Man From Atlan

Year Of The Dragon

2012-01-31T09:59:00.004-05:00

Do I control the weather?

Of course not. You do.

It is very peaceful outside. There's a welcome snowfall that blankets Ontario. Winter is here, though it is a very strange weather we have been having. Soon, it will be raining again, and the temperature will be seven degrees Celsius.

All of this is an introduction to the year ahead. Some one, reading my previous article The Costa Concordia Tragedy, asked if I really believed that my meditations controlled the weather? I told him to ask the question again :) and then, shortly after, we had a huge storm that blanketed the area. And the answer is that I'm neutral, but also, a catalyst to these changes that are taking place all over. The year began with a major solar storm, then more rain, a little snow that cleared all the turmoil that had been building up in people, and now, some more rain coming in.

So, do I control the weather? My answer is, synchronicity, which will tie in very well with my new article Psychoanalysis coming up. Or maybe it's all a series of coincidences, that wherever I go or whoever I think of there is change. I said it before; I bring change.

And now we enter the year of the water dragon, and yes, there will be great change. The worst is when everything remains the same.

So what does this very special year bring? Perhaps the Maya knew the real underlying secret to time, that there is no beginning or ending. So, as I already said, it's not an end or a beginning. The best is not to know, but expect, anything. Expect great changes.

The year of the water dragon is a year of spiritual growth, of mysticism, of communication. There are people out there, searching for answers. There are people who have given up hope. And there are people who, not having learned the lessons of karma, for whom, everything remains the same, and they are stuck in the pattern or repeating their lives, and their mistakes, over and over again. What else is karma but the chance to learn your lesson?

Water represents healing, and the dragon, the earth. Expect floods and earthquakes, expect material changes that will affect us for good or bad, expect healing. Work for spiritual change, and justice.

Last year, it looked like New York City would be flooded by a storm surge from a hurricane. I'm fond of New York though; it didn't happen. But there's an idiot there who doesn't believe, and others who don't understand. But my warnings still stand. Read what I have written on this blog and my other website Man From Atlan and when you're ready, call on me one way or the other (but the e-mail is on my profile page :)

Humanity is divided by class, and race, and religion, and politics. Those who have power are trying desperately to hold on to it, and it is they, and not us, that are held by their fears.

This year of the dragon will be a great flood that will sweep all before it. And me?

God's Outside, Shoveling Snow

The Costa Concordia Tragedy

2012-01-29T19:06:00.005-05:00

I hate mentioning these never-ending tragedies

Yet they happen often, they happen for a reason, and, they offer a message to all of us.

Just look at the coincidences. Over the last year I've been focused on Italy, for its political and financial difficulties, for a murder case that had a unique spiritual component, and because so much of it is a reflection of what's happening world wide.

So I see my task as being to warn people, and sometimes, sadly, the Universe has to send reminders. Now I don't expect to convince the rationally inclined, so, just look at the coincidences.

First, I wrote about the murder of Meredith Kercher in Italy, 3 major articles in 2011 focusing on the individuals involved. This was unusual, but at least I knew this had to do with spirits and spirituality, and connected with my field of mental illness and psychology. Then, I wrote another article in November Quo Vadis, which asked, where is Italy going? http://www.manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2011/11/quo-vadis.html then another in December, Satan~ism http://www.manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2011/12/satanism.html which begins with the trial of a refugee boat captain and his crew in Italy; they had killed many passengers by throwing them overboard in a voodoo ceremony at sea.

So, Why Italy? True, I was drawn to it by a particular case. I knew there were going to be spectacular changes in Europe which showed the breakdown of the old order (see The Rape Of Europa http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2011/10/rape-of-europa.html) but ultimately, I was drawn to a point in the future I saw coming.

I hold at least four meditations a year. They all have a specific focus on trends that are coming into play, but, they also are earth healing exercises. And the sad thing is, as I said so many years ago, that if earth changes and disasters are needed to wake people up, then let it happen. They are messages for people, and if they do not listen, so be it. The floods in England, the earthquake in Haiti, the Fukushima disaster, were all preceded by my meditations, and written about here.

They're not even punishments. Why blame poor people in Haiti or Iraq for the disasters that befall them? No, the message is for all of us, on this planet. If something happens to the least of us, then it is up to every one on this planet to learn from it, and prevent future disasters. The earth is not in balance, and it is up to us to bring it back into balance.

And if your rational mind only tells you there's nothing we can do, then so be it. Just please don't say "I prayed to move a mountain, but it didn't move". That's an untrue argument. We are all healers and magicians, but someone has to show you how.

We had very little snow this year, only rain, which isn't good for the crops in the summer. There's a lot of imbalance there. But shortly after my December 16 meditation, we had a lovely snowfall. Then just before my next meditation in January, the one billion dollar mega cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off an island in Italy. The captain of the ship was careless, though it appears the cruise line, Carnival, is equally culpable. Still, here's the thing:

It could have been much worse. Even though 32 died, 4200 were saved.
It happened on my birthday.

I had written about "two Italies" in Quo Vadis and said that people would have to make choices between what type of country they wanted for themselves. This was pooh poohed by sceptics, but after the disaster Italian newspapers started writing about two Italies.

I said I was supposed to be in Europe and the U.S. That still hasn't happened.

And, I wrote about a magical trip back from Japan in 1957, where I had spent a whole month on an Italian designed and crewed ship, the M.V. Asia. The Costa Concordia was also an Italian built and crewed ship.

Yet, there was a friend who'd recently been told her friend was dying, and she was in a deep dark space. Then, the day after my meditation, the snow fell again all over Ontario, and as the big snowflakes descended on her garden, she looked out and felt God's peace.

As we go into the Year of the Dragon, we will all need to feel God's Peace.

Zero Is The Greatest Number

2011-12-29T08:21:00.001-05:00

This is the number of God

Religion tries to understand God.

Science tries to understand the Universe.

Some feel that both can be understood through numbers, or mathematical formulas.

I like the simplicity of mathematical formula. But when I look at the great mysteries of the cosmos, I think there's more there than can ever be proven.

There's been a lot of news lately about the so-called 'God particle', which is just the main stream media's idea of sexing up science so people can actually get excited about it :)

The news is exciting, because it can expand our knowledge of the universe. It may help what is called the Standard Model of Particle Physics, a mathematical formula that explains how the fundamental building blocks of the Universe interact with each other. So far, the model does not explain how particles build up mass, you know, things like atoms or large planetary bodies.

Scientists postulate the existence of an energy field called the Higgs field, that permeates every part of the Universe, even in what is called Dark Matter in the emptiest regions of space. It is this energy field that gives mass to particles, or in other words, creates everything (You see where I'm going with this, don't you? ;)

The standard model does not explain the gravitational mechanics that holds together the Universe, though Einstein's General Theory of Relativity does quite a good job, imo. The genius of Einstein lay in that he could look at a pattern, and see things that formed the basis of his theories. He would sleep, and come up with solutions in the dream state. This process of intuition is one explored in depth by Carl Jung, one of the founding fathers of modern psychology.

I'm reading "Deciphering The Cosmic Number-The Strange Friendship of Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung" by Arthur I. Miller. Pauli was a famous physicist who predicted the discovery of the neutrino and had a lasting impact on theoretical physics. Jung's psychoanalytical theory borrowed much from metaphysics and arrived at the concept of a universal consciousness, and, synchronicity.

Both were intrigued by numbers, from a scientific and a metaphysical perspective. And in the course of their relationship, both developed an obsession with the number 137, that it was a number at the root of a mathematical formula for the universe. Their reasons were based on 1/137 being a constant in the fine structure of matter, and that 137 had a kabbalistic connection as well. Yet it was Pauli, the scientist, who thought that numbers had a mystical power (they do) which would help him understand the universe, and Jung, the psychoanalytical metaphysician, who looked to science to help validate his mystical theories (I believe his focus on science was a loss to psychoanalysis, which could have developed much further otherwise. Others will now have to continue this quest to develop a better understanding of human psychology) It is a beautiful book, and I recommend it for all the brilliant insights it provides.

But here's the thing. While 137 might well be the number of the Universe, what, precisely, is the number of God? Kabbalists, alchemists, gnostics, have endeavoured to come up with a number, but each assumes that it must be a finite number. I believe the answer is Zero.

I have always known that to understand God we would have to understand nothingness, or, the void.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light": and there was light." Genesis 1:1-3.

So the universe starts out of nothingness, or, the void. And then, out of that energy, comes light.

So, science can explain the mechanics of the universe, with varying degrees of success. It can't explain consciousness, or how that develops in us, unless it also explains a creator :)

Jung got that right, by exploring consciousness, and universal consciousness. He also suggested that the answers lay in the unconscious, and there was a bridge between science and the unconscious that could help increase our knowledge and human understanding.

He and Pauli (it really is a lovely book) started to look at Gematria, the kabbalistic system that assigns numbers to letters of the Hebrew alphabet. So, therefore, each word has a particular numerical value that can also have spiritual meaning. You will see that reasoning in Hindu and Hermetic philosophy as well, and a sequence of sounds, or chant, or saying 'Om', for example, can have effect.

Ah, but to borrow from the song, what is the sound, of silence? And, in deep space, is there sound? It is the absence of sound, of light, of mass that interests me. It is this absence, this nothingness that is the root number of God, which is Zero.

The Buddha got it right. Our religions' attempts to define God are often expressions of our own ego, or desire. He suggested instead, that we try to reach a space of nothingness, without thought or desire. This, too, is God.

So we have this primordial force that creates the many universes. Science attempts to explain it as contained within the three dimensions of space, then a fourth one, of time, but it misses another dimension, of spirit consciousness, and, another: the primal force of the void.

It is interesting that both Jung and Pauli were open to new interpretations of the supernatural, (as am I :) or alchemical symbology to explain nuclear forces. Seriously, all you need to create gold is an enormous power source, but I just want to explain the knowledge for now.

There's a new physics formula waiting to be discovered, called the Theory Of Everything (TOE) which covers the strong and weak nuclear forces, gravitation, electro-magnetic force, and how mass is created. I'm not a physicist, though, so can only explain my theory in spiritual terms.

But first, a personal story. My family knew the late professor Abdus Salam, Nobel prize winner in Physics for his co-discovery of the weak nuclear force. He could have won a second prize for his discovery that neutrinos have no mass, but was discouraged in publishing that by Pauli, who at first could not believe in what would soon turn science upon its head. The prize for that discovery eventually went to others, but the two scientists developed a mutually admiring friendship. I look at their correspondence, between a Muslim and a Jewish scientist, and wish that all our religious differences could so be overcome..

So, a theory: You can plot a line across curved time and space, say in four dimensions. Or, you can have multiple parallel dimensions, each occupying a space slightly off axis of each other, or, spinning at different speeds. So, Time and Space can be measured many ways relative to each other. You can exist across time and space, as I say in my classes. You can also, heal the past, or, visit the future.

The next possibility is that of the ego-consciousness. It is our collective memories, shared from past lives and with each other, that create another force, lets call it Psi. It influences us greatly, but our emotional turmoil blocks that knowledge. Raising our spirit consciousness allows us to go beyond our material or psyche based state into a magical dimension where things just happen.

But in between and within each dimension there is a space. That space, that energy, is called the void, the nothingness, and its number is zero.

This the number of God. Everything else is a number, a value, is created. But God is, and always has been.

Time circles upon itself, and so, God has always been.

There is the individual consciousness, and there is God consciousness. One is created, the other has always been.

The primary numbers, the kabbalistic and astrological archetypes, all have meaning. But when you add zero, or God, it raises them to a higher level. 1 becomes 10 becomes 100 etc, to illustrate my meaning. You can be bound by your archetype, your karma, or, you can free yourself from it.

People can spend a lifetime trying to free themselves from their thoughts. Yet all I do in my healing or meditation is touch them, and they know peace, for I reflect that energy back to them.

Time and space can be transcended. You can be bound by it, or, transcend it. And in the end, we all return to the nothingness.

Satan~ism

2011-12-17T10:04:00.000-05:00

The Rudolph Steiner bust of Ahriman

An Italian court has just overturned the conviction of public prosecutor, PM Giuliano Mignini, accused of illegally wiretapping a prosecutor and police he felt were impeding his search for a serial killer. Mignini had been attacked for theorizing that a series of murders in the Florence area were the work of a satanic cult, with friends in high places. And right after that, this headline appeared in Italian news.

"Five arrested over Lampedusa 'voodoo' murder"

"Five people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after more than a dozen illegal immigrants were thrown from a boat in a "voodoo ritual to calm stormy seas," an Italian prosecutor has claimed" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8928738/Five-arrested-over-Lampedusa-voodoo-murder.html

Questions: What drives the belief in Satan, and how is it manifested? Given world events, are we ruled by human beings who chose to be evil, or are they actually controlled by forces of evil? Do satanic groups exist? Or just mentally ill people acting out stuff they read or saw in the movies? Or, again, is all this a manifestation of our psychology? Does Satan exist? As a being, or, a force?

Some say that Satan rules the earth.

Conventional mythology and monotheistic religions hold that this being is a lesser angel, angry at God, and therefore always trying to subvert God's creation, and turn humanity away. Or, an aspect of God. Or, an energy.

Ahriman: Zoroastrianism holds that Ahriman, the prototype for Satan, is the 'destroyer of hope' that must fight Ahura Mazda, the 'bringer of light' . This is a form of dualism that suggests two equal forces. It is a battle that has always been, and will continue to the end times, or, as I like to call it, the beginning times.

Then again, in a now extinct form of Zoroastrianism, we see Zurvan, the original creator god, within which both good and evil are contained. So, Satan could well be an aspect of God.

Mesopotamian texts are the first written history we have of the symbolism of the snake, or serpent, which have since been perverted as symbols of Satan. In ancient times, the snake was the symbol of knowledge. It is still a symbol of healing, in the twinned serpent caduceus. And, it is the symbol of sacred sexuality, all forces that have been subverted by the controlling forms of religion.

Satanic Theology: There must be protagonist and antagonist, or competing forces. There must be apocalyptical struggle. There must be good and evil, and the struggle between them is the basis of this theology.

Shamanism: The earlier spirituality of natural forces and earth energy ended up in conflict with the later sky god religions; yet, even in Mesopotamian culture, it was understood there was a dualism that combined the two energies, the male and female, to make the whole. Yes, shamanism, with its emphasis on blood, masks, and human sacrifice, at times veered into some deep dark spaces the sky religions sought to suppress. Yet the later religions, in trying to put down the feminine, actually incorporated many shamanic practices into themselves.

And Satanism actually grew as a result of this suppression, and a lot of what we consider to be good or evil is often a religious construct, with no basis of justification except as a means of control of a competing model of spirituality. I do not argue that good or evil does not exist, but they happen within what is known as Universal Law, and not religion, which are man made laws. Even the belief in black as the colour of evil is based on this split.

Interesting side note: I use black as a healing colour as it represents karma. Karma is correlated with sin, that there are consequences for our actions...I also see a super black, which is the complete absence of light, as the colour of the Void, the 'nothingness' that Buddhism attempts to get to, that Science is only beginning to understand. Here is also, death and destruction, the chaos beyond ordinary physical laws that help create life anew..

I personally believe in a flow of energy between Sky God and Mother Earth, and that we exist between the two, and bring balance through ourselves. It is only when we are not in balance that we commit evil.

Secret Groups: There have been secret societies since Babylonian times. There are good forces that serve and try to take humanity to a higher level, some that, rightly or wrongly, feel they alone can decide what is good for humanity and the direction it must take, and some that use black magic, or fear, ritual and psychology to control people. For further reading I refer to Pauwel and Bergier's Morning of the Magicians, Manly P. Hall's The Secret Teachings of the Ages, and William Bramley's The Gods of Eden. Rudolph Steiner is also a good source for some of the battles between the different factions of these occult societies. There also is a very strong connection between some of them and the Nazis, far too numerous for me to list here, but I suggest you read about Nicolas Roerich and the Thule Society, and Heinrich Himmler's expeditions to the Himalayas.

Then, there are the Freemasons, about whom more later.

Modern Satanism:

The Process: The first satanic group I met was called the Process, or The Church of the Final Judgement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_Church

Led by Robert de Grimston and his wife Mary Anne MacLean, they were a splinter group from Scientology. In 1966, they retreated from the world to Xtul, in the Yucatan peninsula. There, with the aid of various stimuli and psychedelia, they channeled God, aka Jehovah, then, the later aspects Christ, Lucifer and Satan, and stated we all vibrate according to one or the other aspect, and we must eventually integrate all four. They were much perturbed when I said I already integrated all four. I was a young whippersnapper then :)

Having been born out of the various psychoanalytical therapy movements of the 60’s, the Process was widely influential with Rock Stars and in the counter culture movement. The Process eventually fell apart when it turned out they had influenced multiple killers Charles Manson and David Berkowitz, the 'Son of Sam' and they tried to change direction.

I found it interesting they had a secret, undisclosed belief in long ago UFO’s visiting Earth based on the writings of Brinsley Le Poer Trench, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brinsley_Le_Poer_Trench,_8th_Earl_of_Clancarty and http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/9923/trench.html and that their ideology had some resemblance with mine. But I saw also elements of manipulation and control I would never be able to live with.

Yet, for all they might truly believe in an apocalyptical world and that Charles Manson was a sign of the end times, there was something beautiful there too, in that even if they got Satan all wrong, they still got God, somewhat right.

THE GODS ON WAR

Robert de Grimston, Process Church of the Final Judgment.

http://feastofhateandfear.com/archives/robert_07.html

Yeow! The reading is a riff on War, and yes it should be read in full, great poetry cannot be summarised but read in its entirety.

But here's the conclusion:

"1.15 Humanity as a whole will not rise above its conflicts. Even if it were to do so it would still destroy all the physical, social and moral structures which it has created, because it would see their total invalidity. But it will not; so the destruction will take place in a chaos and confusion of ignorance, with the vast majority still clinging desperately to their hollow materialistic dreams, even in the depths of their final despair; whilst the few who do rise above the conflicts, will stand aside, separated from the mass, united not within but without the man-made structures of the human game, and linked to a new reality founded not on the laws of men but on the Laws of GOD."

The Process Church reinvented itself as the New Ager Foundation Faith of the Millennium, then as one of America’s most well known Animal Rescue services, the Best Friends Animal Society based in Utah. It pleases me to know that my old friends Brothers Micah and Michael, and Mother Ophelia, who sought so hard in the 60’s and the 70’s to create a better new world, now serve our animal friends. (They were the organization that went in and rescued many animals from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and if they ignored the humans, at least they did good, nevertheless)

I lived through tumultuous times and saw how hard people tried to change the corrupt society they lived in. The assassinations of JFK, RFK, Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lennon, the Vietnam War, Kent State and anti-war movement, Che Guevara’s execution, the 1966-68 student riots, the music, the films. We were the idealistic generation, and if some choose to drop out and explore the possibility of a beautiful spiritual alternative, then more power to them.

The CIA and Mind Control experiments: After WWII the CIA enrolled many spies from the Nazi secret services. They also took over many scientists who had conducted mind control experiments for the Nazis. See Mark Zepezauer's The CIA's Greatest Hits and Bramley (above) for further references. From Bramley, pg 449: (Re: the Jonestown massacre) "On September 27, 1980, investigative reporter Jack Anderson ran a column about the Jonestown incident. One newspaper headlined the column: CIA involved in Jonestown Massacre? In this column, Anderson refers to a tape recording of Jim Jones in which he refers to a man called Dwyer. This may be Richard Dwyer, the CIA deputy chief in Guyana who accompanied the fact finding congressman Leo Ryan to Jonestown. Congressman Ryan was killed, but Dwyer, unharmed. Hmm.

After the massacre, investigators found large quantities of arms and powerful psychotropic drugs. Also found at Jonestown was chloral hydrate, which had been used in the CIA's secret mind control program MK ULTRA. It is entirely possible that Jim Jones' followers had been secretly administered these drugs to control them. Something I have seen happen in many other groups. Timothy Leary, the LSD promoting counterculture guru, also had CIA links. Was the massacre triggered by Congressman Leary's mission to investigate the group's activities? Jim Jones was known to have distinctive tattoos. Yet the person whose body was found had none.

Modern satanism is, I find, an extension of mind control experiments that were conducted by various secret services from the early 20th century on.

The CIA infiltrated and set up various New Age groups, cults, and psycho-therapy organizations. L Ron Hubbard's Church of Scientology had connections with the Office of Naval Intelligence, and Jim Jones, with the CIA. LSD experimentation was conducted on unsuspecting patients in mental health clinics.

And yes, it has been alleged that mind control experiments are being conducted through various satanic fronts, and there is a heavy emphasis on blood, child abuse, ritual sacrifice, and psychological shock on the general population through sensational killings.

http://www.whale.to/b/aquino.html

Lt. Col. (ret'd) Michael Aquino of the Psychological Warfare Division of the US Army is one example of where I believe that 'satanism' can be a front for using trauma as a form of mind control.

It would be a lot harder to prove satanic ritual at work here. The whole process of ritual is to create a mind control matrix so powerful people can be conditioned to do things they never would do otherwise, or, remove inhibitions that previously acted as a check on the deepest urges of their psyche. Such people rarely confess.

It also is very interesting to see occult symbolism in horrific events like 9/11, the London Tube Bombings (7/7/7) and Operation 'Shock and Awe' (Shekinah) Such visual symbology can literally change us..

One can really get sucked into this, but what gets me is the underlying psychology. To me, the real satanists aren't people play acting something they read about, but the torturers of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, Bush and Blair, and the Wall Street banks :)

The Masons: They are one interesting group. Their mythology states they are the builders of Solomon's temple, and their outwards impulse is humanitarian and utopian. The craft they speak of concerns the building of a new temple, but also, a new society. They are thought to be behind the revolutionary societies that created the French, American, and Russian revolutions.

It is in Italy, however, that one sees an interesting dichotomy. Italians have a fascination for investigating possible satanic links to serial killers and child sex abuse. The Catholic Church under Pope Paul II reiterated its ban on any Catholic joining the Masons, and this goes back to the time when Garibaldi, the Italian liberator, attacked the Church's power and was roundly criticized for being a revolutionary mason. There is no love lost between the groups, and those feelings run deep.

Yet it was in Italy we learned about a masonic lodge called P2 Propaganda Lodge, which worked with the Vatican and the Mafia, and was set up by the CIA! http://rawilson.com/undercontrol.html They were part of underground groups set up in Europe to counter communism, and followed the already established template of various interlocking criminal/masonic/religious/ military intelligence networks. (See, the Moonies) And, this group was responsible for the Milan train station bombing, the assassination of premier Aldo Moro, and other terrorist attacks to try to destabilise Italian society and bring in a right wing government.

Therefore, I do believe there are such groups, but their purpose is to establish elite control over the population. Satanism is just a front used to hide their real goals.

The Power Of A Curse, or, Voodoo: There are people that believe in such things, and I've been asked many times if they were under a curse of some kind which caused their misfortunes? Of course there are some that practice Voodoo, or Santeria. I used to work for a Government Agency and one day a lady took exception to the way she felt she had been treated. As she left she yelled, "I put a hex on all of you!" Within a week, every person in our department had an accident, thankfully minor ones. I say that of course such power, or directed energies can affect us. We also have the power to NOT be affected by them.

But I say this to you. Such curses always affect the people who make them. Better to be at peace, and let things pass right through you.

And yes, some people practice black magic. Yet you look at Aleister Crowley, who was not only a spy for British Intelligence, but insane. And James Jesus Angleton, the CIA spymaster, was probably paranoid, and he set up the P2 masonic lodge in Italy. Most people practicing black magic just use it to psychologically control others or work through their own psychoses. They try to control entities yet end end up being controlled by them. See my "Angels, Spirits, Demons and Djinn" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2008/01/angels-spirits-demons-and-djinns.html to get an idea:)

It is a valid argument to say that demonic possession is simply a form of mental illness. Indeed, the ancients used to argue that the mentally ill were 'demon possessed". I, happen to believe that such energies are indeed, real, and whether one is performing an exorcism or a visualization to help people with their problems, it is the end result that counts.

Christ and Anti-Christ: The world's religions create this need to believe in saviours, and the forces that oppose them. I disagree. It depends on us, and the choices we make, and said so here: http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/christ-antichrist-and-armageddon-i.html but know that each of us can choose to align with either of these energies, and manifest them within ourselves.

Satan: So, is Satan real? Yes, indeed. As long as you also accept that Satan is a form of consciousness. As long as you accept that Satan, like God, resides within us, and the path you choose is the one that determines your fate, and not, an external force. We are faced with these choices every day, to do good or evil, to accept injustice or not, to allow ourselves to be manipulated by lies or, to find our own balance. We make a decision, each day, to give in to fear and hatred, or, to know compassion, faith, and love.

And, even when we are tempted to make the wrong choice, there always is the path that leads back to God.

Quo Vadis?

2011-11-19T20:29:00.000-05:00

The astrological chart of Italy

I thought I had never known any Italian people until we moved to Canada but then I remembered, omigod, MV Asia! We came back from Japan by ship (this was before jet planes) and for a whole month, we were on the most beautiful passenger-cargo ship I have ever seen, MV Asia. It was Italian, of course ;)

In an age when people actually travelled between countries by passenger ship, the post war Italian ships were the epitome of design. The Lloyd Triestino line had seven specially designed ships that travelled the world. From The Ocean Liner Museum: http://www.oceanlinermuseum.co.uk/Victoria%20history.html

"The Italian tradition of luxury and style at sea was never so fully realised as it was with its postwar fleet of liners. Though its fleet had been virtually destroyed by the ravages of war, Lloyd Triestino made a great effort to rise from those ruins, and thus were produced some of the finest, stylish, elegant, graceful and most beautiful vessels to ever sail the oceans of the world.

All this series of ships had typically modern, sculpted Italian lines, which included sharply raked bows, lusciously curved superstructures, tripod masts, streamlined and low funnels, terraced after decks with a pool and lido for both classes and graciously curved cruiser spoon sterns. It was the "Golden Age" of the combi-liner, and the Victoria and her sister Asia were among the most beautiful of their type ever built".

The two most beautiful of them were the MV Victoria and the MV Asia, which regularly travelled the Italy-Hong Kong route. There were about 500 passengers, and the crew, all Italian, so I and my brothers were treated very nicely all over the ship for the whole month it took for us to get back home. And if you have never eaten a meal at sea, or been in a tropical storm, or seen the sun set over some distant horizon, you have not lived.

But pardon my digression into a magical point of my childhood. This is an article about the people of Italy.

Now I confess to having strong feelings about places I have been to and people I have known in lives past. Maybe it is my observation that Italians are just like Pakistanis :) for we are indeed, alike in our love of children and family and food. We are warm and passionate, and what you see is what you get (Just don't mix us up with Indians, please. Sorry :) Maybe it's the kindness I'd received when I was young, or the quality I appreciate the most; the honesty of emotion.

Regardless, I found myself being drawn, once again, to Italy when some Americans, in defending accused murderer Amanda Knox, had to attack a whole country for its perceived shortcomings...Irony abounds.

A while back I was telling all and sundry about an impending clash between right and left wing style governments and that people would peel back from the excesses of both sides and find some balance.

And sure enough, what I said about France and Italy is coming to pass. Sarkozy's turning liberal, almost, and Berlusconi's, out. Their shameful involvement in the war on Libya has a very heavy price that will be shared by their countrymen.

I like to use astrology's language and symbols to describe events that have come and those yet to come, it has an elegance that can't be beat.

I found this analysis written by astrologer Liz Greene in 1999 about Italy's future. The period she covers runs from 1999 to 2009, and describes very well, what might have been. http://www.astro.com/nat/natit_e.htm

"The republic of Italy was born in 1946 under the versatile, communicative sign of Gemini. Pluto, as it moves through Sagittarius, presents major challenges to this country's political, financial, and social structures, offering the possibility of a total transformation of outlook with greater stability and the fulfilment of many cherished social ideals. However, it would seem that this potential, because of Pluto's delving quality, can only be achieved if there is greater transparency and openness on the part of both government and people.

