The Ego Trap

The Ego has many tricks in its locker to ensure its survival and has laid a cunning plan which we all too easily fall into . The main deceptions that are used are the feelings of deprivation and vulnerability , in the sense we think we can be hurt in some way. Every man and woman on this planet are affected by these emotions and cause all the pain and misery we see . But I am going to discuss one of the more subtle aspects of its defences . It is when there seems to be no answer to a problem , but this problem causes great division and both warring parties are convinced of their arguments but to any outside observer both sides have valid points of view . To show the deviousness of the Ego I will use two examples : Abortion and Vegetarianism .

Firstly , abortion . The anti-abortionists view is that any life is sacred and that it is a sin to end the life of an unborn child . Fair enough you may think .The pro-abortionists view is that a woman has the right to choose her own life and what she does with her body . Again a perfectly respectable point of view . But from the Ego's point of view , it gains its strength from the entrenched views that the two sides take . It thrives on division and separation and gains energy from the ' I Am Right ' opinions follow . Whenever a photograph of an unborn child is published it is difficult not to be swayed towards the anti-abortionists view , but we do not know the circumstance of the mother to be or the reasons that may lay behind the reason for an abortion .

Secondly , vegetarianism . Again there are reasonable arguments on both sides . The meat eaters say it is natural for humans to eat meat and point to nature to back up their argument - Survival of the Fittest etc . The vegetarian is in the same camp as the anti-abortionist and believes that all animal life is sacred and should not be used as nutrition by humans . They are vehemently opposed to animal testing for cosmetics and medical research . I eat meat , but would be extremely averse to actually killing any animal and I would not be able to conduct any experiments that may cause pain . But again it is the division and separation that the Ego craves . It wants us to see ourselves on side or the other and argue and fight amongst each other .

The ego loves confontation and the ' I Am Right ' mentality . Other examples are smoker v non-smoker , husband v wife , neighbour v neighbour and country v country and the Ego needs the energy from these conflicts to survive , as without them , it would wither and die . It views the world as something to be fought and conquered . However , the Universe or God or Life ( whatever your term is ) does not see the world in this way and neither do we at a very deep level , as we are a part of the Universe and not separate from it . The universe does not see right or wrong but only the choices that we make . It is entirely possible that it does not see death or destruction and does not even recognize the Ego and its negative values , or anything that results from it , but as we view the world from a false premise we see a false world .

The Ego Trap is easy to be fooled by , but as a rule of thumb , anything that causes division is a sign that the the ego is at work . I know that some people have problems grasping this concept of no right or wrong but again this is just a defence . The way through is to seek reconciliation - it is possible to hold conflicting views and still get on .`

Reasons to be Cheerful

I am a bit fed up with the continual depressing news conjured up by the media . I realise that bad news is more interesting to them than good news and is a tool to keep us fearful , but surely the members of the media must get bored with it . To quote Ian Dury , here are some 'Reasons to be Cheerful ' . For me anyway.

• My daughter Rebecca-beautiful , funny and clever
• Crystal Palace not losing today
• Maria Sharapova
• Cristiano Ronaldo , Wayne Rooney , Ronaldinho , Didier Drogba etc
• Amy Winehouse
• England losing to Croatia ( maybe now we can sort this mess out . My vote goes to Jose Mourinho )
• Harry Hill
• Paul Merton
• Prefab Sprout
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• PG Wodehouse ( a bit old fogey but brilliant )
• Myleene Klass in her bikini

I feel better already .

Coincidence ?

COINCIDENCE: Concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection .



Everyone of us , I would imagine , has experienced strange events from time to time when a coincidence occurs and you have a ' What are the chances of that ' moment. A recent coincidence happened to me , whilst reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. I had left the television on and after five minutes perusal of the book , I glanced up to see that there was a programme discussing ' Just a Minute ' , a radio series , which concentrated on the subject of time . If you have read DGHDA you will know that the main subject is time . The following programme after that had an interview with the author Douglas Adams again talking about time . The very next morning I looked in the newspaper and the first item I saw was that a new radio series of DGHDA was to start the following day !



Another coincidence happened to a friend and work colleague when I worked for a company who sold semi precious stones mainly to the new age market . One day she was approached by a customer who told her that an angel was standing by her - a bit weird you may think . About half an hour later she mentioned this to another customer who told her it was pink . Another customer then came in and said it wasn't just one angel , but there were two ! After all this Kathy was a bit frazzled but imagine her surprise when the song ' There's an Angel playing with my Heart ' by the Eurythmics came on the radio - she freaked out .



I could probably give you another hundred examples but what is behind these coincidences ? To be honest I don't really know and am not going to argue with those who say they are just quirks . They may be correct .



When one of these strange events happen to a new age friend of mine they normally remark ' I wonder what it means ' . But what if it doesn't mean anything . I wonder sometimes whether our minds are similar to the Google Search Engine . If our minds do create our reality , maybe this explains this phenomenon . When I was reading my book maybe this started the Search Engine and produced the TV programme and radio series .Maybe Kathy's concentration on angels at the time somehow made the radio play her song .



If this hypothesis is true , what would this mean on a worldwide scale . Could it be that many of our myths and legends are produced by ourselves ? Once the first person has seen a UFO , whether real or not , the concentration on this subject in the media could then start the Search Engine which produces UFOs all over the world . The same for The Loch Ness Monster , Bigfoot or Vampires !



