I hope that you are all looking forward to Halloween! I always have roast pumpkin on Halloween night. Often stuffed with meat, nuts, carrots and sultanas with herbs and spices to give it a distinctly “orange and black” type flavor!
Halloween is one of my favorite festivals. Lots of spooky stuff on the TV, having friends around all dressed as creatures from a horror movie... and for the guests that drink, some of the wake up in the morning looking worse then they arrived :)
There is a lot of hocum spoken about the Halloween time of the year, it should be a time for friends and family, but some people say that we should not celebrate Halloween because of the darker connotations for the festival. I think that this is rubbish. As far as darker connotations, all festivals have them. On top of that the objections to celebrating Halloween come from members of both the Christian as well as the new age communities. Some Christians believe quite incorrectly that the festival is about devil worship, which it is not, it is about the celebration of the end of summer and the beginning of winter. Some pagans say that the festival is about death, and as such some magickal orders refuse to initiate anyone at Halloween. Indeed, the Irish rustics still say that it is better to be indoors on Halloween night as at this time of the year the Spirits are as thick on the ground as the blades of grass in the field. However there is some speculation as to whether this is out of fear of the Spirits, or a useful excuse that they can tell their women folk if they wish to spend the whole night in the pub, enjoying the companionship brought about by another type of “Spirit” . . . .
This time of year is full of superstition, and I would say that it is not worth worrying too much about them. It is best to carry on enjoying the trick or treating and scary movies on TV. However, I have had a wide variety of personal apparently supernatural experiences at Halloween time that were rather scary. A sense of presence in the dead of the night, seeing things that can only be described as “ghosts” and hearing anything from raps on the walls to disembodied voices. Many of these experiences point towards some other facts of the natural world that we humans still don't know enough about. Possibly the Spirits that the Irish rustics were afraid of, or maybe something else. . . .
Either way. Have a happy Halloween and, for when it comes, a Great Thanksgiving !
History and uses of Tarot
Some conspiracy theorists believe that the tarot is older than the old testament, making the first tarot packs or taros symbolism older then three thousand five hundred years old. However, that is not necessarily true. We have insufficient information to go by to state that as a hard and fast fact. But we can say that in earlier times people, instead of using the written word, would use symbols. As such there must be some similarities between the symbols of the tarot and ancient spiritual concepts. That much we can say with some degree of confidence.
We know of tarot firstly from the game, tarot was a card game that was played by noble men, soldiers and merchants and the suits of the minor arcana were symbolic of the high life being sport (polo sticks, batons or staves), drinking (cups), commerce (coins, disks or pentacles) and warfare (swords).
The major arcana are rather more mysterious with symbols that cover power, love and wisdom, and as such they have been accredited with being keys to unlock hidden wisdom.
Since the beginnings of tarot, the cards have become a bit of a tabula rasa or blank sheet, a one size fits all set of imagery that could be ascribed to many different meanings. In modern divination, we seem to prefer the ideas of the cards being symbolic of life transitions and states of being.
A good reader will be able to use the symbology of the cards in the designed tarot spread and apply meanings from the enquirers question to the meanings that appear in the spread.
Each card can have a myriad of meanings so one needs to both use the intuitive creative sense as well as the logical rational mind. It can be a very intellectually challenging job to read tarot!
Divorce.
For some people divorce is the best thing that could ever happen to them, for others it is the thing that they most fear. For yet others, a divorce is something that they want to happen to someone that they are in a relationship with, so that the relationship can move forward. There are so many different things that need to be taken into account when a divorce is in the air. The distribution of money and property is just one, but before any of that can happen, the willingness to see the divorce though to the end, to keeps ones composure to the last and to make sure that something good happens as a result of the divorce is essential.
It is one of the most emotionally draining times of anyone's life, and one has to think with great care as to what one want to happen as a result of the divorce.
Being a reader, (of nearly 3 years long standing here on keen.com!) I am faced with divorce stories on a very regular basis.