Italy's birth chart reflects the double-edged gift of an intense and enormously creative individuality coupled with a propensity to shroud many things from prying eyes. It is this inclination toward secrecy, reflected in many areas of Italian life and government, which may be challenged by Pluto, and old sores and grievances inherited from the past may need to be brought into the open and re-evaluated so that the innate optimism, idealism and generosity expressed by the fine aspect between the Sun and Jupiter in this birth chart can be anchored in positive changes which benefit everyone.

Uranus, also a harbinger of change and progress, is crossing the area of Italy's chart which reflects its past, and this too suggests that many issues - both religious and social - need to be finally confronted and transformed. Italy's Scorpio Moon, hidden away in the area of the chart concerned with ancestral inheritance, suggests that old wounds linger for a long time, and so does the people's mistrust of authority, whether religious or political. The cleansing and inspirational energies of both Pluto and Uranus could provide the possibility for the healing of these wounds.

Whether or not you are personally in sympathy with the kinds of changes now on the horizon, this is one of the countries most powerfully affected by important planetary movements in the next decade, and the potential for positive change and the expression of each individual citizen's creative gifts is enormous"
~Liz Greene, 1999

I looked at the chart as well, and the following is my own interpretation. Yes, Italy exhibits, quite clearly, the dual nature of Gemini. The mercurial creative side, the hidden spiritual nature. Thus, I say there is a higher side to it, and a lower more corrupt side. (Which is also described by its Scorpio nature)

I am writing about Italy today because many years ago, I had a vision about the death of Pope John Paul I and knew that changes in the Catholic Church would be reflected in changes in the country of Italy. I have long thought this dividing line to come would be described as the old Italy vs the new. Some have said there is no such divide, but they are thinking it's all controlled by vested interests that will resist change. I say it's a battle between the Italy of the past, and that yet to come, which is the spiritual awakening which is yet to take place. And I see also, the end of the Catholic Church, and the beginning of a new one, which will also be mirrored by, a new Italy.

It does look like the next two years will lead to a battle between the old and the new Italy. Yes, the potential for positive change is enormous, but so, too, will be the resistance to change. Interesting, that the planet Saturn, which represents restriction, became exact this November 9-10, when the crisis peaked. It will be exact again from late May to August 2012, when there will be another crisis, change, elections or revolution.

The chart for Italy shows mercurial Sun in Gemini, the very deep 12th house Moon and Ascendant in Scorpio, and not that there are secrets, but there are depths to those secrets. When you see Prime Ministers belonging to secret masonic lodge P2 which was responsible for deep corruption, Mafia and Vatican entanglements, assassinations, terrorist bombings, and financial thievery, you know that there are depths indeed.

Yes, with four planets in the 8th house the Italians are a very sensual people. There is also, financial corruption shown in the 8th house placement. With Sun in Gemini they can also be religious, even, spiritual, even if the planet Mercury can make them er, flexible in their beliefs. It is my hope they will be not only rational and analytical in their choices in the time to come, they will also be, spiritual.

And 12th house Moon in Scorpio again? Secret services, spies. Scorpio can be either of the highest spirituality; or, the depths of the gutter. It was Italian agency SISMI that fed the world the fake Niger tapes that led to the Iraq war, the Vatican is reputed to have the finest intelligence agency in the world ( I can see some better, ISI and MI-6) and Propaganda Lodge P2 and Operation Gladio assassinated anti-Mafia judges and set off bombs in train stations.

But what I see the beauty Italy has given the world. For every Pope killed (John Paul I was the most recent) I see the Sistine chapel and Michelangelo's Pieta. There is the Mafia, and there are Ferraris :) There were the ships MV Victoria and Asia.

Some people, who know only how to measure by political or economic yardsticks, are hopeful the new government of Italy will bring about change. Others, of like mind are more pessimistic, saying the old order is too entrenched.

The economist in me says there some strong fundamentals to the Italian economy. People tend to save more than most other European nations so their banks are reasonably stable. They could buy up more of their debt so they are not too dependant on foreign predator banks and speculators. They have a strong industry and work force, and, they have gold.

According to this article http://seekingalpha.com/article/307336-why-proposals-that-italy-should-sell-its-gold-are-ridiculous Italy has one of the largest gold reserves in the world, and unlike the short-sighted British who sold theirs for $250 per oz or the Germans who store theirs in New York, of all places (!) http://www.abendblatt.de/wirtschaft/article2087049/Deutschlands-Gold-liegt-im-Tresor-in-New-York.html it is the Italians that refuse to sell theirs, which is very wise. Gold has a power of its own; don't misunderstand when I say it is spiritual. So suffice to say Italy has a strong base, and its last 12 years of misjudgement is not fatal in itself. There will be a long period of readjustment no matter what else takes place. But the future brings much more than what ordinary people can overcome.

This is the sadness of being able to see the future. On the one hand you see signs of what lies ahead. On the other hand you know it might be too late. You try to warn friends and the people you love, but what happens then depends on the choices they make.

The answer, for the people of Italy and the world is that political and economic change will not be enough. All we ever get is the semblance of change, without anything real.

Unless there is real spiritual change, things will get much worse, sorry.

The Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo

2011-11-10T11:48:00.000-05:00

The Nobel Committee Flunked Again

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 is to be divided in three equal parts between Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work. We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society"

As always in the sorry history of the awards, the story is not who won, but, who didn't. Please understand that my comments are not directed at these women laureates who have done wonderful work in their respective spheres of Liberia and Yemen. They are being honored as symbols of a larger group of women who gather around the world to ask for peace. But at the same time, it is those who were ignored, and why, that is the real story.

One could also say the award has been politicised, with President Obama's undeserved win in 2009, Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu being nominated 21 times, and each time, shamefully passed over, and many other deserving groups ignored for inexplicable reasons.

For the last two years, the Argentinian Grandmothers of the Plaza De Mayo have been nominated for their work, and each time, passed over.

Argentina’s Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo Nominated for Nobel Prize
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/8/12/headlines/argentinas_grandmothers_of_the_play_de_mayo_nominated_for_nobel_prize

"The Argentine human rights group the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. The group started in 1977 when mothers who lost children under Argentina’s military dictatorship gathered to trade stories and provide support. That meeting later spawned the first of scores of demonstrations and actions against Argentina’s military leaders.

The Grandmothers’ president, Estela Carlotto, was joined at a news conference Wednesday by the Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón and Chilean senator Isabel Allende.

Estela Carlotto: "What we have done we did over time with perseverance, creativity, persistence, stubbornness, and the great love that we have for the two generations that we are looking for. And we didn’t realize that this could grow in such a way."

They did, indeed grow in such a way, and it is important to honor and tell their story, and all other women around the world who have done such work for peace. That some are ignored because they do not fit a safe mold, or they shame us for our complicity in crimes done against humanity, only requires that we tell their stories again and again, till people listen.

And, speaking of why I titled this post "The Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo" instead of Grandmothers, it is because they were the original group. In the 70's the Argentinian military dictatorship killed tens of thousands of activists and stole their children to be raised by rich Argentinians. Then it was their mothers, the grandmothers, who gathered every week to demand the return of their grandchildren. This is the story of all the mothers of Argentina that aroused the conscience of their countrymen and eventual defeat of the military government.

SEARCHING FOR LIFE: THE GRANDMOTHERS OF THE PLAZA DE MAYO AND THE DISAPPEARED CHILDREN OF ARGENTINA
http://usf.usfca.edu/fac_staff/webberm/plaza.htm

"First we will kill all the subversives; then we will kill their collaborators; then…their sympathizers. Then…those who remain indifferent; and finally we will kill the timid. General Iberico Saint-Jean, governor of Buenos Aires (1977)

Here I can do with you whatever I want because I am the lord of life and death. Colonel Roberto Roualdes, First Command, Army Corps

On October 23, 1975, at the Eleventh Conference of Latin American Armies in Montevideo, Uruguay, journalists asked Lieutenant General, Jorge Rafael Videla, commander in chief of the Argentine military forces, about the fight against subversion. "In order to guarantee the security of the state," General Videla replied, "all the necessary people will die." And when asked to define a subversive, he answered, "Anyone who opposes the Argentine way of life."

"THE MOTHERS OF THE PLAZA DE MAYO
Among the relatives of the disappeared a group of mothers emerged, galvanized by a woman in her fifties, Azucena Villaflor de DeVincenti, whose son and daughter-in-law had been abducted. Azucena had worked in a factory as a young woman, but after her marriage she devoted herself completely to her family. Her energy and charisma became sources of inspiration for the other mothers. They started meeting in her home to draft petitions, gather information, and plant the, seeds of their future organization. It was Azucena's idea to go to the Plaza de Mayo and to ask for an audience with President Videla to find answers to their questions about the disappearances.

On April 30, 1977, fourteen mothers gathered at the Plaza de Mayo, ; traditionally the heart of Argentine civic life. By meeting there, the Mothers placed themselves in the public eye in a desperate attempt to bring attention to their families' plight. Labeled Las Locas de Plaza de Mayo {the crazies of the Plaza de Mayo), they broke the conspiracy of silence that had permeated the country and found a way to channel their despair and frustration into action. After that day, they and Argentina would never be the same.

The Mothers' marches became a weekly event, taking place every Thursday at 3:30 P.M. Forced to walk because of the regime's orders prohibiting public gatherings, they would walk slowly for half an hour. When the police tried to intimidate them and make them leave, they resisted and affirmed their right to demonstrate on behalf of their disappeared children.

Slowly their numbers started to grow, and they began wearing white handkerchiefs and carrying pictures of their missing children. The women asked their husbands not to join them in their weekly gatherings, afraid that the presence of the men would make the situation worse.

Maria Adela Antokoletz remembers: "We endured pushing, insults, attacks by the army, our clothes were ripped, detentions. But the men, they would not have been able to stand such things without reacting, there would have been incidents; they would have been arrested for disrupting the public order and, most likely, we would not have seen them ever again."

The minister of the interior, General Albano Harguindeguy, finally agreed to meet with three of the mothers. He tried to convince them that their children had left the country of their own free will, and warned them to stop their demonstrations. It was the first time that a high-ranking official had received the relatives. But the Mothers responded that they would continue their marches until they knew with certainty of their children's fate.

Placing advertisements in newspapers to publicize the names of the disappeared was one of the Mothers' main outreach activities. The newspapers requested hefty fees for these ads and demanded the certified addresses of ten of the signers, addresses that they subsequently gave to the police.

On December 8, 1977, at a meeting held in the Church of Santa Cruz to raise money for an ad, an ESMA Task Force broke in and kidnapped nine people. Among them was Sister Alice Domon, a French nun who had worked with peasants in some of the poorest regions of Argentina and who was a supporter of the Mothers. In Buenos Aires, Sister Domon had taught catechism to children with Down's syndrome, the son of General Videla among them.

Another supporter of the group was kidnapped from his home. And two days later-on December 10, Human Rights Day-Azucena Villaflor de DeVincenti and Leonie Duquet {another French nun) were abducted and joined the ranks of the disappeared. Survivors from the ESMA testified to having seen these twelve people at the camp, where they were brutally tortured.

The kidnapping of the two French nuns would eventually become a rallying point of international protest, which continues to this day. The government, which tried to blame the Montoneros for the kidnapping, showed pictures of the nuns under a fake Montonero sign. Sister Domon was forced to write a letter stating that she was in the "hands of an armed group" opposed to the government. In fact, Lieutenant Alfredo Astiz, a twenty-six-year-old sailor, had infiltrated the Mothers group, claiming to be the brother of a disappeared. Blue-eyed, young, and innocent looking, he had gained the trust of Azucena and Sister Domon.

Showing up at the gathering at the Santa Cruz church, Astiz alerted the ESMA Task Force as the meeting was drawing to an end. Azucena's disappearance failed to deter the group. "It was a hard time for us, but we weren't broken. They thought there was only one Azucena, but there wasn't just one. There were hundreds of us," said Aida de Suarez, one of the Mothers. Azucena herself, in a premonitory mood a few days before her abduction, had said: "If something happens to me, you continue. Do not forget it.

Thanks to their determination, courage, and intelligence, the Mothers began to attract international recognition and to receive support from governments and organizations concerned about human rights. Foreign journalists often covered their weekly marches; and on the occasion of the World Cup soccer championship in Buenos Aires in 1978, they focused on the Mothers, providing them with instant inter- national exposure.

The Mothers became the moral conscience of the country and gained a space in the political arena, challenging the notion of women as powerless and subservient to family and state.

Among the Mothers' weekly gatherings at the Plaza de Mayo were also women whose grandchildren were missing. In October 1977 twelve mothers established the Association of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo and organized around one specific demand: that the children who had been kidnapped as a method of political repression be returned to their legitimate families. The Association grew quickly as dozens of grandmothers joined the group.

During the dictatorship, nine human rights organizations were active throughout Argentina. Some of the groups-such as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and the Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared for Political Reasons-were started by relatives of the disappeared who were pressing the government for information about their family members. Others-Like the League for the Rights of Man, the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (APDH), and the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS)- collected and reported evidence of human rights violations and did a considerable amount of legal work.

Religious human rights groups also arose, such as the Peace and Justice Service {SERPAJ), the Ecumenical Movement for Human Rights {MEDH), and the Jewish Movement for Human Rights {Movimiento Judfo por los Derechos Humanos). These last groups, respectively, incorporated members of the Catholic clergy who were critical of the church hierarchy, Protestant ministers, and Jews. All of the organizations were committed to a broad vision of social justice, and each responded to different pressures and particular histories of the community from which it emerged. They often helped each other and formed various alliances in response to the regime's multiple abuses"

Mothers who represented a moral conscience, a force strong enough to change the world. What a powerful symbol, and what we need to honor today. Be it the women in black, who gather around the world. Women in Israel, who ask forgiveness for those children killed on the Palestinian side as they forgive those who killed their children. Cindy Sheehan, one woman who asked why her son had been killed in Iraq, and camped outside President Bush and Obama's summer homes to protest against war. That people in the US did not support her is their shame.

And it is a shame that we only focus on human rights abuses and oppression in some countries but not our own. For that reason, I honor the Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo. They call for peace and healing, for all of us.

The Joy of Writing

2011-11-03T10:22:00.000-04:00

Just let the words come to you

There was an interesting discussion on the subject of Amanda Knox's ability as a writer, and some were er, unkind. It seems there may be a bidding war for her prison diary though that might just be her PR agent spreading a rumour :)

Some compared her unfavourably to the French prodigy Francoise Sagan, whose first novel, Bonjour Tristesse (Hello Sadness) was written when she was seventeen. Others thought her stream of consciousness style compared unfavourably with Beckett and Joyce. And others (in another forum) thought we were just frustrated writers become critics :)

But my interest in the subject comes from a different place. Is writing a declining art? Where is the next great book? What do I tell future generations of writers when it appears that TV, the Internet, and the Twitterization of the young and the navel-gazing of the Baby Boomers has made a vast desert of the field of literature?

I've written about my love of books http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2010/07/books-i-have-loved.html the power of poetry http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2008/08/power-of-poetry.html the joy of Hafez http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2009/07/joy-of-hafez.html and a poem for Palestine http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2008/07/poem.html and so yes, this subject is important to me.

Yes, I consider myself a writer, and hope the art of writing never dies out. I also hope no one is ever discouraged from writing (whether they are writing only because of celebrity or notoriety ;) since we all learn from the act of writing.

Some think the Akkadian epic of Gilgamesh is the first written work of literature, from around 2150 BCE. Me, I say we have written since pre-historic times, going back at least to the cave paintings of Chauvet and Lascaux in France. I see religious symbology, but also the history of a people there.

Me, I am only glad I didn't take Literature at University but the road that led to healing and spirituality. It wasn't me, and I thought right away the course would tell me what the formula for writing was, and I'd become a hack.

Yes, I did meet Joseph Campbell in Japan. Yes, I missed meeting Shirley MacLaine; her daughter went to my school the year after I left, and I mention her only in the context of saying, dang! she wrote about past life recall way after I did :)

And yes, I had a choice, go to New York in 1975 and become a published writer (I know I would have been) or go to London and everything I have become since then was because of making, the right choice (albeit a painful one :)

Because London was where I remembered the rest of my past lives, and wrote The Way of Atlan, and got married, and had a child that led to many more things.

I want to tell writers that it helps to love reading, and my mom taught me that by reading comic books to me. (That led to me reading Bonjour Tristesse, Anna Karenina, and Lady Chatterley's Lover when I was 13, booyah!) So of course I became editor of my school paper at 14 and wrote lots, so I suggest that you, too, write lots.

I also suggest you learn the rules of grammar and practice basic sentence construction as much as possible. You can always discard the rules when inspired, of course, but only after you've built the foundations. I never mind the avant-garde, as long as I get what you're saying.

Yes, indeed, genius is like a spiritual lottery, but there is no substitute for hard work. Genius tends to be unrecognized, but hard work brings the bread home.

So why do some get published, and others, not? Is it worth it to make a career of writing? No, of course not! You do it because you love it, and if others love it as well, that is only gravy.

I see the heart chakra as the seat of the creative soul. We live our art, be it music, sculpture, writing or any of a number of arts, and offer it freely. The heart chakra is also the seat of healing, and great art, heals. That is how we know it, regardless of what some might say. You see a great painting, and you feel whole, and good. If the art makes you think, that is great, but it is how it makes you feel that is the judge.

And if you never get published, that's OK. That too is a lottery, and even published writers struggle to pay the rent. You could always self-publish, of course.

I don't mean to denigrate the book industry. They need all the help they can get, and I appreciate the thousands of books I have to carry every time I move (note to self: enough smileys)

But you now have the option of putting up a blog, publishing on the Internet, and, self-publishing. When I quit my government job I cashed my entire pension, and plunked down $25,000 to have Man From Atlan printed. Set up my own imprint, a stained glass artist designed the cover, a computer designer did the fonts and films, an old fashioned print firm did the actual typesetting, printing and bookbinding. Which is the hard way, and now, it's much easier, because with print on demand you can get 10, or 100 printed even, no sweat. Or you can make a PDF file and post it on your site, or use Google Docs or E-Books. Up to you, go for it. As for me, I printed 5000 copies, sold 3000, made $60,000, and have 2000 copies left in my garage I would like to sell. Trust me, that's hard work, and it was worth it. I only want to publish more books.

I have a lot of respect for the work professional editors do. No writer can fail to get better with the support of a dedicated editor who works to make your writing the best it can be. You of course need her or his feedback, and they can be mentor, teacher, friend, and, ruthless cutter of every extraneous thought and embellishment you may have thought to attache to the hull of your craft.

But the good ones pretty much all work for the publishing houses, that can only print a few books a year. I wish they'd do a lot more translations of foreign work, there are amazing writers out there! and it would only benefit us all to learn from them, but also, to find our own voice.

Some years ago a Swedish literateur said the Nobel Prize for literature was undeserved by Americans, and his European condescension literally dripped from his fangs, but then of course the last few years have been reserved for Scandinavian poets I Have Never Heard Of, and we can of course never have too much Scandinavian irony and French wordplay. One has only to say Sartre! Camus! Gide! to think Literature!

Well, sorry, but I think Americans need only to read more, from far and abroad, Latin American to Bengali to Australian aboriginal writers. They need to travel more. They need to experience life, and not just their drug trips. They need to read their own canon, and take a few courses.

If they re-learned the art of penmanship that alone could make them better writers, I promise you. (I type, still very slowly, and make more grammatical and spelling errors than when I wrote my first book at 24, all in longhand)

Learn to rewrite, and speak your words out loud. Does it read right? Get a literary agent. Keep trying. Don't let rejection slips get you down. Don't try to be the next Big Thing or the next Kurt Vonnegut or whoever, be a writer of yourself. You are a unique soul, with a unique voice. If even one person appreciates you, then your work is validated.

So learn to appreciate 'criticism'. Some of which might even be valid, mind you. When I published Man From Atlan a few critics, men and women, panned it unmercifully for sexism or found the sexual violence in it unsettling. (They missed the part about regret, and karma, but their feelings were valid, and I understand that my work, unsettles) But it was reviewed, and sold in a lot of bookstores in Toronto and New York, and I was on television, and a lot of people recognized me in the street and told me how much the book had changed their lives. It certainly changed mine. The critic I remember the most is a judge, who also was a director of the Manly P. Hall Foundation, who said "I can not believe this book was written by a twenty-four year old man. The writing is too sophisticated to accept as such". Gee thank you, I thought it was raw and very rough, so this was the nicest thing ever said.

Writing is a gift we share with others. It is a craft for which we hope to get paid but even that is so we can keep on writing. It is a flow of energy that began when I was very young, and I offer my work to people to accept or not. All we want is feedback.

May you always know the joy of writing.

The Road, Less Travelled

2011-10-30T18:45:00.001-04:00

My first ride

My first ride was on a Vespa. That was all my dad could afford at that time in Pakistan. So we would all fit somehow, Dad, Mom, and sometimes all three brothers on it. (We were somewhat little then :)

But this is just a hook to discuss, the road we must all travel. We are on a journey, and yes that journey may seem very difficult at this point in time. I can only help give each person the tools to decide what direction to take.

I sent this out to my Global list in 2004. I hope it was well taken, and want to see how it applies today.

The Road Travelled

Many people have asked for help in determining what their purpose in life was. Was it based on what one did, or strengths and accomplishments, the places one had been to and the people met? Are we meant to follow certain rules, and obtain rewards in this and the afterlife, and those who broke the rules would be punished by whatever means, Hell or Karma, and the consequences would be unpleasant? Must we search in blindness, and do the best we can, and hope for the best?

In the past I have said there is a particular place within ourselves, the part or chakra of dharma, where our path can be determined. But knowing our path is not the important thing, it is how we get to that realisation, the road travelled, that is all-important.

This is a time for reflection, and so I would like to share with you The Road Travelled.

I have had great loves and sorrows, accomplishments, remembered my past lives, saved the lives of others and seen the future. My purpose is to help, but is that all there is? No.

I see men and women who aren't at peace, unhappy in love or their jobs or family situation, looking at their lives and saying is that all there is? Then there are those who find their passion and go for it, but are they truly content, or is there always, some unreachable goal they will pursue to the end of their days?

I see people who are so unhappy they can only live by obtaining substitutes for happiness, and that becomes their purpose. Is life meant to be suffered?

There is one answer, and one only. We must find God, however we may expect that being to be, and whatever form, and if that gives you peace and balance, hold to it. If you do not have peace and balance, search for it. What you do in life or how you do it may be a means to an end, but remember, the chakras I tell you about are just doorways into other dimensions. You must still find the thing you were meant to do. It may even be that all you have to do is love someone, or give in some way, or create something wonderful. You may be the greatest or the lowest of beings, but in the end, it will be how you lived your life, the road travelled, that will bring to you great happiness and joy.

Love,
Naseer Ahmad

7 years have passed and I hope you have found what it is you are looking for. But if not, then what is the direction you must take?

There's an exercise I teach, where if you have always followed a certain route, then take another. If your road comes to a fork and you think you should go left, then, turn right. You may take longer to get to where you want to go, but who knows what or whom you might meet along the way?

If you have always done the same thing, be it in politics, or religion, or any other area of action, then, look at new ways, and look for change. The old ways do not work any more, and I am changing all the rules. Look at your belief systems and reactions, and then, take the road less travelled.

It may be harder; I know mine has been very much so. So many times when I knew I could take the easy road, which is where I would meet everyone else :)

Yet I knew it was the wrong way for me, so I took the road that did not make any sense, until much later. Always.

Now we come to the end of an age. There is no safety anywhere, be it through material wealth or New Age spirituality. Only faith in yourself and the future can help, if you are ready to change, and seek help.

May you take the road, less travelled.

A Psycho-Astrological Perspective on the Relationship of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito

2011-10-21T18:35:00.000-04:00

Knox/Sollecito. Are they soul mates? No. Kercher/Knox

I'm grateful to the person who asked this question a while ago: "I'd love to have a psychologist give an opinion of this Amanda/Raffaele relationship. They don't know each other. Media is making it out to be some great story of lovers torn apart. They had sex for a few days" (Referring to media speculation that the two would meet in Seattle over Christmas, much seen as an attempt to rehabilitate their image)

My reply:"Sigh, here I go, being dragged back into this case again. Thanks! Coming up, "A Psycho-Astrological Perspective on the Relationship of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito" But to let you know, it never was a soul mate relationship, more of a karmic one, clearly leading to imprisonment and legal difficulties. They'd do best to stay two oceans away from now on"

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have been found innocent in the first of two appeals trials that will determine whether they are truly guilty or innocent of the crime of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy.

While we wait for the outcome of this process I would like to say that indeed, Astrology can answer such questions about the nature and outcome of a relationship. Whether Psychology can ever get back to its astrological roots is another debate, for another time, of course :)

Astrology, like Psychology, is the study of humanity in the context of time, location, space and waves, or, cycles, of energy. It can draw maps of the relationships of each with the other..

You can have one horoscope for the place where you were born, another for the place you go to, and an innumerable number for all the relationships you have, with people, places, and nations.

And then there are more, pertaining to time and the cycles of energy, which like the tides, ebb and flow.

I have already written about the astrological background, with spiritual insight of course, of the night of the murder in my article "What Might Have Been" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-might-have-been.html

Further background insights may be obtained from "The Criminal Mind" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2011/09/criminal-mind.html and there are two amazing books I recommend as well, "An Astrology Guide to your Sex Life" by Vivian E. Robson, and "Signs of Mental Illness" by Mitchell E. Gibson, M.D. Dr. Gibson was the chief resident in Psychiatry in a Philadelphia medical center and now has a successful private practice in Arizona. He is also an astrologer, with a new technique that identifies the planetary markers of mental illness; and Vivian E. Robson, has written a classic, almost out of print primer on sexual and marital compatibility (and dysfunction)

Their books have informed my own opinion, but the following interpretations are broadly speaking, my own, even if they are solidly grounded in accepted astrological teaching.

I am also grateful to the good people of http://www.astro.com/ for the use of their software to draw up the composite charts shown here. Please support them by ordering their horoscopes, which make great gifts!

There is an astrological technique called synastry where the charts of two individuals are blended into one. The composite chart of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox show fascinating insights into the nature of their relationship, and, eventual outcome...

Moon Conjunct Neptune: With the conjunction of Moon and Neptune, both individuals should be very careful to understand the true nature of their relationship. They can see themselves as soul mates, but there is a great deal of self deception involved..

Venus in the Second House: Indicates being in love with the idea of love. This being the house of emotional resources, they will always have what they need, and may even be financially successful together.

Jupiter Trine Pluto: Luck, and fate, combine here. How that works out depends on the choices made, but Jupiter in the 12th house of restriction and imprisonment and Pluto the planet of inexorable fate in the 8th house of death shows the pitfalls ahead in this relationship..

Venus Opposition Pluto: This is a warning of danger. The relationship brings up deeply buried emotions that can be overwhelming.. It can either help you to grow, or cause self-destruction.

Sun Conjunct Mercury: You have the ability to understand each other's thinking. You meet through travel. You are alike on a mental level.

Sun Opposition Saturn:
The development of the self (Sun) is constantly thwarted by the fated or karmic circumstances of Saturn. This relationship cannot last.

Saturn in the Ninth House: The karma (Saturn) of the relationship is expressed through the 9th house. The ninth house rules higher learning, the legal system, and publishing.

Jupiter Conjunct Ascendant: The relationship will always have an element of 'luck' and 'friends in high places' that can help in the worst crisis. The relationship can create feelings of exuberance and optimism as long as the chart does not show other stressors.