But if this theory is genuine , those who control the media outlets would have enormous power over our lives .The obsession of the media for bad news sinks into our psyches , leaving the world depressed and fearful . It can be no coincidence that the preponderance of violent films and computer games have left the youths of the world desensitised and that there has been a spike in major crime everywhere . Or is it that our focus on these matters actually causes these events to happen , in a freaky metaphysical way , and the upshot of this is the world we see . Is the current obsession with climate change actually going to help to cause it ? If we fear something , does our fixation bring this to happen ?



As I said earlier , I am not sure and am sorry that I cannot give a definitive answer. But maybe the world is stranger than it seems at first glance .

Lilith

LILITH by John Collier

Following on from my last post , here is another famous female character who appears to have been ignored by mainstream religions . I quote a few paragraphs from a website called The Mystica.com . To read the full article go to

http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/l/lilith.html

'A female demon of the night who supposedly flies around searching for newborn children either to kidnap or strangle them . Also she sleeps with men to seduce them into propagating demon sons . Legends told about Lilith are ancient . The rabbinical myths of Lilith being Adam's first wife seem to relate to the Sumero-Babylonian Goddess Belit-ili or Belili . To the Canaanites , Lilith was Baalat , the ' Divine Lady ' . On a tablet from Ur , c . 2000 BC , she was addressed as Lillake.

It is from Hebraic , rabbinical tradition that the substantial myths of Lilith really come . One story is God created Adam and Lilith as twins joined together at the back . She demanded equality with Adam , failing to achieve it , she left him in anger . This is sometimes accompanied by a Muslim legend that after leaving Adam , Lilith slept with Satan , thus creating the demonic Djinn .

In another version of the myth of Lilith , she was Adam' s first wife before Eve . Adam married her because he became tired coupling with animals , a common Middle Eastern herdsmen practice , though the Old Testament declared it a sin ( Deuteronomy 27: 21 ) . Adam tried to make Lilith lie beneath him during sexual intercourse . Lilith would not meet this demand of male dominance . She cursed Adam and hurried to her home by the Red Sea .

Adam complained to God who then sent three angels Sansi , Sansanvi and Semangelaf to bring Lilith back to Eden . Lilith rebuffed the angels by cursing them . While by the Red Sea Lilith became a lover to demons and producing 100 babies a day . The angels said that God would take these demon children away from her unless she returned to Adam . When she did not return , she was punished accordingly . And God gave Adam the docile Eve .'

Please note the ' sleeping with Satan ' and ' murder of newborn children ' bit . I thought propaganda and smearing your enemies was a recent invention. I was obviously wrong .

The Mummy Returns

Mary Magdalene in the Cave

Tutenkhamen's Death Mask

Two recent events have captured my attention and have drawn my thoughts towards a happening prophesied by my more spiritually minded friends . Some of them have been obsessed by the re-emergence of ' The Divine Female Energy ' for want of a better phrase.The first event was the public showing of Tutenkhamen's mummified body in Egypt. The phrase ' The Mummy Returns ' kept swirling around my mind ( hence the title ) and as one thought can lead to another I started thinking about my friends belief . For those who are symbolically minded the Mummy refers to this female energy as a maternal reference rather than that of a ghoulish figure from the ancient past !

The second event does not have the same humerous overtones , unfortunately . I refer to the brutal , horrendous murder in Perugia , Italy of Meredith Kercher . This beautiful young girl , at first glance , would appear to be the victim of a random act by unhinged minds . By all accounts , Meredith was an intelligent , fun loving girl looking to have an interesting time whilst she was in Italy . At present , the details of her murder are rather hazy , but I can take a good guess that the unconcious motive for the assault was hatred of her innocence and beauty . For some reason the male psyche , which is present in both men and women , hates this female energy and tries to control and suppress it and in Meredith's Kercher case kill her .

One of the most well known psychological archetypes is the Madonna / Whore . Society approves of the Madonna part of this equation but when it comes to the Whore it is a whole different story . Female sexuality has never really been accepted by either men or women - the phrases slut and tart spring to mind . The recent media frenzy surrounding Kate McCann is symbolic to me of this. A sexy , intelligent woman is never accepted for long . The press liked the Mumsy part , but has problems coping with her innate sexuality . The underlying theme is She is Guilty , but I suspect this has more to do with the way she looks than anything else . Another interesting example is Britney Spears . Whilst she played the Virgin role she was approved of and even applauded for her remarks about preserving her virginity , but since it has become obvious she is not whiter than white the knives have been out for her . Even in politics this can be seen . In Pakistan , Benazir Bhutto's return has been welcomed by a suicide bombing and a return to martial law . In the USA Hilary Clinton was ganged up on by her presidential rivals ( all male ) in a televised debate . Again , both good looking women . In the UK , I felt the hatred for Margaret Thatcher has always been because she is a woman . As an aside President Mitterand was smitten by her , but mind you he was French.