If you want your partner to divorce his or her wife or husband, be sensitive to what they will have to face. Often they may be avoiding divorce due to complexities in their relationship, but more likely they may be afraid of the fear itself that comes with a divorce. Be aware that the divorced-to-be will be anticipating a great deal of work and some hard times in the future before the whole process gets finalized.
If you are working towards a divorce yourself, make sure you know that you are doing the right thing and that you are moving your life forward. It is the last thing that you will do with your partner and remarrying the same person rarely happens (it does happen sometimes, but that is rare).
Often you may need an impartial person to talk to about the matter of the divorce, that is where I come in. With many years of helping people through tough times I can guide you through the spiritual aspects of the divorce.
What does it mean to help people?
A reading is an intellectual process. In saying that I mean that intellectual and creative faculties of the mind are being used and exercised. Often the client calls the reader because they have some issue that they wish to understand in greater clarity and as such a conversation needs to start that has some ability to change the mind and perspective of the client.
Now, everyone gets a reading for a different reason, for some it is for confidence or reassurance, and for others it is because of a desire for advice. Both of these two types of readings are different (The word “reading” here just refers to the call itself). Confidence and reassurance implies conformation, but advice requires that the client receive direct instruction, often based on opinion and opinion that has been driven by experience, in this case the experience, education and point of view of the reader. There are other types of readings too, those which are more psychic driven.
The best types of readings are those which act as a type of contemplative conversation, one in which the client covers many aspects of their life path and reflects on certain subjects, such as relationships, with the reader. The calls in this case take on a three way conversation aspect, between the cards, the reader and the client. These types of calls cant provide benefit in just one or two minutes, they may take longer. These types of readings use the full knowledge and experience of the reader as well as trying to fulfill the needs of the client. It is true that these calls are much more demanding on the reader, but they also provide much greater benefits to the client too. It is a way of making sure that the reader gives the client value for money and it is often a life changing call.
It is true that you have to choose the right reader for you, and I know that some readers need more help then they are capable of giving. In my case I have a degree in sociology and psychology, have studied natural and neuroscience and have spent time being trained in counseling theory and practice. Also, to make sure that I don't transfer any issues from my life on to you during your sessions with me, I am also heavily involved in self help spiritual therapies and do get counseling myself to ensure that your experience with me are the most rational and beneficial that you can get.
Also, my psychic career history spans more then 20 years and have had spiritual experiences since my childhood. I have been in earth religion spiritual groups and have learned about magick, christian healing and much more. One of the most important things that I have learned is that we are essentially all one and that we live to assist each other in our spiritual growth.
NickDutch
It is often hard to know how someone feels about you especially if communication has been slow or if they just don't open up, but once in a while you can get the clarity that you need, you can find the answer though a process.
Not everyone is right to provide this process, some people have not spent enough time in relationships or don't have the empathy to help others to through a difficult situation, but some people can.
Initial readings, the type that one gets in the first 1 or 2 minutes of a call to a reader can only give you a light dusting of form about the relationship situation and they don't usually help to resolve the issue. Also if the reader feels under pressure to provide results in the first two minutes of the call he or she might not be able to hit the right prayerful “note” in which the inspiration can flow and the reader feels that he or she is in touch with the global social “group mind” that everyone talks about.
It is a very skilled process. The calls are by their very nature a conversation, but the client rarely knows what the read is doing on the other side of the phone. Some readers believe that they are contacting the akashic records, a reservoir of knowledge on the astral plane, for others, they see this as contact to a spiritual guide.
I feel that it is more a question of allowing the questions of the clients to help me to direct my apparent spiritual gaze to certain areas of the clients life. A process similar to scrying, but with the Tarot as a tool to help me to open up.
Remember that finding the answer is only part of your journey.
The word “magic” is connected to and directly related to the word “magi” which of course refers to the same ideas and ideologies of the three “wize” men that visited Jesus Christ and gave their gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Murr.
There is some debate as to whether these gifts were of an allegorical or literal nature, but the fact that it is assumed that the gifts were allegorical, referring to Life, Death and Resurrection (quite prophetic considering the story of Jesus!) shows that these men, if they really existed (which I believe they did) were definitely following what is called the Science of the magic.