Jupiter in the Twelfth House: This is the house of imprisonment and restriction. Combined with other indicators, shows a time spent in prison.

Uranus in the Tenth House: Uranus (upheaval and change) in the house of how the outer world sees you indicates you can seem er, 'different'. You try to challenge people's perceptions, but it is your choice whether to bring change in a positive or negative manner. Destructive activities can lead to a fall from grace.

Uranus Square Ascendant: This amplifies the destructiveness mentioned earlier. You can goad each other, and feelings of rebelliousness will be exaggerated in this unstable relationship. This is why I strongly feel the relationship cannot last.

Moon Square Mars: This is a difficult aspect for a relationship. The emotional energies show conflict through bad associations.

Mars in the Seventh House: You have the choice of channelling your energies together for a common purpose, or you can end up being each other's greatest enemy. The seventh is the house of partners and enemies.

Mars Square Neptune: This negative aspect can indicate ego and controlling games with each other. There can be confusion, deceit, and delusion in the relationship, which is often accompanied by drugs. The two can often act against each other's interests.

Jupiter Square Saturn: You have to find a balance between optimism on the one hand, and feelings of restriction. Extremes of mood and behavior can lead to difficulty.

Ascendant in Pisces: You can project an outward, dreamlike quality, and others can perceive yours as an ideal relationship. However, there may be self-destructive elements of your relationship. As long as you find a common idealism, it should work well. Drugs and alcohol on the other hand weakens the relationship. Friends and family find it hard to understand you; there are many levels of deception.

Neptune in the Tenth House: A lack of clarity is what you project to the outside world. People find it hard to understand what makes you tick. Or you can develop your creative, spiritual side to counteract that. (Note: I have this aspect in my own chart :)

Pluto in Scorpio in the Eighth House: Pluto (and Scorpio) rules death and transformation. So does the eighth house. It makes the relationship deep and intense, but can also bring out psychological conflict. There is a deep sexual connection that if utilised properly can lead to spiritual oneness. Or, it can lead to death and destruction. (Funny, but I have this aspect too :) and the spirit's journey after we pass on and the sacred aspects of sexuality is part of my teaching)

Venus Opposition Pluto: This can bring up deep powerful emotions in your relationship, so you have to be careful, otherwise you will not be able to deal with the consequences. (I have this aspect too, and yes I have powerful emotions, but direct it towards healing)

To summarise then:
The relationship chart of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox shows that in spite of the fact they only knew each other a week, they did have a relationship based on their inner psychological needs. This sort of 'fatedness' but also imbalance, can project outwards and explain why so many people are attracted to and support them, and others, not. And so we project back on to them what is inside ourselves, good or bad, and it is important we step back and examine our own attraction to this case.

And here, so clearly in the chart, we see, motivation, outcome, political interference, and reaction.

The next technique I use is called Astro-Cartography. Moving away from our place of birth shifts the placement of the planets of our chart to different angles that bring out deep rooted conflicts or, where we can be more in harmony with ourselves and others.

Knox in Perugia: Chiron/MC Line: This line runs through Germany as well, where Knox had a job through her aunt which she lost. This affected her perception of herself and goals for her trip. The crisis of confidence that arose from her loss of professional and social standing affected her deeply. Here, one becomes aware of the influence of parents on one's growth, but also brings up feelings of rebelliousness.

Sollecito in Perugia: Crossing Sun/Uranus: This line shows how the quest for personal freedom and independence from a restrictive situation can make one seem even more eccentric and unpredictable. You seek new challenges and experiences. The unusual and the unexpected can happen along this line..

Knox in Seattle: Pluto/DC Line: Not a good place for Knox. Here there are secret power plays and conflicts, and uncontrolled behaviour. Life can run roughly, and one seeks to escape through extremes of behaviour, and then actually, seek to leave this place.. Unfortunately, one takes conflicts along where ever one goes..

Sollecito in Seattle: Crossing Venus/Jupiter: Funny, but he'd actually do very well if he moved to Seattle: Here, he'd find luck, prosperity and happiness; but not, it would seem, with Knox. Fame and notoriety may help, but it also would be an escape from the pressures of home..

But what about Meredith?

I thought this would be it for my article but found myself coming back to the victim, Meredith Kercher. What was it in Knox and Kercher that brought them together? They clearly had a deeper connection, to my mind, than Knox/Sollecito.

This is where the rationalists and I part ways. To them, it must have been a random coincidence, just bad luck, that brought them together that fateful night in Perugia. To me, there was a clear attraction that came from what is often referred to as a karmic relationship. And the map of that lies in their relationship chart, seen above.

I am drawn to the six planets all narrowly concentrated in the 6th house of service and health. Also, the house of mental and physical conflicts arising from the externalization of the ego http://www.astrologyweekly.com/dictionary/sixth-house.php It is clear from accounts that Knox and Kercher had many conflicts in the short time they were together. Published reports only show the petty irritations that might arise from two young women of different background and temperament having to live together. The relationship chart, however shows what in hindsight was clearly a deadly combination.

Note: blue lines show areas of compatibility; red lines, stresses and conflict. The eye is drawn immediately to a red triangle in the upper part of the chart (a conflict that is in the public eye) and connecting the 6th house of inner conflict with 8th house Uranus (jealousy, sudden death) and 12th house Jupiter (imprisonment, release)

Here are some interpretations of their chart:
Knox/Kercher:

Jupiter Square Uranus 8th/12th: It means you must give each other lots of room, and not try to restrict or change the other.

Mars Square Uranus 6th/8th: Personal expectations of each other cannot be met, a great deal of reaction to each other. Can escalate into violence leading to injury or death.

Mercury Square Uranus 6th /8th: Automatic disagreement with the other; psychologically conditioned reactions. This relationship would have broken up very quickly, and one or the other would have moved out. Sadly, this did not happen.

Venus in the Sixth House: The relationship is on the surface, a utilitarian one (a shared apartment) but has underlying nervous reactions that can lower self-esteem.

Venus Square Neptune 6th/9th: Here, I see that Knox was attracted to Kercher, and I do not mean in a sexual way. The 6th house is the house of healing. Knox had deep mental and psychological issues that had never been addressed. Kercher was a bright, focused high achieving student with passion and drive. There was something special about her that attracted everyone. It is my opinion that Knox wanted very much to not only be Meredith's friend, but also, to control her. (There are domination issues in Knox's chart) There can also be an idealized fixation, and from all accounts of their respective personalities, it appears the attraction was on Knox's part. Kercher would have found her the very opposite of her driven to achieve Capricorn character. This aspect leads to great disappointment in the relationship, and yes, I consider jealousy and feelings of rejection to be one of the motives.

Mars Square Saturn 6th/9th: This provokes negative feelings that simmer below the surface.

Uranus in the Eighth House: Sudden and unpredictable reactions

Mercury Conjunct Mars 6th: Speech patterns that can aggravate the other. Constant irritations can lead to physical confrontations.

One of the problems faced by the prosecution and defense has been in trying to determine or eliminate the motivation for this crime. The actual mechanics and physical evidence have been argued and disputed for a long time now but motive, on the other hand, with various scenarios being presented, are all conjectural. We may never know for sure.

But a study of the psychology of the individual, as seen through astrology, can be quite insightful.

Here: The placement of the Moon in the chart explains hidden feeling and emotion so very clearly.

Moon in the Sixth House: This indicates a coming together for the specific purpose of healing. However, this cannot work as there are too many imbalances in the chart, which prevent understanding.

Moon Conjunct Venus: They could have had a great friendship, but they were too opposite, and the squares to Uranus and Neptune indicate that repulsion set in very quickly.

Sun Conjunct Moon: This indicates a great attraction, even if there are too many difficulties indicated elsewhere.

Moon Square Neptune: This relationship has aspects of delusional thinking. It appears that one or the other can project all sorts of longing on to the other, but, when that turns out to have been misjudged, lead to great disappointment. Alcohol and drugs can exacerbate the situation.

Summary: The Moon represents the relationship with the mother. Amanda Knox's father left the family when she was a toddler, and her mother remarried with a much younger man. Meredith Kercher, on the other hand, had a strong, loving relationship with her mother. It appears that Meredith reflected back Amanda's issues with her own mother, whose high expectations (she's a teacher) and Amanda's self destructive patterns and rebelliousness led to a violent outcome.

That the Moon falls in the 6th house indicates to me that her actions can lead to Amanda Knox's eventual healing. It is very clear she had mental issues before she left for Italy, and they are much worse now. I told some people that she would be in a prison of one kind or the other until she was 41 years of age. Karma is a healer; more so than any physical prison.

And in the end, we will always remember Meredith Kercher. I prefer to see her, not as a victim, but the luminous figure (it really was her) who appeared in Kristian Leontiou's haunting music video, "Some Say" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q15O-rRdQM

RIP Meredith Kercher

Buried Treasure

2011-10-07T17:43:00.000-04:00

This is a real treasure map, mateys!

I meet the most interesting people, and it's always, always, for a reason. They always have a good story to tell. They may be a connection from the past, or, a message pertaining to the future. (Note: don't ask me if I have a message for them :) Even if I did, I'd still wait and see what unfolds) They may know people that are famous (though I always find their story more compelling than that of the politician/celebrity they're connected with) And yes, there is buried treasure waiting to be found.

There are many people, with buried memories of past lives. Helping them untangle and move forward is one thing I do. There are those who almost died and came back with a purpose, or still are searching. You look at a person, and you see the gifts they have. You look around, and there are unquiet spirits... yes, they are interesting.

So, Nelson Mandela is a hero to many people because of his heroic resistance to oppression. But in the end he had to make a deal not to nationalize South Africa's mines before he was allowed to become president. And then, even then, people still tried to assassinate him. I met the special forces man who was supposed to plant a bomb in his office. He'd been tortured in prison, and I helped heal his broken body so he was free of pain for a while. As I said, it was his story that was interesting.

The Dalai Lama is another celebrity we get to project our emotional and spiritual longing on to. I know too much of his story of compromise to care any more. It was the Rinpoche in Toronto with the gleaming eyes and shared sense of humour I liked.

Then there are people who quite literally search for buried treasure.

There was an Iranian businessman who wanted much but was afraid to give. He had all sorts of spiritual and financial karma. So I made him pay me up front :) and as it turned out, good thing I did :))) He won a big lawsuit, regained property stolen from him, sold a factory, made millions. Then, in the nature of rich people everywhere, he wanted his money's worth. Which, he got. There's a friend of his in London whose son had a stroke. In a coma for a while, could I help? Yes, and he got better. His brother was a coke addict. I healed from a distance, and he quit. Left his family too, but, I break eggs. Then he got me in touch with some exiles who needed to get a hold of 'buried treasure'. Sure I could help, but pay me first. Nope, and we parted ways.

But the real person in all of this was his wife. She had some tremendous abilities and would have become a very powerful spiritual teacher. But they both were victims of spiritual possession and in the end, I could only wish them the best, with no regrets.

There are the 'spiritual advisers' to politicians. Like Djuna Davishavili, the woman who some say had enormous influence both with Russian leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Boris Yeltsin. I met her in Spain, and was invited to Moscow. Funny how my sense of self preservation kept me from going there just before the second Russian revolution and attack on the Russian White House in 1993. Around 2000 people were killed.

Yet I would also go to Iran in 2007, and believe me, that was more dangerous. Many of the ayatollahs and businessmen do believe in sorcery. But I was there to teach spirituality and prevent a disaster, and again, whatever could have happened, didn't (See "Happy Nawrooz to the People of Iran")

When the Japanese armies invaded China in the late 30's huge amounts of gold and jewels were looted and sent back to Japan, and later, hidden in caves in the Philippines. The late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos had a spiritual advisor he trusted implicitly. She had a disciple who came to Canada and became my student for a while. She told me about the caves which still had tons of looted gold and jewels. The CIA was after that, and she'd already been cheated of $30 million which had been entrusted to her by Marcos. Could I help her with that? Perhaps I could. But again, my spidey sense said it would come to nothing. Yet, funnily, coincidentally, my cousin was South Asian head of operations for a European bank based in Manila, and then when he might have been able to help the Iranians in 2007, he was heading operations in Amsterdam. But there was no way I'd endanger him.

Ever since I read RL Stevenson's Treasure Island I'd been fascinated by the idea of hidden treasure. Sure, there's Nazi looted gold in European lakes, and Mayan treasure vaults buried deep in the Andes, and Captain Kidd's pirate treasure somewhere off the Carolina coast.

But note this. The occult means 'the hidden', and alchemy is not the transmutation of lead to gold, but the transformation of humanity to a higher spiritual level.

There are people with a divine gift who wish to make a difference but don't know how.

If you want to know how to get there I say: give it up and follow me.

The greatest treasure of all is knowledge.

The Rape of Europa

2011-10-02T20:56:00.000-04:00

It's so sad to see this

Europe has given so much to us in the way of civilization. From the Greek philosophers to the Roman foundations of empire and stability, to the Enlightenment and the Age of Revolution, the intellectual, cultural, scientific and artistic gifts given to future generations can only be looked at with wonder.

In my youth and going up to University I read all 11 volumes and 10,000 pages of Will and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Civilization (mostly Western Civilization, alas, but Vol. 1, Our Oriental Heritage, is magnificent)

But it is this elegy on Will Durant by his wife Ariel Durant that best describes Europe: "that sentimental, idealizing blend of love, philosophy, Christianity, and socialism which dominated (its) spiritual chemistry"

Yes, Europeans can be insular, xenophobic, nationalistic and a little too rationalistic. Nothing an occasional invasion by Eastern hordes can't resolve :)

Yes, it has a dark karma that involves far too many colonial occupations and wholesale slaughter of native peoples. Yes, that karma is catching up to Europe.

But, I do love Europeans and their culture and social norms. My children are a happy blend of both worlds, and I respect the Western Mind as equal, if different than the Eastern Mind; the joy's in the mix.

And, as we go through these momentous changes, here's a word from Will Durant on the decline and rebuilding of civilizations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Durant#On_the_decline_and_rebuilding_of_civilizations

"Much like Oswald Spengler, Will Durant saw the decline of a civilization as a culmination of strife between religion and secular intellectualism, thus toppling the precarious institutions of convention and morality:

"Hence a certain tension between religion and society marks the higher stages of every civilization. Religion begins by offering magical aid to harassed and bewildered men; it culminates by giving to a people that unity of morals and belief which seems so favorable to statesmanship and art; it ends by fighting suicidally in the lost cause of the past."

"For as knowledge grows or alters continually, it clashes with mythology and theology, which change with geological leisureliness. Priestly control of arts and letters is then felt as a galling shackle or hateful barrier, and intellectual history takes on the character of a "conflict between science and religion"

"Institutions which were at first in the hands of the clergy, like law and punishment, education and morals, marriage and divorce, tend to escape from ecclesiastical control, and become secular, perhaps profane. The intellectual classes abandon the ancient theology and—after some hesitation—the moral code allied with it; literature and philosophy become anticlerical"

"The movement of liberation rises to an exuberant worship of reason, and falls to a paralyzing disillusionment with every dogma and every idea. Conduct, deprived of its religious supports, deteriorates into epicurean chaos; and life itself, shorn of consoling faith, becomes a burden alike to conscious poverty and to weary wealth. In the end a society and its religion tend to fall together, like body and soul, in a harmonious death. Meanwhile among the oppressed another myth arises, gives new form to human hope, new courage to human effort, and after centuries of chaos builds another civilization"

Europe is indeed, going through its period of chaos, and hopefully will one day build another civilization. And bless Will Durant's hopeful optimism, he's right. Europe needs to embrace an idea.

Of course, since he died in 1981, he wasn't able to see the culmination of decades of decline in morality - fiscal, political, and ethical, but the results are upon us now. His quote: "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within" was in the title credits of Mel Gibson's 2006 film "Apocalypto".

I liked the Durants because of the clarity of their writing and sheer love for their subject. If there was a writer who best might describe the socio-economic upheaval we are going through, it would be Karl Marx, but most people find him unreadable. Still, he sees the process of change as a continuous struggle between the capitalists and the masses. And, as riots take place in the streets of Europe and more sedate Americans occupy Wall Street, who can deny that struggle is ongoing?

Whither Europe? After decades of neo-liberal economic policies we are now being subjected to fears of the collapse of European economies and the Eurozone. Here's a Counterpunch magazine article that describes the problem very well: http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/06/24/bankers-gear-up-for-the-rape-of-greece-as-social-democrats-vote-for-national-suicide/

"The fight for Europe’s future is being waged in Athens and other Greek cities to resist financial demands that are the 21st century’s version of an outright military attack. The threat of bank overlordship is not the kind of economy-killing policy that affords opportunities for heroism in armed battle, to be sure. Destructive financial policies are more like an exercise in the banality of evil; in this case, the pro-creditor assumptions of the European Central Bank (ECB), EU and IMF (egged on by the U.S. Treasury).

As Vladimir Putin pointed out some years ago, the neoliberal reforms put in Boris Yeltsin’s hands by the Harvard Boys in the 1990s caused Russia to suffer lower birth rates, shortening life spans and emigration; the greatest loss in population growth since World War II.

Capital flight is another consequence of financial austerity. The ECB’s proposed “solution” to Greece’s debt problem is thus self-defeating. It only buys time for the ECB to take on yet more Greek government debt, leaving all EU taxpayers to get the bill. It is to avoid this shift of bank losses onto taxpayers that Angela Merkel in Germany has insisted that private bondholders must absorb some of the loss resulting from their bad investments”

The bankers are trying to get a windfall by using the debt hammer to achieve what warfare did in times past. They are demanding privatization of public assets (on credit, with tax deductibility for interest so as to leave more cash flow to pay the bankers). This transfer of land, public utilities and interest as financial booty and tribute to creditor economies is what makes financial austerity like war in its effect.

Socrates said that ignorance must be the root of all evil, because no one deliberately sets out to be bad. But the economic “medicine” of driving debtors into poverty and forcing the selloff of their public domain has become socially accepted wisdom taught in today’s business schools. One would think that after fifty years of austerity programs and privatization selloffs to pay bad debts, the world has learned enough about causes and consequences"

The article goes on to advocate a cancellation of public debt and tax on economic rentiers, for social movements to take back governments that advocate for financial interests instead of the people. I agree, and wish people all the best in that.

But as those that follow me know, none of those changes can take place, given the forces against them, until people themselves change.

And I have been saying this for some time now, that until humanity makes a quantum change in spirituality nothing will change, except what you are forced to do. Let go of fear and cynicism, and accept the spiritual message.

I travelled around the world in the 50's, 70's and 90's. Each time, observing humanity's search for peace and spiritual understanding. Each time, to America, Asia, and Europe (not been to the Southern Hemisphere yet, alas) Each time, seeing the changes yet to come. All people want is food, shelter, and to raise their children in peace. But the forces that prevent that are evil.

Socrates was wrong in that. People choose to do evil. And it is up to us, to peacefully, and non-violently, resist. It is up to us to say we won't buy, or believe, their shit. It is up to us to not believe the lie, that there is nothing we can do.

I went to America in the 90's. I gave without asking anything in return, and helped thousands of people with workshops, healing and meditations. Many of the ideas I taught have entered the New Age mainstream. The same in Asia. The same, in Europe.

It seemed I was drawn to places that needed healing. In Sri Lanka, I saw the tsunami and brutal culmination of civil war. In America, the so called war on terror that gave some the opportunity to loot the economy. I tried so hard to go back to Japan before the tsunami and nuclear disaster. The Japanese people need to change course, if their corrupt institutions will let them. So, too, do the American people. Until then, what must be, will be.

This is about Europe though. Immediately after I left the US I went on an extended trip around Europe with my family. For four months in 1996 we travelled to ten different countries; 16,000 kms in our car and everywhere we went, I did healing and talked to people. My favourite moment was in a remote village in Eastern Hungary: one day, having an (outdoor:) shower and seeing over a hundred people walking down the hills to meet the healer who had come there. Later that day, another hundred people from a youth camp for orphans. I did healing work with them too. Their instructor suffered from progressive blindness; he says I cured his eyesight. I like to look at the spiritual implications of that.

The fact still remains that Europe then went on to invade Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, and allow the brutal occupation of the Palestinian people. If you look at many conflicts in Africa, it's European powers that are arming combatants and encouraging tribal conflicts to better divide up nations and control other people's natural resources. Yet they complain when Americans conduct financial warfare against them.

I love the European people, their culture and historical institutions. It may well be they cannot tolerate more economic refugees ending up on their shores; I still believe they are for the most part still tolerant and compassionate enough to withstand the xenophobia and race hatred being promoted by the very land thieves who purport to lead them. I believe they are capable of creating a new civilization.

But first, they must resolve this conflict between 'reason' and 'religion'. The real conflict is between materialism and spirituality, and that must be healed.

I am drawn to America and Europe. It is vital that I go there, because the needed change must come from there. There has to be spiritual change in both places. The consequences otherwise will be terrible. But for the first time in my life, I will not be using my own resources to do that. I have to remain in Canada and look after my own family. I have to raise a certain amount of money to publish all my books. I have to look after myself now.

This isn't a crass request for donations. The universe operates on the basis of exchange, and what you give is what you receive. I have always given back more than I received (see my next article, "Buried Treasure" and previous ones for examples) Those who have known and followed me for the last twenty years know I always help anyone that asks. You can come to Toronto or you can write. I can heal, even from a distance.

But if you want to change the world, then I say to you: spiritual power is the greatest force known. It must be harnessed. People have to learn how to do it, and teach others. Whether you come to see me, or I you, will be immaterial. Whether you are American, or European, or from anywhere else, doesn't matter. I need a lot of people, around 100,000, and from all around the world. Together, I can show you miracles...

So if you are drawn to help, or follow me, then I can be reached here: naseer@manfromatlan.com

Who Is This Man?

2011-09-20T23:46:00.002-04:00

The Black Sea, November 2010

Spirituality is always a struggle between the need to sustain the body and, to nurture the spirit.

And yes, that is quite a journey.

My website, Man From Atlan is now up. You can click http://www.manfromatlan.com/ to get there.

It's a teaching web site. Available to all. I have always offered healing and teaching to anyone who asked, and now I see a whole planet in need of healing. But now, for the first time, I'm the one asking: Will you join me?

The people of Atlan who came to Earth thousands of years ago did so because of a prophecy. And because of that prophecy which pointed to this particular point in time, I have incarnated over and over again, through many lifetimes, with struggle, but also, with love.

So here I am again. From 1966, to start my work when I was 16. Now I'm 61, and it's like I'm starting again.

I was in England in 1977 when I saw the events that would come to this planet, and returned in 1999 to see, yet again, that vision.

It was a burden too heavy to carry. As I said, "sometimes, seeing the future can be a terrible thing", but, now I've shared that vision with you, what will you do about it?

So if you care about the world you leave for future generations; if you want to make a difference, let me know.

If, after you check this out and feel you want to support this work, in a small or large way, please contact me at naseer@manfromatlan.com

Sometimes, the only thing to do is make a leap of faith, and plunge in.

Thank you.

The Criminal Mind

2011-09-02T01:20:00.001-04:00

Is there such a thing?

Of course there is.

Introduction:

The question of criminality has been much in the news lately, as wild gangs of youth rampaged through British cities, and wild gangs of feral financial speculators rampaged through the world's economies.

As a scientist I wonder about the pathologies involved, and as a spiritual person I wonder about root causes.

So this is about where we are going as a society. Are we descending into criminality, and is the problem getting worse? I also wonder about the connection between criminality and mental illness.

I have been following the case of Amanda Knox for some time, as readers may know. http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-might-have-been.html

Amanda Knox, along with her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and acquaintance Rudy Guede, was convicted of the brutal murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy in November 2007.

There are passionate supporters of the case for her innocence, as well as those who believe the several hearings and trials she has had so far were fair and she is in fact, guilty. I belong to the latter camp, but, since she has filed an appeal am quite content to let it run its course. Justice will be served.

Disclaimer:

I have never met her, or anyone connected with her. This article is not a diagnosis of the psychology of Amanda Knox, nor in any way does it make presumptions of her guilt or innocence. That will be determined by evidence presented in court.

Nor, as some have attempted to argue in other forums, is my opinion based on astrology, or other occult tools.

But I was inspired by people who asked the following questions:

1) Is there such a thing as a criminal mind?

2)How can that be ascertained?

This, then, is to present an overview of the research and opinions of experts in the field, as well as present hypotheses of my own.

My background, for those only aware of my spiritual beliefs, is that I am a foreign trained physician with a specialization in Autism Spectrum Disorder. I've been in clinical practice for over three decades, but now act as a consultant as I continue further research into the causes and treatment of mental illness.

Concurrent with that I have been following my spiritual path and see no conflict between my calling and my work; both have the goal of helping humanity.

In the course of trying to find a treatment for my own children's Autism, I came to the following conclusion: conventional medical science has no clue about the causes or effective treatment of mental illness.

Therefore I had to range further into alternative medicine to find solutions, and serendipitously, I did. Yet, when my son's autism reversal was confirmed by psychologists, no one seemed to want to know how. Neither the media, nor the conventional establishment.

Never mind. My findings were presented, for free, to various alternative medical doctors and clinics, reported in journals and books, and confirmed by them. The protocol has great possibilities in the treatment of other neurological illnesses. It is possible to reverse brain disease.

At my clinic in Toronto as well as other countries, I treated hundreds of young people with Autism, ADHD, Aspergers, and other psychological disorders, using holistic medical methods alone. Many of them went on to have normal lives; most improved significantly. And, when I have the time, I will write a book about this journey, and share it with everyone.

Which I already did, btw, here: http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/not-incurable-new-research-on-autism.html But this is by way of background. I do not claim to have cures, or answers; I'm a searcher for knowledge, which I wish to share with others.

The question:

So: Is there such a thing as a criminal mind? This was a question much pondered as the new field of psychology came into being. In opposition to religious belief that crimes were caused by man's original state of sin, and provoked by deadly sins like avarice and lust etc., it tried to define abnormal behaviour as a function of upbringing and environment. It was only later as research into the nature of the brain emerged that new theories were formed; could neurological deficits explain criminal acts? Along with other suppositions of nurture and nature, addictions and abuse?

The answer: According to these studies, yes. http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Top_Story&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=38174

"The release today of a study by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) showing than 64 percent of local jail inmates, 56 percent of state prisoners and 45 percent of federal prisoners have symptoms of serious mental illnesses is an indictment of the nation’s mental health care system. It is both a scandal and a national tragedy. The figures are worse than those generally believed in the past, in which estimates of the total number of inmates with mental illnesses have been approximately 20 percent. The study reveals that the problem is two to three times greater than anyone imagined. What is even more disturbing is the number of these inmates that have served prior sentences, committed violent offenses, or engaged in substance abuse"

This is not an ideological statement, nor is it an attempt to avoid the serious problem of crimes in society. We have to have a system of laws and justice, and we have to protect the innocent. But the present system of crime and punishment doesn't work, either.

So, how do we measure the criminal mind? Could there possibly be genetic, neurological, behavioral or even, physiognomic markers? I was 10 years old when a gentleman took one look at certain bumps on my head and said I "was very perceptive; could look at a scene and see what others could not"Cool, and this was my introduction to phrenology.