This misogony and fear of female sexuality is most obvious in religion . The Madonna / Whore archetype is best represented by the two Marys in Christianity. The first is the Virgin Mary , who is venerated and worshipped , mainly because she was supposedly ' untainted and pure ' and the other , Mary Magdalene has been airbrushed out of history , being denigrated as a prositute . The New Testament gives us few glimpses of this Mary , but points to a larger part in the whole Jesus story than has been acknowledged . I would love to be able to investigate the Vatican archives to view the ' deleted scenes ' . But whatever the truth , the message is plain : Female sex bad and female no sex good . In Islam women are veiled and covered so as not to inflame us poor men - I have been inflamed a few times and nobody seems to have got hurt ! In both religions , as well as Judaism , priests are mainly men ( a notable exception being the Church of England ) . Again , this is an attempt to suppress this female energy , as well as being deeply insulting to women , implying that they are second class citizens in God's eyes and not as spiritually advanced as men.

But what signs are there that change is happening ? The most obvious pointers are the rise of women in the workplace and the sudden materialization of gay men in society - another sure sign of this female force at work . Other indicators are the emergence of women in the top posts in governments eg Margaret Thatcher , Angela Merkel , Hilary Clinton and in popular culture there is a more equitable spread of the rewards - Girl Power etc. The ordination of women in the Anglican Church is another indication.

What does this mean to us , poor unfortunate men . As the archetypal Nazi in the old films used to say Resistance is Useless . Our old patriarchal way of the world is ending . I look upon these religions and male based governments as King Canute floundering in the waves , desperately trying to control what they cannot control. The more resistance there is , the more painful it will be and the waves will get higher . The Mummy is definitely returning .

The Topsy-Turvy Man

The headstone of Major Peter Labelliere

Dorking , in Surrey , was home to a rather eccentric gentleman named Major Peter Labelliere who lived from 1726-1800 . He came to Dorking after a career in the Army and suffering possibly from unrequited love , this ' Walking Dung-Hill ' would often give away his coat or shoes to a poor man . Whilst meditating on Box Hill one day , he tripped and put out one of his eyes . He chose to be buried on Box Hill , upside down , because in his view 'as the world was topsy-turvy , he would be thus be right at last '. A large crowd attended his funeral and on the anniversary of his funeral , large numbers would visit his burial site to make merry .By coincidence , on a school trip to Box Hill my daughter became ill and had the rather unsettling experience of the world appearing to turn upside down . The sky was at the bottom and the ground at the top ! But what caused Major Labelliere to hold this strange world view ? Did his intuition and life experience tell him that the world was not quite right and we view life the wrong way up . That it is literally Topsy-Turvy .

Our instinct tells us to seek pleasure . In my case , I look to alcohol , sports , cigarettes ( not for too much longer as I hope someday I will stop smoking ), television , films, food and , don't tell everyone , sex . But is it actually pleasure that I am feeling when I indulge myself . Am I really enjoying myself or is it another sensation that I am experiencing ? I would suggest the feeling is closer to relief than enjoyment and the relief I feel is to escape the emotions inside me .These emotions include fear , anger , hate , boredom , love , guilt and other sundry feelings .I am sure I am not the only one who does this and would suggest that the whole world is in a state of denial from their emotions . The main characteristic that Adolf Hitler looked for in his lieutenants was a lack of empathy and feeling . But what are we / I attempting to run away from.

A peculiarity of illness is the sensation of being taken over by an outside force , but when patients are asked to describe this , they will often refer to the sickness as IT or just PAIN . Illness , as I understand it , is the body's attempt to heal itself but we see it as a threat to be fought and resisted but many patients describe that they are healed once they stopped fighting and let it do what it needs to do . Our emotions are the same - the more you resist them the stronger they seem to become , but once they are let out they are quickly dealt with . My submission is that we are trying to resist a positive force and what we call pleasure is our attempt to ignore it . Conversely , our efforts to resist the pain are counter - productive and in the long run will cause more problems . In effect , pleasure is pain and pain is pleasure .

Maybe the strange Major Labelliere was right and we do live in a Topsy-Turvy world !

You Will Not Die

The greatest fear any human being faces is death-either of oneself or loved ones. When you are young , death is something that happens to other people but as you grow older your death looms into view . One day you will be separated from everything you hold dear or so it seems.

It seems so unfair . To be born and then to die . What's the point ? Why bother - you might as well just enjoy life as best you can , while you can . Even religion doesn't really seem to help - every time you go into church you are greeted with an image of ' God's only son Jesus ' being horribly crucified on the cross . If that is what god does to his friends , what the hell is going to happen to me . Will I go to hell when I die ? If this is to be my fate , I must have really upset him . I must have sinned badly - maybe I had sex with the wrong person , maybe I should have gone to Church or the Mosque more often . These thoughts are running through your mind whether you are aware of them or not and they all point to the same conclusion - God is our enemy .

That is the bad news - the good news is that you will not die . For want of a better description , you are spirit not your body . When you leave your body , you will remain whole . In fact it is the belief you are a body and that you will die which is the source of all evils in the world and the reason that the world fears God . God could not and would not create anything that would die . Any good parent would never try to harm their children , let alone kill them - God is exactly the same and never wishes any harm to come to anyone. God wants good things for you ,not for you to be in pain .

You may ask why I say that this belief in death causes so many problems . Firstly , it creates subconciously great fear of your fellow man - you do not know who is friend or foe , in case they turn on you and attack you , so you begin to fear life . This has caused great problems in the world as races fear races and war follows . Secondly , our fear of God has blocked God's gifts to the world . All prayers are answered but because of our fear we are not prepared to receive them . They are there , but we cannot literally see them. Because of this the belief in scarcity came to life and the ' dog eat dog ' mentality eventually came to rule the world . If the world lost its fear of God , poverty would disappear overnight . Nobody would mind giving wealth away , if they knew that they could have anything they wanted .

