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Mens cuiusque is est quisque.
“The spirit is the true Self.”
Cicero – De Republica, Vi.26 (c. 106 – 43 BC)
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Mens cuiusque is est quisque.
“The spirit is the true Self.”
Cicero – De Republica, Vi.26 (c. 106 – 43 BC)
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Last year I read many books about Eastern philosophies and spiritual practices, including the Autobiography of a Yogi, written by the great spiritual teacher from India, Paramahansa Yogananda. I do not practice Yoga, or meditation, per se, nor do I ascribe to any organized spiritual methods or organizations. I am following my own path of reading, communicating and seeking to remember Who I Really Am as an immortal spiritual entity. I suppose I could call my form of meditation: “looking, communicating, understanding and loving”. I practice my “meditation” continually, at least to the degree that I am willing to discipline myself to attain awareness and ability above the extremely limited perceptions imposed by animating an aging biological body on Earth.
I do not “believe in god” or have a membership card in a group of followers. However, I am inspired and emboldened by beings who know themselves as the source of life energy, of love, wisdom, and of creation of realities for themselves and of universes. As part of my continuing journey I am reading a book and Blog by a fellow traveler, Pam Grout. Here is a compilation video she recommended about Russell Brand. His enthusiastic advocacy of wisdom, and egalitarian love, through self-realization reminds me very much of Yogananda. This video recommended by Pam Grout in her Blog ( http://pamgrout.com/ )
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If you have spent any time with animals you should have observed that they experience emotions similar to our own. Animals can communicate between themselves, or with other species, including humans, with amazing sensitivity. Many experiments have been conducted that conclusively demonstrate extrasensory abilities and perceptions of animals. Millions of people in India consider that the reincarnated souls of humans inhabit the bodies of every kind of life form. Therefore, every life form is is “sacred” and entitled to live freely within human society.
However, the “civilized” Westerner does not possess an awareness of personal spiritual immortality. Instead, human beings in Western “civilization” considers themselves to be the “highest attainment of evolution”. Or, that humans embody “the image of The Creator”. There is no concept of “personal spiritual immortality”. It is virtually inconceivable to the “civilized Westerner” that spiritual beings inhabit and animate life forms. Rather, the animation of life is a “mysterious and unknowable” phenomenon that is being “studied” by the priests of Western culture: “scientists”.
A “scientist” is a professional academician or “priest” whose “religious belief” is that the “entire universe consists of nothing more than solid matter, energy, space and time”, including living organisms. These “priests” possess a profound inability to observe the obvious fact that LIFE FORMS ARE ANIMATED BY SPIRITUAL BEINGS!
Question: What is the definition, or meaning of “LIFE”?
Answer: A material form or organism which is animated and motivated by a non-material energy source, or “spirit”.
Factually, Western “science” does not have working definition for the word “LIFE”. As a consequence, the “average” American and European human view of themselves as a life form is egocentric, myopic, ignorant, self-aggrandizing and pathetically barbaric. Visit any grocery store or restaurant anywhere in the western world, and it becomes instantly apparent that human beings are carnivorous predators who consider that other animals are a primary and necessary food source!
This idea is very, very similar to the belligerently aristocratic notion of “great” Britain that “the brown races” are the natural subjects of the white race, and that it is the “manifest destiny” of Caucasians to rule over them and use them as slaves. Thus, the British Empire, which invaded and conquered all by 22 of the nations of Earth, entitled and bequeathed unto themselves the “god-given right” to murder, steal from, indenture or enslave nearly the entire population of humans and every other life form on the planet! The Nazis Third Reich was motivated and empowered with a religious conviction that they were entitled, as “the Master Race”, to rule the world!
What is the difference between the philosophy of these genocidal “civilizations” and the philosophy that “humans are the highest life form on Earth”? In both cases, these philosophies are used by humans as justification to murder, slaughter, enslave or EAT almost every living organism on Earth! I suggest that human beings are nothing more than stupid savages as regards their awareness and treatment of themselves and every other life form on Earth.
