Orgasm, The Sexual Revolution, People in Trouble, and The Mass Psychology of Fascism are classics hardly mention even today.
Reich's later microscopical experiments with ameba would produce other breakthroughs in the biological sciences, in the discovery of the specific process of bionous decay of tissues, which lay at the basis of cancer cell formation. Reich's findings on cancer are directly observable, and not just some speculative theory -- his observations on pre-cancerous cellular processes significantly predated those of George Papanicolaou (of "Pap-test" fame), and Reich believed his scientific priority had in fact been stolen. Unlike conventional medicine, Reich's discovery also revealed the role of emotional-sexual energy in the psychosomatic process. What at first appeared to be only "bioelectricity" was later clarified by Reich as a much more powerful bioenergetic force -- a form of life-energy at work within living organisms, expressing itself as emotion and sexuality, but also directly observable in the microscope as a bluish-glowing field around living blood cells and other substances. This bluish-glowing energy, which he eventually called orgone energy (to preserve its relationship with living processes), was later observed as a blue-glowing aura-like phenomenon around organisms, trees and even mountain ranges. The blue orgone also exists in a free form within the atmosphere -- Reich wrote about an "envelope" of blue-glowing energy surrounding the Earth long before the first satellite photos confirmed it.
Orgone energy in the atmosphere was a physical phenomenon similar to the older ideas of "vital force" and "aether" combined. It behaves lawfully, fills all space, expands and contracts in pulsatory rhythm, and interacts differently with different material substances: every kind of matter appears to attract the orgone, but at different rates of speed. Water strongly attracts the orgone, or life-energy, giving rise to the phenomenon of living water (described classically as "activated" or "structured" water) which is fundamental to life processes, and to the Earth's weather as well. Orgone was also demonstrated in high vacuum (as with "zero-point" vacuum fluctuation, etc.) proving it filled all space much as a cosmic aether. Reich's experiments in these directions led to even more controversy: new methods for ending drought and greening deserts, and new approaches to the problem of nuclear waste detoxification. His experiments suggested a new source of pollution-free energy, which some day might propel humankind to the stars. Fantastic? Sure, but solidly founded upon new experimental tests and observations in the best tradition of the natural sciences.
During the course of Reich's investigations, he developed a special metal-lined enclosure which attracted a high charge of orgone energy inside itself, directly from the atmosphere: the orgone energy accumulator . The orgone accumulator was proven to charge seeds and increase garden plant growth, speed the healing of burns and cuts, and there are a number of physical experiments which demonstrate anomalous phenomena inside the accumulator. Reich observed that certain kinds of low-energy illness, such as cancer, would symptomatically yield to careful application of the orgone accumulator. After he moved to the USA, he treated people experimentally with his combined emotional/orgone-energetic approach. Within a few years, however, he was attacked by US Food and Drug Administration, which was at that time (1955) in an all-out "war" against natural healing methods (the repression of natural healing methods has always been a major agenda of the FDA). The FDA obtained a court injunction which ordered the banning and burning of Reich's books -- any book containing the forbidden word "orgone" was ordered destroyed, even his classics on human sexuality which only mentioned orgone energy in the preface! The FDA factually burned Reich's books and journals on several occasions (most recently in 1962), while Reich was given a 2-year jail sentence for a misdemeanor technicality, dying in prison in 1957. The FDA's attack against Reich constituted a fraud upon the courts and the American people, and the Reich legal case continues to overshadow the better-known Scopes Monkey Trial in constitutional significance, in that an American court authorized the burning of scholarly books and the jailing of scientists for maintaining unorthodox viewpoints.
Today, through the non-profit Orgone Biophysical Research Laboratory (OBRL), Reich's original discoveries are preserved, and presented in summer educational laboratory seminars.
In particular, we welcome younger scientists and students to take an open-minded look at this important body of discovery. In addition, there are several books available on these subjects: The Orgone Accumulator Handbook, and my latest title Saharasia: The 4000 BCE Origins of Child-Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare and Social Violence In the Deserts of the Old World. This latter work was a 7-year global cross-cultural research project which evaluated Reich's sex-economic hypothesis of human behavior, demonstrating the existence of uniformly peaceful human social conditions prior to c.4000 BCE ... but that discussion must wait for another time.
Wilhelm Reich's Discoveries
by James DeMeo, Ph.D.
Around 1970, during my studies at the university, I became intrigued with the writings of the late Dr. Wilhelm Reich on the controversial subjects of "biological energy" and his thesis that blocked emotions and sexual repression led to mental illness and neurosis. I met and studied with some of the scientists who had worked with Reich, experienced the orgone therapy Reich had developed, undertook simple experiments, and eventually became the first student at a mainstream American university to earn a Ph.D. for scientifically testing Reich's ideas.
For those who don't know, Reich was one of Freud's inner circle -- some say he was being groomed to take over leadership of the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) -- but he was ultimately centrifuged out of that organization for his social reform and anti-Nazi work. Historians have since documented the general capitulation of German psychoanalysis to the Nazis, but not so Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian-Ukranian of Jewish background. Freud's early work strongly suggested emotions and sexuality were expressions of a tangible energetic "something", but it was Reich who provided the clearest evidence that the Freudian libido was a real energy, discharged during emotional expression and sexual orgasm. Parental or social punishments against the youthful expression of emotion, or of sexual love, led to internalized repression -- but this was accomplished only by literally tightening one's muscles, binding the energy down within the body and creating a powerful conflict of internal bioenergetic tension. If repression became chronic, the consequent chronic internal tension formed a neuro-muscular armoring (much like the metal armor of a Medieval knight) by which the individual protectively walled themself off from an outer world of painful experiences. Reich developed therapeutic methods to help people give up their emotional armor; but he also approached the problem from the social and political side of things, working to pass laws against child abuse, to give women equal rights and pay, and to make divorce and contraceptives more freely available. For this, he was severely attacked by the Nazis, who were in fact very extremist "moral majoritarians".
By the mid-1930s, Reich had been kicked out of the IPA, his books attacked and burned by the Nazis and German Communist Party. He fled to Denmark, and later to Scandinavia; while there, he undertook some of the first bioelectrical experiments on the subject of human sexuality and emotional expression. Reich's bioelectrical experiments proved that human emotion, sexual excitation and orgastic discharge were measurable phenomena. It was a breakthrough discovery in the field of human sexuality and psychology -- but the first of a series of discoveries that would increasingly put him at odds with the prevailing academic/scientific status quo of his time, and of the present time as well. Science of the 1930s was intolerant of open discussion of "orgasm", and Reich's books uncompromisingly focused upon such issues: The Function of the Orgasm, The Sexual Revolution, People in Trouble, and The Mass Psychology of Fascism are classics hardly mention even today.
Reich's later microscopical experiments with ameba would produce other breakthroughs in the biological sciences, in the discovery of the specific process of bionous decay of tissues, which lay at the basis of cancer cell formation. Reich's findings on cancer are directly observable, and not just some speculative theory -- his observations on pre-cancerous cellular processes significantly predated those of George Papanicolaou (of "Pap-test" fame), and Reich believed his scientific priority had in fact been stolen. Unlike conventional medicine, Reich's discovery also revealed the role of emotional-sexual energy in the psychosomatic process. What at first appeared to be only "bioelectricity" was later clarified by Reich as a much more powerful bioenergetic force -- a form of life-energy at work within living organisms, expressing itself as emotion and sexuality, but also directly observable in the microscope as a bluish-glowing field around living blood cells and other substances. This bluish-glowing energy, which he eventually called orgone energy (to preserve its relationship with living processes), was later observed as a blue-glowing aura-like phenomenon around organisms, trees and even mountain ranges. The blue orgone also exists in a free form within the atmosphere -- Reich wrote about an "envelope" of blue-glowing energy surrounding the Earth long before the first satellite photos confirmed it.