Lastly , the belief in death has created guilt . If God is prepared for us to die , we must have done something really wrong - this is the source of sin . Religion and philosophers have tried to discover what the human race did wrong to incur God's anger . Sex and materialism are the usual suspects . Fortunately this is rubbish . God is not angry with the world at all - God only has love for us . It is guilt which is the source of all negative emotions and causes so called ' sinful actions ' . At a deep level , we feel God is our foe and this leads to a great fear of God . Fear can only be released by the expression of anger , which is either projected outwards onto other people or even onto yourself and can cause suicide , self harming or destructive addictive behaviours . It is the release of this original guilt from the world's psyche that needs to be completed before we can create the world we all desire . For this to happen , we have to give up our belief in Death. NOBODY HAS EVER DIED OR COME TO HARM IN ANY WAY . THERE IS NO DEATH

The Smoking Gun

Over the last year I have become interested in the many conspiracy theories that you find on the Internet and the media . My initial reaction was that these theories originated from paranoid minds who had lost touch with reality , but were relatively harmless and in many ways added a certain amount of joy to life . They give us an excuse to laugh at other people , reinforcing our intellectual superiority whilst at the same time wondering where these conspiracists get their ideas from . They must be raving mad , we say to ourselves and carry on with our lives . The mainstream press avoid them like the plague , occasionally daring to talk about them , but only in the same way they discuss a story about a cat caught up a tree - fun , but not to be taken seriously .
My four most popular theories are : UFOs , the 9/11 attack on the Twin towers , the death of Princess Diana and the existence of a shadowy group called the Illuminati who basically control the world . The case for the defence says that UFOs are the hallucinations of drug fuelled individuals , that 9/11 was just an attack by Osama Bin Laden and loony Moslem extremists who got lucky, that Diana's death was an accidental car crash and that the Illuminati is not real and only exists in the minds of anti government agitators .
The case for the prosecution points to the huge numbers of individuals who claim to have seen UFOs and even governments have had investigations , trying to ascertain the truth . I recently saw an interview with Buzz Aldrin , in which he admitted to seeing a UFO on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon . There are many photographs and videos of these crafts , with evidence from supposedly professional observers in the military and police . The very rapid advancements in military technology , such as the Stealth bomber and micro-technology eg Mobile phones and computers are claimed to come from aliens .
Secondly , with the 9/11 attacks , the US government accusers point to the action of the American air defence flying out to sea , the lack of photographic evidence of the attack on the Pentagon and the ease with which the buildings collapsed . They also point out the ineptitude of the US intelligence services in not stopping the plot and are also helped out by the triumvirate of George Bush , Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld . I have yet to come across a more untrustworthy group and would have to look twice if they said the sky was blue .
With Diana , the British establishment is accused of wilfully murdering the mother of the heir to the throne . Photographs of Diana looking pregnant have been released and claims that Dodi Fayed had also bought her an engagement ring have been raised . There are suspicions that Henri Paul , the Head of Security at the hotel was in the pay of the British Intelligence Services and that MI6 officers were in the vicinity at the time . The confusion which surrounds Henri Paul's blood samples have also complicated the matter and the lack of recall of Diana's bodyguards has further added to the mystery .
The last theory is that of the Illuminati - this propounds that there is a small group of people who run the world , according to their whims and wishes , and manipulate events , such as 9/11 and other terrorist conspiracies , even starting wars and putting their people into positions of power all over the world . Their aim is for the population of earth to become nothing more than worker drones for this elite . The proponents of this theory assert the Royal families , the Heads of States and other assorted government individuals with the help of organisations like the Freemasons have managed to retain control of the world and are only interested in the retention of their power at all cost . They highlight the large number of masons in controlling positions throughout the world - eg Winston Churchill , George V and George VI and the large number of presidents of the USA and the influence of the same educational establishments , Oxford and Cambridge , Yale and Harvard etc . The meetings at Bohemian Grove in America , where top politicians and industrialists from all over the planet such as George Bush snr, Gerald Ford , Henry Kissinger and Dick Cheney congregate and where there is filmed footage of a faked ( I hope ) human sacrifice to a 40 ft owl are also used as evidence of the existence of this organisation .
What I hope this proves is that conspiracists are not bonkers and that there is rational reasoning behind their arguments . But are they right ? To be honest , I don't know but what I do realise is that even if one of these theories are true , it would be of vital importance . If aliens do exist , if 9/11 was an inside job , if the royal family did kill Diana or that our leaders are malevolent to us it would be earth shattering . But there is a problem , no conclusive proof has been collected . A smoking gun is needed - something to prove beyond doubt that one or more of these events are true . An alien spacecraft landing on the White House Lawn or Prince Charles morphing into a reptile on national television would be handy . On the other hand they have not been disproved . But the lesson I have learnt from my interest is not to dismiss other people's views , however outlandish , because they do not coincide with my belief structure . As someone famous once said : ' There are more things in heaven and earth , Horatio , than are dreamt of in your philosophy ' .

