A Shaft of Light

A Shaft of Light

Friday, November 21, 2014

Is it a Ghost?

Did you know, they have a paranormal camera on Spirit - NASA's Mars Rover? I don't know what a 'paranormal camera' is but it's intriguing, isn't it.

This confirms to me that steadfast, solid institutions like NASA pay plenty of attention to the fact that 'anything is possible'. It's the mark of great explorers.

There is a picture online today of a rock that has raised a lot of conjecture about whether it is an old skull or merely a rock. NASA's picture is solid and unadorned and one could speculate one way or another. And it's fun to imagine - what brought it there? Who is it? Is it dangerous? Or is it just a lump of minerals.

However, a group calling itself the Paranormal Crucible has posted their own edition of the picture and have apparently altered it to look more like a skull. I haven't seen it, but it smacks of alarmism and sensationalism to me. A manipulation of what is.

It's like the crop of paranormal stories that have been showing up on TV in recent years. All of them full of dark light, shadows, muffled screams,  rattling sounds and moans - and fear. Well, they scare the heck out of me. I watch them from behind a pillow. All of them are designed to titillate, frighten, and bring in a ton of money for their producers. Selling horror and fear in every way they can.

This is fine, I suppose, as entertainment. The problem I have with it is that the truth gets distorted and unsuspecting people believe such stories. Ghosts/Spirits are not frightening, people. They cannot hurt you, and they do not threaten. They are spiritual beings simply trying to make contact. That's been my experience, and I don't expect it to change. The other problem I have with it is that these productions are the product of someone's imagination, and threaten the authenticity of those of us trying to tell the truth about the very real worlds of other dimensions and spiritual beings that sometimes seep into our own.

Whether it's Science, involving our own earth and the known universes, or energies we don't yet understand, some from way beyond our known universes, it needs careful consideration and discernment.

It's very easy to take something that is almost unbelievable and make up fantastical and hysterical stories about it. Even people who have genuinely experienced a paranormal or spiritual event, can get carried away on a wave of enthusiasm and begin to exaggerate the essence of what they actually  saw or heard. And by the time the story has been re-told a dozen times, even the shadow of truth has vanished. It's very easy to misinterpret these events, which makes it very important to stop and discern them, write them down before you share them.

The existence of other dimensions and beings is a simple truth, exact in its simplicity, and ideally, simple truth should remain unadorned and should be accepted in it's essence. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all be that accepting.

But we're thinking beings. We want to see and touch and feel, and find out everything we can about something so 'unreal'. Including the mysteries of outer space. And it's essential that we  do that. You can't touch a star, but you can land on the moon, bring back rocks and examine them. By the same token, you can sense a spirit - then feel it. And photograph it. You can probably even pat a ghost, or poke it ... to see if it's real. And you may hear it laugh.

We should encourage the explorers, and embark on our own explorations. Delve into every facet of the subject and maintain a healthy skepticism. You won't be able to prove everything, there is a certain amount of faith involved. But there is also something called 'knowingness'. When you just KNOW something is right. And that 'knowingness' is part of that energy in ourselves we don't yet fully understand. It just is. Take for instance, a doctor diagnosing a patient; long before the tests are in, that doctor has a feeling, a knowingness, a sureness of what it is he or she is looking at.

So while the skull rock on Mars is fun, discern it, question everything, and  keep an open mind.

Have a beautiful sunny day! Which is also deceptive. With this much sunshine, it should be warm! But we're a long way from warm. Can you imagine how cold it is on Mars today? No wonder all we can find are rocky skulls. Bundle up!

Sunday, November 16, 2014

November Mornings.

November is a time for reminiscing, for me. The brilliant colors of fall have crumbled brown and dusty to the ground and the mornings are frosty around the edges. The geese in the cove are thinking of moving on and I'm thinking that soon the lake will be getting frosty around the edges and they'll be gone.

It's a time for remembering, and some of those memories are warm and some  make you  pull your sweater closer, light the fire and pour a cup of tea. And that makes me think of my mother and father.

Long gone now, I find it interesting that the older I get, the more I find myself wishing they were around to talk to. To be able to pick up a phone and say, "What do you think"?  about this or that. Or to draw on their memories, perhaps to shore up my own memories, or to remember others I've forgotten. To sit beside my mother and say, "I worry about this or that, do you think it'll be alright?" I miss their warmth, and their thoughts about things that matter.

It's not that they were perfect parents. If they had been perfect they would have had a perfect child - and that didn't happen. In fact, if they had been perfect, I would probably have picked up my back pack and left home before I was ten. I think perfection would be very hard to live with. I think perfection by it's very definition is imperfect. But that's another thought.

My mother and father were present. Whenever I needed them, and sometimes when I was sure I didn't, they were there. They seemed to have the right answers at the time, and although some of them probably weren't, they ultimately worked for me. I could rely on them to never consciously let me down, and I know now that whatever decisions they made for me and my sibling they were made with the best of intentions - right or wrong. And, in retrospect, they were mostly right. Although being imperfect, like me, some of them would probably raise a few eyebrows in the 21st. Century Manual of Parenting.