Orgone energy in the atmosphere was a physical phenomenon similar to the older ideas of "vital force" and "aether" combined. It behaves lawfully, fills all space, expands and contracts in pulsatory rhythm, and interacts differently with different material substances: every kind of matter appears to attract the orgone, but at different rates of speed. Water strongly attracts the orgone, or life-energy, giving rise to the phenomenon of living water (described classically as "activated" or "structured" water) which is fundamental to life processes, and to the Earth's weather as well. Orgone was also demonstrated in high vacuum (as with "zero-point" vacuum fluctuation, etc.) proving it filled all space much as a cosmic aether. Reich's experiments in these directions led to even more controversy: new methods for ending drought and greening deserts, and new approaches to the problem of nuclear waste detoxification. His experiments suggested a new source of pollution-free energy, which some day might propel humankind to the stars. Fantastic? Sure, but solidly founded upon new experimental tests and observations in the best tradition of the natural sciences.
During the course of Reich's investigations, he developed a special metal-lined enclosure which attracted a high charge of orgone energy inside itself, directly from the atmosphere: the orgone energy accumulator . The orgone accumulator was proven to charge seeds and increase garden plant growth, speed the healing of burns and cuts, and there are a number of physical experiments which demonstrate anomalous phenomena inside the accumulator. Reich observed that certain kinds of low-energy illness, such as cancer, would symptomatically yield to careful application of the orgone accumulator. After he moved to the USA, he treated people experimentally with his combined emotional/orgone-energetic approach. Within a few years, however, he was attacked by US Food and Drug Administration, which was at that time (1955) in an all-out "war" against natural healing methods (the repression of natural healing methods has always been a major agenda of the FDA). The FDA obtained a court injunction which ordered the banning and burning of Reich's books -- any book containing the forbidden word "orgone" was ordered destroyed, even his classics on human sexuality which only mentioned orgone energy in the preface! The FDA factually burned Reich's books and journals on several occasions (most recently in 1962), while Reich was given a 2-year jail sentence for a misdemeanor technicality, dying in prison in 1957. The FDA's attack against Reich constituted a fraud upon the courts and the American people, and the Reich legal case continues to overshadow the better-known Scopes Monkey Trial in constitutional significance, in that an American court authorized the burning of scholarly books and the jailing of scientists for maintaining unorthodox viewpoints.
Today, through the non-profit Orgone Biophysical Research Laboratory (OBRL), Reich's original discoveries are preserved, and presented in summer educational laboratory seminars.
In particular, we welcome younger scientists and students to take an open-minded look at this important body of discovery. In addition, there are several books available on these subjects: The Orgone Accumulator Handbook, and my latest title Saharasia: The 4000 BCE Origins of Child-Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare and Social Violence In the Deserts of the Old World. This latter work was a 7-year global cross-cultural research project which evaluated Reich's sex-economic hypothesis of human behavior, demonstrating the existence of uniformly peaceful human social conditions prior to c.4000 BCE ... but that discussion must wait for another time.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Double Square
The following is from from http://www.geomancy.org/sacred-geometry/square-root-5/index.html:
The following is from wikipedia:
Double-squares and Squares are terms which point to the uncommon sizes of canvas Vincent van Gogh used exclusively during the final weeks of his life in Auvers, in June and July 1890.[1] To arrive at this size, Van Gogh simply had to combine the legs of two standard sizes: the 50cm-leg from a size 12 and the 100 cm-leg of a size 40 stretcher. The result was a double-square of 50 x 100 cm, and from this size easily the square could be derived by using two 50 cm-legs.
Other artists prior to Van Gogh and admired by him, like Charles-François Daubigny and Puvis de Chavannes,[2] had used canvases of similar proportions, and Van Gogh was aware of this. But his choice of this size points into another direction. His double-squares can easily be combined with size 30 canvases to more elaborated décorations, and his squares extend these possibilities.
One dimension of a double-square canvas is twice the size of the other. In other words, the canvas is the shape of two adjoining squares. The overall effect of this is stability, and the compositional challenge is to avoid monotony.
See pictures of paintings using double square canvas.
The following is from wikipedia:
Double-squares and Squares are terms which point to the uncommon sizes of canvas Vincent van Gogh used exclusively during the final weeks of his life in Auvers, in June and July 1890.[1] To arrive at this size, Van Gogh simply had to combine the legs of two standard sizes: the 50cm-leg from a size 12 and the 100 cm-leg of a size 40 stretcher. The result was a double-square of 50 x 100 cm, and from this size easily the square could be derived by using two 50 cm-legs.
Other artists prior to Van Gogh and admired by him, like Charles-François Daubigny and Puvis de Chavannes,[2] had used canvases of similar proportions, and Van Gogh was aware of this. But his choice of this size points into another direction. His double-squares can easily be combined with size 30 canvases to more elaborated décorations, and his squares extend these possibilities.
One dimension of a double-square canvas is twice the size of the other. In other words, the canvas is the shape of two adjoining squares. The overall effect of this is stability, and the compositional challenge is to avoid monotony.
See pictures of paintings using double square canvas.
Lawlor's Discussion of Ratio and Proportion
It was the goal of many traditional esoteric teachings to lead the mind back toward the sense of Oneness through a succession of proportional relationships.
A proportion is formed from ratios, and a ratio is a comparison of two different sizes, quantities, qualities, or ideas, and is expressed by the formula a:b. A ratio then constitutes a measure of a difference, a difference to which at least one of our sensory faculties can respond. The perceived world is then made up of intricate woven patterns of, as Gregory Bateson says, "differences which make a difference." Not only then is a ratio a:b the fundamental notion for all activities of perception, but it signals one of the most basic processes of intelligence in that it symbolizes a comparison between two things, and is thus the elementary basis for conceptual judgment.
A proportion, however, is more complex, for it is a relationship of equivalence between two ratios, that is to say, one element is to a second element as a third element is to a fourth: a is to b as c is to d, or a:b::c:d. It represents a level of intelligence more subtle and profound than the direct response to a simple difference which is the ratio, and it was known in Greek thought as analogy.
from Lawlor's "Sacred Geometry"
A proportion is formed from ratios, and a ratio is a comparison of two different sizes, quantities, qualities, or ideas, and is expressed by the formula a:b. A ratio then constitutes a measure of a difference, a difference to which at least one of our sensory faculties can respond. The perceived world is then made up of intricate woven patterns of, as Gregory Bateson says, "differences which make a difference." Not only then is a ratio a:b the fundamental notion for all activities of perception, but it signals one of the most basic processes of intelligence in that it symbolizes a comparison between two things, and is thus the elementary basis for conceptual judgment.
A proportion, however, is more complex, for it is a relationship of equivalence between two ratios, that is to say, one element is to a second element as a third element is to a fourth: a is to b as c is to d, or a:b::c:d. It represents a level of intelligence more subtle and profound than the direct response to a simple difference which is the ratio, and it was known in Greek thought as analogy.
from Lawlor's "Sacred Geometry"
Cinammon
Description
Cinnamon is the dried inner bark of various evergreen trees belonging to the genus Cinnamomum. At harvest, the bark is stripped off and put in the sun, where it curls into the familiar form called "quills."