The Duke of York had ten thousand men

I have recently watched two gripping documentaries on television which investigated the use of torture tactics by the Americans in ' The War on Terror ' . The first film ' Taxi to the Dark Side ' centred on Guantanamo and the second ' Ghosts of Abu Ghraib in Iraq . They were both chilling accounts of what can happen when the end justifies the means . The torturers seemed to me to be normal human beings , but had got caught up in extraordinary circumstances . Their excuse was ' they were only following orders ' and were probably chosen for their duties because they were easily manipulated and pliable . The US Army defended themselves by claiming that the torturers were a renegade group , who had slipped through the net but the torture techniques were sophisticated and the similarities too pronounced for anyone to doubt that it was deliberate policy . In a frightening interview American Vice President Dick Cheney said " We have to sort of work the dark side if you will . We have to spend time in the shadows " . The Americans are not the only ones to blame as the torture was outsourced through rendition to other countries , who were only too happy to help.

But why are we surprised - this has been going on for centuries . Just take a trip round the castles of Britain and you will find far more grizzly instruments of torture than have been used in Cuba and Iraq .The armies of the world have been practicing this for eons . In my view the military of the world has only one purpose and that is to kill . It is in its psyche to hate and wish to cause pain and destruction , where it can . In fact its very existence depends on our acceptance of it . The world believes that we are separate countries and need our armies to defend ourselves from our enemies but , if you take a step back , you will see that the military is one single entity throughout the world , with one aim : to cause death , destruction and pain wherever it can . It has been a puzzle to me how armies seem to find the opposing forces to fight-how come they don't get lost and miss each other ? It's because they don't want to . There seems to be an unconcious magnetic effect which draws them together and fulfill the aim of bloody battle .

How can this force be dealt with . In my opinion there is only one way and that is to boycott it . It needs bodies to kill and be killed and the means to defeat it is by suffocation . We need the young men and women of the world not to enlist . If no one joins up , there can be no wars . I know this may appear pie in the sky and utopian , but it is the only way , unless we want the current wars to recur . It means we will have to ignore the siren calls and excuses for war and basically not go along with the warmongers bloodlust . Because if we don't there will be another Adolf Hitler or Dick Cheney and another Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib . It is our choice.

The Taxman

" Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you , nineteen for me
Cause I'm the taxman , yeah , I'm the taxman

Should five per cent appear too small
Be careful I don't take it all
Cause I'm the taxman , yeah , I'm the taxman "


Last weekend , Ed and Elaine Brown were taken into custody in the United States after a long siege for refusing to pay their taxes . They had threatened to go out in a hail of bullets like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but , thankfully , this calamitous end was avoided and they were arrested peacefully .The main plank of their argument is that no law has been passed , authorising the IRS to take money from the citizens of the United States . This may or may not be the case and in pure legal terms seems to be a bit of a grey area , but to me seems to miss the main point.
As anybody who has read my previous posts , they will understand my concept that none of these governmental bodies such as the IRS or the Inland Revenue are only real but only mental ideas . ( In more ways than one ) As far as I am aware nobody in the world has entered into any contract , allowing the tax organisations to take money from them .When you read the phrase " tax is theft " this is literally true and in the UK they do not actually have to take it from you , but is deducted from your salary by your employer who will send it on . And woe betide you if , like the Browns , you refuse to pay your taxes . You will be up in court faster than you count to ten.
But what puzzles me is how we have got into this situation , where we are forced to hand over large parts of our salary to an organisation that does not exist . The reason , as far as I can ascertain is out of fear - the knock on the door or the letter through the post . The only way the government gets away with this con trick is through the staff who carry out its wishes - the judicial system and the police who supply the muscle . It is the biggest financial theft in the world and if a case could be brought , the government would be found guilty of theft and demanding money with menaces . But a court case can never take place as there is no one to prosecute since there is no government .
If we want to be really free , the peoples of the world have to realise they are ruled by only a very few people and if we want to make our own decisions , we will have to somehow wrestle power from these imaginary bodies .At the moment , Might is Right rules the world but it would only need people to boycott these institutions and the individuals employed by " The Powers That Be " to refuse to carry out their orders for the whole edifice to crumble or to alter so radically , so that is for the benefit of the whole of mankind , rather than mankind serving IT . IT does not exist !
I wish Ed and Elaine Brown well and hope that their plight causes everyone to question the whole notion of government .

The Meaning of Life

Why are we here ? Why were we born ? Is there a purpose to everything ? In short what is the meaning of life ? This question has puzzled philosophers and religious thinkers for milennium . In this post I will give my explanation .
The Meaning of Life is LIFE . Nothing more , nothing less . The main function of Life is to be . In fact , it can't be anything else . Wherever you go , whatever you do you are alive . Wherever you look in the universe you will find life - even the coldest planets and the darkest reaches of space are alive . Even , when you see a dead animal or person it is alive . To our eyes , it seems very different but when you observe any object be they alive or dead they are actually full of gases , molecules , particles and atoms at what scientists describe as the quantum level . In truth , dead objects are still alive but changing form . Even when you 'die' , your atoms one day will help form another living object .
Actually , when you look at the universe everything seems to have a purpose , except for one important component . The tides come in and go out - the Moon goes around the Earth - ice ages come and go - asteroids hurtle around the sun . Even everyday household objects have a purpose . Your television , your bed , your oven , your lighting -they all have purpose . If you observe animals , they seem to know exactly what they are doing all the time , from the lowliest amoeba up to the most intelligent ' higher ' animals , such as dolphins , whales , or members of the ape family . Even clouds , seem to know where to go and what to do . As I mentioned earlier everything seems to have a purpose except for one component - that component is the Human race.
I doubt that there has never been a human being who has not thought to themselves Why am I here ? Some people convince themselves that their employment or their hobby or their children are the purpose to their lives . Others are brilliant writers or artists or politicians and say that was the reason that they were born . Previously I said that everything seems to have a purpose . That purpose is LIFE . We are the same - however we seem to think that our purpose is to do . The universe is not concerned what we do , but that we live . Life is all there is and it is our meaning !