This was where 18-19th century researchers sought to determine racial and emotional differences through the study of skull size, shape and protuberances. And yes, they did believe the criminal's head was different than that of normal people. This later became the field of craniology and craniometry, as scientists tried to avoid making unsavory determinations.

http://www.answers.com/topic/craniometry "The scars left after World War II by these atrocious programmes of research meant that the study of human skull shape and size fell into disrepute. Human variation, the core subject of anthropology, was increasingly explored through genetics and other biological markers, and became functional and adaptive in orientation rather than a search for racial affinities. In recent years, however, the introduction of new computer-based techniques of measurement, and the greatly enhanced power of statistical analysis, has meant that there has been a resurgence of interest in this subject, and, stripped of its non-Darwinian and racist past, the study of the human head remains a topic of major importance"

So now, scientists are using cranial measurements to determine mental illness, like here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/118653.php

"Recently, Harvard researchers reported that children with autism have a wide range of genetic defects, making it nearly impossible to develop a simple genetic test to identify the disorder. Now, University of Missouri researchers are studying 3-D imaging to reveal correlations in the facial features and brain structures of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which will enable them to develop a formula for earlier detection of the disorder" .."When you compare the faces and head shapes of children with specific types of autism to other children, it is obvious there are variations. Currently, autism diagnosis is purely behavior based and doctors use tape measurements to check for facial and brain dissimilarities. We are developing a quantitative method that will accurately measure these differences and allow for earlier, more precise detection of specific types of the disorder," said Ye Duan, assistant computer science professor in the MU College of Engineering"

Then you have "The Criminal Brain-Understanding Biological Theories of Crime", author Nicole Hahn Rafter, New York University Press (October 2008) http://www.amazon.ca/Criminal-Brain-Understanding-Biological-Theories/dp/0814776140,

"What is the relationship between criminality and biology? Nineteenth-century phrenologists insisted that criminality was innate, a trait inherent in the offender's brain matter. While they were eventually repudiated as pseudo-scientists and self-deluded charlatans, today the pendulum has swung back. Both criminologists and biologists have begun to speak of a tantalizing but disturbing possibility: that criminality may be inherited as a set of genetic deficits that place one at risk for theft, violence, and sexual deviance. If that is so, we may soon confront proposals for genetically modifying "at risk" foetuses or doctoring up criminals so their brains operate like those of law-abiding citizens"

Wow. Now this really frightens me, to see scientists, once again, barking up the wrong genetic tree, but there you go any way.

Brain Injury as a factor in crime:

Alternative physician Dr. Russell L. Blaylock:

Vaccines, Depression and Neurodegeneration After Age 50 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/pages/vaccines-depression-and-neurodegeneration-after-age-50.aspx

"Previously, it was thought that major depression was secondary to a deficiency in certain neurotransmitters in the brain, particularly the monoamines, which include serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. While alterations in these important mood-related neurotransmitters is found with major depression, growing evidence indicates that the primary culprit is low-grade, chronic brain inflammation. In addition, we now know that inflammatory cytokines can lower serotonin significantly and for long periods by a number of different mechanisms"

I would agree with him there, since it has been my observation that mental illness is often accompanied by inflammatory disorders or auto-immune illness. I also believe the changes in vaccine schedules may have led to increased neurological deficits and genetic damage passed on to subsequent generations, but that is an argument for a separate article. I do not blame vaccines alone, as I will explain here.

There is research that shows criminal minds and behavior issues are often accompanied by brain damage. http://waiting.com/blog/tag/chris-henry-autopsy-show-brain-damage

"Brain injury is a condition that involves microscopic damage to brain tissue that can only be seen in life through the lens of the patterns of the injured person’s life. Chris Henry, the former NFL wide receiver whose autopsy results confirmed he was living with brain damage, may have finally made that clear"

"Limbic Abnormalities in Affective Processing by Criminal Psychopaths as Revealed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging"
Kiehl, et al, http://www.uni-graz.at/~schulter/Limbic_abnormalities.pdf

"Results: Compared with criminal nonpsychopaths and noncriminal control participants, criminal psychopaths showed significantly less affect-related activity in the amygdala/hippocampal formation, parahippocampal gyrus, ventral striatum, and in the anterior and posterior cingulate gyri. Psychopathic criminals also showed evidence of overactivation in the bilateral fronto-temporal cortex for processing affective stimuli"

The brains of autistic individuals show similar defects: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_v130/ai_4422064/

"The two research teams have noticed an intriguing abnormality in the brains of the small group of autistics they have examined: The cerebellum, a portion of the brain involved with muscle coordination and the regulation of incoming sensations, contains fewer neurons known as Purkinje cells. There are also preliminary indications that growth in parts of the limbic system, which oversees emotion and memory, is arrested while autistics are still in the womb"

Likewise, in schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/unlocked-the-secrets-of-schizophrenia-1727987.html

"new research shows for the first time that both have a common genetic basis that leads people to develop one or other of the two illnesses..find that thousands of tiny genetic mutations – known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) – are operating in raising the risk of developing the illness"

"Early Signs of Psychopathy" argues that signs can show at an early age http://www.suite101.com/content/early-signs-of-antisocial-personal-a29191

"A twenty-five year study, published this month in The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, demonstrates that, as early as the age of three, there are temperamental and physiological difference between those who show psychopathic tendencies as adults and those who don’t. Not only do psychopaths lack emotions of conscience and empathy, but research has shown that these individuals consistently display certain aspects of temperament including a lack of fear, lack of inhibition and stimulus seeking behavior"

A lack of a hormone that affects empathy:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=the-hormone-that-helps-you-read-min

"We've long accepted that hormones can make you amorous, aggressive, or erratic. But lately neuroscience has been abuzz with evidence that the hormone oxytocin -- which also acts as a neuromodulator -- can enhance at least one cognitive power: the ability to understand the gist of what others are thinking. In this week's Mind Matters, Jennifer Bartz and Eric Hollander, two leading researchers in this area, review the many and surprising ways in which oxytocin seems to influence both our openness to others and our understanding of them"

"For inherently social creatures such as humans, the ability to identify the motives, intentions, goals, desires, beliefs and feelings of others is not a nicety but an essential skill. We must understand "where others are coming from" not only to pursue our individual goals but also to facilitate social harmony more generally. Specifically, we need to recognize that other people can have thoughts, beliefs, desires and feelings that differ from our own --"

and it may be this that drives psychopathy, or the criminal mind.

Psychopathy: Two lengthy checklists of psychopathic, or anti-social personality disorder:

Cleckley: http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/narcissism/psychopathy_checklist.html

Cleckley's original list of symptoms of a psychopath: 1. Considerable superficial charm and average or above average intelligence. 2. Absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking 3. Absence of anxiety or other "neurotic" symptoms considerable poise, calmness, and verbal facility. 4. Unreliability, disregard for obligations no sense of responsibility, in matters of little and great import. 5.Untruthfulness and insincerity 7. Antisocial behavior which is inadequately motivated and poorly planned, seeming to stem from an inexplicable impulsiveness. 7.Inadequately motivated antisocial behavior 8.Poor judgment and failure to learn from experience 9. Pathological egocentricity. Total self-centeredness incapacity for real love and attachment. 10. General poverty of deep and lasting emotions. 11. Lack of any true insight, inability to see oneself as others do. 12. Ingratitude for any special considerations, kindness, and trust. 13. Fantastic and objectionable behavior, after drinking and sometimes even when not drinking--vulgarity, rudeness, quick mood shifts, pranks. 14. No history of genuine suicide attempts. 15. An impersonal, trivial, and poorly integrated sex life. 16. Failure to have a life plan and to live in any ordered way, unless it be one promoting self-defeat.

Hare: http://www.oregoncounseling.org/Handouts/PsychopathicPersonality.htm

The Psychopathic Personality:

"A psychopath can have high verbal intelligence, but they typically lack "emotional intelligence". They can be expert in manipulating others by playing to their emotions. There is a shallow quality to the emotional aspect of their stories (i.e., how they felt, why they felt that way, or how others may have felt and why). The lack of emotional intelligence is the first good sign you may be dealing with a psychopath. A history of criminal behavior in which they do not seem to learn from their experience, but merely think about ways to not get caught is the second best sign.

The following is a list of items based on the research of Robert Hare, Ph.D. which is derived from the "The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, .1991, Toronto: Multi-Health Systems." These are the most highly researched and recognized characteristics of psychopathic personality and behavior":

1. glibness/superficial charm 2. grandiose sense of self worth 3. need for stimulation/prone to boredom 4. pathological lying 5. conning/manipulative 6. lack of remorse or guilt 7. shallow emotional response 8. callous/lack of empathy 9. parasitic lifestyle 10. poor behavioral controls 11. promiscuous sexual behavior 12. early behavioral problems 13. lack of realistic long term goals 14. impulsivity 15. irresponsibility 16. failure to accept responsibility for their own actions 17. many short term relationships 18. juvenile delinquency 19. revocation of conditional release 20. criminal versatility

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Is it becoming a rare quality among young people? It certainly seems to be declining in society.
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/Gallery/Young/emotion.htm#what%20is%20EI

"Emotional intelligence "is a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide one's thinking and actions" (Mayer & Salovey, 1993: 433). According to Salovey & Mayer (1990), EI subsumes Gardner's inter- and intrapersonal intelligences, and involves abilities that may be categorized into five domains:

Self-awareness: Observing yourself and recognizing a feeling as it happens.

Managing emotions: Handling feelings so that they are appropriate; realizing what is behind a feeling; finding ways to handle fears and anxieties, anger, and sadness.

Motivating oneself: Channeling emotions in the service of a goal; emotional self control; delaying gratification and stifling impulses.

Empathy: Sensitivity to others' feelings and concerns and taking their perspective; appreciating the differences in how people feel about things.

Handling relationships: Managing emotions in others; social competence and social skills.

And according to Goleman (1995: 160), "Emotional intelligence, the skills that help people harmonize, should become increasingly valued as a workplace asset in the years to come."

The last words belong to the educators, of course.
http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/gardner.shtml
Howard Gardner (July 11, 1943 - ) American Psychologist and Educator

"Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983) proposes that intelligent behavior does not arise from a single unitary quality of the mind, as the g -based theories profiled on this Web site suggest, but rather that different kinds of intelligence are generated from separate metaphorical pools of mental energy"

"Gardner derived this conceptualization of intelligence in part from his experiences working with members (of) extreme populations, in which certain cognitive abilities are preserved (often to a remarkable degree) even in the absence of other, very basic abilities. For example, some autistic savants display extraordinary musical or mathematical abilities despite severely impaired language development and social awareness. Likewise, individuals with localized brain damage often demonstrate severe deficits that are circumscribed to a single cognitive domain (Gardner, 1983/2003)"

And Piaget, who inspired me many years ago:
http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/piaget.shtml
Jean Piaget (August 9, 1896-September 16, 1980) Swiss Biologist and Child Psychologist

Definition of Intelligence:

"Intelligence is an adaptation…To say that intelligence is a particular instance of biological adaptation is thus to suppose that it is essentially an organization and that its function is to structure the universe just as the organism structures its immediate environment" (Piaget, 1963, pp. 3-4).

"Intelligence is assimilation to the extent that it incorporates all the given data of experience within its framework…There can be no doubt either, that mental life is also accommodation to the environment. Assimilation can never be pure because by incorporating new elements into its earlier schemata the intelligence constantly modifies the latter in order to adjust them to new elements" (Piaget, 1963, p. 6-7) (Including, imo, 'criminal intelligence')

Major Contributions:

The theory of Genetic Epistemology

"Piaget also believed that intellectual development occurs in four distinct stages.

The sensorimotor stage begins at birth, and lasts until the child is approximately two years old. At this stage, the child cannot form mental representations of objects that are outside his immediate view, so his intelligence develops through his motor interactions with his environment.

The preoperational stage typically lasts until the child is 6 or 7. According to Piaget, this is the stage where true "thought" emerges. Preoperational children are able to make mental representations of unseen objects, but they cannot use deductive reasoning.

The concrete operations stage follows, and lasts until the child is 11 or 12. Concrete operational children are able to use deductive reasoning, demonstrate conservation of number, and can differentiate their perspective from that of other people.

Formal operations is the final stage. Its most salient feature is the ability to think abstractly"

It is my opinion that emotional intelligence development also follows these four distinct phases. This is where nurture and nature come into play, and any trauma, abuse, neglect, that occurs during these phases can lead to an emotional stunting where the child is unable to progress to the next stage of development.

In the same way, a positive home and school environment can help children grow to be more harmonious members of society, once you adjust for any biological and neurological deficits. Early recognition and treatment is key...

Having worked as a volunteer in the public school system, I can tell you what teachers and educators have been telling me for years: the number of learning disabled and emotionally disturbed children is increasing exponentially..

Is it just me, or does it seem like the world has become an increasingly disharmonious place lately?

But the last word might well come from a book written by a Norwegian judge, Jens Jacob-Sander:

The Criminal Brain: A View from the Bench
Exploring the Criminal Mind

http://www.dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=1354

"What goes on in the minds of criminals? This question raises perennial philosophical issues about human behavior in general and criminal conduct in particular. Do criminals act the way they do because of how and what they think and feel? And, are these internal forces of thought and feeling caused by the states of their brains, which in turn are predetermined by biology, chemistry, and genetics? Is the problem, in short, what used to be called bad blood?

Or, are the thoughts, feelings, and actions of criminals caused by external factors such as parents, education, and other influences in the environment that mold and shape malleable brains, which, in turn, give rise to the criminal personality? In other words, is the real culprit for criminal behavior what used to be called society?

With the emergence of brain science over the past 50 years, including brain imaging technologies and the study of brain chemistry, perhaps we can return to these profound questions with new hope of making progress toward answers.

At the present time, although some scholars of brain science lean heavily toward a reductionistic biological determinism, others call attention to the plasticity of the brain and its capacity for change. Even if we cannot ever uncover a single satisfactory answer to how the criminal mind works, perhaps we can begin to diminish the devastation caused by criminal behavior.

An exploration of the criminal mind might yield insights, ideas, and innovative hypotheses worthy of serious consideration and further study. It might also provoke us to reconsider how we think about the questions we ask about the causes of criminal behavior. Instead of polarizing the discussion by pitting determinism (biological or social) against free will as mutually exclusive explanations of criminal conduct, we might discover that biological predispositions and habits of thought can be influenced by education, cognitive retraining, and behavior modification. Whatever our current state of knowledge, isn't it worth our effort to try to formulate better theories and more effective forms of intervention?

That daunting task has been undertaken in a new e-book titled Exploring the Criminal Mind and subtitled Advances of Brainscience and Mental Procedures of the Criminal Personality: A Unified Brain-Mind Theory. The author and publisher, Jens-Jacob Sander, is a judge in the Norwegian Courts of Justice, located west of the city of Oslo. Judge Sander tells us in the foreword to his book that it grew out of his frustration with trying to understand the criminal mind while he was engaged in a major international fraud-hunt in 1989 that, although successful, was apparently hampered by the lack of adequate information and insights about criminal minds"

Perhaps we can return to these profound questions with new hope of making progress toward answers, indeed.

The Horoscope of the United States of America

2011-08-24T17:42:00.000-04:00

My first love was an American

Growing up in the diplomatic enclave of Tokyo I first came in contact with Americans at the American Nichimachi School and many of my neighbours were also, American. They were open and friendly, and I made many friends.

Then when I returned to Pakistan there was another family right across from us, funny enough. The father was American, the mom, Russian. How they ended up in Karachi I never knew, but the older brother, Christopher, was my friend, and Margaret, who was about my own age, was my first love.

She really liked me, and I, her, but being 10 at the time we never really knew how to proceed, and then she moved away.

Me and my family almost moved to the U.S. in 1970 but came to Canada instead.

So, for me, the United States is like one's first love, a memory that always remains in one's mind, like the question, what might have been.

As I grew up I realized there would always be the dichotomy of the ideals of the American Republic and Constitution and how it rose to greatness on the backs of ruthless expansion and war finance of its economy.

Now I have written at length about how I tried in previous years to bring about a spiritual awakening movement in the United States. (See "A Spiritual Journey to the United States") http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/spiritual-journey-to-u.html originally published in late 2001 then again in December 2007.

I was reminded of this just a few days ago, when someone asked me a general astrological question ;)

I said well, some Cancers were going through a rough time.

And since astrology is a theoretical science, it will never be 'proven' as there are indeed too many variables, so I try to avoid any blanket statements as to how, or when.

But, the day after I said that, the eastern seaboard of the U.S. was struck by a rare earthquake and the Washington Monument cracked.

And the US is a Cancer country, born on July 4, and this was a message.

So, if astrology is a karmic map, I can say the U.S. is in for some interesting times!

This is what I wrote shortly after the events of September 2001: "And if Earth Changes are required to bring about harmony, let them take place"

And: "This applies to all the people of the United States. You, and all your generations, are trapped inside a spiritual, emotional and karmic place, and never will be free until you heal the harm that was done in your name"

Please understand that all this shows in the horoscope of the U.S. The Sagittarius ascendant shows the ideals that formed the basis of its founding. The Mars Neptune square, deception and corruption of those ideals. Pluto opposite Mercury and Pars Fortunae in the 8th house, ruthless exploitation of natural resources and jingoist propaganda to exculpate that. And Sun, Venus and Jupiter conjunct in the 7th house, being so blessed with good fortune and love from its allies.

But, every cycle comes to an end, and the planets now show so clearly what will be.

Saturn returns to its original position every 30 years, and signifies a time of renewal, but also, the culmination of activities that have formed it, for good or evil. Karma is just a form of balance.

Pluto opposite planets in Cancer, signifying a shift in national identity. And in September, more upheavals going into the new year.

I wrote in 'Healer" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2011/04/healer.html and "America the Spiritual" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2011/03/america-spiritual.html what was going to happen, and what needed to be done.

I know how to offer help, but don't know how to ask for it. Yet I do know one thing. If there is going to be that spiritual change which is the only possible thing that will ensure our survival, it must begin there, in the United States. If there is one person of means out there who is prepared to take a chance and help me, then let me know. The information will always be available to everyone, but, at this time of my life, I will ask for help.

There are two places I need to be soon. The U.S., and, Europe.

The contact address is on my profile page.

I look forward to hearing from you.

London Is Burning

2011-08-10T19:00:00.000-04:00

This is so sad

I missed being born in London by just six months.

The spiritual awakening that saw me remember all my past lives began in Toronto in 1974 and came to a culmination in London in 1977 (See "Benjamin Creme and Me")

http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/benjamin-creme-and-me-from-beginning-i.html

I have been to the U.K so many times it had become my second home, and yes, I love the people very very much See "Rule, Britannia"

http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2008/06/rule-brittania.html

where I write: "Two million people march against war in 2003 and you know that there is a British spirit that will never change, and magic will always exist, there"

But, after my last visit in 2007: "There is much done in its name (Britain's) and there is an imbalance that requires healing"

What I do in my trips is train the healers who will be needed in the time to come. And what I also do sometimes is send healers to places where healing is required. So two sisters in Canada married Brits and moved there, then one came back on holiday last month, and when she arrived, the hot weather changed to thundershowers, and the wet weather in the Lake District became quite sunny :)

Then we had a meditation on August 6 and again, these meditations are circles of energy meant to bring about change. On a little scale (little only because it happens so often) my daughter rubbed her hand on some one's arm, and a mole that had been growing and sparking fears of skin cancer scabbed and fell off the next day, and on a broader scale, riots broke out all over England.

The ostensible reason: a black man was shot by police as they attempted to arrest him; a protest demonstration outside a police station led to a 16 year old girl being battered by riot cops. Gangs of youths went on an orgy of violence and looting, shops destroyed, and 4 people killed; some, while trying to protect their homes and businesses.

Ironically this happened just weeks after people were treated to the live coverage of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch being questioned about his role in a scandal where revelations were made about the corruption of top politicians and cops.

I do not condone or explain away violence. It is morally wrong and soul deadening. But in a world where we routinely bomb Libya to get at its oil and kill over a million Iraqis because of a lie, and people are out of a job because of financial manipulation and my friends tell me how their home values have fallen and they are hanging on by the skin of their teeth, I am sorry, but my moral outrage is directed...elsewhere.

And yes, a whole generation of our children is lost, as I said on my other website, once.

But I do believe this: the world as we know it is changing. All over the world people are realizing the failures of right wing policies and throwing out their 'solutions'. All the prophecies I made have come into play, and yes, once again I say that things will become much much worse.

But, I also believe this: We will not repeat the mistakes of the past. There is a spirit of revolution in the air, but that will come through community, and spirituality, and sharing our gifts with one another.

I know that around the time of the London Olympics, there will be great change.

And what I said at the end of my article, Rule Britannia, I say again to young people everywhere:

Do not live ordinary lives.

Cranks, Inc.

2011-07-24T02:10:00.000-04:00

James Randi, Esq.

I've met a lot of er, interesting people in my time. And God bless 'em all, even the aforementioned James Randi.

In my study of Psychology I enjoy figuring out what makes people tick, the motivating factors and environment that shapes them, and the actions that follow. But in the broader scheme of things I'm much more interested in social groups.

Over the last more than four decades I’ve been observing at very close hand a huge panoply of social groups: New Age, Cults, UFO's, Spiritual and Psychology based movements, religious, race and nationalistic -isms, and yes, patriot and conspirology based, not ‘theorists’, but people with their own paradigms or memes, and from my own observations, they are every bit as intelligent as everyone else, if a little um, unbalanced in their approach. So I won’t judge them, but just look for the kernel of truth in what they say, because I think divided we fall, and all that.

But, what about groups that actually set out to be divisive?

Disclosure: I was attacked recently by people from the eponymously named James Randi Educational Foundation, a "Skeptics" organization. I'd the temerity to comment, many, many times, on Huffington Post and other crime based sites about the guilt of Amanda Knox. Then, when I was invited to repost my previous article "What Might Have Been" on a site that chronicled proof of her guilt some folk from JREF discovered Google and this website, and the older, web archived one. Much hilarity ensued; since they hadn't been able to effectively debate me on the subject in other forums, they could, um, make fun of my astrological and spiritual beliefs instead.

No big deal, I'd already been unmasked previously by right wing groups for my tens of thousands of anti-war comments on various political web sites. JREF comments, by comparison to right wing nasties, seemed pretty picayune really.

Truthfully, I've been following Mr. Randi's um, career for quite a while now, since he first joined CSICOP, the so called Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (Now CSI, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry)

But my interest isn't in him personally, or the behavior of his followers and the people he associates with, but the fakery that is associated with the entire 'Skeptical Movement'

CSICOP, in spite of its ostensible purpose to investigate the paranormal, actively sought to cut funding for ALL research into the paranoramal and parapsychology by legitimate scientists.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSICOP

"An early controversy concerned the so-called Mars effect: French statistician Michel Gauquelin’s claim that champion athletes are more likely to be born when the planet Mars is in certain positions in the sky. In late 1975, prior to the formal launch of CSICOP, astronomer Dennis Rawlins, along with Paul Kurtz, George Abel and Marvin Zelen (all subsequent members of CSICOP) began investigating the claim. Rawlins, a founding member of CSICOP at its launch in May 1976, resigned in early 1980 claiming that other CSICOP researchers had used incorrect statistics, faulty science, and outright falsification in an attempt to debunk Gauquelin’s claims. In an article for the pro-paranormal magazine Fate, he wrote: "I am still skeptical of the occult beliefs CSICOP was created to debunk. But I have changed my mind about the integrity of some of those who make a career of opposing occultism"

"In 2004, CSICOP was accused of scientific misconduct over its involvement in the Discovery Channel's test of the "girl with X-ray eyes," Natasha Demkina. In a self-published commentary, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Brian Josephson criticized the test and evaluation methods and argued that the results should have been deemed "inconclusive" rather than judged in the negative. Josephson, the director of the University of Cambridge's Mind-Matter Unification project, questioned the researchers' motives saying, "On the face of it, it looks as if there was some kind of plot to discredit the teenage claimed psychic by setting up the conditions to make it likely that they could pass her off as a failure." Ray Hyman, one of the three researchers who designed and conducted the test, published a response to this and other criticisms, and CSI's Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health also published a detailed response to these and other objections, saying that biasing the odds against Natasha was appropriate because her claims were unlikely to be true"

The movement was characterised as moved by "pseudoscepticism" and criticised thusly:

http://www.tricksterbook.com/ArticlesOnline/CSICOPoverview.htm

"Surveys show that over half the adult population in the U.S. have had psychic experiences and believe in the reality of the phenomena (Gallup, 1982; Greeley, 1975, 1987; Haraldsson & Houtkooper, 1991). Those who have had the experiences but encounter the debunking attitudes of apparent “scientific authorities” are likely to conclude that science is a dogma and inapplicable to important aspects of their lives. Vallee (1990) has suggested that debunkers “are among the primary contributors to the rejection of science by the public” and are “contributing to the growth of irrational movements in modem society” (p. 21). Ironically, CSICOP’s activities will likely inhibit scientific research on the paranormal and might potentially foster an increased rejection of science generally"

And funnily, this is what's happening now, the movement dedicated to fighting "woo" (Randi's phrase for woo-woo) complaining about growing beliefs in the 'supernatural'

I could devote a whole page to Randi's attacks on Homoeopathy, but I've already defended it in my previous post. Suffice to say he disrupted a homeopathic trial led by French Immunologist Jacques Benveniste. Then when a Greek Homeopath, George Vithoulkas, took up Randi's $1 million challenge http://www.naturalnews.com/025627.html and had a signed, agreed upon protocol, Randi backed out of it with the following letter "Forget all previous correspondence exchanged on the subject. What appears here is the current status. First, we require that George Vithoulkas submit a regular, properly-filled-out application and submit it just as we require everyone to do. After that has been received, we`ll go ahead as with any regular applicant - with the arrangements, including the requirement for the preliminary stage".This new turn of events understandably infuriated Vithoulkas after his 5 years of toil. To make matters worse, Randi, according to Vithoulkas, claimed on his website (http://www.randi.org/) that the homeopaths had withdrawn from the experiment. This accusation is strenuously denied by Vithoulkas"

Another example of the false tactics and arguments presented by the Randians:

http://www.greatdreams.com/faking.htm

1) Demand scientific methodology is used and then ridicule any results presented as 'biased' or 'pseudoscientific'.

2) Belittle any scientist or academic appearing to move away from orthodoxy.

3) Demand peer review of any paper presented for publication (by definition, this is very hard to achieve in totally new areas of research).

4) Do not offer assistance of any kind.

5) Heavily and widely publicise that 'hoaxing' and 'fraud' are the only explanations for what is reported.

6) Do not engage in discussion. The organisation's associates should be called upon to provide the 'expert' viewpoint. The use of academic titles such as Doctor, Professor and Nobel Prize Winner adds 'credibility'.

7) Adopt a caring and protective attitude as the guardians of 'ordinary' people who could be 'duped' by unscrupulous 'tricksters' trying to make money out of them.

Yet, for an organization that prides itself on its scepticism, it seems they applaud the staus quo and have a well coordinated, attack dog response to anything alternative or challenges entrenched interests or memes. Therefore, ALL conspiracy theory must be trashed, as if government never lies to you. GMO foods are NOT harmful. Fluoride in the water is beneficial. Aspartame is safe. Randi forgot himself a moment and actually said he didn't believe in Global Warming then had to backtrack when even his followers questioned that. The Skeptical Inquirer Magazine seems to have a area all its own (False Memory Syndrome) which by its sensationalistic pieces seem to belittle all accusations of organized pedophilia.

Here's more criticism:

http://michaelprescott.freeservers.com/skeptic.htm

Michael Prescott-Why I'm Not a Skeptic

"Here we have not innocent open-mindedness, but a narrow and intolerant creed, which is today often recognized as such. The word "skeptic" is, in fact, increasingly conjoined with "dogmatic," "zealous," and "militant." Some people accuse skeptics of being nothing but cynics in disguise. A few wags have dubbed them "septics." Admittedly, that's not very nice – but, truth be told, skeptics have brought such attacks on themselves by repeatedly characterizing their opponents as credulous, gullible, simpleminded, ignorant, irrational, and foolish"

"They are creatures of comfort and routine, not explorers. They cannot think outside the box. They will, in fact, deny that there is or ever could be anything outside the box - and they'll heap scorn on anyone who suggests otherwise. They'll call names, cry fraud, and holler that civilization is in danger and the barbarians are at the gates. They'll do anything, really - except examine their own assumptions with a remotely critical eye.