Uses
Cinnamon in the ground form is used in baked dishes, with fruits, and in confections. Cassia is predominant in the spice blends of the East and Southeast Asia. Cinnamon is used in moles, garam masala, and berbere.
http://www.mccormick.com/content.cfm?ID=8291
Cinnamon is the dried inner bark of various evergreen trees belonging to the genus Cinnamomum. At harvest, the bark is stripped off and put in the sun, where it curls into the familiar form called "quills."
Uses
Cinnamon in the ground form is used in baked dishes, with fruits, and in confections. Cassia is predominant in the spice blends of the East and Southeast Asia. Cinnamon is used in moles, garam masala, and berbere.
http://www.mccormick.com/content.cfm?ID=8291
Ancient Geometry
Ancient geometry rests on no a priori axioms or assumptions. Unlike Euclidean and the more recent geometries, the starting point of ancient geometric thought is not a network of intellectual definitions or abstractions, but instead a meditation upon a metaphysical Unity, followed by an attempt to symbolize visually and to contemplate the pure, formal order which springs forth from this incomprehensible Oneness. It is the approach to the starting point of the geometric activity which radically separates what we may call the sacred from the mundane or secular geometries. Ancient geometry begins with One, while modern mathematics and geometry begin with Zero.
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Transformation
Transformation can be seen to occur by means of three general processes: the Generative, symbolized by the square root of 2; the Formative, symbolized by the square root of 3; and the Regenerative, symbolized by the square root of 5, and its related function of phi, φ, the Golden Mean.
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry
Vesica Piscis
The overlapping circles -- an excellent representation of a cell, or any unity in the midst of becoming dual -- form a fish-shaped central area which is one source of the symbolic reference to Christ as a fish. Christ, as a universal function, is symbolically this region which joins together heaven and earth, above and below, creator and creation. The fish is also the symbolic designation of the Piscean Age, and consequently the Vesica is the dominant geometric figure for this period of cosmic and human evolution, and is the major thematic source for the cosmic temples of this age in the west, the Gothic cathedrals.
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry
Robert Lawlor, "Sacred Geometry"
There are a number of diagrams in the literature of Sacred Geometry all related to the single idea known as the "Squaring of the Circle". This is a practice which seeks with only the usual compass and straight-edge, to construct a square which is virtually equal in perimeter to the circumference of a given circle. Because the circle is an incommensurable figure based on π, it is impossible to draw a square more than approximately equal to it. Never the less the Squaring of the Circle is of great importance to the geometer-cosmologist because for him the circle represents pure, unmanifest spirit space, while the square represents the manifest and comprehensible world. When a near-equality is drawn between the circle and the square, the infinite is able to express its dimensions or qualities through the finite.
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry
Friday, October 17, 2008
The Root Principle according to Robert Lawlor
The root principle is expressed in our bodies in the intestinal function, which is a transformation of food substance into energy. It is again expressed in the convolutions of the brain, which is related to the intestine in that it transforms crude, amorphous mental stuff into reason and understanding. The phallic or procreative power is implicit in the root, and the sexual function as well as the digestive function acts to root us in the physical world. We can see in the ancient agrarian practice of erecting stone monoliths, the phallic, mineral roots of the earth, the function of attracting downwards the fertile, cosmic ambiance. On the other hand, lightning is the root of the sky, transforming carbon and nitrogen into compounds assimilable for plants.
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Glory of Saturn
Saturn is both respected and feared in India. In mythology, he is the rejected son of the Sun, the dark lord of the night sky whose glance brings limitless grief. Mars, the other great malefic in the Vedic system, signals quick and unexpected disasters (an accident, a wound). Because Saturn moves slowly through the sky, you have plenty of time to contemplate the pain he is brining you: a slowly developing degenerative disease or years of poverty or loneliness. Mars strikes suddenly as if with a sword: Saturn grinds you down over time like a millstone crushing grain.
Yet, Saturn's gifts are the greatest any planet can offer because no one can take them away from you. Jupiter can give wealth; a failing economy may swallow it. Venus may give beauty; time will wear it away. Mercury can give intelligence, but eventually memory fails. Saturn, however, gives self-discipline, patience, persistence, frugality, and wisdom. When he is pleased, he also gives long life. It is hard to earn the grace of Saturn. But when you do, you gain the strength to bear any grief or loss that life may bring and the wisdom to serve others humbly and effectively.
Linda Johnsen, The Glory of Saturn, from The Mountain Astrologer, Oct/Nov 2008, Issue #141
Yet, Saturn's gifts are the greatest any planet can offer because no one can take them away from you. Jupiter can give wealth; a failing economy may swallow it. Venus may give beauty; time will wear it away. Mercury can give intelligence, but eventually memory fails. Saturn, however, gives self-discipline, patience, persistence, frugality, and wisdom. When he is pleased, he also gives long life. It is hard to earn the grace of Saturn. But when you do, you gain the strength to bear any grief or loss that life may bring and the wisdom to serve others humbly and effectively.
Linda Johnsen, The Glory of Saturn, from The Mountain Astrologer, Oct/Nov 2008, Issue #141
Monday, October 13, 2008
Chakra Seven
Anodea Judith,
"When I first compiled all the information for this book, I felt overwhelmed. Even when I had finished the first draft, I got headaches thinking about how I was going to fit all that information into a single manuscript. It was hard to think clearly about how to pull it all together. Too much information without proper organization , can be overwhelming.
When excess energy flows to the crown (as it does naturally with the Schizoid/Creative structure, or during stress or crisis), confusion, frustration or dissociation can result. This happens to all of us from time to time, but when the stress is chronic, these states become part of the operating system. Then the crown chakra goes into a state of rapid free spin, similar to the obsessive state of chakra six. We have an excess of energy in the head but cannot think straight. We have too much information, yet do not know what to do. Many people get headaches when this happens, as the upward pressure builds up at the crown, unreleased. When the body is frozen, it is less able to handle a charge, and the excess goes to the head, where it creates confusion. At this point, it is time to do some grounding, meditation or vigorous exercise."
from Eastern Body, Western Mind, "Chakra Seven"
"When I first compiled all the information for this book, I felt overwhelmed. Even when I had finished the first draft, I got headaches thinking about how I was going to fit all that information into a single manuscript. It was hard to think clearly about how to pull it all together. Too much information without proper organization , can be overwhelming.
When excess energy flows to the crown (as it does naturally with the Schizoid/Creative structure, or during stress or crisis), confusion, frustration or dissociation can result. This happens to all of us from time to time, but when the stress is chronic, these states become part of the operating system. Then the crown chakra goes into a state of rapid free spin, similar to the obsessive state of chakra six. We have an excess of energy in the head but cannot think straight. We have too much information, yet do not know what to do. Many people get headaches when this happens, as the upward pressure builds up at the crown, unreleased. When the body is frozen, it is less able to handle a charge, and the excess goes to the head, where it creates confusion. At this point, it is time to do some grounding, meditation or vigorous exercise."
from Eastern Body, Western Mind, "Chakra Seven"
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Chakra Two
Emotions are, according to Anodea Judith, at the heart of chakra two, the sacral plexus chakra.
"Emotions are inherently tied in with movement. We repress feelings by restricting movement, and conversely, movement can free the emotional holding that causes chronic tension [and depression]. We can think of the basis of emotion as wanting to move away from that which is painful and toward that which is pleasurable. Emotions are a complex instinctual reaction to pleasure and pain. They begin in the unconscious through movement, are allowed to come into consciousness. To block an emotion, we restrict movement. Then the emotion may remain in the unconscious -- meaning we are unaware of it -- yet still wreak havoc on our lives. It is acting from unconscious motivations that so often gets people in trouble.