Forgiveness

TO FORGIVE : Cease to resent , pardon . FORGIVENESS : act of forgiving , state of being forgiven . These are my diary 's description for forgiveness . All religions , therapists and philosophers will say that it is necessary to find forgiveness in order for one to leave the past behind and leave your life free of anger or bitterness that you have , due to people or circumstances harming you . Many people spend years in therapy searching for this elusive act that will free them from their pain . You've got to leave the past behind , you will be advised - just forgive and move on . But it doesn't seem to matter how many times you pardon the pain still festers . You try and forgive yourself and other people , but you cannot clear it from your psyche and your anger will occasionally break out hurting you and sometimes you love the most in your life.

It appears one of Life's cruel tricks that a victim has to find forgiveness to remove the pain of a certain event , whilst the perpetrator continues his or her life , showing no remorse whilst the victim is eaten up with bitterness and anger . This is often true in extreme cases like murder or rape and individuals can carry these scars to their graves. Actually , these painful events are huge opportunities to enter into your subconcious and discover the pain that already exists there . Any failure , loss or abandonment is a chance to deal with the underlying causes of the frustrations , anger , resentment and jealousy that we all deal with , because these emotions are not caused by the event but already exist within us and are only triggered by painful events . On the other hand , positive emotions tend to be caused when things happen that diminish the negative emotions .For example , if you get a pay rise at work , you think you are happy because you have more money , but it is really because your fear of poverty and your feelings of inadequacy are reduced .You may even feel that you are now better than your co-workers and a superior human being . But these feelings only last for a short time and you will soon return to your fear and feelings of inadequacy and will try different strategies eg chemical addiction , exercise or work to block these feelings .

What is the underlying cause of all this heartbreak and suffering in this world ? What don't we want to feel ? I believe that we are trying to escape from Life , because the greatest fear we have is the universes' love , which is within us and outside of ourselves . The anger you feel is really directed against this - when something ' bad ' happens you are saying that Life is not good enough and there should be something better . In fact that is all there is - the feeling you and I are running away from and hate more than anything else is Love. The world we see , full of war and hate comes from this - the world has projected this onto itself and this is what we get . God , the Universe - whatever your description for Life is , loves us completely and without reservation , whatever we have done.

The cause of this conflict is the belief in death and belief in the reality of the physical .This has led us to thinking we are gulity and that we are not loved or good enough . So , how can we deal with these erroneous thoughts - what can remove these blocks which stop us knowing ourselves fully . The key that will unturn the lock is Forgiveness . The real meaning of forgiveness is not that of pardon but is giving . This is not something we have to try and discover but is our natural state of being .

Our world's definition of giving is ' Give and Take ' , which is really just taking . How many times have you been angry because someone did not return a favour or appreciate something you did for them - this anger implies that deep in you , you were expecting something in return and were not giving but taking . To give is to love and love is the force that will remove the thoughts of guilt and death . This is the feeling that we feel 24 hours a day , 365 days a year and try and ignore the best we can . IT IS NOT GOING TO GO AWAY ! It is what we are . There is tremendous resistance within the human psyche and the way through this is to accept the feelings . Our so called negative emotions are signs that we are feeling this healing energy but not accepting it. Once you realise this , the only thing you can do is try and make a space within you for this force . Lie back and think of England if you like . It is not something to fear even though it may cause conflict inside of you , because underneath all the layers of negativity is you - the You that you know you are . Just accept and accept and accept again and one day we will return to our natural state . It has never gone away and never will.

There is no such thing as Society

These were the famous words of Margaret Thatcher , that were much derided . The underlying message of her comments was severe , echoing Norman Tebbit's ' Get on your bike comments ' . It was an attack on benefit culture and a typical Tory attitude of the time demonising ' spongers ' and anybody else they did not approve of .
The interesting point about Mrs Thatcher's remarks is that she was correct . There is no such thing as society-look around you and try and find one . It is actually just a mental concept - my dictionary's description of society is an ' association of persons sharing a common interest or aim ' . In the way , we normally describe it , society does not exist . All that exists are people making different choices and actions . There is no society to blame or congratulate . All that there is , are different people doing whatever people do.
For fourteen years , I had the dubious pleasure of working for Barclays Bank ( actually it wasn't that bad until the bastards took over - lots of wine , women and song made up for the rather mundane nature of the job ) . One thing bugged me though . Who did I really work for ? What was Barclays Bank ? As with Society , the answer was that it was not real . Just because somebody writes down on a paper that something exists and gives it a name , that does not make it real . Literally , it is just words on a paper . Barclays Bank and other companies are just buildings and people working inside them . They are only real in our mind .
If Barclays Bank and Society do not really exist - what else is not real ? Basically , any organisation that you can think of . Schools , the Police , the Army . The list is endless , but the main beneficiary of our mental delusion is the Government . It is just a set of men and women , telling the rest of the population how to live their lives and if we do not agree with them the full force of the Law , will make us comply . ( The Law is another fictional institution . The crown , the courts and councils are only individuals ). Does one individual have the right to tell someone else where to park their cars , to pay taxes or taking it further imprison people or even execute them ? Now , I don't believe in anarchy and am only too aware of what can happen , when there is a vacuum in government , but this profound lack of freedom must be addressed , where a coterie decides for others how they are to conduct their lives . Especially when they do not even exist !
I hope this post has given you food for thought and will return soon with further insights from the recesses of my mind .