"They meant well." Sounds trite, but it actually has great depth, in fact. It won't fly in many circles, but in mine it does. Everything they did for us, for better or for worse, was done from their own toolboxes of ancestral experience, and done with the right intentions. They never meant any harm to come to any of us. And isn't that what it's all about?

That thought stayed with me as I was raising my own children - imperfectly, but with the very best of intentions, always. It's made it easier to forgive myself when things didn't turn out the way I had intended, or hoped. And I thank them for that.

So, on a cold November evening, it's the memories of my mother dancing until dawn with my father in his military uniform -  the smell of her Blue Grass perfume, or his Old Spice, that color my memories, filling me still with childish adoration. It's the memories of my father's WW2 stories, the sinking of the HMS Birmingham, and the Red Cross ship full of nurses they were escorting, helping to shape my thoughts in the realms of right and wrong, my mother chasing me with a hairbrush to enforce a little discipline with a splat! whop! on my behind, and her vague opinions about the latest boy-flame in my life - always right.

And now, as a cold November moves towards the warmth of Thanksgiving Day, with it's candles, pies, roasted turkey and dressing, I feel very thankful for them. I'm glad they were here with me; and I feel at peace knowing that they're with Drew in Heaven.

I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving with all the people you love the best around you.    

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Finding Spirit

I'm lovin' the workshops and super-enthusiastic study groups that are springing up from the public presentations of "Rainbow Rising", the book you asked for, following "By Morning's Light", which answers many of your questions about finding spirit.

Actually, spirit is looking for you. Not only your own spirit which is alive and well within, but all of those souls you loved so much when they were here on earth, and thought were lost, are doing everything they can to let you know they're still alive, living in another dimension, in another form.

I know this because I, and many, many others, have seen them, heard them and felt them.

This is where, if you come from a traditional religious background, you may begin to get twitchy. Don't. If you've ever thought or wondered if you felt a disincarnate soul around you - you probably have. It's the most natural thing on earth. Your sixth sense and intuition are part of who you are and when glimpses like this occur, it's just them kicking in and asking to be acknowledged. They are the way your own eternal spirit talks to you. Don't ever be afraid of acknowledging those tweaks of intuition, sensing another presence or listening to that inner voice. It's that eternal spirit you, (that organized religion has tried so hard to convince you of!) It wants you to know it's there ... but if you're like me, you probably won't believe all that until you can experience it for yourself.

And that takes an open mind, and a willingness to experience it. It also takes acknowledging the possibility that so many people can't be wrong, and allowing yourself to wonder, 'What if ...'  What if I can talk to my own spirit - or people who have passed on and are now in spirit?

You begin by reaching for something you cannot feel or sense with your physical senses. Impossible? Sounds like it, but it's not. To reach that something, you have to forcefully push those powerful physical senses out of the way to allow that extraordinarily powerful sixth sense to come forward.

It's done in many different ways: meditation is the most compelling way to get there, but, fear not, meditation comes in many forms. It doesn't necessarily mean forcing yourself not to think, to unclutter your mind, and go blank, which is very hard to do. To move those stubborn physical senses and brain clutter out of the way, try listening to soft music or go for a long walk and let yourself be acutely aware of every note, every step you take. That too is meditation. Sit beside the ocean and Listen. Or paddle a kayak.

There are plenty of people who get to a zone of altered consciousness with the use of drugs - not recommended by me. With natural meditation, you are in complete control. With drugs, maybe not so much. And you don't have to climb a distant mountain, scout out a rain forest or look for forgotten tribes or a hippie compound. You already have everything you need to make it happen.

Whatever you pick up in this zoned-out state, sounds, swirls  of color, maybe a sentence, maybe a laugh, maybe a face - or nothing at all at first, acknowledge it, discern it and keep practicing.  Keep going, knowing that spirit is high-fiving you all the way, loving your desire to make contact. Be aware that every step you take towards developing those 'super-natural' senses, makes it easier for them to contact you.

In a purely earthly sense, isn't it easier to communicate with someone who acknowledges your presence, than someone who ignores you or brushes you off?

If you're lucky, you'll find you're very sensitive to the energy around you and  you'll quickly get the hang of it. But usually it takes practice. Don't get discouraged, because one day, before long, it will pop right in, usually when you're least expecting it. Remember that road accident you missed by changing routes on your way to work one morning? How did you know you should go a different way that day?

Sitting at your computer one day you may hear a voice, sense a smile, a touch and have the feeling that that person you loved so much when you were together on earth, is right beside you. And then one night perhaps, in a dream during those wee, small hours, that same person will be sitting on the veranda with you holding a conversation, taking your hand, letting you know he or she is more alive than ever before.

Ahhh ... When that happens, the study and the journey will have been so worthwhile. You'll know. You'll just know. And with that knowledge, you can move into a completely different sort of relationship with yourself, or those you still love who have moved on.

You can even let that knowledge transfer to the people around you, people who are making this same earth journey with you. Knowing that there is nothing to fear, that we go on, that this is just one stage of the evolution of our souls, makes it so much easier to finish the race.

Keep on truckin!