"It takes energy to repress emotion, so releasing emotions releases tension (if done appropriately). Absence of tension creates a harmonic glow within the body/mind. This creates pleasure of an even deeper level, allowing deeper connections with others."
"Emotions are inherently tied in with movement. We repress feelings by restricting movement, and conversely, movement can free the emotional holding that causes chronic tension [and depression]. We can think of the basis of emotion as wanting to move away from that which is painful and toward that which is pleasurable. Emotions are a complex instinctual reaction to pleasure and pain. They begin in the unconscious through movement, are allowed to come into consciousness. To block an emotion, we restrict movement. Then the emotion may remain in the unconscious -- meaning we are unaware of it -- yet still wreak havoc on our lives. It is acting from unconscious motivations that so often gets people in trouble.
"It takes energy to repress emotion, so releasing emotions releases tension (if done appropriately). Absence of tension creates a harmonic glow within the body/mind. This creates pleasure of an even deeper level, allowing deeper connections with others."
Anodea Judith on Chakra One
In the chapter "Chakra One" of her book "Eastern Body, Western Mind" Anodea Judith talks about the problem of "upper chakra dominance."
"Experiences that threaten survival intensify the upward movement of energy in the body. When the body is neither safe nor comfortable, the child redirects her attention away from the unpleasant experience and cuts off bodily sensations. The downward, grounding current is inhibited as much as possible, directing most of the energy to the head. Such a person may be physically numb and fail to notice when she needs to eat or rest, both of which are first chakra maintenance programs. As a result she may contract frequent illnesses -- listening to the body only when it is yelling too loud to be ignored. She may not read emotions clearly (since emotions have bodily sensations) and consequently be unaware of her needs. A person with an accelerated upward current is hypervigilant to messages outside herself, as if constantly searching for ways to connect with her caretaker or constantly watching for danger. This is the hallmark of a deficient first chakra: the body is deadened and the consciousness is elevated creating a profound mind-body split.
An adult with damaged ground is usually plagued by a terrible sense that something is wrong, but cannot identify what it is. Ground is so basic and structured so young, that it literally becomes background. We are seldom aware that our ground is infertile soil, muddy landslide, or impenetrable rock. Like a fish who does not know it is in water, our ground is often invisible to us. As a result, a therapist working with this problem may feel confused about the issue and be led away from it, just as the clients own energy has led them away from their ground. The sessions may be highly intellectual, jump from topic to topic, or contain lies and omissions that cover up the true problem. Learning to develop the downward current of the body and literally building a ground just as one would build a foundation -- brick by brick -- is what is needed for the top-down structure in which the upper chakras dominate."
In A Judith's conclusion to "Chakra One" she writes,
"Without the healthy functioning of the first chakra, we are hopelessly trapped on a mundane level of existence, forever avoiding and forever dealing with the same issue -- a need to solidify the ground level from which all else grows. It is my belief that if a person's ground is not somewhat intact all other work is less effective. If the ground is intact, subsequent work proceeds in a more coherent fashion and strengthens the ground. Grounding is a slow and cumulative process. It is where we begin, yet it is always changing as a result of what we build above it."
"One can never work on grounding too much. Our culture, so very removed from the ground of the planet, and with values that hold the body and the physical world in such low esteem, continually separate us from our ground. Regardless of childhood development, there is always work to be done to overcome the cultural programming that weakens our first chakra connection.
"Reclaiming the sacred temple of our bodies, our right to be here, and our right to have what we need in order to survive can be a joyous reunion with the very ground of our own being and a solid beginning to the exciting journey through the chakras."
"Experiences that threaten survival intensify the upward movement of energy in the body. When the body is neither safe nor comfortable, the child redirects her attention away from the unpleasant experience and cuts off bodily sensations. The downward, grounding current is inhibited as much as possible, directing most of the energy to the head. Such a person may be physically numb and fail to notice when she needs to eat or rest, both of which are first chakra maintenance programs. As a result she may contract frequent illnesses -- listening to the body only when it is yelling too loud to be ignored. She may not read emotions clearly (since emotions have bodily sensations) and consequently be unaware of her needs. A person with an accelerated upward current is hypervigilant to messages outside herself, as if constantly searching for ways to connect with her caretaker or constantly watching for danger. This is the hallmark of a deficient first chakra: the body is deadened and the consciousness is elevated creating a profound mind-body split.
An adult with damaged ground is usually plagued by a terrible sense that something is wrong, but cannot identify what it is. Ground is so basic and structured so young, that it literally becomes background. We are seldom aware that our ground is infertile soil, muddy landslide, or impenetrable rock. Like a fish who does not know it is in water, our ground is often invisible to us. As a result, a therapist working with this problem may feel confused about the issue and be led away from it, just as the clients own energy has led them away from their ground. The sessions may be highly intellectual, jump from topic to topic, or contain lies and omissions that cover up the true problem. Learning to develop the downward current of the body and literally building a ground just as one would build a foundation -- brick by brick -- is what is needed for the top-down structure in which the upper chakras dominate."
In A Judith's conclusion to "Chakra One" she writes,
"Without the healthy functioning of the first chakra, we are hopelessly trapped on a mundane level of existence, forever avoiding and forever dealing with the same issue -- a need to solidify the ground level from which all else grows. It is my belief that if a person's ground is not somewhat intact all other work is less effective. If the ground is intact, subsequent work proceeds in a more coherent fashion and strengthens the ground. Grounding is a slow and cumulative process. It is where we begin, yet it is always changing as a result of what we build above it."
"One can never work on grounding too much. Our culture, so very removed from the ground of the planet, and with values that hold the body and the physical world in such low esteem, continually separate us from our ground. Regardless of childhood development, there is always work to be done to overcome the cultural programming that weakens our first chakra connection.
"Reclaiming the sacred temple of our bodies, our right to be here, and our right to have what we need in order to survive can be a joyous reunion with the very ground of our own being and a solid beginning to the exciting journey through the chakras."
Upcoming Projects
Since last night I'm interested in the star Sirius. So, I wish to do an inquiry in the coming days on this star.
I also wish to do a fuller characterization of the chakra system -- especially the physical chakras.
I also wish to do a fuller characterization of the chakra system -- especially the physical chakras.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Jordan Rubin on Coconut Oil
Here's why I recommend coconut oil:
from Patient Heal Thyself
- Foods cooked in coconut oil taste better longer. If left at room temperature unsaturated oils turn rancid fairly quickly. However, even after one yeaer at room temperature, coconut oil shows no evidence of rancidity. Coconut oil is packed with antioxidants, and it also reduces the body' need for vitamin E.
- Coconut oil stimulates thyroid function which, in turn, stimulates conversion of production of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol into the anti-aging prohormones and hormones pregnenolone, progesterone and dehydropeiandrosterone (DHEA). These valuable agents prevent heart disease, senility, obesity, cancer and other diseases associated with premature aging, as well as chronic, degenerating diseases.
- Another benefit from coconut oil's unique ability to support thyroid function is weight loss. In the 1940s, farmers tried coconut oil to fatten their animals but discovered that it made them lean and active and increased their appetite, notes an expert. Whoops! Then they tried an anti-thyroid drug. It made the livestock fat with less food but was found to be a carcinogen (cancer-causing drug). In the late 1940s, it was found that the same anti-thyroid effect could be achieved by simply feeding animals soybeans and corn.