The Universal Soldier

These are the lyrics to an anti war song by Buffy Sainte Marie , which has recently been swimming around my mind. She is a wonderful Canadian Indian songwriter and these words seem very apt right now - one of the mysteries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been that there has been no public support for them and yet still they went ahead . Maybe its time that we start calling the tune .

He's five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17
He's been a soldier for a thousand years

He's a Catholic , a Hindu , an atheist , a Jain
a Buddhist and Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada
he's fighting for France
he's fighting for the USA
he's fighting for the Russians
and he's fighting for Japan
and he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says its for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
who's to live and who's to die
and he never sees the writing on the walls

But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing can't go on

He's the Universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war.

Thou Shalt Not

''Thou shalt have no other gods before me.Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them:for I the lord thy God am a jealous God , visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me . And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me , and keep my commandments. ''



It has always puzzled me why , that for millennia , the vast majority of the population of the world has allowed a small number of people , mainly men , to pass laws and generally tell the masses how to behave and what to do with their lives . In my country , the United Kingdom there is approximately a population of 60 million people and yet basically about 600 men and women are in control of the law - even less , as most MP's vote how they are told . This happens all over the world from totalitarian regimes to so called democracies - a very small number tell 6 billion men and women what is right and what is wrong . How did this happen ?

The lines at the beginning of this blog come from the Ten Commandments given to Moses -as far as I can tell , this is the first time that ' God ' gave detailed instructions to the human race as to how to behave . What really bugs me is that Moses got away with it - if Gordon Brown climbed Ben Nevis and returned with a tablet of stone saying that income tax should be increased by 3% ,that everyone should undertake National Service and that God told him this ,he would rightly be greeted with derision . But Moses was believed and from this time the role of governments have taken on a quasi- spiritual flavour.

My theory is that subconciously , we give 'our leaders ' god like qualities and believe that their laws come from God himself. And as it says in the Ten Commandments he is a jealous god and will throw thunderbolts and punish us in all sorts of horrible ways if we disobey him . ( For any American readers , that is irony ). At first glance , George Bush's and Tony Blair's declarations that they prayed to God before launching the Iraq war seems laughable , but the answer seems to have been that the war was God's Will . Subconciously , this sort of public declaration is very powerful implying God supports the war and is on our side , even if our enemies also claim to have God's support.

It seems absurd to me to believe that God takes sides , and that he has a direct hot line to our leaders , telling them what to do and what is best for the rest for us .Do we have to do what our governments tell us-pay income tax , follow their laws , drop bombs on fellow human beings . By all means , agree with the government but don't do it out of fear of God . The individuals in government are no different to you or me . Do they have the right to tell anybody what to do ? Do we have to obey their laws and proclamations , if we dont want to ? This raises a further fundamental question - does anyone have the right to make decisions for others ?

I will leave this thought with you to ponder and will return in a few days with further musings .

2012

In the summer of 2012 ,the Olympic Games will be coming to London . Some are dreading this , whilst others are looking forward to it with anticipation . Personally , I love these type of large sporting events and I am hoping to attend some of these events. However , my real interest in 2012 and the Olympics is of an esoteric nature rather than just my sporting inclinations.

According to the ancient Mayan civilization 21/12/2012 is the date when the current astrological cycle comes to an end , having begun in 3114 BC and nothing is predicted after this time. Some have called this the ' Great Awakening ' and others have a more dire view , seeing it as the End of the World referred to in Revelations with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse striding across the scorched earth , destroying all sinners who are guilty in God's eyes and the pure ( mainly white American Christian fundamentalists ) will rise to heaven . Having been brought up during the 1960's when the Cold War was at its height and lived through the run up to the Millennium and various Jehovah Witnesses proclamations , I am immune to these types of predictions and 2012 was of no interest to me until the news that the Olympics were coming to London.

Apart from this date , what else would connect the London Olympics to the ancient Mayan prophecy . It was when I saw that the hub of the Olympics were going to be in Stratford that I began to think that maybe 2012 is of significance because Stratford is bang on the Meridian - this is the longitude line which crosses the earth vertically-which runs through Greenwich and gives the famous Greenwich Mean Time , from which all time on earth is linked to . All clock times are based on this and depending where you are in the world , the time is connected to Greenwich . It is interesting that both East Grinstead and Lewes in Sussex , which are also on the Meridian are both towns with rather spooky spiritual atmospheres. I can certainly verify this with East Grinstead having gone to school there for 5 years as well as working in the town for 1 year.