And that's why I'm not a skeptic"

Some final words on the Skeptics:

http://www.dailygrail.com/Essays/2010/11/Skeptical-Skeptic

Skeptical of a Skeptic-Greg Taylor

"there needs to be a change to the blind acceptance of the words of individuals who claim ownership of the title “skeptic”. This might best begin within skeptical organizations themselves, by promoting more internal criticism and an end to the demagoguery that pervades the likes of CSI(COP) and the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF)"

"The calm critic can only say that (their arguments) either displays the grossest ignorance of the facts and the subject, or it is a colossal piece of constructive lying. The authors may take either horn of the dilemma they like"

It is this comment from the above article that interests me the most: 'emlong' writes the following:

"There is huge online troll community that has thoroughly infected the social networking sites, and their calling card is often an in your face ad hominem anything goes attack style. They tend to pedestalize the Amazing Randi and Penn and Teller from whom they have picked up the very worst sensationlism. They are typically as much about syle as they are about substance, and the very first thing they like to do is insult you and mock you. It is also very easy to get caught up in it and start giving it back to them in which case they "have won" because they have then managed to lower the quality of discourse irreparably.

Randi and Penn and Teller are emotionally still children, and their legions of cohorts tend to be children too despite whatever their numerical age might happen to be. As with shock TV these days, science has also become the battleground where the lords of the flies now prevail - at least on the blogs and chat rooms"

And that is so true. They recruit socially disaffected individuals, stunted bullies who use their supposed intellects to propagate intellectual dishonesty, congenital word parsers, name calling individuals to go out and spam social websites.

That they front for Pharma funded sites like Quackbusters and NCAHF and spam the same scripts provided by those orgs every where also points to their lack of integrity

My recent personal experience of them was on Huffington Post, where they could be counted on to show up on all the Homoeopathy threads with specious arguments that showed they had no knowledge of the subject whatsoever, the Autism threads where they promptly insulted ANY parent who felt their child had been harmed by vaccination, and the numerous Amanda Knox threads where their favourite reply to anyone who disagreed she was innocent was they were "stupid idiots" and a relentless debating style that broke down any time someone ignored them and used wit and intelligence instead.

And their arguments were so similar to the template I'd observed on JREF and CSICOP (mostly, they lied, blatantly, copiously, obnoxiously, and rudely) yet not one of them admitted they had come from those organizations.

Never mind. I enjoyed observing their pathology, which really was so awful they couldn't appreciate it when I said I was studying them. Interestingly, I met a whole bunch of ex-JREF'ers who'd been driven out in a hail of abuse because they'd been sceptical of the claim that Amanda Knox was innocent.

Yet even these nice people who thought it was a safe and respectful place for sceptical debate believed that behavior was typical only of the Knoxii, as I call them. Sorry, but that's the way they've dealt with dissent and unconventional thinking for thirty years, and you just discovered that now?

In the end, the saddest thing of all is that the JREF'ers fail to see how their 'debating methods' are just a poor parody of that used by the vast army of right wing trolls who are sent out by PR agencies every day to battle for war, for nuclear power and against 'left wing liberal values' on America's social websites.

A Defense of Homoeopathy

2011-07-22T14:46:00.003-04:00

Extraordinary Medicine Indeed

What if one day medicines were widely available to everyone, that could help heal people faster, and without the severe effects we have come to expect from modern conventional medicine? Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Well, such medicines do exist. They're called homoeopathic medicine, from the field of homeopathy (alternative spelling)

From the website Extraordinary Medicine: http://www.extraordinarymedicine.org/

"Homeopathy is a 200-year-old system of medicine used successfully by tens of millions worldwide. It is part of the public health care systems of nations in Europe, South America and Asia. It has a laudable two-century clinical record. There are hundreds of high-quality basic science, pre-clinical and clinical studies showing it works. It is one of the fastest-growing forms of health care in Canada and around the world, and has recently become a regulated health profession in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is vastly safer than conventional medicine"

And here's a definition of homoeopathy: "A system of therapy based on the concept that disease can be treated with diluted drugs (in infinitesimal doses) thought capable of producing the same symptoms in healthy people as the disease itself"

Yet, recently CBC, BBC and the Guardian all ran stories purporting to prove that homoeopathy was a fraud foisted on a gullible public.

Hmm. Whom to believe?

The CBC Marketplace program had boffins in white coats who examined homoeopathic dilutions and declared they couldn't find any traces of the substances in the water. It also had a stage magician who swallowed a bottle of homoeopathic pills and said 'he didn't feel a thing'. Of course, they're bound by the Avogadro constant that once a substance is diluted so many times, no molecule can remain.

The BBC program had a horror story about a man who took a homoeopathic malaria vaccine instead of a conventional one, then came down with malaria when he went to Africa. Even though the homoeopath who prescribed it can be seen telling (via hidden camera) the patient it is about as effective as a conventional vaccine (around 60-70%) the program implied he would have been safe if he'd taken the regular vaccine, which is preposterous. Those vaccines are proven to be hit and miss, and have horrible side effects as well.

The Guardian, published an article written by a homoeopath, then followed it up with one from its "Bad Science" correspondent who claimed it was simply unproven, and then, to drive home its point, published another article that said meta analyses by the Lancet proved that its effect was attributable to a placebo effect. As someone who's seen many such meta analyses, I'll summarise it for you. They searched for articles in medical journals (but didn't conduct their own studies) then simply, tuned out what didn't fit their predetermined conclusion.

Here's one, also from the Lancet: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9310601

Lancet. 1997 Sep 20;350(9081):834-43.

Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials

INTERPRETATION:
"The results of our meta-analysis are not compatible with the hypothesis that the clinical effects of homeopathy are completely due to placebo. However, we found insufficient evidence from these studies that homeopathy is clearly efficacious for any single clinical condition. Further research on homeopathy is warranted provided it is rigorous and systematic"

Except, they ignore studies conducted by homeopaths, hmm. Except, they start with a pre-judgement, that since they can't understand the mechanism by which it works it remains unproven. The community of sceptics take it further and say it must therefore be fake.

Even Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier, the virologist who received the prize in medicine for his discovery of HIV, says "there is a phenomena, which must be investigated" and that "it is very promising". Yet he had to leave France to pursue his research into the electro magnetic properties of highly diluted substances in water (read homeopathic)

Regardless of the scepticism, as a physician and a healer I am only interested in results. If it works, that's all that matters. One last word on the so called "placebo effect". If scientists have been able to measure quantifiable differences in the macrophages of treated animals, for example, are you still going to call it placebo?

Full disclosure: I used to suffer from horrible allergies that developed into chronic bronchitis. Antibiotics didn't help. Homeopathy was the only thing that gave me relief. Then I had a reaction to chemicals that caused lung damage. I ended up having to take asthma medication which caused weight gain and high blood pressure. I was able to get off that with homeopathic that alleviated the asthma. Then I met a physician, Dr. Felix Ravikovich, M.D., who used injectable homeopathic to help me get completely rid of the allergies (He was later censured by the College of Physicians, even though hundreds of his patients testified on his behalf. His book The Plot Against Asthma and Allergy Patients is available on Amazon)

I have been medication free for 25 years now, and my lung function is normal. I have not had asthma or any allergic illnesses since then too, and I credit that to Homeopathy. Must have been some very powerful placebos, indeed!

And I have my own homeopathic formulations in my research on Mental Illness and the causes of Aging.

This is referred to in the sceptical community as anecdotal evidence, but their world view is somewhat biased, shall we say. I ascribe to the classical definition of science as a body of knowledge, based on verifiable evidence. And the evidence is there, in hundreds upon hundreds of databases. Please check the Extraordinary Medicine site above. Please check http://avilian.co.uk/ and http://www.vithoulkas.com/

Beyond that, the rest is up to you.

What you do have in Homeopathic medicine, is success story upon success story. It is cheap, affordable and widely in use in countries that cannot afford expensive conventional medicines.

Cuba has suffered from recurrent epidemics of Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection, every hurricane season. Due to American embargo, it has had to develop its own, proprietary vaccines, but the cost is still very high.

From a Cuban study of a homeopathic trial:

http://homeopathyresource.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/summary-of-cuban-experiences-on-leptospirosis-prevention-from-the-authors/

"Here is the preliminary report by the authors of a Cuban Study that used homeopathy to prevent Leptospirosis in 2.5 million Cubans.

Homeoprophylaxis: Cuban Experiences on Leptospirosis

Dr. Concepción Campa, Dr. Luis E. Varela, Dr. Esperanza Gilling, MCs. Rolando Fernández, Tec. Bárbara Ordaz, Dr. Gustavo Bracho, Dr. Luis García, Dr. Jorge Menéndez, Lic. Natalia Marzoa, Dr. Rubén Martínez.

“The Finlay Institute is a centre dedicated to development and production of vaccines; we also bring our WHO qualified facilities for all homeopaths and homeopathic medicine. The Finlay Institute acts as supporting institution for research, production and development of high quality homeopathic products. However, according with the social objective addressing prevention of infectious diseases, we are focused on homeo- prophylaxis as strategy to attenuate the impact of preventable diseases on developing world, the ones that need it the most.

Thus, development and evaluation of nosodes, appears to be our main approach to fill up the breakthrough on current conventional strategies based on vaccination. Similarly with vaccination interventions, massive applications of prophylactic nosodes give rise to a greater impact on population health compared with individualized therapies. In addition, the easy administration and low economics resources needed, become this alternative really suitable and accessible for developing countries and almost the best for emergency situations comprising epidemic outbreaks and natural disasters.

The Cuban experiences of massively administrated nosodes supports it use as promising solution to confront epidemiological dangerous situations. On October November 2007, three provinces of the eastern region of Cuba were affected by strong rainfalls causing floods of big areas and several damages to sanitary and health systems. The risk of leptospirosis infection raised extremely dangerous levels with about 2 million of peoples exposed to potentially contaminated water.

Considering this situation, the Finlay Institute prepared a leptospira nosode 200 CH using 4 circulating strains and following international quality standards. A multidisciplinary team travelled to the affected regions to conduct the massive administration of the nosode.

Coordinated action with public health system infrastructures allowed the administration of a preventive treatment consisting in two doses (7- 9 days apart) of the nosode to about 2,4 million of people (4,8 million of doses). The coverage of the intervention rose up to 95% percent of total population of the three provinces at risk.

The epidemiology surveillance after the intervention showed a dramatic decrease of morbidity two weeks after and a reduction to (z)ero of mortality of hospitalized patient. The number of confirmed leptospirosis cases remains at low levels and below the expected levels according with the trends and rain regimens.

A reinforcing application was given after the hit of the hurricane IKE but using the nosode diluted up to 10 MC. Strict epidemiological surveillance is carried out on this provinces. Up to date result will be presented.

The results supported the design of new strategies for leptospirosis control. This experience could be extended to other diseases and other countries. The Finlay Institute is offering our facilities and specialists to spread this alternative to all regions needing emergent alternatives for epidemic control and prevention”

Homeopathy in Epidemics and Pandemics http://www.slideshare.net/drprabhatlkw/homeopathy-in-pandemics-epidemics

shows remarkable successes in treatment of Typhus, Cholera and Smallpox during the epidemics that swept across the world. During the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 the mortality rate in over a thousand homeopathic hospitals in the US was around 1-2% but for those treated allopathically the mortality rate was 24%! Yet after the war all of those hospitals were closed down under pressure from the American Medical Association, which still, unfortunately, acts like a gang. Yet, as new pandemics emerge over the horizon, shouldn't we look again at what worked the last time?

How does Homeopathy work? I dunno for sure, physically that is. I do understand it's a facet of Energy Medicine which is my interest, but there you are. The work of Masaru Emoto, with his evocative photos of charged water (like the one here) shows how it might work. But the fact is, it works, and I urge you to try it. Caveat: it's an amazing system, one that many can use and try on their own, but if you have serious concerns, please consult with an experienced homoeopath.

But, in a world where more and more people are becoming ill and there is more and more need for healers, I choose to defend Homeopathy.

What Might Have Been

2011-06-26T21:30:00.000-04:00

Four lives, wasted

Due to my Scorpionic nature, I think, I come across a great many criminal and legal cases that grab the public attention.

It seems, also, that I get involved in the case in one way or the other, and, a great number of coincidences seem to er, follow me. Psychologists call that the 'I was there syndrome' and that's fine, it's a form of mental illness, and you can decide if I have it, or not :)

But I have spent a lifetime studying the fine line between Psychic Sensitivity and Schizophrenia, and what interests me here is not only how we identify with the crime and the individuals involved, but how these cases establish themselves in the public consciousness.

And yes, I want to write about the lives wasted, and what might have been.

Whenever a person dies, there is a break in the fabric of consciousness, and all of humanity is affected. Most people learn to ignore it; some, more sensitive, get consumed by it, but we are all affected by it at some level.

A murder case may be just one individual; the devastation of an earthquake or tsunami may affect hundreds of thousands. As for me, I am an observer, but also in a way, a catalyst.

Look, you know my spiritual claims. Forget that for a moment. What I do is warn people about the fateful consequences of the psychic and spiritual damage done to our souls (or psyche) and environment, and if you don't listen, if you don't change, then so be it. What will be, will be. But a part of me, having seen what would happen, mourns for what might have been.

One of my patients was a girl who had Rhett's Syndrome, a severe form of Autism. She came to my clinic and the treatments really helped, yet it was the mother who also needed help. In the end, suffering from depression, she killed her child and tried to commit suicide.

A woman two streets down from us, suffering from post partum depression, killed her husband and stabbed her two children as well. My son used to play with their dog at the local park, but curiously, I never met them.

I worked on a mayoralty campaign. The candidate, a lovely soul, came second. At the farewell party I saw something dark around him. I told his partner that he needed help, and offered. It wasn't heard because they were, I think, already caught up in their karma. A year later he jumped off a bridge and killed himself.

Then, going from the personal to the 'famous' cases, and the 'coincidences' and lessons thereof.

I wrote in "Michael Jackson, the Drowning Man" about how I helped a famous musician with his Parkinson's Disease in 1994 but when I asked him to introduce me to Michael Jackson, he didn't. I was too controversial. Pity, I could have helped him before he descended into his inappropriate behavior.

OJ Simpson was the first criminal case. I lived in Santa Monica almost equidistant between him and his ex-wife Nicole Brown. I had driven around the neighborhood enough times to know the story had some inconsistencies, but I believed he was guilty. I also accepted the jury's verdict of Not Guilty, because the principle of reasonable doubt, in American law, had to be upheld.

There also was the fact I had closed my practice in Toronto and moved to Los Angeles just to help people there, arriving in 1993 in time for the Malibu Fires and Northridge Earthquake (written in "A Spiritual Journey To The United States") and once I knew my work was done left for Texas. And a few months later, the murder, the White Bronco slowly driving down the freeway, the media circus and all of LA enjoying a mass catharsis.

After I left the US in 1995 I shifted my focus to Europe, though Canada remained my home base. I still looked back to the US with fondness, and sadness for what was yet to come.

I was in England in 2005 when the Terri Schiavo case gripped the nation. She was in a lengthy coma, with most of her brain destroyed. Her parents were fighting to keep her on life support, while her husband wanted to pull the plug and let her die.

I tried to stay uninvolved, even though I knew her spirit wanted to be free. I felt this was wrong, for parents to keep holding on to their child. So one day, when Chloe called me about the latest developments, I said enough was enough, and helped her spirit pass on. She died that evening. And shortly after I left England, there was the London Tube bombing. Coincidence, or catharsis?

Madeleine McCann, a little girl from the U.K., disappeared from her holiday bedroom in Portugal just a few days before her 4th birthday, in May of 2007. Her parents were dining some distance away with their friends and inexplicably had left the children unattended and the door to their villa unlocked. The investigators never found Madeleine. The conclusion, absent a body, was that she had been kidnapped. There were many false sightings after that, as people assumed she had been kidnapped by child traders.

This was two months before I went to the UK with my family on holiday. I was asked what I thought about Madeleine. Would she be found? I replied that she had died that first night, and the parents were involved in a cover up. The person who asked me that question then consulted a psychic, who of course said what everyone wanted to hear: Madeleine was alive.

Then further reports came out, and we found that special police dogs, trained to sniff for evidence of death, had indicated she had died inside the bedroom that very night. Nothing further came to light, as political interference corrupted the whole process, and police investigators were sacked for 'unfairly blaming the parents'

Yet, here's a website that does just that; you be the judge.
http://madeleinemccann.org/

http://madeleinemccann.org/2008/1756/madeleine-died-in-the-apartment/

http://madeleinemccann.org/2008/1753/payne-suspected-of-paedophilia/

This was another example of a case that would consume the public, as so many identified with the missing child, or the parents. And, as always, my presence seemed coincidental to a whole series of events. A few weeks before we arrived in Glasgow, bombers hit Glasgow airport with a van loaded to the top with propane cylinders, the rains hit the whole country for three months straight, and the biggest floods in over a century inundated large parts of Southern England. Yet wherever we went, there was sunshine...This is the dichotomy of healing, that there can be sunshine, but also, darkness.

I had already arranged to go back to the UK for a month as a consultant. I returned to Canada on October 31.

The very next day, on November 1, 2007, British student Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher, was murdered in Perugia, Italy. Her roommate, Amanda Marie Knox, was convicted of the murder, as was her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, and Rudy Hermann Guede, a drifter from the Cote de Ivoire in Africa.

I hadn't read much about the case and trial, but came across it on the pages of Huffington Post, the social news website. Here was a full blown narrative: Amanda Knox was innocent of the crime, she was the victim of a corrupt Italian prosecutor, and Rudy Guede was the sole perpetrator (All untrue, btw)

What piqued me was the fingerprints of an extensive PR campaign to manipulate public opinion so as to influence the outcome of a trial in another country. Appearances by Knox's family on Oprah, calls to boycott Italy, politicians trying to intervene in a judicial process, oh my.

And the comments on the numerous Amanda threads were funny, and so sad. These people were, in a word, disturbed. They were even foul mouthed about the victims parents, for daring to say they felt justice had been served. And they had no compunction about blatant lying and slander either.

I'd seen this so many times, the ease with which people could be led to believe, on the basis of something they saw or read, the most outlandish things.

Now I really do believe that trying to convince True Believers is a waste of time. (But arguing with them can be er, illuminating:) I'm interested in the process by which they come to that belief, but any good book on mob psychology can give you the basics, and of course, you must always read Orwell's 1984. The same principles of propaganda used to create support for war can also be used to support a position, no matter how wrong it might seem to the intelligent observer.

So I looked at the facts of the case. Amanda Knox had falsely accused her black boss, Patrick Lumumba of the crime, she and her boyfriend had provided alibis that were later disproved, there was a staged break in to mislead the investigation, and there was sufficient DNA, blood and foot prints to prove the complicity of the other two accused.

Two courts, led by Judges Micheli and Massei, had already looked at over 10,000 pages of evidence to conclude that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito had also been involved in the murder. And, the most compelling DNA evidence, Raffaele's DNA on the victims bra, and Amanda's DNA mixed with Meredith's on the murder knife found in Raffaele's flat.

The Supreme Court of Italy, while affirming Rudy Guede's conviction, had already established that more than one attacker had been involved, and that DNA attributed to Knox and Sollecito had already been found.

I also noted that the Wikipedia page on Meredith Kercher, once reflecting the findings of guilt against all three accused, had now been hijacked by, let's say, Amanda Knox partisans.

I have to thank the two websites, http://www.truejustice.org/ and http://www.perugiamurderfile.org/ for the fine work they have done compiling and translating the vast volume of Italian language transcripts of the trial and summaries of evidence. Without them, my technical knowledge of the case would have been quite inadequate. I can't recommend them highly enough for anyone interested in learning about the case.

But I formed my opinions way before I found their sites, and I say this out of respect: I don't want their work compromised by association with my own views.

What I write about here is first and always, spiritual in nature. I may use logic to confirm something, I will look at evidence, but ultimately I look at disturbances in the fabric to search out imbalance and untruth. And I learn to trust my instincts. It is only afterwards that I look at other factors, and if I need to adjust my views, so be it. But the patterns and the coincidences, are fascinating.

First, the Astrology. Meredith Kercher, born Dec. 28, 1985, and Rudy Guede, December 26, 1986, are both Capricorns. Raffaele Sollecito, March 26, 1984, is Aries, and Amanda Knox, July 09, 1987, a Cancer. Their signs form a T-Square, at 90 degrees to each other, which are widely seen as indicators of stress and incompatibility. The day of the murder saw widespread stressors on all their horoscopes which would lead to murder, detection, conviction and imprisonment. The Astrology even shows Raffaele's drug dependency and mental confusion on the night of the murder, the conflict between Amanda and Meredith, and the violence and rage that simmered just below the surface of Amanda Knox's psyche.

And the night of the murder, November 1, 2007, saw Saturn and Venus in the house of emotional excess, Uranus in the house of sudden death, and Jupiter/Pluto, in the sexual house, in an almost exact T-Square to each other. The close conjunction of Pluto to the Milky Way's Galactic Center shows the potency of this murder in attracting the public imagination, and also, the trigger for the murder.

But Astrology is just one of many tools in Humanistic psychology. It shows patterns, yes, but mainly it gives a picture of motivations and stages of development. And sometimes, it tells us what might happen. For me, there are many tools: Psychism to know, and other tools to understand.

So I will say this about all four:

Amanda Knox's profile is that of the self destructive individual who will fall from 'the shattered tower' due to her associations with others. Btw, her July 09 birthday is the same as OJ Simpson's and they Both Wielded Knives, hmmm :)

Raffaele Sollecito has powerful friends who won't be able to help him. He almost had it too easy, and his drug use took him into some deep dark spaces. Note he wasn't just using cannabis, but more likely a potent form called skunk weed, plus heroin and cocaine.

Rudy Guede may actually turn out to be a sympathetic individual. His is the one chart I see that leads to redemption and indescribable potential. He is, quite frankly, the most believable of the three, even though he did lie, and he was rightly found guilty.

Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher was greatly loved, had the intellectual capability to go far, and would have, if she hadn't been murdered, been a bright blazing star. RIP Meredith.

I hate to make predictions. Human beings will always have the capacity to alter the future (though truth be told, not as much as they like to think) My prophecies have to do with the future of this planet and humanity's ability to survive and regenerate itself.

But tomorrow, on June 27, Rudy Guede will face Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito in their appeals trial, and for the first time, be forced to answer questions directly. I believe this will be the day he begins to redeem himself.

On June 30th, the DNA experts will present their findings. This will be one day before the solar eclipse in Cancer. I predict bombshells in court.

I am struck by the coincidences of the cases I outlined: allegations of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct, disputed forensic and DNA evidence, racism and political interference, your standard trial. But they all, held a special place in the public imagination.

But in spiritism we see that it is the unquiet spirit of the victim that calls to us, and we can only hope and pray for their peace. Justice is always done.

And one can only look back at them with sadness, for what might have been.

Isaac Newton: First Scientist, or Last Sorcerer?

2011-06-20T19:53:00.001-04:00

Yes

Somewhere along the history of mankind there was a split between Science and Mysticism. We are all the poorer for it.

"Sir Isaac Newton FRS (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727 ) was an English physicist, mathematician, alchemist, astronomer, natural philosopher, and theologian who is considered by many scholars and members of the general public to be one of the most influential people in human history. His 1687 publication of the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (usually called the Principia) is considered to be among the most influential books in the history of Science" http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Isaac_Newton

"Yet many writers of the post Enlightenment Age only recognized his work in the "sciences" and it was only the rediscovery of a large trove of his alchemical papers by the economist John Maynard Keynes in the mid-twentieth century that led scholars to realize the inspiration for Newton's laws of light and theory of gravity came from his alchemical work"

"In fact, Newton -- the revered founder of modern science and the mechanistic universe -- also ranks as one of the greatest spiritual alchemists of all time. In his The Religion of Isaac Newton (Oxford 1974), F.E. Manuel concluded: "The more Newton's theological and alchemical, chronological and mythological work is examined as a whole corpus, set by the side of his science, the more apparent it becomes that in his moments of grandeur he saw himself as the last of the interpreters of God's will in actions, living on the fulfillment of times"
The Hermetic Tradition
"This view has become more accepted in recent years, as more of Newton's private papers and alchemical treatises are being reexamined. "Like all European alchemists from the Dark Ages to the beginning of the scientific era and beyond," states Michael White in Isaac Newton:The Last Sorcerer (Addison Wesley 1997), "Newton was motivated by a deep-rooted commitment to the notion that alchemical wisdom extended back to ancient times. The Hermetic tradition -- the body of alchemical knowledge -- was believed to have originated in the mists of time and to have been given to humanity through supernatural agents" http://www.alchemylab.com/isaac_newton.htm

Humanity, Devolving

2011-06-16T18:45:00.000-04:00

And very quickly too

With all due respect to the Darwinists, we're actually 'evolving' backwards.

Sure, we hominids have a large brain size, and developed the capacity for language, tool use, and social activity. Yes, we even have the Internet, possible cures for cancer, and sophisticated financial instruments.

But, are we better? No. Stronger? No. Are the weaker being weeded out and some new superman being created out of all this? No, and I'd be very leery of the Social Darwinists at this point.

All civilizations rise, decline, and fall. One of the reasons given in Machiavelli's The Prince is sloth, or laziness, if you can believe it. You spend or enjoy what you have, without looking to the future. Or the rulers are greedy and "rob people of their patrimony" and end up being hated. Or weaker civilizations in their declining years get gobbled up or assimilated by the stronger.

But that's politics. One 'civilization' of greed, sloth, and incurable decrepitude is falling apart without anyone trying to create an alternative. I'd like to look at the signs of our decline as a species, and point, hopefully, at the possible solutions.

The Physical: Rachel Carson tried to warn us in Silent Spring. Birth defects in Nature would one day lead to birth defects in humanity. The onslaught of chemical poisoning from our environment leads to decreased sperm counts in males and fertility problems in females. This is Not A Good Thing, and those who say so, even those who want population control are strict Eugenics fetishists who fail to see the major impact on the environment isn't made by the rural African with a large family, but the nuclear Western family and industrialized world. We have the capacity, still, to solve all these problems once we have enlightened leadership. Sadly, that doesn't exist. The answers lie within the articles I have written so far.

The Emotional: We think the Mind, capable of Reason, can resolve Everything. I disagree. The Mind is affected by the Ego, which so skews our perceptions we see things the way we want to, or conditioned to, than the way they, or we, are. I see the failure of Psychology, and yet, the absolute hold it has over the collective consciousness and culture as we try to understand our motivations and reactions is very sad. Don't misunderstand me. I believe that Jung, Freud and Adler were geniuses who started off right, but they galloped off into left field. But I'll explain it in the form of a question. Why is it so hard to meditate? You could spend years, and if you want the challenge, good. And if you want me to show you how to do that in a flash, I can. And I propose a new paradigm for psychology, based on Psyche, the Soul. Think of it as LSD without the drugs :)

The Spiritual: Somewhere along the way we lost the glue that holds us together, which is the spiritual. The spiritual always had to be something beyond us, but our blind ego which tries to control our surroundings turned to a Humanism formed on the belief that we were the center of the Universe, that we were the highest form of evolution. No, we're not. We're devolving and returning to the chaos we were born in, and what we don't know is pitiable. And that's what is so sad, that spirituality is reduced to some sort of self-centered feel good philosophy. Religion, for all its faults, for all its tribal unevolving set of rules, at least accepted there was a higher consciousness, and made it a goal to reach there. Instead, we worship the pursuit of the material. Sorry, the material is only the foundation of the spiritual. And meh! to those who think of morality and ethics as some sort of evolutionary group dynamic which may not be followed, if our consciousness develops a rationalization that somehow exempts us from those rules of balance and inner peace.