Now this science (magic) is not a science as the word is used these days, it is a body of knowledge, a group of likely assumptions made by individuals who have experienced religious states of being and have come to a certain perspective on the way that the natural world seems to work, how the divine interacts with the physical and how religious activities of certain types seems to, under some strange circumstances, have an effect on the workings of the physical world.
This “science” is still alive and well today and is practiced by people of all religions. It is a real an living practice, a spiritual path that overlaps with, but is not entirely a part of the standard religious paths that we are all familiar with.
Modern magicians, prayerful people of a certain type, practice their magick in the form of rituals and prayers that have been designed to follow certain precise lines, symbols and ritual paraphernalia are gathered together for the performance of the rituals. Complex categories of symbols, chants and even perfumes are used to assist the magician to reach the desired state of being that he or she believes can unleash the magickal force to create a certain result.
Although magick can no longer claim to be a science in the same way as the natural sciences (such as quantum physics) it still follows the same stages of investigation, research, observation, experimentation and then the creation of a unifying world view that explains many strange phenomena, and naturally the creation of formula, on the same “scientific” lines to try and create a real result.
I have myself as a direct result of following magickal formula, had direct experiences with beings that appeared to be Angels and Archangels, Spirits, Ghosts and shades of the dead. I have also performed Magick that has had an influence on others at a great distance and do Magick rituals regularly and as part of my normal spiritual practices. I have been a Magickian for more then 20 years and have had psychic type experiences since childhood
Rituals can be done to clear away negative energy, to assist in reconnecting lovers, to bring a new love into your life, to help you with your career, to help you to find a new house to buy or a room to rent.
My rituals last an hour and I charge $50 for each one at the moment. Roughly what a plumber would charge for one hours worth of work, and I include the preparation for the ritual free of charge.
It is amazing the thigns that we humans go through in life. I had a client recently who was going through a serious break up and needed some guidance. I heard the clients story and realised that the client had been treated really badly by the man in question. i knew that a solution had to be found and I saw that the client was in deep distress.
I felt bad for the client and explained that the boyfriend was being bad to her beacuse of some spiritualmalaise, a sense fo lack of control and a desire to control her (the client).
After the call I was concerned for her and wanted to help her to get better from the problem. What could I say that coudl help her?
After a some days she called me back and told me that she had been for a short holiday with the boyfriend. She told him that things could not cary on that way and that she wanted to have her independence in the relationship. The boyfriend wasnt haveing that and in theend he became nasty to her. She remebered what I had told her and pushed her boyfriend away.
It was a call that made me feel proud of the client. Shehad gained some strength as a result of having readngs with me and was now capeable of making major life changes herself. She had grown.
You see, the role of a reader is not just to say yes or no, we are guides through life and can help you, the client to find solutions. Often the action of just having the call can help the client to learn and grow. Being there is the greatest gift we can give them.
It always makes my work worth while when I am directly responsible for assisting a client in her growth.
When people call me and ask me whether
they will connect again with the one that they love I have to take
into account a number of different factors. After all, a reading is
not just the turn of the cards nor is it is the influence of Spirit
alone. There are more things to be taken into account.
We have to look at the communication
and contemplate what has happened in the recent past, we have to look
at the callers hopes and aspirations and work out how to make
manifest the life that the client wants. My job is realistically
about trying to assist the client to get the life that they are
after. I can only do this though talking with the client on the
phone. The client themselves have to make decisions about the
quantity of action that they take and how to make their dream
manifest. The reader is, however, an essential guide in the process.
When you call me, ask yourself this: Am
I after a one way answer or the two way call that wil change the path
of my life?
Then we can sculpt the call
accordingly.
NickDutch
We have had May Day, one of the most powerfil times of the year, and now we are on the way to midsummer. Dowsers believe that the energy lines fo the earth are at their height at this time of the year and as such the approach to midsummer will provide us with many benefits. Not just to the land and those who live on the land, but to all of us. It has long been believed that as we are the product of the universe, we can say that our minds and souls are intimately connected with the planets. But there is one planet that has the greatest level of power, and that is our own. It is important for us to appreciate the way that the world works, whether we are engaged in environmental activities such as recycling or being a part of a larger organisation, such the save the rainforest campaign that has been set up by HRH Prince Charles, it is vital that we engage with the earth in our own terms.