So what has this to do with anything ? If you have read my previous posts you may understand my views that our belief in death and body as real are falsehoods. ( I promise after this blog not to mention death for a long time ) . If you follow the theory through , this would mean that Time itself must also be unreal as without birth and death there can be no time . No beginning and no end . My other belief is that death , the ego or the devil ( whatever you like to call it , as it is the same thing ) has its own intelligence , which tries to lock us into this belief system and that Time and the Body are its greatest symbols . Is it possible that the London Olympics , with its emphasis on the glorification of the body and the siting on the Meridian -Greenwich is also being used for a large number of events at the dome -a further attempt to trap us .

What is going to happen in 2012 . I don't know is the honest answer , but it appears to me that it will be significant and London will be at the heart of it . So we'll just have to wait and see -Time Will Tell !

Me and my Shadow

In my last blog I discussed the emergence of a force into the national and world psyche , which seem to have been precipitated by the return to power of the Labour party in 1997 . This force has changed behavioural patterns and intensified personal relationships throughout the world. What is it and how will it continue to affect us?.

The renowned psychologist CG Jung was the first to use the term '' the Shadow '' to describe the unconconcious emotions and energies which are repressed within ourselves and which we do not want to acknowledge ,out of fear or guilt and which are too painful too enter into , if we can avoid it .However , these energies will always try and find an outlet and can suddenly burst into life in both destructive and positive ways.

I am now going to quote Deepak Chopra - which I am loathe to do , as I find New Agers a bit too happy-clappy for my tastes , but he does seem to know what he is talking about in a lot of areas :

The Shadow is personal and universal at the same time.

Anything can be stored there.

Whatever is stored in darkness becomes distorted

The intensity of shadow energies is a way of getting noticed.

Bringing conciousness to any energy defuses it.

The shadow itself is not evil and therefore not your enemy.



It is my view that since 1997 these shadow energies have been forced out of our psyches . Have your interests changed -how often do you find yourself reading books or watching films that you would never normally be interested in and sometimes cause you to feel ashamed ? The rise in films showing ever more nasty and sadistic methods of slaughter are to me indicative of the Shadow . The political and media habit of referring to their enemies as 'terrorists' as well as the massive interest in conspiracy theories eg : 9/11 , the death of Princess Diana again point to shadowy figures who dwell in the darkness . The profileration of adult and child pornography on the internet ,also, comes from the same place.

Without going into great detail about the various layers of the Shadow - feelings of inadequacy , guilt , fear , as well as addictive behaviours are all symptoms of it - it seems to be common sense that there must be a basic reason for the shadow . My opinion is that the core centre of the Shadow is the fear of death , or rather the belief in death . The belief that we are going to be destroyed and that we cannot live without our bodies . Everything , the world is based on seems to come from this premise -our basic impulses come from the need for survival-food , sex , shelter etc and all our energies are put into it.

But what if this is wrong - what if the body and death are not true ? Is it possible that we are trapped in some sort of hallucinatory world ,which relies on these beliefs to sustain itself . Could it be that all the hate and anger are somehow misplaced - are we living a con ? I can only let you decide for yourself , but something is happening and the Shadow is at the heart of it . And Tony Blair of course.

Tony Blair and the Grim Reaper

On the 1/5/1997 ,Tony Blair was elected as Prime Minister.It was also the first day of my new life as an ex-husband.A day of change both personally and nationally.I don't think anybody would contend that that the world has changed dramatically in many ways-we have had wars in Europe,Africa and are currently involved in Iraq and Afghanistan.The shock of 9/11 still reverberates around the world , and smaller terrorist activities like 7/7 and the Madrid bombings have kept the populations on permanent alarm.Big corporations have got even bigger and government institutions seem to be in permanent conflict with their public , doing whatever they deem fit without any consulatation.In the workplace , people are working longer and longer ,without any real benefit and social problems seem to be increasing.

But the biggest change that I have noticed is that the world seems to have gone completely mad-really bonkers.The first indication of this was Princess Diana's funeral and the run up to it.The false sentimentality was enscapulated in Elton John's rendition of Candle in the Wind , which then went on to become the biggest selling single of all time.Since then , whenever , any major event has occurred it is greeted with completely undue exultation or desperation-the Olympic games coming to London is a prime example-Londoners were in almost orgasmic delight and the defeated Parisians were in almost suicidal despair.The apocalyptic take on climate change is another indication of this refusal to keep things in perspective.

Everything , is either absolutely fantastic or completely terrible.Nobody is fat any more , they are obese.There are no more drinkers-they are either alcoholics or at the very least binge drinkers.Everybody is GUILTY-you work too much or not hard enough-we drink, smoke and eat too much . If you have a lot of sex you are a sex addict and if only a little , there must be something wrong with you.the cities and towns are not safe to go in on Friday and Saturday nights , unless you have had 10 pints of Stella Artois , and don't mind being shouted at and vomited upon . A group of more than four teenagers is to be seriously avoided .

We all know that something has changed , we can all feel it , but what has happened . Did Tony Blair's rise to power portend something major on both a national and worldwide scale? Is the world changing and why ? What has caused all this turbulence ? The answer is that something has emerged and at the bottom of it is our friend , the Grim Reaper himself , Death.In my next blog , I will expand on this and endeavour to explain what this means on a personal and worldwide level.

I'm now off to have those 10 pints of Stella !