- Coconut oil protects against cancer. Generally speaking, animals fed unsaturated oils develop more tumors.
- Coconut oil has tremendous antiviral properties. Coconut oil contains medium-chain fatty acids such as lauric, caprylic, and capric acids. Of these three, coconut oil contains 40-55 percent lauric acid which has the greatest antiviral activity of these three fatty acids. Lauric acid is so adept at fighting viral pathogens it is present in large quantities in breast milk. The body converts lauric acid to a fatty acid derivative (monolauric), which is the substance that protect infants and adults alike from viral, bacterial, or protozoal infections.
from Patient Heal Thyself
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Other Books I'm Interested In
1) History of Philosophy, Thomas Stanley
2) Historical and Critical View of the Speculative Philosophy of Europe in the Nineteenth Century, John D. Morell
3) Modern Thinkers and Present Problems, Edgar A Singer
4) History of Philosophy, W. Windelband
5) Present Philosophical Tendencies, R.B. Perry
6) Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic, W. Hamilton
7) The Story of Philosophy, W.J. Durant (I have this one)
N.B. Tantalizing quote provided by M.P. Hall from Thomas Stanley's History of Philosophy, "Although some of the Grecians have challenged to their nation the original of philosophy, yet the more learned of them have acknowledged it [to be] derived from the East."
2) Historical and Critical View of the Speculative Philosophy of Europe in the Nineteenth Century, John D. Morell
3) Modern Thinkers and Present Problems, Edgar A Singer
4) History of Philosophy, W. Windelband
5) Present Philosophical Tendencies, R.B. Perry
6) Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic, W. Hamilton
7) The Story of Philosophy, W.J. Durant (I have this one)
N.B. Tantalizing quote provided by M.P. Hall from Thomas Stanley's History of Philosophy, "Although some of the Grecians have challenged to their nation the original of philosophy, yet the more learned of them have acknowledged it [to be] derived from the East."
Touching On Voltaire (1694 – 1778)
Manly P. Hall on Voltaire
Among the French schools of philosophy are Traditionalism (often applied to Christianity), which esteems traditions as the proper foundation for philosophy; the Sociological school, which regards humanity as one vast social organism; the Encyclopedists, whose efforts to classify knowledge according to the Baconian system revolutionized European thought; Voltairism, which assailed the divine origin of the Christian faith and adopted an attitude of extreme skepticism towards all matters pertaining to theology; and Neo-criticism, a French revision of the doctrinces of Immanuel Kant. (Chapter I)
William James Durant on Voltaire:
"Newton just died [1727] , Voltaire attended the funeral, and often recalled the impression made upon him by the national honors awarded to this modest Englishman. "Not long ago," he writes, "a distinguished company were discussing the trite and frivolous question, who was the greatest man, -- Caesar, Alexander, Tamerlane, or Cromwell? Some one answered that without doubt it was Isaac Newton. And rightly: for it is to him who masters our minds by the force of truth, and not to those who enslave them by violence, that we owe our reverence." Voltaire became a patient and thorough student of Newton's works, and was later the chief protagonist of Newton's views in France. " (The Story of Philosophy, Chapter V)
W.J. Durant in his Voltaire-in-ten-parts (The Story of Philosophy) describes the mid-point of Voltaire's life (c. 40 years old) as follows:
... the Regent, not knowing of this character, sent Voltaire permission, in 1729, to return to France. For five years Voltaire enjoyed again that Parisian life whose wine flowed in his veins and whose spirit flowed from his pen. And then some miscreant of a publisher, getting hold of the "Letters on the English", turned them without the author's permission into print, and sold them far and wide, to the horror of all good Frenchmen, including Voltaire, The Parliament of Paris at once ordered the book to be publicly burned as "scandalous, contrary to religion, to morals, and to respect for authority"; and Voltaire learned that he was again on the way to the Bastille. Like a good philosopher, he took to his heels -- merely utilizing the occasion to elope with another man's wife.
The Marquise du Chatelet was twenty-eight; Voltaire, alas, was already forty. She was a remarkable woman: she had studied mathematics with the redoubtable Maupertuis, and then with Clairaut she had written a learnedly annotated translation of Newton's Principia; she was soon to receive higher rating than Voltaire in a contest for a prize offered by the French Academy for an essay on the physics of fire; in short she was precisely the kind of woman who never elopes. But the Marquis was so dull, and Voltaire was so interesting -- "a creature lovable in every way," she called him "the finest ornament in France." He returned her love with fervent admiration; called her "a great man whose only fault was being a woman"; formed from her, and from the large number of highly talented women then in France, his conviction of the native mental equality of the sexes; and decided that her chateau at Cirey was an admirable refuge from the inclement political weather of Paris. The Marquis was away with his regiment, which had long been his avenue of escape from mathematics; and he made no objection to the new arrangements. Because of the mariages de convenances which forced rich old men on young women who had little taste for senility but much hunger for romance, the morals of the day permitted a lady to add a lover to her menage, if it were done with a decent respect for the hypocrisies of mankind; and when she chose not merely a lover but a genius, all the world forgave her.
In the chateau at Cirey they did not spend their time billing and cooing. All the day was taken up with study and research; Voltaire had an expensive laboratory equipped for work in natural science and for years the lovers rivaled each other in discovery and disquisition. They had many guests, but it was understood that these should entertain themselves all day long, till supper at nine. After supper, occasionally, there were private theatricals; or Voltaire would read to the guests one of his lively stories. Very soon Cirey became the Paris of the French mind; the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie joined in the pilgrimage to taste Voltaire's wine and wit, and see him act in his own plays. He was happy to be the center of this corrupt and brilliant world; he took nothing too seriously and for a while made "Rire et faire rire" his motto. Catherine of Russia called him "the divinity of gayety." "If Nature had not made us a little frivolous," he said, "we should be most wretched. It is because one can be frivolous that the majority do not hang themselves." There was nothing of the dyspeptic Carlyle about him. "Dulce est desipere in loco. [It is sweet to be foolish on occasion.] Woe to philosphers who cannot laugh away their wrinkles. I look upon solemnity as a disease."
Among the French schools of philosophy are Traditionalism (often applied to Christianity), which esteems traditions as the proper foundation for philosophy; the Sociological school, which regards humanity as one vast social organism; the Encyclopedists, whose efforts to classify knowledge according to the Baconian system revolutionized European thought; Voltairism, which assailed the divine origin of the Christian faith and adopted an attitude of extreme skepticism towards all matters pertaining to theology; and Neo-criticism, a French revision of the doctrinces of Immanuel Kant. (Chapter I)
William James Durant on Voltaire:
"Newton just died [1727] , Voltaire attended the funeral, and often recalled the impression made upon him by the national honors awarded to this modest Englishman. "Not long ago," he writes, "a distinguished company were discussing the trite and frivolous question, who was the greatest man, -- Caesar, Alexander, Tamerlane, or Cromwell? Some one answered that without doubt it was Isaac Newton. And rightly: for it is to him who masters our minds by the force of truth, and not to those who enslave them by violence, that we owe our reverence." Voltaire became a patient and thorough student of Newton's works, and was later the chief protagonist of Newton's views in France. " (The Story of Philosophy, Chapter V)
W.J. Durant in his Voltaire-in-ten-parts (The Story of Philosophy) describes the mid-point of Voltaire's life (c. 40 years old) as follows:
... the Regent, not knowing of this character, sent Voltaire permission, in 1729, to return to France. For five years Voltaire enjoyed again that Parisian life whose wine flowed in his veins and whose spirit flowed from his pen. And then some miscreant of a publisher, getting hold of the "Letters on the English", turned them without the author's permission into print, and sold them far and wide, to the horror of all good Frenchmen, including Voltaire, The Parliament of Paris at once ordered the book to be publicly burned as "scandalous, contrary to religion, to morals, and to respect for authority"; and Voltaire learned that he was again on the way to the Bastille. Like a good philosopher, he took to his heels -- merely utilizing the occasion to elope with another man's wife.