Seasonal celebration is performed by all the worlds religions for a reason, it connects us with life itself.
On the run up to midsummer, see this time as being somethgin spiritual, to do with your own mentality and your own health of spirit, body and mind. Enjoy the fruits and foods that your cultures deem right for the season to connect yourself to this time of the year and, in silent contemplation, realise how special each and every moment really is.
I have just finished publishng a lot of internet content about the fact that pseudoscience is just a phrase that is used to censor ideas and that freedom of speach is curtailed by the use of the word pseudoscience.
I am now working on developing a thesis for the very real science of Magick and the Supernatural.
I will let you know how I get on
NickDutch
How many sociologists does it take to change a light bulb?
Its not the lightbulb that needs changing, its the system.... :)
How many free market libitarian conservatives does it take to change a light bulb?
None, the market will look after it :)
NickDutch
One of the hardest things that we
humans face is the moral way of life. We are bombarded by stresses
and issues left a and right. Problems wit the boss at work, problems
with money and problems with the family and friendship circles. We
struggle to work well with our fellow man and what happens when we
reach a time when our income and expenditure don't match up?
We all want to see ourselves as moral
and responsible people who work hard and live in the best way that we
can, but once in a while we need to reflect back on our lives and
have a look at our moral compass.
Have we gone off track? Are we missing
a point, are we not following what we know to be right?
Humans are very complex creatures and
we make mistakes. Often the instincts that have been given to us my
nature are creating issues that are going against the moral grain,
such as the woman who has grown an addiction to the emotional state
of a new relationship to the point whereby she wishes to leave the
husband that has been with her for years and has supported her in all
ways, and wants to make new relationship connections with new men,
which invariably fail, thus leaving the woman alone without both
husband and lover. Or maybe the man whose lust for money grows so
strong that he acres not whether he hurts anyone on the way, or the
addict who steals from his family to buy drink and drugs.
Often the issues can happen on more
subtle levels and we can get resentment and bitterness that build up
under our skin for years and years thus making us powerless over a
new instinctive drive to hate and score points against people who, in
reality, aren't our rivals at all.
No matter what, at some point the human
may wish to change the path of his or her life and bring the morality
back under check and find a solution. When we humans search for a
solution to the issues of our moral compass being pushed off track we
may search through many different methodologies, but eventually we
come to something that can be roughly or loosely called “spiritual”
solutions.
Sometimes we misunderstand the
spiritual issue at stake through lack of in depth searching and
fearless objective and rational analysis of what the problem is, and
at times we may seek the solution and find the wrong one, sometimes
making the problem worse before it gets better, this is,
unfortunately, often our way of change and personal growth. But in
many cases, if we are persistent on our search, we will find the
right spiritual solution to the very real moral (psychological) issue
at the heart of the matter.
Often, an inability to find the
solution in a religious or spiritual path comes about through giving
up before we have begun rather like an amateur metal detector knowing
that metal lurks in a beach, but gives up after having only searched
the first 1% of the whole beach.
Don't get me wrong here, each spiritual
and religious school of thought has dozens of different paths and
attitudes. Often the path as promoted by the religious person may not
be the one that the seeker needs. It is up to the seeker to find the
right path of change.
Remember that in this context, I am
referring to spirituality as the means of personal change rather than
to follow any stereotypes that any religious person may be promoting.
Know that the path of change is out
there and you will need to carry on your search to find it and to
find the value of that change for you.
I have an interest in everything alternative.
The idea of totally free energy is a misnomer. There is always some
expense in involved whether that is time, materials or the purchase of
equipment that you need to be able to create or use this allegedly free
energy. Maybe the term "alternative energy" is more useful. But a lot
of the technology that is called "alternative" has been in existence
for years. With the erratic costs of fuel being an issue, a growing
movement of people wanting to be off grid and a sense of impending
planetary doom, more and more people are wanting to get their hands on
the elusive free energy, but still without compromising their modern
21st century lifestyle.