And yet: we were meant to evolve. The ancients handed us this amazing knowledge, which sadly, we have lost.

This, is something I wish to share with you.

Ergon, Thaumaturge

2011-06-10T23:32:00.000-04:00

ἔργον

I've had several 'reminders' to write about the meaning of Ergon. In classical greek (as spelled above) the word means 'work' and is repeated hundreds of times in the Bible.

"Ergon is also the ancient spiritual symbol for the right eye of the soul. It is a design possibly based off the ancient Egyptian udjat or “Eye of Ra” that alchemists adopted and altered slightly to represent a focus on the higher, more refined vibrations of the spiritual world which require increased concentration to feel. The ergon is supposed to be always looking toward the eternal more than the left eye of the soul would. It also sees into the infinite nature of our human souls and the capability of men and women to tap into the infinite universe with enough study, work, and practice"

http://www.paranormalhaze.com/ancient-alchemy-signs-and-symbols/

"Ergon, in alchemy, was a term designating the right eye of the soul, which was turned toward eternity. This was opposed to the left eye of the soul, parergon, which was directed toward time. Here is seen the religious aspect of alchemy, left toward the sinister and right toward the divine"

Drury, Nevil. The Watkins Dictionary of Magic. London. Watkins Publishing. 2005. p. 93

http://www.themystica.org/mystica/articles/~alchemy/ergon.html

So, the spiritual aspect of alchemy is about purifying humanity.

And then, there is its use in magic, and a word I like very much, Thaumaturgy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaumaturgy

"Thaumaturgy (from the Greek words θαῦμα thaûma, meaning "miracle" or "marvel" and ἔργον érgon, meaning "work") is the capability of a saint or magician to work miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking.[1] A practitioner of thaumaturgy is a thaumaturge or miracle worker" which is the hidden work many writers and philosophers tried to discover"

The European Renaissance began when rich people and nobility like the Medicis supported writers and spiritual philosophers like Marsilius Ficinus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsilio_Ficino

and Giordano Bruno http://iranscope.ghandchi.com/Anthology/bruno.htm

so there's a lot of very interesting reading for you.

I carry all these memories within me of past lives, and the work I do is based on these memories. Many of the previous thinkers believed that humanity needed religion to control their baser impulses, but higher beings only needed philosophy to understand the deeper meanings.

I think spirituality bridges the gap between religion and philosophy.

I believe that every one is capable of spirituality and understanding of the higher realms and ultimate nature of the divine.

I know that many people carry these memories within them of past lives, but, not being able to integrate these memories into the present, suffer greatly.

I also know many people who, having done great deeds before, are showing up again. What they do in this life, and the accomplishments thereof, will never be enough unless they embrace the spiritual, and let go of the ego points they use to measure the worth of others.

And why do I use the word Ergon? Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic because among other things, he denied the Earth as the center of the Universe, and said there were many planets elsewhere.

Including a place called Ergon, where I came from originally.

For The Sheep, Fascism

2011-06-08T15:32:00.002-04:00

Don't they ever learn?

People who read my work often say "gee, you seem really political" (for a 'spiritual' person, that is)

To that I might say, with all due respect, it depends on what you define as spiritual. To me, any definition of spirituality which requires us to suppress our reactions to pain, ours or others; to sublimate what we see and feel in order to reach some blissful state of 'nothingness', defeats the purpose.

I also made it clear in my many writings about the spiritual warrior that it was OK to feel anger about injustice, it was important to be strong when it came to defending the weak, and, you don't have to be patient with people who seem a little er, obstructionist :)

It is important for all spiritual beings to seek knowledge of the blocks that prevent them from attaining oneness, both of our own making and that imposed on us by others.

There are emotional and karmic blocks we have brought forward from other lives, there are material structures we and others create that also block us from enlightenment.

Those structures are in organized religion, psychological means of mass control, manufactured social trends, cultural memes, and the new religion of rational humanism. And yes, politics and finance. I reject them all, and work towards a new paradigm.

Some politically aware people warn us of a return of fascism, basing their views on 1930's era definitions. Still, there is a great truth to that and I urge you to check this site: The 14 Characteristics of Fascism

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Fascism/14_Characteristics_Fascism.html

Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.

The 14 characteristics are also written in point form in the article photo; I give them to you as reference points so you can see for yourself how close we are in fitting that model.

But I also, having studied history, political science, and economics, feel that those fields are too narrow in their vision of historical trends. We have been in a cycle of increasing fascism for thousands of years now, and unfortunately, our tendency to connect political terms with economic ones: freedom democracy capitalism, and communism globalism nationalism fascism, is fit only to be discussed by academics of the perpetual motion debating societies that make up what we call civilization.

In short, those models don't work.

Fascism is an overarching means of control by those who do not respect our free will, and if in establishing it they need to alter language, meaning and our chemical and neurological brain wave activity, so be it (that's all throat/third eye chakra any way)

Canada just elected a new majority government under Stephen Harper. We like to think we could never become a fascist country, yet, when you look at the 14 points listed here, and how he's ruled so far, you wonder how the sheep could ever have elected such a government.

We also have a clear choice, now that the mushy middle has been eliminated, as to what sort of world we want. And as more and more countries turn to fascism, we once again will have to make these hard, difficult choices.

But those choices are not only going to be political, but how we see things.

There is a way to free ourselves from these bonds on the mind, and that way is, the true spirituality that goes beyond those structures and intellectual models we create to try and make sense of the world.

There is a world that is way beyond ours, and for those who are interested, I am here to show a way.

The End of Days?

2011-05-24T20:39:00.003-04:00

Not really

An evangelical preacher predicted the end of the world on May 21. Didn't happen, though an Icelandic volcano erupted and a killer tornado hit Missouri shortly afterwards. But the question has been stirring at the back our minds as we lead up to 2012. What will happen then? Will every thing come to an end? The answer is no, not only is it not the beginning of the end, but only, a new beginning.

I thought of waiting until next year to address the fears of apocalypse in 2012, but decided to do it now, to help people understand what they should do to prepare. Most people won't understand, but that doesn't mean I must not try.

Look at the huge changes that have already taken place since last year. People sense these shifts, without understanding why, yet are experiencing huge disruptions in their personal lives and health.

The Asian Tsunami of 2004 saw an interesting phenomenon. Before the waves hit the island of Sri Lanka many animals were observed heading to high ground. Their senses helped prepare them for the event. But humans, on the other hand, with their logical minds mired in linear reasoning, had no sense of what was to come. So when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in Fukushima this year, people weren't prepared for it, or the nuclear disaster that followed.

Karma is an interesting phenomenon. It's a learning process, a plan of action and movement, of change. But here's the thing: it isn't fixed. People can change it through their actions, through spirituality, through living lives of acceptance and good deeds. A simple way of life, which while not easy, brings so much peace.

A Psychic told me once, a long time ago that I would have 5 children, marry twice, and die at the age of 58. The first two came true, the last, didn't. I aimed to have my work done as best I could by then, and accept whatever might happen. And perhaps, because of that, and perhaps because there still is more I've chosen to do, I'm still around.

I have a mission, just as some of you who will listen and hear, do. Your purpose is unfolding. How then can this be the end, when time is infinite, never ending, and so too are our lives?

There are many people out there, looking for answers. They were meant to do great things. The year ahead is not an easy one, but still will be, a time when many will perform miracles.

Come to me.

The Politics of Corruption

2011-05-18T21:46:00.009-04:00

I hate the corruption, that permeates everything

Corruption takes place in so many forms it would take a book to write about it all.

In Pakistan, where corruption is a way of life, I used to think of the word in its ordinary sense: public officials taking bribes, a wink and a nod here and there. And in my naivete I thought North America was remarkably free of it. Then I saw it existed here too; the middle of the road Liberal Party Government having to buy votes, bribing to please all its constituent parts, consultancy fees and advertising contracts to Liberal companies galore. The Conservatives were no better, cutting taxes on the wealthy, selling public assets at fire sale prices to insiders.

And if a subway were to be built through lands owned mostly by a Liberal cabinet minister or a Conservative Prime Minister should be handed 'consulting fees' in the amount of $300,000 cash in a paper bag then that was the way things were (I think his daughter was getting married :)

And, Canada seems like nothing compared to the United States, where Congress passes laws written by lobbyists and it invades various countries causing intolerable human suffering just so it can maintain its superpower status and bully everyone into toeing the line. Even the collapse of the economy in 2008 was engineered by market de-regulators who of course, profited, in obscene amounts, from the crisis they themselves created.

We don't even have the freedom to change things for ourselves, since government no longer works for our good but to prevent the masses from becoming too unruly, and our democratic institutions and freedoms left to wither away. Even our laws have been corrupted, and our electoral processes, a sham. Even the votes we cast, are not always counted.

My criticism is based not merely on the mechanics or the incidence of corruption. It exists because we are spiritually unbalanced, so I see my purpose is to educate people to get to a place where they are free to reach their full potential and strength, and not have that taken away by the greedy and the powerful. And sadly, that power grab takes place not only in the physical realms, but also, in the emotional and spiritual.

My criticism is that because of corruption, we cannot evolve. Here's my list:

The corruption of the mind: This is the worst of them all, because our minds are fully capable of solving all of humanity's problems, except that knowledge is suppressed. We are gods capable of magic, yet bound to a very rationalistic view of everything that is. And everything that might lead us to the unknown, the hidden, the true knowledge, is prohibited and taboos created against honest study, and science co-opted to meet the needs of the globalists.

The corruption of the soul: We are taught to fear everything that might happen, we are given a list of enemies to hate on a never ending basis on the basis of race, nationality or otherness, we are denied beauty but fed ugliness in our art, music and culture, we are fed hopelessness, we are led by our desires. Selfishness seen as survival. Psychological shock fed to us daily by the media to make us malleable and unresisting. Pleasure and circuses to create a reward seeking society, Huxley's Brave New World.

The corruption of the body: We are poisoned every day by the toxins in our environment, the manufactured illnesses, the genetically modified and chemicalized foods. Our ability to heal ourselves and lead healthy lives is taken away from us. Our children are inheriting genetic illnesses that weaken future generations, but science is no longer the answer. Scientists who used to exist for the sake of knowledge now temper that knowledge for the benefit of corporate masters.

The corruption of the planet: The riches of the earth, the water, soil, minerals, and food are not for the good of all, but commodities to be exploited for the benefit of a few. Money, manufactured in a manner that makes us and all our future generations indebted to bankers. Drugs, pornography, human trafficking, and murder as further methods of control. A vast armed force of police, armies, and spies to control any desire for the freedom to be left alone, to chart our own course.

The corruption of the language: Words now mean something far removed from what they used to originally: Democracy, Freedom, Liberalism all seem to match an agenda of control and supremacy, but not, the freedom to choose by whom and how we are to be governed, the right to make our own moral choices, to respect others' and, our own, autonomy. "Human rights" that apply to some but not others. "Capitalism" = Good, "Communism" = Bad, like something out of Orwell, who warned us about, the corruption of the language. Media is used for the mass manipulation of human minds. Edward Bernays 1928 book "Propaganda" is a manual about how to use psychology to subvert humanity's impulse for freedom to allow it to be controlled by an overseer class.

The corruption of the overseeing class: They are so far removed from their origins, the survivors of ancient cataclysms. Carrying hidden knowledge they think gives them the right to rule the world. They can kill and invade whomever they wish. Except, they are wrong. There is a justice waiting for them, but since they don't believe, they don't care. There is not an ounce of good or decency in them.

The corruption of the spirit: Where is the spirit of self sacrifice, to do good for others? That exists, but much seen as a liability or a weakness to be exploited. Where is the desire to seek oneness of spirit with God? That exists too, but diverted in many different directions by corrupted Religions, false philosophies and fake New Ageisms. It is like there is a Force that counteracts and shields us from too close a knowledge of our oneness with God.

But we do have, in the smallest tiniest part of our being, a kernel of truth. We are incorruptible, we are God. Hold on to that truth. One day, we will make that journey together.

Heaven Lies At The Feet Of The Mother

2011-05-11T15:26:00.005-04:00

The Body That Nourishes Us

Yes, I love my mother. And all the mothers I ever have known. I even get along wonderfully with my mother-in-law :)

I have been reflecting upon what our parents have to go through to bring us into the world. And, with five children, I know how the challenges they bring can be so er, challenging, but also, rewarding. But this is a reflection on the Mother, and, the Feminine Energy.

And yes, having children brings out every mother's karma.

My mother had to adapt to living in a strange country, away from her family, and constant travel and upheaval. She read to me from comic books banned by my father, and this is how I got my love for reading. She took on knitting and sewing for others to give us the things we couldn't otherwise afford, and also, the independence she needed.

If I saw that her culture and religion put that intelligence and independence in a straitjacket then I would reject that religion, and when she later turned back to it I would respect her decision, but also, reject the religion once again.

In my healing practice I saw how we had come to reject the feminine, and create a flow of energy with harmful effects on religion, society, spirituality, and the eventual outcome of events.

I also saw how this imbalance would be reflected in our karma, and our future.

I bring karma to everyone. If my parents and family had strange experiences then so be it. If my different nature and irreligiousity made her sad I regretted that but knew, from what I picked up from her, how important it was to be true to oneself.

But, make no mistake. The earth is not in balance. All we do is war between the male and the female energy, and we all suffer as a consequence. Religion, and these structures we construct often impede us in our quest for spiritual understanding. And this isn't about any one religion, but how we must construct new paths to get us back on to the road to God we have lost.

And Mother Earth has lost its ability to sustain us. The Child seeks to heal the Parents, and the struggle goes on. But if you do not change, then only death and destruction await you. There have been signs, but you did not see.

There is a path to healing. I have shared it with you. Let's see what happens next.

Reflections On The Nature Of Evil

2011-05-05T22:24:00.000-04:00

Is this the face of evil?

Osama Bin Laden was supposedly killed on May 02, 2011, in a small town in Northern Pakistan. We are told he was unarmed, but killed anyway instead of being brought to trial. No body was produced, but buried at sea for specious reasons. The US administration was caught lying so many times about the details and sequence of events, it wasn't even funny, except to prove what people already know: they're congenital liars. Even the picture of the President and cabinet watching the raid was faked, because, as CIA director Leon Panetta admitted, there was a 25 minute blackout of the video feed just as the Navy SEALS went in. But, it seems people around the world are permitted to know what Americans, sadly, aren't.

Now, I'm not ever going to defend OBL personally. He made certain choices in life, and, he paid for them. He dealt in violence, and in the end was dealt with by violence. But, he also is innocent of the things said about him. As I've already said, he could not have planned or executed 9/11. He didn't have the resources or capabilities to carry out this very complex sequence of events, and only one country had the capability to carry that out, and it was the United States. But never mind. It will be like the JFK assassination, where we never will get the proof of what we believe in our hearts.

And maybe OBL was just, our convenient scapegoat: "Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. A scapegoat may be a child, employee, peer, ethnic or religious group, or country" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapegoat

But I was reminded, nevertheless, that we need to ask ourselves what, exactly, is evil? To kill innocent people? Then, the most evil country in the world is the Unites States, which has destroyed more lives than any other, and what else have I been talking about in the last while but the karma of the United States?

So here's the rub: when we blame the external other, we really should be looking at our own sins, and what we allow to be done in our name. When we use the word "evil", without even understanding what evil is, we actually reduce our own natural ability to fight, and defeat it.

Evil is the removal from God. Yes, Satan is the rebellious angel, who, refusing to bow to God's creation, comes down to Earth to make this his domain. And, to look at all the recent events and what is still ahead, how easy it is to believe that.

And religion, sadly, no longer can take us back to God. But know this: there is a way back to God.

Do not do evil. Accept your karma. Find God.

Healer

2011-04-30T12:28:00.002-04:00

I come not to heal your bodies, but, your souls

Healers and Elders have been saying this for a long time now: we are all being swept away by a great river of change that is sweeping through the Universe. We can fight and try to hold on, or, we can follow the spiritual way of letting go.

Far too many people hold on to illness, to greed and ego, to helplessness. Far too many people think that their wealth and power can protect them forever. Some even think that the evil they do has no consequence to them, since they don't believe in the laws of the Creator. But everyone has karma, and, without doing the work necessary to heal, they will ALL pay the price.

At this point America is being swept by super tornadoes, some a MILE wide. Hundreds of people have died, and I am saddened by what humanity has to go through. And all I can say is, it's going to get worse. Until you make that leap of faith, and only, those that do. I will help anyone who asks, but first, you have to ask.

It never was my intention of being a Jeremiad prophet, warning of gloom and doom. I already know what's going to happen anyway. This is my way of communicating with the very few who are ready to hear, and to learn.

I see good people everywhere, suffering and in pain, with illnesses and karma weighing them down. I have spent my life trying to help them and as I said, will continue to help any I can.

But I am a healer, and the ultimate healing is not to heal the body, but to let the body heal itself. Sometimes that involves letting the healing crisis come, or even, speeding up the process.

I come here to bring balance to the Universe.

Happy Passover To Everyone

2011-04-22T20:19:00.002-04:00

Why is this night different from all other nights?

I think of a Passover Seder we celebrated many years ago, and the one we had this year as well, with friends and family. Why, indeed, is this night different from all other nights? The food, the rituals, the lighting of the candles, the prayer. And as we celebrate I know this has nothing to do with any religion. Yes, Christmas and Easter, Hanukkah and Passover, Eid and Laylat ul Qadr, even Diwali, are all special days, and I wish everyone the peace and joy that comes with it.

But Passover is the story of the deliverance of a people, and God's covenant with them. And as we remember the suffering of the Jewish people, we remember the suffering of all of God's creatures, and so, too, do we know that God has a covenant with all of humanity too, to deliver us from suffering and oppression.

And so, as we drink the wine, we know that many have lost the way; many do not understand the hidden meanings behind all religions, and all ritual.

God has made a promise to all of us, who hold faith.

Magick, And The Spiritual Alchemy Of The Soul

2011-04-08T14:27:00.004-04:00

First, let go of the ego

And now we come to the lesson in Magick. The question: how do we change things? Yes, there is imbalance, and war in the worlds. Yes, we are coming to an ending. Yes, we carry deep pain within ourselves, and each of us has to struggle with that every day. Yes, we feel helpless and wish we knew how to change. The answer lies in Magick, and The Spiritual Alchemy Of The Soul.

Prayer helps. Meditation helps. Even if we don't always get what we wish, or how, or when, sometimes what we get is better, and sometimes, miracles happen. But first, and always, we must change ourselves. First, we must let go of Ego.

In healing, I see the solar plexus chakra, which colour is yellow, as the seat of the Soul, the storehouse of our accumulated memories from all our lives, and, the way in which we see and validate ourselves, which is the ego. But often that is coloured by the things we want. So, funnily enough, as you'll see, what we want is Gold. And funnily, this is the misconception about alchemy, that it was pre-occupied with the transmutation of lead to gold. No, it relates to the alchemy of the soul, to raise it from ego based pursuit to the spiritual (though, again, the ancient scientists did know how to change the elements and create unlimited energy)

Yes, we can create peace through our relationships, our children; by living in a place that is healing to us. Even, by enjoying the fruits of our honest efforts. There is nothing wrong with wanting things.

But then you see the next step of our evolutionary progress is to enter the area of the heart, and the colour Green. Here we see not what we want, but what we can give, what we can create.This, too, is part of the alchemy of the soul.

The journey into the spiritual is the same for everyone. As I said in the previous article, first we remove the Psychic blocks that prevent us from evolving, and then, we can leap into the spiritual river that flows across the dimensions.

Yes, we have the ability to affect change, and my intention is to show you how.

First we recharge our batteries. They are the energy centers of the feet, the solar plexus, and the crown of the head, which colours are black, green, and violet, and correspond to the material, psychic, and spiritual centers of our being. When they've been depleted we no longer have the energy to change things, and our energies are devoted only to survival.

A change, helps. Going to a place where you recharge yourself, helps, though that is temporary.

Changing yourself, while difficult, helps. Developing your relationship with God helps, though that might be the most difficult journey of all. But once you find that being, then you can never go back to the same place you used to be.

I've taught a great deal already, on this site and others, all over the world, and with my students.

I expect to teach more. For now, it is enough to say the spiritual alchemy of the soul requires you to learn Magick.

Remember the story of Alladin and his magic carpet? Yes, there's a genie in the story, but, it's all about magick. Beyond the crown chakra, which is the gateway into the spiritual dimensions, there is a chakra I call the magic carpet chakra. Its colours are emerald green, gold, emerald green, gold, emerald green; a five layered chakra. Let your spirit go to that place, and then, anything becomes possible. Invisibility, seeing alternate realities, shifting between dimensions, opening the records of time and your own destiny, levitation, and above all, affecting change, in yourself, or others, or even, in the many universes.

My in-laws have seen a lot of strange things, and I've mined their stories, the way I mine my own family, and patients, for educational purposes of course :) So, this is what I tell people to watch out for, to see magick's many manifestations.

Coincidences

Strange stuff

Objects disappearing (Children and animals do it all the time - read "The Dog, Shifted"

Spontaneous healing and other miracles

Spirits and other activity.

A protective energy around you

Out of body experiences

And Jesus was a magician, and much more, of course. But then, some see magick as simple psychism, of a baser energy, and some see it as a very high spirituality indeed. The soul, having transformed itself, can now, through the combination of the green and yellow chakras, become emerald green/gold. And then, things happen.

There are legitimate concerns about black/white magic and whether the source is God or Devil. As I teach it, we have all those aspects within us and how we use magick is our own choice, but the source is always, God. And there is a protective element within, so that no matter how strong we are, if we misuse those gifts, then sooner or later the Universe will bring all back into balance.

So, talking about my in-laws. He was the one who had the successful heart surgery and the wallet that apparated from within a locked car to a snowbank ahead of where he was walking, and then recently again, while I was writing this article, had to drive a hundred kilometers to retrieve a wallet he thought he'd lost, only to find it sitting on a kitchen counter he'd looked at many times before setting off.

But what really perplexed them was this: my mother in law gave me some money to pay for vitamins. They went home, and a few days later, the same money showed up inside a book in their home many many kilometers away! There was no way they'd placed it there by themselves, since that particular book (a car repair manual) hadn't been opened in over half a year.

And I have to smile, because here I am writing about magick, and without even trying, magick happens. Then, you let go and move on. This happens all the time; why hold on to it?

We are going to go through the most difficult time in our history. Magick isn't going to save you, except for what you can do for yourself. Some things are meant to happen, and you know what? It was magick that helped bring it about. That, and the spiritual journey of soul's end.

Because this is what you need to learn. You work at healing yourself, and, the knowledge within. You learn faith, and trust in God's love. You go on a spiritual journey.

There is magick everywhere.

Psychism And The Occult Wars

2011-03-31T21:11:00.010-04:00

The brain we do not use

I've written a lot about the Psychic without really explaining what it meant, or, how to develop it in one's self. And, how important it is for our understanding of what is, regardless of prejudices against what is called the Occult, or, the hidden, the unknown.

How did I come by this knowledge? Well, I believe we all are gifted with so many abilities, but don't know how to use even a portion of them. We use a small portion of our brains; we act only in small ways. We pursue the spiritual without understanding what that is, because we limit ourselves in another very important part of our being, the psychic. And, when we seek knowledge, we get answers, and spend the rest of our lives developing and proving our er, theories :)

We all have three different energies that are expressed through the chakras, which are energy centers and doorways into our experiences, but also, other dimensions. These energies flow through the chakras by way of the meridians. They might be analogous to Chi or Prana, but I see this as belonging to a more original method than that of India or China's.

There are Physical chakras, or material manifestations like health and wealth; the Psychic, which is the higher expression of our emotions; and lastly, the Spiritual, which balances them all together in the whole but can manifest in ways that are themselves balanced and peaceful, or, unbalanced. Where they are blocked or strong shows in many ways.

Psychism is also a gift connected with what I call the super-brain; the part we rarely use except in times of deepest stress or exercises designed to reach another space.

My research into the brain and how it works came into being by many ways. My growing awareness of my own abilities, written about in these pages at great length. My interest in mental health; and my observations of our extended families; we are a gifted but er, rather sensitive family, and I had the opportunity to observe them at great length.

Another word for Psychism might be emotional sensitivity, but on a deeper scale than the term implies. And yes, I do believe that the key to healing is to begin to understand how illness always has an emotional foundation.

Yes, Psychism may be manifested in the ability to see the future (though I avoid the fortune-telling aspect) I also think it gives the ability to understand people, because the empathetic quality necessary to be a Psychic, a Healer, a Physician, all lies within this area.

And, another thing that interests me: what's the difference between psychism and prophecy? None whatsoever, the source is the same. Though what the prophets did can of course be marvelous in many ways.

Then we get to Psychology: and yes, we have the giants like Freud, Jung and Adler, and I can see where their ideas could have, if developed further, really helped the human condition. But, without developing and seeing its connection to Psychism, I submit to you it is neither science nor art, but, in my opinion, good for labeling behaviors while not being able to effect any cure for the human condition beyond what the body can do to heal itself.

First, my definitions: human beings have 12 chakras, not 7 as defined by the different Indian system.

The 3 Physical Chakras start from the feet, black, red, and orange. The 5 Psychic chakras start with the solar plexus, yellow, then green, pink, sky blue, and indigo. The last 4 start with and go above the head, and they are the Spiritual chakras. Starting with the crown, violet, we proceed to green/gold, cobalt blue, and white.

Before we develop these centers, first we must understand them.

Yellow is the seat of the soul, the ego. A storehouse of all emotional memories which help us define who we are and what validates us.

Green is the energy of the heart, healing and creativity, which is where we give to others. This is the energy coming into this planet, and into, us.

Pink is the energy of our dharma, our purpose in life. By finding it, we alleviate the pain of karma.

Sky Blue is the intellect, speech, communication. If overstimulated it leads to fear and over analysis. The last three centuries have been the era of rational thinking, media, Internet. This also is the energy that most blocks us from the psychic understanding of further horizons.

Indigo, the last chakra, is the center of our intuitive power. We can tap into, or fog it, by the use of alcohol and drugs.

Understanding helps us to develop these powers, but first we must heal our hidden emotional vulnerabilities, forgive the past, and heal our karma. After that it merely is a matter of practice and observational exercises.

I had a difficult girl friend once :) who couldn't stand to sit beside me. She said she felt I was reading her mind. Let me tell you, I spent all my life learning to tune people out, not in. To not take other's energies into myself. Plus, there are certain ethical principles that apply: misuse these gifts and they go into some deep and dark spaces.

When I first came to Toronto 40 years ago sure, I did some psychic work, and met many Psychics, Healers, and Spiritual Groups. Toronto was quite a happening place then. But what I saw was they couldn't protect themselves from these forces they worked with, and lost many good friends to suicide, cancer, and even, murder. So, I learned to tap into those forces, without harm.

And, since my children also have these gifts, teach them from an early age. Every child is born with this, but, if not supported by parents, if directed only towards what they consider real, then that gift is lost. And psychosis can also set in, and then they go down the sad road of medication.

Psychism helps us with finding our direction in life. Call it an enhanced intuition, but if I had a choice between going to New York where I could set up a spiritual group and almost be guaranteed publishing of my book, then I would go to London instead for many years where I pursued my spiritual quest while putting aside the material. Because the voice told me I had to take a different road. And the more often you trust your voice, the more often you're right. And you take the road less travelled, and still, meet the person you are meant to meet.

Yes, we hear the voices of spirit friends, but we also hear our own voices. And one more voice we hear, is that which society broadcasts at us. As someone who's read Psychologist Edward Bernay's 1928 book Propaganda, (he was the nephew of Sigmund Freud) with prescriptions for how to manipulate public opinion in a free society, I understand how difficult it is to resist the daily manipulation of our mind through fear, terror, and regular doses of well, propaganda; all sky blue - throat chakra energy.