The Marquise du Chatelet was twenty-eight; Voltaire, alas, was already forty. She was a remarkable woman: she had studied mathematics with the redoubtable Maupertuis, and then with Clairaut she had written a learnedly annotated translation of Newton's Principia; she was soon to receive higher rating than Voltaire in a contest for a prize offered by the French Academy for an essay on the physics of fire; in short she was precisely the kind of woman who never elopes. But the Marquis was so dull, and Voltaire was so interesting -- "a creature lovable in every way," she called him "the finest ornament in France." He returned her love with fervent admiration; called her "a great man whose only fault was being a woman"; formed from her, and from the large number of highly talented women then in France, his conviction of the native mental equality of the sexes; and decided that her chateau at Cirey was an admirable refuge from the inclement political weather of Paris. The Marquis was away with his regiment, which had long been his avenue of escape from mathematics; and he made no objection to the new arrangements. Because of the mariages de convenances which forced rich old men on young women who had little taste for senility but much hunger for romance, the morals of the day permitted a lady to add a lover to her menage, if it were done with a decent respect for the hypocrisies of mankind; and when she chose not merely a lover but a genius, all the world forgave her.
In the chateau at Cirey they did not spend their time billing and cooing. All the day was taken up with study and research; Voltaire had an expensive laboratory equipped for work in natural science and for years the lovers rivaled each other in discovery and disquisition. They had many guests, but it was understood that these should entertain themselves all day long, till supper at nine. After supper, occasionally, there were private theatricals; or Voltaire would read to the guests one of his lively stories. Very soon Cirey became the Paris of the French mind; the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie joined in the pilgrimage to taste Voltaire's wine and wit, and see him act in his own plays. He was happy to be the center of this corrupt and brilliant world; he took nothing too seriously and for a while made "Rire et faire rire" his motto. Catherine of Russia called him "the divinity of gayety." "If Nature had not made us a little frivolous," he said, "we should be most wretched. It is because one can be frivolous that the majority do not hang themselves." There was nothing of the dyspeptic Carlyle about him. "Dulce est desipere in loco. [It is sweet to be foolish on occasion.] Woe to philosphers who cannot laugh away their wrinkles. I look upon solemnity as a disease."
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Today's Topic: Metempsychosis
The following four paragraphs are taken from Manly P. Hall's Secret Teachings. Chapter references are provided in brackets.
The Pythagoreans were often undeservedly criticized for promulgating the so-called doctrine of metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls. This concept as circulated among the uninitiated was merely a blind, however, to conceal a sacred truth. Greek mystics believed that the spiritual nature of man descended into material existence from the Milky Way -- the seed ground of souls -- through one of the twelve gates of the great zodiacal band. The spiritual nature was therefore said to incarnate in the form of the symbolic creature created by Magian star gazers to represent the various zodiacal constellations. If the spirit incarnated through the sign of Aries, it was said to be born in the body of a ram; if in Taurus, in the body of the celestial bull. All human beings were thus symbolized by twelve mysterious creatures through the natures of which they were able to incarnate into the material world. The theory of transmigration was not applicable to the visible material body of man, but rather to the invisible immaterial spirit wandering along the pathway of the stars and sequentially assuming in the course of evolution the forms of the sacred zodiacal animals. (From Chapter X)
Concerning the theory of transmigration as disseminated by Pythagoras, there are differences of opinion. According to one view, he taught that mortals who during their earthly existence had by their actions become like certain animals, returned to earth again in the form of the beasts which they had grown to resemble. Thus a timid person would return in the form of a rabbit or a deer; a cruel person in the form of a wold or other ferocious animal; and a cunning person in the guise of a fox. This concept, however does not fit into the general Pythagorean scheme, and it is far more likely that it was given in an allegorical rather than a literal sense. It was intended to convey the idea that human beings become bestial when they allow themselves to be dominated by their lower desires [ cf. my blog entry on the Mason's Apron] and destructive tendencies. It is probable that the term transmigration is to be understood as what is more commonly called reincarnation, a doctrine which Pythagoras must have contacted directly or indirectly in India and Egypt.
The fact that Pythagoras accepted the theory of successive reappearances of the spiritual nature in human form is found in a footnote to Levi's History of Magic: "He was an important champion of what used to be called the doctrine of metempsychosis, understood as the soul';s transmigration into successive bodies. He himself had been a) Aethalides, a son of Mercury; b) Euphorbus, son of Panthus, who pershed at the hands of Menelaus in the Trojan war; c) Hermotimus, a prophet of Clazomenae, a city of Ionia; d) a humble fisherman; and finally e) the philosopher of Samos. (Above two paragraphs from Chapter XIII)
The accepted theory that the serpent is evil cannot be substantiated. It has long been viewed as the emblem of immortality. It is the symbol of reincarnation, or metempsychosis, because it annually sheds its skin, reappearing, as it were, in a new body. There is an ancient superstition to the effect that snakes never die except by violence and that, if uninjured, they would live forever. It was also believed that snakes swallowed themselves, and this resulted in their being considered emblematic of the Supreme Creator, who periodically reabsorbed His universe back into Himself. (Chapter XVIII)
The following is taken from Madame Helena Blavatsky's book Isis Unveiled.
The doctrine of Metempsychosis has been abundantly ridiculed by men of science and rejected by theologians, yet if it had been properly understood in its application to the indestructibility of matter and the immortality of spirit, it would have been perceived that it is a sublime conception. Should we not first regard the subject from the stand-point of the ancients before venturing to disparage its teachers? The solution of the great problem of eternity belongs neither to religious superstition nor to gross materialism. The harmony and mathematical equiformity of the double evolution--spiritual and physical--are elucidated only in the universal numerals of Pythagoras, who built his system entirely upon the so-called "metrical speech" of the Hindu Vedas. It is but lately that one of the most zealous Sanskrit scholars, Martin Haug, undertook the translation of the Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig-Veda. It had been till that time entirely unknown; these explanations indicate beyond dispute the identity of the Pythagorean and Brahmanical systems. In both, the esoteric significance is derived from the number: in the former, from the mystic relation of every number to everything intelligible to the human mind; in the latter, from the number of syllables of which each verse in the Mantras consists. Plato, the ardent disciple of Pythagoras, realized it so fully as to maintain that the Dodecahedron was the geometrical figure employed by the Demiurgus in constructing the universe. Some of these figures had a peculiarly solemn significance. For instance four, of which the Dodecahedron is the trine, was held sacred by the Pythagoreans. It is the perfect square, and neither of the bounding lines exceeds the other in length, by a single point. It is the emblem of moral justice and divine equity geometrically expressed. All the powers and great symphonies of physical and spiritual nature lie inscribed within the perfect square; and the ineffable name of Him, which name otherwise, would remain unutterable, was replaced by this sacred number 4 the most binding and solemn oath with the ancient mystics--the Tetractys.