It seems to me that a combination of different alternative energy
sources would be needed to provide a house with enough power to run it
and provide for modern living standards. After all we still need energy
to boil water for tea and coffee and who doesn't want to watch TV or
surf the internet at the end of the day? Let alone to power a washing
load.
On top of that, cost is an issue. There is no point in having free
energy and then finding that it costs more to build and install than
using it straight from the grid. So your alternate energy has to be
cheap to build and install, safe to use and to provide for all your
needs summer and winter.
It is most likely that most people would want to use alternative energy
sources to supplement the energy that they are buying in to their home
rather than replacing all of it, so the right choice should be made as
to what you need to use.
Also you may need to consider what abundant sources of natural energy
that you have around you. Is there plenty of wind/ then consider wind
turbines. Is there an abundance of sunlight? Then consider solar. Do
you have land with a stream on it? Then consider hydroelectric.
What if you haven't got all that much in the way of land and only a
postage stamp sized garden? Then there are still ways that, during
certain times of the year you can use alternative energy.
But lets start with solar energy and its uses. Solar can be used to
create water heating, air heating during the day and via rather
expensive photovoltaics, electricity. However there is another use of
solar energy and that is for cooking. Focused solar energy from a large
Fresnel lens framed in a wooden frame and supported on a mount can be
used, if reflected off a mirror to heat the underside of a frying pan
or pot to boil water. Another use is to use cardboard boxes painted
black on the inside, with a perspex door and some reflective material
around it to focus the sunlight into the box to raise the inner
temperature to that of an oven, so that your lunchtime or evening meal
can be cooked inside it.
When dealing with air heating, some have had a great deal of success in
creating large shallow box with a pane of perspex on the outside. The
inside of he box has been filled with drinks tins that have had holes
put in the bottom, and long cylinders of these tins are created and
stacked in the box. The tins are then sprayed mat black. Air vents are
created at the top and bottom of the box and the air is allowed to
circulate though the whole box, though the tins and then to come out
the top and then the air is pumped into the house via a fan and some
insulated ducting. Temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius have been
recorded by this method, and temperature differentials from minus 20
Celsius to plus 20 Celsius inside have also been reported as a result
of this method.
Water heating by solar is similar, but instead of having a mass of tins
for air to circulate around, a bent copper tube is used to carry water
from the bottom of the water taken to the top of the water tank and the
circulation is kept going by convection. Instead of copper tubing, I
saw a video of a guy that used a radiator griddle from the back of a
refrigerator. Be inventive!
Wind power is only used to either move water that can be used to
generate electricity (a la Loch Awe scheme) or directly though the
creation of electricity. Most wind enthusiasts seem to be DIY builders
of wind generators rather then buyers of wind turbines.
There are two different types, the vertical axis turbine that does not
rely on the wind coming from any particular direction and then the
horizontal axis turbine which has a tail fin that pushes the blades
into the direction of the incoming wind. The turbine then turns a
permanent magnet motor 9whih acts as a generator) and that produces the
current. Whether you are using wind or solar electricity the power then
has to go though a charging regulator before it reaches your battery
bank so as not to over charge the batteries. Some people then convert
the 12 volt current to a 240 V AC current via a inverter so that they
can then run their mains devices off the stored sunlight and wind power.
Apart from the forms of energy mentioned above, namely solar and wind
power, there are only three other categories of alternative energy, and
they all operate by combustion. Solid fuel, liquid fuel and gas fuel.
Solid fuel includes wood, coal, paper and cardboard, dried animal dung.
Liquid fuel covers vegetable oils (bio diesel) and alcohol.
Gas fuel includes wood gas, hydrogen, methane.
You either need to find the most efficient way of burning the fuels or the most cheapest ways of manufacture and usage.