I also note the close cooperation between elements of intelligence service and the psychiatric field in experiments with mind control, and with various cults, new age movements and media :)

So yeah, crop circles and UFO's are interesting phenomena, but, they also are fake. With all due respect to those who er, believe in them :)

I also note the Occult Wars that are taking place in so many ways. One, where people use psychic means to control others. Uggh. Two, where they get into weird rituals and magickal endeavours (more on that later) Three, where the pursuit of power becomes an end in itself. Again, that is self-defeating and harmful. Whatever gains there are, are temporary. Whatever wars there are on the physical or emotional plane die off as we seek the spiritual.

Yet when people try to search for answers beyond the rational, they are set upon by well-funded 'rationalists' who lead jihads against anything they consider irrational, be it Astrology or Alternative Medicine. They even attack Universities like Duke that try to do research into parapsychology. Of course, if the CIA finds the Russians are conducting similar research, what do they do but fund similar programs? While denigrating everything that has to do with spirituality? There even are wars against religion, not to reform them, but to alter the good aspects of them. And I've already commented on various mind control mechanisms, without having to make protestations that no, I'm NOT paranoid or delusional. Time will tell:)

This really is a teaching for those who already are seekers. Without overcoming the barriers of the mind and replenishing the depleted energies of the soul, you're blocked from really becoming one with spirituality.

First, you need to let go of the negative aspects of the Psychic Chakras and the Occult Wars, which are, fear, anger, hatred, and delusion.

Then: you need to balance the analytical with the intuitive, and give flow to the energies of the heart,

you need to trust your deepest, inner being, and allow its free expression,

and you need to make the leap of faith that takes you know not where, but unquestioningly dive into the deep river that flows across the heavens.

America, The Spiritual

2011-03-20T12:12:00.004-04:00

First, acknowledge the wrongs

Yesterday, March 19, was the 8th anniversary of the war in Iraq. It also was the day of the supermoon, when the moon is closest to earth and coincides with a full moon. This rare event signifies great human change, and yes, it was interesting to see all that energy flow by. And yesterday, America went to war with Libya, another great historical wrong.

I have written a lot already about "This Stupid, Stupid, War" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2009/10/this-stupid-stupid-war.html and earlier, about a prophecy I made in 1977, entitled "War" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/war-this-is-final-chapter-of-my-book.html I've written many times about my hope for peace but recognizing that peace can only come from inside us. But this article is about the change that must take place in America.

I have always been drawn to and studied the spiritual destiny of America. It was destined for greatness but so far has only been rich and powerful, and never, great. Without acknowledging and changing the wrongs of its past, it will never be great.

The Destruction of the Native Peoples.

The Institution of Slavery

Its dreams of Empire, and ruthless wars on anyone that resisted it.

So here we are; a place I had hoped would be like Atlan, a unifying force under the Way of Atlan but, becoming more like Atlantis, an empire that sank under the weight of its sins.

I have been drawn many times to America, in this life, and in past ones. But each time, I have had to leave, because it must first change.

When we left Japan in 1957 my father was scheduled to be posted to the Washington D.C. Embassy but, his friend the ambassador died. We could have gone to the U.S. in 1970 but came to Canada instead. I could have been a published author in New York in 1975; I chose to move to England, and that journey has been written about extensively in these pages. Others came to America to set up Ashrams and Sufi Centers and New Age groups; I, didn't.

Then I did travel to the U.S., 11 extensive spiritual journeys from 1990 on, to help people: http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/spiritual-journey-to-u.html and then, when it became apparent that certain events would take place regardless, I left, but still, sent a disciple, Jennifer, to N.Y to help: http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/christ-sent-his-disciple-to-new-york.html and here: http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/christ-sent-his-disciple-to-new-york_11.html

But, that was it. My focus went world wide, and I travelled again and again to other places, and helped others, in person and spiritually. And I watched America from afar, with love for my friends, but also, seeing how difficult it would be.

Then I saw the nomination of Barack Obama and the excitement that swept the country "Barack's The One" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2008/03/baracks-one.html and again, "And Now What" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2008/11/and-now-what.html where I looked at the marvelous coincidence of my cousin rooming with him in college, and here again I had to temper my personal regard for him with the knowledge of the political and economic system that might prevent him from enacting real change, and reminding people they couldn't just depend on him alone, they had to change.

I had already written about the impending breakdown of government and financial structures in January 2008 http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2008/01/revolution-begins-now.html and how religious structures had already broken down. And what I said came to pass. But even before that, in December 2007, I wrote the following: http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/time-for-spiritual-revolution-today.html

"The answer is not going to come from politics. I warned in my previous newsletter that regardless of who won the U.S. election, the world would not be a better place. (Happened again)I personally knew that Bush would win because Kerry would lose, a significant distinction, and that people would be depressed afterwards.

Well, get over it.The solution will not come from Greenpeace or the Greens or anti-globalists or the left wing dinosaurs that put all their faith in band-aid 'left-wing' solutions or religious fanatics who are tools of the new global order. The solution will not come from the use of violence. That's their weapon.

Nor will it come from organised religion, which is decrepit and obsolete. I'm not talking about its ability to inspire people and raise their consciousness, but the structure, which is corrupt to its core.

The solution will not come from New Age self-absorption or the Internet or writing a book (I'm a writer myself) or praying to God, Mother Earth or Angels.The solution will come from you, but I'm not prescribing a truistic bromide.

There is one movement in the world now and that isn't the anti-war movement, noble as that is. (There just isn't the same energy left for a repeat of the anti-Vietnam War or anti-apartheid movement, and you have governments that are a lot more repressive now)

The movement in waiting is the passionate search for completion, and spirituality, of finding out who we are and our relationship to God, of becoming so strong that nothing they throw at us is going to defeat us.I am talking about a spiritual revolution, where no pain is felt that cannot be borne, and no happiness can be taken away from us because it already exists inside us. I am talking about magic, love, and the joy we take in every day without realising it.

Did you not pray, and ask for help?"

And if you ever need help, you can contact me from my profile page on the right. And if you want to help, ditto.

But again, I say this. It is time for a new American Spiritual Movement.

A Prayer For The People of Japan

2011-03-17T17:23:00.003-04:00

Sometimes, seeing the future can be a terrible thing

When the Taurean energy came to Earth in 2000 this is what I saw, once again:

The Age of Taurus http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2010/08/age-of-taurus.html would from 2000 on bring "global warming, weather changes, financial disasters, war, earthquakes, floods and tsunamis, with incalculable human suffering. It pains me that I saw all these things happening, yet people missed what I tried to say to them since I wrote my second book in 1977. And now, once again, I say, there are great changes yet to come".

On March 11, 2011, Japan was struck by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. Over 10,000 people may have been killed in the tsunami that swept over the main island, and now, an even greater danger has arisen: four nuclear reactors are on fire and there may be a nuclear disaster about to happen. 180,000 people have been evacuated and we can only pray for the people of Japan, and, the rest of the world now.

Make no mistake; we are at a crucial time in our history. What happens now depends on the choices we make as individuals.

Please also understand that this karma is not about "punishment for our sins" as the Mayor of Tokyo is said to have said. I do consider that whatever mistakes we individuals make are because of ignorance of the laws that govern the Universe, but I do hold responsible our leaders, spiritual, religious, and temporal, who got stuck in the material, in war, corruption and greed.

Japan does have a history that is tied to the United States. From the time when the American fleet convinced the Japanese they needed to industrialise, and that led to their need to control a supply of raw materials for that economy, they have been expansionary in nature. The US financed the fleet that defeated the Russians in 1905, then, when Japan invaded China, applied sanctions that only led to the attack on Pearl Harbour. The war ended with the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and then, the colonialization of Japan.

The Japanese choose nuclear energy to power its post war industrialization. What is not well known is that it resisted signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and started to stockpile Plutonium so that it now has the capacity to make tactical nuclear bombs and also, a missile capable of carrying multiple warheads.

And this is where humanity has gone wrong. Rapid industrialization that goes towards developing weaponry instead of new, safer methods of energy production. Greed that leads to the collapse of economies. Even compromising on safety so as to maximise profits. To build nuclear power stations on fault lines without proper precautions (the Japanese Nuclear Industry has a bad safety record) The US even sold the Japanese a nuclear power generator that was so unsafe the GE scientists who were testing it resigned in protest, and it is these generators that are now failing, with a potential danger to the people of Japan, and to wherever the radioactive particles are carried by the wind. It may be a disaster that can surpass Chernobyl, and the question is what can we do to avert it, or, to protect ourselves?

There was a time when I would do every thing in my power to help others, and, I did. But, the truth is, we now are in a stage when what must be, will be. Those who were not prepared to change will, by going through the fire, be forced to change. There is no distinction between good and bad people here, because it isn't about punishment. It is about the lack of understanding, and our disconnection from God, that is to blame. And even then, when we understand, we will have still have to go through this difficult time, and become stronger as a result.

But, true story: when Chernobyl went in 1986, the radiation came all the way to my wife's city in Hungary, and women's hair turned grey overnight. But Chloe and her family had already left Hungary, and were thus protected.

And there was a woman in London who had difficulty in holding on to her pregnancies, yet after my healing gave birth to a healthy boy. She was there when a bomb blast went off in a nearby Tube station shortly after, but she was protected. Then she moved back to New Zealand, but not to Christchurch, where her parents lived. So that when the Sept. 2010 earthquake hit, she and her family were, once again, protected.

All you have to do is ask for help, and God will help you.

To A Friend As He Prepares To Make His Last Journey

2011-03-12T16:26:00.003-05:00

Death is just another journey, my friend

I have met death, so many times, and each time it was just a step in this journey we call Life.

In this universe there are many dimensions, and beyond it, even more.

I have helped so many people in this life, and, when it was time to let them go, I again gave the gift of kindness to help them pass over to the other side.

A very good friend of mine is about to make that transition. I met Vijay many years ago during my spiritual journey to the UK and will always be grateful for his hospitality and friendship. He took my family in and we stayed at his home in Lyme Regis, Dorset, and did many healings and workshops for so many others there. We lost touch but reconnected recently. He is now in the final stages of his battle with ALS.

Vijay had a wonderful mind filled with curiosity about the esoteric but also, a deep love for the environment, for music, and, his many friends. And, he played the piano beautifully. He was a genius too, but I never had a problem understanding him :)

So this is an eulogy for my friend, because why not say nice things about our friends when they're around, and not, after they're gone?

But this also is a meditation on what has driven me since I was a child. What happens to us after death? And what is the journey like?

Can it be painful? Yes, for those who are afraid or die suddenly or had a life of regrets. Yet, even then, we can let go, we can forgive others and ourselves, we can move on. And there always will be friends, waiting to help us move to the other side.

A friend who was in the final stages of cancer saw me in this white cloud waving to her and told others it was a very peaceful moment for her; there was no more pain and she left her body later that day.

The thousands of people missing or dead in the great earthquake in Japan two days ago; I feel their pain very deeply, as I felt the pain of the hundreds of thousands killed in Tokyo in WWII when I lived there after the war. And as I wrote about in my blog after the earthquake in Haiti, the pain which was yet to come.

And yesterday my aunt through whom my healing journey began many years ago told me her sister had stage 4 cancer and my uncle passed away recently and his wife, my favourite aunt (because she's a Taurus) also has cancer, and her son is in hospital with diabetes and stress related complications.

Religion can, and does, give comfort to those who ask these questions about life after death. It also makes absurd distinctions about who can and cannot enter heaven. Heaven is a peaceful place and a step on that journey, and everybody gets there, sooner or later, and that depends on us, and not, the rules we create when we try to make sense of the world.

"In my father's house there are many mansions" might describe it one way. I do not believe that only those who follow a particular religion or belief can get there, and my role as a healer is to help all spirits make that transition.

There are several stages beyond when the spirit leaves the body. All of them are wonderful, though there is a place where we do face up to all we have done, and the price we have paid in our lack of understanding and peace.

But then, as I say to my friend Vijay, we go into that white light, and dissolve into the universal embrace of that peace.

PS: Vijay passed away recently. I was thinking of him this last while and sending him on with our prayers. We like to believe he has met, once again, his wife whom he loved very much. And that he knows how much he was loved by his many friends. RIP.

The Purpose of Astrology

2011-02-17T21:58:00.004-05:00

The better to understand you, my dear

Some sceptical folk told me they didn't 'believe' in Astrology. Which is cool, except Astrology isn't a belief system. Do they 'believe' in Psychology, or meteorologists who 'predict' the weather? Are humans sensitive to external stimuli, such as weather changes, environment, or even, cycles of the moon? Now I'm a curious sort, so any form of knowledge is fine by me, though I do find unreasoned scepticism to be a bit lacking in humility.

I was 14 years old when I picked up a Horoscope magazine. Personality traits, world predictions, and even, planting days and fishing time? It seemed natural for me to study the subject. Astrology began from the time of our earliest recorded history, as the astronomers who charted the seasonal cycles noted certain correlations between celestial phenomena and individual, and natural events. An eclipse could be followed by a flood, and Mars in the sky presage drought. And if the star Algol was shadowed by the Moon, war might follow. This was the accumulated wisdom of thousands of years of observation by Babylonian, Egyptian, Indian and Chinese star gazers.

So yes, the stars might indicate changes to nations and empires, and kings and emperors would employ astrologers to help them make the decisions that could help their rule. And the magi who followed the 'Star over Bethlehem' were definitely, astrologers.

But, what Astrology is about, in its truest form, is an understanding of human psychology, and our sensitivity to the cycles of history. Even the great founders of Psychoanalytical Theory, Freud, Jung, and Adler, taught what had already come before, in Astrology. Freud, in his focus on human desire as the engine that drove our deepest motives might have been describing the Venusian or Plutonian narrative; and Jung, with his archetypal theory, sun sign characteristics; and Adler, whose Sibling Birth Order theory seemed so unique, would have found sibling birth order echoed in Chinese Astrology two and a half millennia ago.

But anyhow: it's a tool for human understanding and only by studying it can we unlock its secrets. Even the birth horoscope can be a mandala one can focus on for meditation, which brings insights into our deepest personality.

And if each house of the horoscope is a focus of energy that impacts different areas of our life, then understanding it gives us better control of our lives and free will.

And when one meditates on the horoscope of a people, or a people, one sees the future laid out for them, and the nature of the karma they must face...

The predictions I have made have been based on my connection with the future, even when they were only one of many possible futures. But to have it confirmed by Astrology was even more gratifying, one more piece of knowledge to add to the library in my mind, and to provide guidance for the future.

How does Astrology work? Are we made who we are by the stars, or, do we reflect, synchronistically, the cycles of the planets and the stars? I believe that in the end we are all bound together by ties of energy.

But, what a tool it is! To understand the motivations of the people we come in contact with, and the possible future of the world! Yet, as the Astrologer Grant Lewi used to say, it relates to the metaphysics of time, space and motion. Through that we can understand the cycles of our lives, and the karma of our loved ones. We can know what energy is bound by the place we live in, or where we might find a person to share our life with.

Astrology has already foretold the great changes to take place in America, just as it showed the natural calamities that have fallen on and will continue to befall the earth. It is a tool that helps us prepare for the future..

But, we are more than the sum of our planets, difficult as it might be to escape personality or karma. We contain the Universe within us, and the possibilities are endless...

Karma Happens

2011-02-05T19:14:00.002-05:00

Fate and Destiny; on the other hand, not always.

We were supposed to get "The Storm of the Century" but that somehow passed us by in Canada.

Yet we're still in the midst of the storm of change taking over the planet, and it may be time for us to understand karma, and our place in it.

First, please understand that karma isn't a punishment, or even the consequence of our actions, though I understand why religions use it as a way of controlling human behaviour. Whether we fatalistically say "If God wills it" or Inshallah, whether we see it as part of the Wheel of Time, like in the Hindu and Buddhist philosophies, or that it is an energy we shape ourselves, is something only you can determine, and accept or not in your lives.

I've written a great deal about karma already in these pages, and the many ways it can be manifested, or alleviated. I even, in my teachings, try to incorporate it within Dharma, a Way, or a path to enlightenment.

First, Karma is based on choice. We have been given that gift of free will, so whatever happens, in our material world, our relationships and spiritual imbalances, we have chosen it.

Second, Karma, and its corollary, Dharma, is simply the path to enlightenment we have chosen.

Third, wherever we are out of balance, is where our Karma is.

So, will humanity rise above its conflicts and imbalances and find its way back to God?

I believe it will.

Because, this is what I know:

We not only have a fixed fate or destiny, we also have within us, the means to overcome it. The tools exist inside us.

This doesn't mean bad things won't happen. They might. But as I pointed out many times, the outcome may also work out to the good. As I showed, once people found the path, they kept being brought back to it. Things happened, in ways often miraculous (Not to say people should hang around waiting for a miracle, you also have to try, to find your path)

Yes, Karma happens. It can bring pain and suffering. But the greatest pain is the lack of peace, and the lack of connection with God (whether you believe in God or not, as long as you try to be a good person, and not cause pain and suffering to others, then God will continue to believe in you. And yes, I bring peace.

So there's this storm that covers all our lives, and one even greater to come. A pity that many I reached out to didn't hear me clearly. All you have to do, is ask.

The People Are Revolting

2011-01-31T08:53:00.007-05:00

And not just in Egypt

Revolutions always begin with a small act.

This one began when a fruit seller in Tunisia killed himself. He had been forced to take down his food stand because he couldn't pay a bribe. Unable to feed himself or his family, he set himself on fire as a protest. His death caused widespread riots that led to the government being overthrown.

This led to a wave of self immolation in North Africa. Three people in Egypt caused the people to take to the streets. They were tired of the corruption and rise in food prices. They are still there in the streets, six days later, and calling for the brutal dictator Hosni Mubarak to step down. The US is caught flat footed, they'd been supporting him for thirty years. The Europeans are silent. The Palestinian dictator Abbas and Saudi King Fahd issue statements of support for Mubarak, and Israel, defending its ally, asks the West to "tone down its rhetoric against Mubarak"

The lunar and solar eclipses of Dec. 2010 and Jan. 2011 have brought great change to the US and Europe, as I foretold. I should mention the Jan. 04 eclipse was visible in Cairo as well as across the M.E.

The floods, the political changes, the environmental disasters have all followed, as foretold. There even was a 7.2 scale earthquake off California, where the lunar eclipse was strongest. The wave of Nationalism. Hungary has a new nationalist government that rejects the IMF and is taking back control of the economy. Egyptians are united as Christians and Muslims reject violence and say "we are all Egyptian"

We are seeing the failure of globalization and interventionist colonial wars. The US has become irrelevant. Europe is struggling to overcome its own financial mismanagement.

Food prices have skyrocketed. People are angry at the greed, corruption, and fraud. They have lost their homes. The world's economies were diverted to enrich a few, who go unpunished for their criminality. People are also angry when money is available to fight wars while they have not enough to feed their families.

It is starting again, as it always has. The actions of a few, snowballing. Poland 1948, Hungary 1956, worldwide in 1968, and Egypt, 2011. The world is not coming to an end, it is a beginning. The next place where people will rise will be Europe, and then, America.

This is the message:

Change.

We will not be governed by you.

Update: Feb. 05, 2011.

The leadership of the ruling party has resigned. The dictator's party, and the U.S., wants 'an orderly transition'. The people of Egypt have refused, stating they will not stop the protests until he leaves. They deserve our admiration and support. Who could imagine the actions of one man, so changing the balance of power in the world?

The Dog, Shifted

2011-01-28T17:22:00.001-05:00

Into another dimension, that is

Occult studies fascinate me because they acknowledge the possibilities of other dimensions. Integrating that within Spiritual Healing and Teaching is one of the paths I chose to follow. The chakras are a part of that; they are doorways into other dimensions. So when I heal, people sometimes go...elsewhere. But the fun really begins when all this happens randomly, anywhere:)

My wife Chloe has learned to er, follow her nose:) because when you turn left, instead of right, who knows where your instinct has led you?

When one learns, and goes into the deeper levels of Psychism, then it is not merely a matter of following your intuition, but that you go into another space where things...happen.

Shirley MacLaine, when she wrote about her out of body experiences, wrote about seeing herself as connected to her body by a cord of light, and that one must not let go of it, or you might not be able to find your way back. And it's true. There are dangers.

I. on the other hand, teach how to let go, so that you not only shift into other dimensions, but, you take others with you.

This happened in 2005. It was during one of the torrential downpours we'd been having for many years now, which was so uncharacteristic of Toronto. Chloe was walking down a different street on her way to the store. There was a dog, sitting very still in the rain, watching the street. A man walking by also stopped. Was the dog lost?

Chloe felt no, so she asked it where do you live, dog? It heard her, of course, and got up and went a hundred yards the other way to a house. They knocked at the door, dog waiting patiently beside them.

Excuse me ma'am, have you lost a dog? No, it's inside (not even looking at dog beside them, or, somehow she can't see it)

Are you sure? Pointing at dog. Oh, my God!! How'd he get out? Front door's locked. So's the back, and the garden gate (she has to show them that) Big mystery, I'm sure. Dog walks back in, Chloe goes on.

There are places in the Universe where time, space, and the void converge. Sometimes people tap into that. An object disappears and you never find it until you see it in front of you. Or time warps around and you wonder what happened to it.

The space beyond our physical reality exist, whether we can see them with our five senses or not. We can learn to do that, or do so unknowingly. You can see the future, gain knowledge, teleport from behind closed doors, do magic, be invisible.

Children do that, then forget as they become adults. I don't want my children to ever forget, so, I teach them. And also teach others'.

And our faithful friend, the dog? They teach us too. In the time to come, we will all need faithful friends.

My Life As A Spy

2011-01-18T18:02:00.003-05:00

My professor was a spy

CIA, that is. Everyone in my Liberal Arts College in Pakistan knew our History Professor was an American Spy. So, I asked him. And he told me he wasn't a spook type, but, like most people in the Agency, was an analyst who wrote reports about people's opinions and whatever was written in the Pakistani press.

I thought that was a cool job. Analyse information, write reports which could influence policy? Sure.

With my family's military background, my education in politics, history and economics? Sure. Not passing my final exam for the Air Force Academy, I still could go into the Army. Many of my friends already had (one went on to become the head of Pakistan's fearsome ISI, one of the world's best intelligence agencies, if not the best).

But my path was into medicine and spirituality, and to come to Canada. But I've always been interested in the hidden forms of knowledge and patterns of history, and, I am a 'spook' type personality anyway:) So yes, I studied the world's intelligence agencies, and What They Were Up To.

Now, I do believe in the necessity of intelligence gathering. I do understand the need for security services to keep tabs on potential threats, internal and external. I do believe democracies need to protect themselves, as long as there are safeguards against infringement of individual rights or societal freedoms. They do need to not become private police forces for various economic interests or for political aggrandizement disguised as 'protecting Democracy'.

So these are my thoughts, and no, I never did join the Agency or any others. However, I did, in the course of my many travels, come across many interesting people and situations. Maybe it's because of my nature? Perhaps.

There are a great many good books on intelligence agencies, but the one I especially like is "The CIA And The Cult of Intelligence", by Victor Marchetti and John Marks, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_CIA_and_the_Cult_of_Intelligence CIA and State Department employees who detail how the CIA has strayed from its original purpose of "collecting and analysing information on foreign countries, politicians and corporations, and strayed into clandestine activities". I also like Mossad case officer Victor Ostrovsky's "By Way of Deception", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Ostrovsky which he wrote "to draw attention to the corruption and shortcomings he claims to have witnessed in the Mossad. Ostrovsky has repeatedly argued that intelligence-gathering agencies must be permitted certain operational freedoms, but that significantly increased governmental oversight is necessary". I also like Noam Chomsky's writing and regularly read Covert Action, a now defunct magazine (which you can still find on the Internet)

And one more book which I think is a classic, "The CIA's Greatest Hits" by Mark Zepezauer, Odonian Press 1994, which details the CIA's role in political assassinations, mind control, the drug trade, and money laundering. It follows that the CIA and related agencies, not having changed at all since the Senator Church investigations of the 70's, most likely are continuing similar activities to this day.

Intelligence gathering has always been used as tools for the furtherance of national policies and hegemonies. If you were a king, you wanted to see who was plotting against you or what the neighbouring country was up to. During wartime, intelligence gathering took on a military slant. And as democratic countries became more and more open, secret services became more and more er, secretive. And when government tried to regulate you, you would get into illegal businesses like drugs and arms smuggling to finance your operations. (The CIA's alliance with the Mafia began when it needed help preparing for the invasion of Italy)

And, as the world becomes an even more smaller place with globalization, control of dissent, and unipolar policies disguised as competing political philosophies, (which I'll address later, that's an even longer article) the need to control people, and even more so, their minds, becomes even more imperative.

So, it comes as no surprise when:

various agencies plant stories or control the media

agents become 'journalists' and 'news editors'

NY publishing houses get taken over

Agency involvement in LSD experiments are revealed decades after the fact

Various mind control cults, psychological therapy and alternative spirituality groups have agency fingerprints all over them (I get no funding, alas :)

Wild theories and other memes get planted on the Internet to compete with and discredit real information

And they spy on and listen to every phone call, e-mail, text and blog.

But my real concern is when assassination is used as a tool to not only silence opposition, but also, to create fear and division in society.

Or false flag attacks are used to provide justification for war.

Or mentally ill and immature people are encouraged to commit random acts of violence.

Or 'religious leaders' use all sorts of twisted theology to justify killing people.

Or criminal masterminds get away with crashing banks and stealing trillions, and no one polices them.

And millions of people die in wars because they're living on oil fields or in the way of gas pipelines, and we kill them because they'd prefer it be used for their benefit, not global oil controllers.

There is a war going on right now to gain control of the earth's resources and people. Those who stand in the way get exterminated, or controlled by various despotic rulers and 'insurgent' armies, who coincidentally happen to be armed with guns smuggled in to them by various American and European agencies, as opium and precious metals get smuggled out.

As Federal whistleblower Sibel Edmonds says, “You get to a point where it gets very complex, where you have money laundering activities, drug related activities, and terrorist support activities converging at certain points and becoming one”.

So we create a desert with CIA controlled drones and State Department mercenaries and call it "exporting democracy" and "defending our country".

But what democracy? And what country is there to defend when we are continuously lied to, and our freedom slowly taken away?

In these difficult times what I can suggest is, do not give up your independence, do not buy their stuff, or their ideas. Do not be, a slave.

And it is so funny when they spend so much time spying on us, that some of us, spy back :)

The Cat Came Back

2011-01-15T17:55:00.005-05:00

Ginger

There was a ginger cat my friend Heather and I met 6 years ago. We were coming back from a concert in Devon around midnight when we saw this cat lying across the road. It had been hit by a car, and sadly, was quite dead. No movement and the flow of blood from its head had stopped.

I held it for a while. Then I moved it to the side of the road for the night.

In the morning we went back to bury it, but it was gone. We assumed a fox had carried it away.

When I returned to Canada I heard that 'Ginger' had turned up again. It was fine, and started coming up to the house every day.

Yesterday I got another message. Ginger is still, quite well. She comes up for food and love, and then dozes off on the warm, sunny bed made for her.

Remember that miracles can always happen for you too.

Update: The cat has now been named Amber. Heather recently lost her beloved Dalmatian, Poppy, and now Amber is there for her. Amber is a healing and grounding stone for spiritual energies. May you all, find healing too.

The Water of Life

2011-01-13T20:58:00.002-05:00

I am the sailor who sails the sea

Water, the healer

The energy of Water

When we left Atlan, we looked back one last time at our home. The Blue Planet, so called because it was covered mostly by water. And we flew here to Earth; once again, to a new, blue, planet.