If the Pythagorean metempsychosis should be thoroughly explained and compared with the modern theory of evolution, it would be found to supply every "missing link" in the chain of the latter. But who of our scientists would consent to lose his precious time over the vagaries of the ancients. (Chapter I)
Also from H.P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled
There was not a philosopher of any notoriety who did not hold to this doctrine of metempsychosis, as taught by the Brahmans, Buddhists, and later by the Pythagoreans, in its esoteric sense, whether he expressed it more or less intelligibly. Origen and Clemens Alexandrinus, Synesius, and Chalcidius, all believed in it; and the Gnostics, who are unhesitatingly proclaimed by history as a body of the most refined, learned and enlightened men, were all believers in metempsychosis. Socrates entertained opinions identical with those of Pythagoras; and both,k as the penalty of their divine philosophy,k were put to a violent death. The rabble has been the same in all ages. Materialism has been and will ever be blind to spiritual truths. These philosophers held, with the Hindus, that God had infused into matter a portion of his own Divine Spirit, which animates and moves every particle. They taught that men have two souls, of separate and quite different natures: the one perishable -- immortal -- the Augoeides, or portion of the Divine spirit that the mortal or Astral Soul perishes at each gradual change at the threshold of every new sphere, becoming with every transmigration more purified. The sense, is still constituted of matter, though sublimated. Aristotle, not withstanding that for political reasons of his own he maintained a prudent silence as to certain esoteric matters, expressed very clearly his opinion on the subject. It was his belief that human souls are emanations of God, that are finally re-absorbed into Divinity. Zeno, the founder of the Stoics, taught that there are "two eternal qualities throughout nature: the one active, or male; the other passive, or female; that the former is pure, subtile ether, or Divine Spirit; the other entirely inert in itself till united with the active principle. That the Divine Spirit acting upon matter produced fire, water, earth, and air; and that it is the sole efficient principle by which all nature is moved. The Stoics, like the Hindu sages, believed in the final absorption. St. Justin believed in the emanation of these souls from Divinity, and Tatian, the Assyrian his disciple, declared that "man was as immortal as God himself."
The profoundly significant verse of the Genesis, "And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, I gave a living soul ... " should arrest the attention of every Hebrew scholar capable of reading the Scripture in its original instead of following the erroneous translation, in which the phrase reads "wherein there is life." (Chapter I)
The Pythagoreans were often undeservedly criticized for promulgating the so-called doctrine of metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls. This concept as circulated among the uninitiated was merely a blind, however, to conceal a sacred truth. Greek mystics believed that the spiritual nature of man descended into material existence from the Milky Way -- the seed ground of souls -- through one of the twelve gates of the great zodiacal band. The spiritual nature was therefore said to incarnate in the form of the symbolic creature created by Magian star gazers to represent the various zodiacal constellations. If the spirit incarnated through the sign of Aries, it was said to be born in the body of a ram; if in Taurus, in the body of the celestial bull. All human beings were thus symbolized by twelve mysterious creatures through the natures of which they were able to incarnate into the material world. The theory of transmigration was not applicable to the visible material body of man, but rather to the invisible immaterial spirit wandering along the pathway of the stars and sequentially assuming in the course of evolution the forms of the sacred zodiacal animals. (From Chapter X)
Concerning the theory of transmigration as disseminated by Pythagoras, there are differences of opinion. According to one view, he taught that mortals who during their earthly existence had by their actions become like certain animals, returned to earth again in the form of the beasts which they had grown to resemble. Thus a timid person would return in the form of a rabbit or a deer; a cruel person in the form of a wold or other ferocious animal; and a cunning person in the guise of a fox. This concept, however does not fit into the general Pythagorean scheme, and it is far more likely that it was given in an allegorical rather than a literal sense. It was intended to convey the idea that human beings become bestial when they allow themselves to be dominated by their lower desires [ cf. my blog entry on the Mason's Apron] and destructive tendencies. It is probable that the term transmigration is to be understood as what is more commonly called reincarnation, a doctrine which Pythagoras must have contacted directly or indirectly in India and Egypt.
The fact that Pythagoras accepted the theory of successive reappearances of the spiritual nature in human form is found in a footnote to Levi's History of Magic: "He was an important champion of what used to be called the doctrine of metempsychosis, understood as the soul';s transmigration into successive bodies. He himself had been a) Aethalides, a son of Mercury; b) Euphorbus, son of Panthus, who pershed at the hands of Menelaus in the Trojan war; c) Hermotimus, a prophet of Clazomenae, a city of Ionia; d) a humble fisherman; and finally e) the philosopher of Samos. (Above two paragraphs from Chapter XIII)
The accepted theory that the serpent is evil cannot be substantiated. It has long been viewed as the emblem of immortality. It is the symbol of reincarnation, or metempsychosis, because it annually sheds its skin, reappearing, as it were, in a new body. There is an ancient superstition to the effect that snakes never die except by violence and that, if uninjured, they would live forever. It was also believed that snakes swallowed themselves, and this resulted in their being considered emblematic of the Supreme Creator, who periodically reabsorbed His universe back into Himself. (Chapter XVIII)
The following is taken from Madame Helena Blavatsky's book Isis Unveiled.
The doctrine of Metempsychosis has been abundantly ridiculed by men of science and rejected by theologians, yet if it had been properly understood in its application to the indestructibility of matter and the immortality of spirit, it would have been perceived that it is a sublime conception. Should we not first regard the subject from the stand-point of the ancients before venturing to disparage its teachers? The solution of the great problem of eternity belongs neither to religious superstition nor to gross materialism. The harmony and mathematical equiformity of the double evolution--spiritual and physical--are elucidated only in the universal numerals of Pythagoras, who built his system entirely upon the so-called "metrical speech" of the Hindu Vedas. It is but lately that one of the most zealous Sanskrit scholars, Martin Haug, undertook the translation of the Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig-Veda. It had been till that time entirely unknown; these explanations indicate beyond dispute the identity of the Pythagorean and Brahmanical systems. In both, the esoteric significance is derived from the number: in the former, from the mystic relation of every number to everything intelligible to the human mind; in the latter, from the number of syllables of which each verse in the Mantras consists. Plato, the ardent disciple of Pythagoras, realized it so fully as to maintain that the Dodecahedron was the geometrical figure employed by the Demiurgus in constructing the universe. Some of these figures had a peculiarly solemn significance. For instance four, of which the Dodecahedron is the trine, was held sacred by the Pythagoreans. It is the perfect square, and neither of the bounding lines exceeds the other in length, by a single point. It is the emblem of moral justice and divine equity geometrically expressed. All the powers and great symphonies of physical and spiritual nature lie inscribed within the perfect square; and the ineffable name of Him, which name otherwise, would remain unutterable, was replaced by this sacred number 4 the most binding and solemn oath with the ancient mystics--the Tetractys.