If you would like to “cure” your own ignorance or superstitions on the subject of “LIFE”, I recommend that you read the very excellent book, Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures by Virginia Morell.
From the publishers promo about the book:
“Did you know that ants teach, earthworms make decisions, rats love to be tickled, and chimps grieve? Did you know that some dogs have thousand-word vocabularies and that birds practice songs in their sleep? That crows improvise tools, blue jays plan ahead, and moths remember living as caterpillars?
Animal Wise takes us on a dazzling odyssey into the inner world of animals, from ants to elephants to wolves, and from sharp-shooting archerfish to pods of dolphins that rumble like rival street gangs. Morell probes the moral and ethical dilemmas of recognizing that even “lesser animals” have cognitive abilities such as memory, feelings, personality, and self-awareness–traits that many in the twentieth century felt were unique to human beings.”
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(This article is reposted from “quedavathegrey” on Tumbler)
“The Witches’ Rites of Renunciation are meant to sever the religious ties of your own personal past. This is done (I have found) for two distinct reasons: to shed the preconceptions forced by organized religion, including both the doctrines and the antithetic notion of hierarchal power in regards to Enlightenment, and as a symbol of rebirth. Much like a baptism! Only in this instance, the sin you wash away is the sin of religious indoctrination, hypocrisy and the very human realities that accompany the notion of “church.” It is meant to be a freeing exercise – one that cleanses all the malformed ideologies imbued on you throughout your earlier life. Of course, that is easier said than done and no one ritual can truly clear the slate completely, but it serves as a formal boundary between the past and the future – a future in which you must relearn your understanding of the world at large. One in which the answers presented are not set in stone, but fluid – from which you must come to your own conclusions, test your own theories and tessellate the scattered mythos and ideas into a cohesive faith – you own faith, reliant wholly on none other than yourself.
That is The Witches’ Baptism, and this is one example of how it may be performed:
Ideally, the rite should be done at a Crossroad (of whichever type speaks to you the most) as it is a transformative ritual! Bring with you whatever you need to light a fire in your preferred method – such as wood for a classic bonfire, Sacred Fire to light in a bowl/cauldron/vessel, or alcohol – which can be poured in a circle (note: isopropyl alcohol isn’t fond of the cold or wind, so either plan according to weather or bring a backup solution).
On site, when you are emotionally prepared, build your fire. Depending on your chosen medium, your window of opportunity will differ greatly (the above are listed from greatest to least burn-time), so factor this in as well. For those of you who thoroughly enjoy taking your time, I recommend building a true fire.
The following part should be personalized to fit your taste, as how you wish to release the past is up to you. You can do it simply, by speaking out loud that you rebuke the religion of your youth/past (traditionally, this is done by rebuking the Holy Spirit of Christianity – the unforgivable blasphemy – so as to free oneself from its vice-grip, though the renunciation can extend to any religion [or even no religion]).
A few other options consist of writing these things out – in as long-winded or concise a manner as you wish (these can even be written days in advance) – or burning a symbol of the past. The flames are freeing – allow them to be.
Purge these broken things from the mind and heart, and cast them symbolically into the consuming fire of creation and destruction. It is these things that stand as obstacle – let them be cleansed from you. And when the time has come, when these things have been expressed and used as kindling (carefully) leap the fire (and try not to wear any hairspray!). Then you are free.
Upon the other side, you may douse the fire, allow it to burn out, or use this time to connect with another Spirit or Deity (I said you were free, not that you had to stay free!), Nature at large, or even with yourself – whichever is most befitting your chosen path. Theoretically, this could be done by an Abrahamic witch if only to cleanse the effects of church indoctrination – for those who wish to follow the gospels/tomes in a unique or personal way.”
IMAGE: “Baptism of fire: Girls leap over flames as part of ancient cleansing ceremony held on the birthday of John the Baptist,”
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