And when we fled the destruction of Atlantis, we were the sailors who sailed the sea, till we found new homes in other, distant lands.

When I do my healing I see, once again, our relationship with water. The energies I pick up and cleanse myself with afterwards, are, water. (Fire and Earth and Air and Spirit too, but that is another article on the natural forces, or energies)

I was reminded recently of how out of balance we are, with water. The number of people who are ill with emotional illness and pain, are out of balance with water. (Cancer is an emotional illness as well, but here I'm only dealing with the energy of water, and our relationship with it)

If you search for Masaru Emoto's images of water, you will see the beauty within it. His crystalline pictures are stunning.

Our connection with the Psychic, or emotional chakras is thrown out of balance and only by exploring those energies can we start our own healing. But I want to speak about water.

It is no coincidence that Australia and Germany had catastrophic floods recently. The Earth itself is out of balance and has lost its ability to nourish us, but must heal itself. Hence, the changes in weather and other disasters in the making. This time last year we had the earthquake in Haiti. The year before that the War against Gaza, another imbalance which is a result of the imbalance within us.

And then again, the floods in England just after we arrived in 2007. The vision of the Asian Tsunami I had ten years before it actually happened. The visions of more, to come.

The earth, like us, consists of water. The weather that affects our food supply depends on the oceans, our climate on the balance between warm and cold ocean currents, and human life, on a safe supply of water to drink. Yet we continue, in our blindness and greed, to exploit and pollute it in a manner that can only be called insane. If there's one last pristine source of water left, we will want to exploit it for a mining company, or oil sand processing facility, or Coca Cola. And we add a known neuro-toxin like Fluoride to our drinking water and pay a ridiculous premium for bottled water. And, after vaccinations, the primary cause of cancer in society is the pollutants we pump into our air and water. As I said, insane.

But you already know all that. You just don't know how to fix that.

There is a river that flows across the Universe. When it hits this planet it will sweep us all away. Don't fight it, just ride it like a surfer riding a wave.

And those who are ready, follow me.

Ps: As I write this in June 2011, radioactive waste from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown continues to pour into the Pacific Ocean. This may turn out to be one of the greatest environmental disasters, ever. What will it take to get people to wake up and heal the planet?

St Francis's Prayer

2011-01-09T21:24:00.007-05:00

The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen

Mother Mary Comes To Me

2011-01-03T12:07:00.006-05:00

Mary's Tomb

The view from the Marian Hills, Pakistan

There is a town in the North of Pakistan that used to be called Mari, before the British changed the name to Murree. Lying in the foothills that lead to Kashmir, it is also close to the Buddhist centre of Taxila. The peaceful valleys and distant mountain views remind one of Shangri-La.

There has been a grave on a hillside there for almost two thousand years. When the Muslims arrived in the area they saw Hindus praying at the shrine, and, noting that it appeared to be of Jewish origin, began to pray there too, since this obviously was the grave of a holy person of the "people of the Book".

The locals have always called the place "the mount of Mariam", and the area, Mari, because it is reputed to be the final resting place of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The British wanted to build a fort there, so they tried to disinter the remains. Thousands of people, who believed the shrine gave them special protection, protested. During a time of severe drought in 1916 the townspeople had prayed for rain which then started to pour that day and continued for three days. The British left the tomb alone, and when the engineer who'd wanted to tear it down died in an accident shortly after, the people said it was because of his impious ways.

I was aware of the legend because of its connection to the whole Jesus lived in India story. It is a story that lives in many masonic and theosophic circles; I make no claim as to its veracity.

But, I moved there with my school during the 1965 India-Pakistan war to escape the bombing of our air force base, and I visited the area once again, during my 1995 trip to the Indian sub-continent, so, I was drawn to it.

So there I was, in the winter of 1995, and I knew I wanted to visit her grave. Except it was now surrounded by an air force base, and lay at the foot of a telecommunication tower, so it was off limits to visitors.

No matter; I talked my way in, and got a tour with the commanding officer, and yes, I felt her wild, restless energy there. I prayed for her, and thanked her for the many times she had come to me. It is a peaceful place, where she rests, and you know that this is the sort of valley that her son Jesus came to live in in the later years of his life, after the crucifixion. There is barbed wire around the grave to keep trespassers out, but that is ok. She does not need visitors to her grave, or to be worshipped.

These are the messages that are coming through. It will be a spiritual time that has nothing to do with religion, that time has gone. The amount of destruction and chaos will be great, but that is a result of the imbalance in our selves and the fear of change. I have been saying this for 35 years now, and people still would not accept that message. Now they must go through what they must.

But, I stood on that hill and there, I felt that great peace. All one has to do is think of her, and she will be there.

Prejudice? Not

2011-01-01T19:56:00.004-05:00

We are indeed, prisoners of our prejudices

We were a polyglot group of foreigners living in our neighbourhood of Tokyo in the 50's. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Pakistanis, Iranians, Americans, British. Children of diplomatic staff who I thought all got along very well with each other, until one day I realized that actually, we didn't.

A group of my friends got together to beat up another of my friends. Why? Because they were Muslim, and he, Hindu. So there were four of them with sticks, waiting for him to show up. They wanted me to join them, but I said no.

Walking away, the wrongness of this struck me. I found him shopping for his mom. When the others attacked, he swung his shopping bag at them, and a glass bottle cut open one kid's head. I told them to leave him alone. When they complained about my warning him, I said "too bad, but it was wrong"

These children were 6-7 years old. We had all played together, and now, because one parent influenced his child, a whole gang were going to beat up on a kid because of what? His parents worshipped another form of God? I doubt that they understood the er, theological differences; they just were being conditioned to hate the other.

Going to school in Pakistan, there were Christians and Hindus who people just had to make comments about. So, contrarian that I was, I had to befriend them. There was one Hindu who had a particularly bad time of it; yet, in visiting his home I found out he actually was related to our family by marriage. Small world.

On the other hand, while growing up in India, my grandparents brought in Hindu tutors who actually snuck in history textbooks about how "cruel the Muslim rulers had been". Oy vey. And my brother told me how a Jewish kid at Karachi Grammar school had been treated very unkindly and how bad he felt about it. Me, I'd have made him my best friend for life :)

And here in the Western world, I see how prejudices against Islam are being manipulated to justify a war against a billion and a half Muslims, and so, even though I'm not one myself, I try to defend them against this. It doesn't matter if the subject had been Jews or Evangelical Christians, it is always the unfairness of the attacks, the views of the stronger against those with no voice against prejudice, that gets me riled.

But this isn't a riff about How Liberal I Am. Many of my views might be termed non-PC, and I am more revolutionary than 'liberal'. What interests me is the psychology of how certain images and prejudices are conditioned into us, not just by religion or society or parents, but by our own experiences and learning.

Of course we have stereotypes and archetypes that might even be reinforced by personal experience and knowledge. Even as an Astrologer I have no problem generalizing about the 12 Astrological signs, because there are no good signs or bad ones. Similarly, while I know that each race and nation has its own karma and er, characteristics, no one is bound by them, because we all have free choice, and the gift of being able to step outside of our own conditioning.

So, I think it is so sad that Muslim kids, or Hindus, or Jews, or Christians, or heterosexuals, or, er, white folk (trust me, 'brown' folk have their own prejudices) learn to fear the other. I think it is so sad that prejudice is so pervasive it can be manipulated for external purposes.

Yet, the heart knows what it loves. How sad it would be if we excluded so many from the list of those whom we can love?

Merry Christmas to all

2010-12-24T19:11:00.002-05:00

And Peace on Earth too

Here we are, and as another year passes by, I want to wish you all the best in the year ahead.

What is the message of Christmas? Nothing to do with Christianity. Everything to do with God's love for all of Creation.

Because God loves you, you have been given the gift of free choice. And the only thing asked of you is that you love one another.

If you remember that, you will have peace, and there will be no starvation, or injustice, or war.

So, what is the message of Christmas? You all choose, you all are born with, a purpose; and you are all given a sign as to what that purpose is. So, follow that sign to wherever it leads you.

Bulgaria

2010-12-20T23:33:00.002-05:00

Where goes Bulgaria? Europe?

I just got back from Bulgaria. Invited to visit and help a family with a boy with Autism, I found myself asking if there was more to my trip than this. And, as it turned out, yes, there was.

It's true that Autism is a very karmic illness, and helping others and my own family with this has been quite a journey.

And, it was very gratifying to see changes, in that child and many others I saw there. It would take time and effort, but, I saw them getting better, and that was enough for me.

But, the fact remains that wherever I go there will be change. Do I initiate the change, or, do I go where people are ready (or not?) Yes, there are places where just a little push in terms of energy is enough to shift whole societies, or, help people who already are receptive. Sometimes, even when I don't go somewhere, there is change, anyway. And, always, it helps me on the next stage of my journey.

I give a healing to a lady in Bulgaria. She asks if this is similar to what Djuna Davitashvili used to do. No, but there lies a story. Djuna Davitashvili was a faith healer who is claimed to have been the personal healer of Russian presidents Leonid Brezhnev and Boris Yeltsin. I meet her at an alternative medicine conference in Spain in 1991. I am invited to another conference in Moscow, in August of that year. I decline, and it is a good thing because there's a coup attempt around that time, and Russia descends into anarchy.

Everywhere I go, there is change. Iran, the U.K., USA.

So, what of Bulgaria? Well, ten years ago I met a Bulgarian gentleman over the Internet. He tells me about his Autistic son and I help so that, at the age of 6, he is recovering speech and getting better. Sadly, I lose touch and can't find his address before I leave this time around. But, I meet another person, a woman with er, political inclinations. I know I can help her, but, sadly, she is used to holding herself back, and the reaction to my being there is just, a little too, um, strong.

Bulgarian society is based on the Thracians, a warlike Indo-European people very like the Celts, all of whom proved very difficult for the Roman Empire to subjugate. They also had a matriarchal underpinning, and, like many of our kind, saw death as just another place along the continuum.

The Slavs and the Bulgars, a Turkic tribe, come later, so Bulgaria is where the movement of peoples and mixture of many cultures becomes so very strong.

I am also amazed to see how strong the earth energy is there. Because wherever I go, I heal the earth as well. The land is especially fertile. Even the food is especially nourishing, unlike our overproduced North American diet. And yes, there is weather change.

That part of Bulgaria usually gets large amounts of snow dumped on it this time of the year. When I arrive, the sun is out and it's 20 degrees Celsius. It stays around 15 degrees throughout my stay, and only goes down when I leave. Staying overnight In Vienna on my way back, everything is clear until, sitting in my plane on the tarmac at Vienna Airport, the storm finally arrives. Three weeks later, Europe is still under unusual Arctic conditions, but the part of Bulgaria where I was? Still, hardly any snow. (Not good, because farmers do need snow to provide water for next year's crops)

I go down to the Black Sea, and of course, coming all that way, I will have a dip. Brr! That's cold, of course, but it's OK.

There's the cape of Kaliakra, where, centuries ago, an invading army of Turks is about to defeat the native people. 40 maidens tie their hair together, and leap into the sea in an act of suicide rather than be taken prisoner. There is a statue there to commemorate their resistance, and they are national heroines.

Yes, I am very taken by the country, and the people. I can almost learn the language, and there seems no barrier between us. Bulgaria is a part of the European Union, but sadly that Union is not doing well for the Bulgarians. Farmers there get less subsidies than Hungarian farmers, and Bulgaria is an agricultural country. They were a lot better off under the Russian sphere of influence, and when all their produce was shipped to the Asiatic countries. Now, they are aligned with Europe, their traditions dying, and young people buy clothing made in Italy instead of their own country. The average salary is about 100 dollars a month, while serious faced European bureaucrats show up on TV to lecture them about using wood to heat their homes (pollution is bad, you know) Sorry, but natural gas at European prices is just a little too much beyond their means. And there still is a great deal of corruption.

So, where goes Bulgaria? Where goes Europe? Tonight, there is a Lunar eclipse that will affect North America. In two weeks time there will be a solar eclipse that will definitely affect Europe. The weather changes are just one sign of global change that is occurring everywhere, and even, in our selves. I mean, snow storms in Australia, in their summer? The signs are there.

So yes, there will be change in Bulgaria and Europe. Even, political change. I planted the seeds of spiritual change. Maybe I will go back, to teach. Maybe, I will go elsewhere. But I stood amongst the dancers I pictured here, and the love I felt for them and my thanks for the kindness they showed, will always be there.

Ergon, Redux

2010-12-05T21:34:00.005-05:00

Bye Bye Huffington Post

This is my last comment on Huffington Post (on my own blog, no less :)

It's been a blast, but I'm done. After 12,157 posts as Ergon (my avatar graces this page) in two years, it's time to do..other things. I'd like to thank the 560+ fans who signed their appreciation of my work; the regard is reciprocated.

1999 was an interesting year for me. I went to England to view an eclipse, and my visions followed the path of the eclipse: from New York to over Turkey and ending in India, major shifts and earthquakes taking place in those countries within two years.

I knew I had to communicate via the Internet, and my first website came up, to be followed by this blog. I also used chat rooms to communicate with other, like minded individuals on politics and social reform.

In 2000-2001, there were 1000+ posts on Shamir Readers, a group run by dissident Israeli journalist Israel Shamir, 2002-2004, 3000+ on Reporters Notebook, an (ahem) anti-semite site run by a Jewish gentleman :) - I got interesting psychological insights into the mindests involved. Then there were 2000+ posts on an anti-Islamic site run by a Muslim, and then I came across Xymphora, and cool, I made 3000+ comments from 2005-2008. The intellectual stimulation was quite enervating and the quality of the writing of the people who wrote there was something I never have seen since. But he tinkered with his format too often, lost all his comments, and his fans moved away. Pity.

So it now was time for me to move to the social commentary and news aggregate site Huffington Post. In two years, I wrote 14,000 posts, some of which unfortunately, er, "disappeared", but hey, I got to write on politics, science, American policy pertaining to Palestine, Tibet, Iran, Africa and South America; Autism, and even, Entertainment and Fashion. Whew! Here's where they can be found: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Ergon?action=comments and there's a lot, once you go back a bit before I got er, burned out.

In the end, I see it as a way of manipulating political discourse: to give people the false impression of meaningful contribution to what are really intractable problems of the day. In the end, I believe that meaningful change will come from the spiritual and not political or social, as I have written many times before.

Sites like HP serve only to engender psychological feelings of helplessness as they on the one hand drive our adrenaline up with stories about injustice combined with distractions from the cult of celebrity, they also shape public opinion by creating handy lists of enemies that always conveniently follow the American political line. It acts liberal, but only in a way that reinforces and controls both sides of the political debate. Social engineering in the worst possible way, but if they could do it, I would...reply.

I could go on, but, I won't. They gave me a forum, and I made many friends, for which I thank them.

But I was clear back in January 2008: "The Revolution Begins Now"

http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2008/01/revolution-begins-now.html

"But the Revolution I speak of will take place not in blogs or protest marches or occult practices. It will take place first within you, and then, through taking responsibility for the state of the world"

So here I am, and I will do my best to: effect change in the time ahead.

Ps: I'm having a little difficulty in letting go :) - see comment

A Sufi State of Mind

2010-11-01T15:30:00.002-04:00

To experience God

Just to make it clear: Sufism, while it has profoundly influenced Islam, is NOT Islam. Islam is a strict monotheistic religion that hasn't reconciled the split between Shia and Sunni, how then can it admit a third, very different version?

Still, here are two websites that explain the differences quite well:

http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismdef.html

http://www.ahya.org/amm/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=145

The fact is that Sufism retains at its core, the neo-platonic influences that came into being after the time of the Umayyad Caliphs of Baghdad. It is a form of Gnosis, `the apprehension of divine realities'. Some say, the word Sufi comes from 'soof' the woolen coat they wear on initiation to the order. Some say it comes from 'soph' or Sophia, the Greek word meaning 'knowledge'. Regardless, the fact remains that Sufism in its many forms exists across the entire Islamic world, has expanded into the West as an alternative philosophy that attracts those of of a mystical intellectual bent, and even influences national resistance movements that extend from the Caucasus to Northern Pakistan.

I don't wish to denigrate any religion or spiritual practice. As I have said before, my own family has a very strong Sufi background. But in searching for a way to help other people, these are the questions I came across.

For what is the core of religion? Of spirituality? Of mysticism? Each time, it is to experience, to know, 'the divine realities' and our relationship to those realities?

The answer, very simple, is this. We can all, one day, experience and know that reality which is God because it exists within us. We can experience it in several ways, as meditation, as ecstasy, as dance, as the movement of healing energies within ourselves. Every person has their own unique experience and way to that ultimate reality, and indeed for some, the experience of Sufi practice may be just right for many.

But this is what I offer. The real knowing of God lies, not within the 'mystical' experience, not the awe that comes from viewing a magnificent church, the simplicity of meditation, or the ecstasy of music and dance.

It comes from the absolute stillness that fills, when we touch, however briefly, the void within, us.

And the knowing comes from the peace, left behind.

The Body, Heals Itself

2010-10-14T17:15:00.005-04:00

The Buddha Wondered

He saw a man who was ill

And he saw one who was dying

And he asked what was the cause of human suffering

But here we are, still asking that question, and we ask that question not only for ourselves, but for humanity.

The answer is this: The cause of our suffering is our karma, and the choices we all have made, in this and other lives. It comes from ego and fear of letting go. It comes from the emotions and memories we have in this and other lifetimes. And I can't tell you how to heal that, without first saying: The Body, Heals Itself.

You look at this battered, polluted war ridden earth, and ask how can we help the planet get better? And I answer, the earth heals itself.

And the battered state of our relationships with ourselves and others? We can heal those relationships, and bring harmony into our lives.

The lack of connection with spirit and nature, and inner peace? God gave us a gift, and, we can know God.

So I don't teach spirituality and healing, but, that we heal ourselves.

Alone? A person walks into our lives.

Lost in a desert? A rain storm comes up that revives you, and you are found.

Bleeding to death on an empty highway? Suffered a stroke? Healing comes from thousands of miles away.

So we exist not just on this plane but across all the dimensions, and you may not be aware of it. Yet healing comes, unexpectedly, from others, but also, from your self.

If this were the last two years of your life, how would you spend that? Are you going to moon over the past, or will you do the things you always wanted to do? Don't say you can't, because. The Body, Heals Itself.

This is the last two years for this planet. How it ends will be up in the air. We may end up in another dimension. We may die, and even that death will be a healing journey. We may just continue to plod along, but nothing will be the same, even if the suffering goes on. I know that I will do what I always wanted to do, and bring peace and healing and knowledge to people (I'm off on another trip soon) and I hope that you, too, will do what you were always supposed to do.

But don't say you can't. This was my first discovery, as I saw spirit passing through the dimensions and discovering gifts within myself, and, others.

The Body, Heals Itself

Direction Changes

2010-09-20T09:23:00.005-04:00

Which way?

The guidance counselors at school are asking my daughters what they'd like to do, career wise. They're 10 and 13 years old, respectively, and in typical teen fashion, said "I dunno", when they do know. Soriah wants to be a healer, and Gebbriel wants to run a restaurant. Still, that's a good question we need to ask ourselves. What would we like to be, and how do we get there?

When asked at age 8, I said I'd like to be an engineer and build things, but that was before. Then at 11 my brother passed on and my teacher got me the scholarship forms to go to military school, and I really, really, wanted to be a pilot. Flying, eagle, spirit, I get it. Yet even though my heart was set on it and I came so close to my dream, I was already communicating with spirit and was gently, but firmly, led away from there.

I'd asked for a direction, and got the chance to go to school. I asked again, and was brought to Canada within the space of a few months. I got a good job. My brother was studying to be an electrical engineer but didn't like it. He asked if I could get him a job in my firm. I said no, it was a dead end. Instead of which he went to Canada's largest stockbrokers and eventually a president there and became quite well off.

I decided to write, that became the direction.

New York or London?

Marriage and children.

Job and career,

Sitting on a beach, and thinking. Quit my job and became a full time healer, teacher and writer.

Travel as part of my spiritual work.

Trying to find balance.

Each time, the goal was the same as it always had been. To find the God in me. To help others. The directions taken, the people and events that crossed my path, the setbacks, were all absorbed and I plodded along. Things I had set in motion were already taking place and it was time to once again, change direction.

And now, as we come to a spiritual crossroads in our life, here is the choice that faces you. You must decide which path you will take, and in which direction, and if your choice will be based on your spiritual or material needs. This time, you cannot have both, and this, will be the final direction taken.

So, choose well.

The Paths That Cross Ours

2010-09-13T18:53:00.004-04:00

We live in interesting times

Indeed, we do. And it is the paths that cross ours that make it the more interesting.

The paths that cross ours can be a planet, or a comet. It can be an event, or, a person. The question still is, and always will be, what do we learn from this?

Someone I loved met someone. The attraction was sudden. It coincided with planetary change. They married, sorta :) It lasted 2 months, and now they're done. The "I told you so's" are unremarkable. The coincidences, are remarkable. A child who was abused, married someone who was abusive, and who herself was the child of abuse. The parents involved all had holes in their heart chakras and in need of healing, but were unaware.

We lay in a field north of Toronto and the sky was filled with the flash of meteor shower; hundreds of streaks of light passing by, and then it was time to go on A Spiritual Journey to the U.S. http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/spiritual-journey-to-u.html

We saw the earth's shadow cross across the moon in L.A. and two months later there was the earthquake, and many more changes after I saw the shadow of the moon turn day into night on the Dartmoor hills. These paths crossed ours, and we changed because we accepted that we must.

And there were the countless people who were dying, or in coma, or a deep spiritual crisis, and they prayed and asked for help. They, the ones who needed me the most, met me, saw me, felt my healing touch. And they changed.

And so, when someone's path crosses yours, you change, because you must.

The Food That Nourishes Us

2010-09-01T21:58:00.001-04:00

Food for the soul

I got some sad news recently, and things have been especially tumultuous for everyone in the last few months, and I find myself writing more and more trying to help people make sense of things. We are all in need of nourishment, and perhaps, right now, the best nourishment would be a good soup or something equivalent. Bet you thought I was going to say something spiritual, right? :)

Well, we do need a good soup, and know, how to nourish ourselves. And food is the best nourishment, because until we give to our physical body, without that strong foundation, how can we build our emotional or spiritual selves?

So I did write Mastering The Art Of French Cooking to give an idea where I was coming from http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2010/05/mastering-art-of-french-cooking.html and I do recommend Food Is Your Best Medicine by Henry G. Bieler, M.D. but, the real nourishment is not in the recipe, but, the source of the food, and the environment you cook it in, and, whether you prepare it with love or not.

You can read Like Water For Chocolate (movie's great too) and if there's one book you MUST read it's The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais, sort of The Slumdog Millionaire becomes a three star chef in France, to see the sheer joy and love of cooking I am talking about.

I used to cook for my family and friends, simple food prepared with love, and everyone felt the energy and nourishment within that food. Now I am so preoccupied with things I rarely have the chance to cook, but Chloe does the cooking in the same spirit, and I suspect people love her desserts even more :) Yes, it's the joy of cooking for others, and what we put in it is love.

Yes, there are many different kinds of nourishment, and be it manna for Moses' people, the body of the Christ, and the slaughtered goats of Eid that Muslims are enjoined to give to the poor, yes there many ways we can give without all those er, other rules.

But I, will be dragging out the old barbeque for my family this week.

The Age of Taurus

2010-08-16T23:26:00.005-04:00

The beginning of a New Age

Those who remember the great awakening of 1962, when the Aquarian Age began, should read this: http://planetwavesweekly.com/dadatemp/373155372.html

Starting with a solar eclipse February 1962 in Aquarius, a grouping of planets in that sign called a stellium presaged the huge changes that were to follow: the assassinations, protests and riots, the space age leading to man on the moon, civil rights and anti-war movements, the Beatles landing in America, the Woodstock Generation, the glorious music and film, and, the global awareness of how we are all connected to each other, the theme of Aquarius, the water bearer.

And that influence is still there, yet here we are again, with another Age upon us. The Age of Taurus began with the great solar eclipse of August 1999, then a stellium of seven planets in Taurus, the bull, including Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions in 2000 and these energies are once again, bringing about changes within us.

Astrologers don't like to predict what will happen, because so much depends on our acceptance of change and the actions we undertake.

But as a spiritual teacher, I have no problem saying what cycle of change we are in, and what we must do.

First read this: http://thezodiac.com/forecasting/taurus2000.htm

"The Unknown Visitors: The ancient Roman poet, Ovid, informs us that once upon a time... the gods were quite concerned that they were being ignored. So Jupiter (the chief ruling god of thunder) and Mercury (the messenger god) visited Earth disguised as poor, beggarly travelers. All the many people who refused Jupiter and Mercury shelter were drowned in a great flood and thus repaid for their godlessness. Conversely, those who openly welcomed the unknown visitors into their home were then honored with the fulfillment of their greatest desires and hopes"

Saturn is the force that tells us where we must change, and Jupiter, the force that gives us the strength to make those changes, and the rewards that come with that.

Taurus is very closely connected with emotional foundations and financial resources. It is the sign of nature, so Taureans have a very strong connection with the earth. And it is a sign of power, which, if wrongly used, can turn upon itself. Taureans are the sweetest beings, but stubborn, and can be stuck in karmic patterns. And, they are the sign of the warrior, who has a choice between good and evil, and following one's path. Arjuna, the spiritual warrior who must choose between the material and the spiritual, is that archetype.

And it is amazing to me that so many who once used to be my closest friends and disciples are now back as coincidentally, Tauruses who must fight that battle between materialism and spirituality, and with so much karmic baggage, and at this crucial time in Earth's history.

But it is also the final battle we must all fight if we are to survive.

So many of us don't know who we are or how to accomplish our purpose in life. I was blessed in knowing, and have worked all my life in helping others do the same. I detailed in my first blog article "Who is this man?" (actually written from September 1999 on) and subsequent articles http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2007/12/who-is-this-man-1999-from-skies-will.html all the many events that have taken place and would take place.

The years from 2000 on continued with global warming, weather changes, financial disasters, war, earthquakes, floods and tsunamis, with incalculable human suffering. It pains me that I saw all these things happening, yet people missed what I tried to say to them since I wrote my second book in 1977. And now, once again, I say, there are great changes yet to come.

It saddens me to see the wars that never can be resolved, continue, the poverty side by side with the impervious rich, and the messages clearly stated, yet not listened to.

I was in Los Angeles for the 1994 earthquake, and New York prior to the events of 9/11, and each time I said: if people could not choose the spiritual path one day they would lose everything. I was in Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan and said the same thing, and disasters have taken place to this day. I was in the U.K. many times till finally, the great floods of 2007. I said the same to Muslims as I did to Jews, and now that prophecy is coming true.

The Age of Taurus is where we must determine where we got off our path, and work to find our way back to it.

Yes, these Ages are signs of the cycles we go through, and there are of course many Ages of varying length. But if you listen carefully to the ebb and flow of these cycles, you know that they are all connected to each other. And the Age of Taurus from 2000 is still connected to the Age of Aquarius from 1962. This is how:

The 1962 solar eclipse in Aquarius was exactly opposite to the 1999 solar eclipse in Leo which started the Age of Taurus. That stellium in Aquarius was square, or 90 degrees away from another stellium in Taurus then, and oppositions and squares signify stress in those areas.

And the 1962 Taurus stellium was exactly in the same position as this 2000 Age of Taurus. And finally, the new moon of August 10, 2010, is once again, back where it was on August 11, 1999.

This is the meaning of the Age. Because we have lost our way, changes are coming. Welcome those changes to your home, and you will be helped to accomplish your greatest desires and hopes. And just as I find that another child will be born in the sign of Aquarius to one dear to me, I have already chosen this picture to symbolize my message: A bull, led by a child, rising from a flood, and reaching for the stars.