If the Pythagorean metempsychosis should be thoroughly explained and compared with the modern theory of evolution, it would be found to supply every "missing link" in the chain of the latter. But who of our scientists would consent to lose his precious time over the vagaries of the ancients. (Chapter I)
Also from H.P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled
There was not a philosopher of any notoriety who did not hold to this doctrine of metempsychosis, as taught by the Brahmans, Buddhists, and later by the Pythagoreans, in its esoteric sense, whether he expressed it more or less intelligibly. Origen and Clemens Alexandrinus, Synesius, and Chalcidius, all believed in it; and the Gnostics, who are unhesitatingly proclaimed by history as a body of the most refined, learned and enlightened men, were all believers in metempsychosis. Socrates entertained opinions identical with those of Pythagoras; and both,k as the penalty of their divine philosophy,k were put to a violent death. The rabble has been the same in all ages. Materialism has been and will ever be blind to spiritual truths. These philosophers held, with the Hindus, that God had infused into matter a portion of his own Divine Spirit, which animates and moves every particle. They taught that men have two souls, of separate and quite different natures: the one perishable -- immortal -- the Augoeides, or portion of the Divine spirit that the mortal or Astral Soul perishes at each gradual change at the threshold of every new sphere, becoming with every transmigration more purified. The sense, is still constituted of matter, though sublimated. Aristotle, not withstanding that for political reasons of his own he maintained a prudent silence as to certain esoteric matters, expressed very clearly his opinion on the subject. It was his belief that human souls are emanations of God, that are finally re-absorbed into Divinity. Zeno, the founder of the Stoics, taught that there are "two eternal qualities throughout nature: the one active, or male; the other passive, or female; that the former is pure, subtile ether, or Divine Spirit; the other entirely inert in itself till united with the active principle. That the Divine Spirit acting upon matter produced fire, water, earth, and air; and that it is the sole efficient principle by which all nature is moved. The Stoics, like the Hindu sages, believed in the final absorption. St. Justin believed in the emanation of these souls from Divinity, and Tatian, the Assyrian his disciple, declared that "man was as immortal as God himself."
The profoundly significant verse of the Genesis, "And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, I gave a living soul ... " should arrest the attention of every Hebrew scholar capable of reading the Scripture in its original instead of following the erroneous translation, in which the phrase reads "wherein there is life." (Chapter I)
Friday, October 03, 2008
Mars in Scorpio October 4, 4:34 am GMT
At [4:34 am GMT, October 4], a deeper rhythm begins to be felt when Mars enters its watery home sign of Scorpio, where passions will smolder for the next six weeks. These may turn inward as resentment, outward as anger, or be consciously used to deepen relationships, exploit underemployed resources, and eliminate obstacles. The potency of this transit is best directed with clear intention, since denial of the strong feelings it evokes can be destructive. It's time to be brave warriors who face the shadows of fear and desire instead of denying them and thus yielding up Mars's considerable force to less conscious individuals.
The Mountain Astrologer, Oct/Nov 2008 Issue (#141)
The Mountain Astrologer, Oct/Nov 2008 Issue (#141)
Food Miracle: Coconut Oil
It's important to prefer extra-virgin coconut oil using fresh coconut meat or what is called non-copra (see below for a definition of copra). Chemicals and high heating are not used in further refining. The method used in the Philippines to produce extra virgin coconut oil from coconut milk is fermentation. The coconut milk expressed from the freshly harvested coconuts is fermented for 24 to 36 hours. During this time, the water separates from the oil. The oil is then slightly heated for a short time to remove moisture, and filtered. The result is a clear coconut oil that retains the distinct scent and taste of coconuts. This traditional method of coconut oil extraction that has been used in the Philippines for hundreds of years. Laboratory tests show that this is a very high-quality coconut oil, with the lauric acid content being 50-53 percent. This oil is not mass produced, but made by hand much as it has been done for hundreds of years. Since the producers of the oil live in the community where the coconuts grow, they personally guarantee that the best organic coconuts available are used in producing this extra virgin coconut oil, and that no chemicals whatsoever are used in the growing or processing of the coconuts.
Most commercial grade coconut oils are made from copra, which is the dried kernel (meat) of the coconut. Copra is made by smoke drying, sun drying, kiln drying, or a combination of these methods. If standard copra is used as a starting material, the unrefined coconut oil extracted from copra is not suitable for consumption and must be further refined. This is because the way most copra is dried is very unsanitary. Most of the copra is dried under the sun in the open air, where it is exposed to insects and molds. The standard end product made from copra is RBD coconut oil. RBD stands for refined, bleached, and deodorized. Both high heat and chemical solvents are used in this method. The RBD oil is also often hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. Thus, it is not a very good product.
From Jordan Rubin, "Patient Heal Thyself"
Most commercial grade coconut oils are made from copra, which is the dried kernel (meat) of the coconut. Copra is made by smoke drying, sun drying, kiln drying, or a combination of these methods. If standard copra is used as a starting material, the unrefined coconut oil extracted from copra is not suitable for consumption and must be further refined. This is because the way most copra is dried is very unsanitary. Most of the copra is dried under the sun in the open air, where it is exposed to insects and molds. The standard end product made from copra is RBD coconut oil. RBD stands for refined, bleached, and deodorized. Both high heat and chemical solvents are used in this method. The RBD oil is also often hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. Thus, it is not a very good product.
From Jordan Rubin, "Patient Heal Thyself"
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Immortal Words on the Apocalypse
The question of the pagan or Christian origin of the Book of Revelation is, consequently, of little importance. The intrinsic value of the book lies in its magnificent epitome of the Universal Mystery -- an observation which led St. Jerome to declare that it is susceptible of seven entirely different interpretations. Untrained in the reaches of ancient thought, the modern theologian cannot possibly cope with the complexities of the Apocalypse, for to him this mystic writing is but a phantasmagoria the divine inspiration of which he is sorely tempted to question.
Manly P Hall, Secret Teachings (The Mystery of the Apocalypse)
Manly P Hall, Secret Teachings (The Mystery of the Apocalypse)
Notes on the Apron of Freemasonry
Manly P. Hall
The lambskin apron worn by the Freemasons over that part of the body symbolized by Typhon or Judas, represents that purification of the generative processes which is a prerequisite to true spirituality.
Secret Teachings (Mystery of the Apocalypse)
While the mystic symbolism of Freemasonry decrees that the apron shall be a simple square of white lambskin with appropriate flap, Masonic aprons are frequently decorated with curious and impressive figures. "When silk, cotton, or linen is worn," writes Albert Pike, "the symbolism is lost. Nor is one clothed who blots, defaces, and desecrates the white surface with ornamentation, figuring, or colors of any kind." (See Symbolism)
When worn over the area related to the animal passions, the pure lambskin signifies the regeneration of the procreative forces and their consecration to the service of the Deity. The size of the apron, exclusive of the flap, makes it the symbol of salvation, for the Mysteries declare that it must consist of 144 square inches.
Secret Teachings (The Hiramic Legend)
The lambskin apron worn by the Freemasons over that part of the body symbolized by Typhon or Judas, represents that purification of the generative processes which is a prerequisite to true spirituality.
Secret Teachings (Mystery of the Apocalypse)
While the mystic symbolism of Freemasonry decrees that the apron shall be a simple square of white lambskin with appropriate flap, Masonic aprons are frequently decorated with curious and impressive figures. "When silk, cotton, or linen is worn," writes Albert Pike, "the symbolism is lost. Nor is one clothed who blots, defaces, and desecrates the white surface with ornamentation, figuring, or colors of any kind." (See Symbolism)
When worn over the area related to the animal passions, the pure lambskin signifies the regeneration of the procreative forces and their consecration to the service of the Deity. The size of the apron, exclusive of the flap, makes it the symbol of salvation, for the Mysteries declare that it must consist of 144 square inches.
Secret Teachings (The Hiramic Legend)
Hesiod, Theogony (trans. Dorothea Wender)
And Leto joined in love with Zeus who holds
The aegis, and the offspring which she bore
Were lovelier than all the sons of Heaven:
Apollo and the huntress Artemis.
-- Hesiod, Theogony (trans. Dorothea Wender)
The aegis, and the offspring which she bore
Were lovelier than all the sons of Heaven:
Apollo and the huntress Artemis.
-- Hesiod, Theogony (trans. Dorothea Wender)
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