If, for instance you have used solar heating air panels to keep the
place warm during the day, you may wish to use wood burning stoves to
heat the place at night. Wood pellet stoves are quite the rage these
days and are being designed to be more efficient than ever before
thanks to "clean burn" technology which means that they can even be
used in smokeless zones. Or alternatively if you have used your solar
photovoltaics to generate hydrogen though electrolysis during the day
(and to continual top up the power via a vertical axis wind turbine),
then you can burn the hydrogen at night (being careful to have designed
the electrolysis cell to separate hydrogen and oxygen) in the central
heating system with a few minor modifications. Alternatively you can
use stored electricity to operate though a hydroxy heater at night via
hydrogen Gas On Demand (also though electrolysis) heating system.
As far as cooking is concerned if you are cooking out doors then wood
gas stoves (which rely on turning the gases that come off the charred
and burning wood, principal carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane, into
flame through adding gentle jets of extra hot fresh air above the fire)
or a alcohol stove is an excellent solution. Some spirit stoves have a
remote fuel supply meaning that you only use the quantity of spirits
that you need and can save the rest. Although I haven't researched the
legality of it, you can probably make your own alcohol for burning
through fermentation and distillation (some people use a 50/50 mix of
alcohol to unleaded petrol by weight, not volume, mix in their petrol
vehicles to save on the environment and bills). If you are cooking
indoors then a hydrogen gas oven or stove will be the best solution if
you can make or get a hydrogen electrolysis cell that separates the
gases.
Another way of generating gas to be used for domestic heating, cooking
and even lighting of you use a gas mantle, is to create wood gas in a
gasification unit. Come plans have been created by FEMA and broadcast
on line and some crazy enthusiasts are building large gassifiers even
to create fuel for their petrol cars and vans. It is another gas on
demand solution, and relies on combustion in a low oxygen environment
to produce the gases that can then be used at home. Gasifiers are
another type of device that can be used to generate heat for the home
when the sun goes down, or if you can stand the stench of frying, there
I nothing to stop you from buying a diesel space heater and running
that off bio-diesel that is made from used vegetable oil, methanol and
potassium hydroxide.
Nick Dutch
When I was younger and starting in mediation I had no real structure as to how to build my skills up. Most structure and education into meditation happens though religious organizations that I was wary of.. That was probably a good thing as I did not trust any religious lunatic to teach me without attempting to brainwash me, so I had to experiment alone.
One of the things that I didn't know how to properly relax and enter into the meditative state.
The first few times that you try this it can be hard as you have no reference points as to what changes should happen in the body and mind to make the whole thing happen.
With the passage of the years I have noticed that the body reacts to the meditative state and I can more readily discern the different states of being associated with the lighter and heavier states of trance that I have needed to initiate as a result of mediation. I have also been able to use concentration on some “moods” to help me to reach different states of mind.
But firstly one must develop the skills that are needed. I am a firm “believer” that meditation works well if the body is well nourished, as when I have had times of nutritional deficiency, I have found it harder to enter into the necessary trance state, as a certain level of concentration and attention is needed to make the meditation happen.
Most meditation I do is lying on my back. This is primarily because of back problems that I have had and certain meditation positions don't help a bad back! But there is one inherent danger there and that is falling asleep. However, I guess if my body needs to sleep I had better let it :) I will point out that when I am doing more ritual style meditations, I may use a wide variety of postures.
Meditation happens with a certain level of single mindedness, holding the attention on something and keeping it there.
One of the things that I have historically concentrated on was breath. Breathing in through the nose and out though the mouth, feeling the cool eddies and ripples of cool air entering in the nose and the hot carbon dioxide and moisture exiting the mouth. Generating a comfortable rhythm and keeping the attention purely on the breath. Try and keep that going for a total of 10 minutes straight daily until it feels natural. With practice, if you can keep the mind off the shopping list, paying the rent and mortgage and all that jazz, you will notice that the body starts to relax in a different way, you will start to feel the peripheral circulation “opening up” and warm blood flowing in parts where it has been previously restricted from flowing to in your daily waking state of consciousness.
Thinking using language may be detrimental to your progress in meditation, as that requires certain regions of the brain that are best left to sleep when you rare concentrating on meditative relaxation. But at some moments you can interject and use suggestion to make changes happen as a result of suggestions based on neuro-linguistic programming methodology. This can be psychosomatic as in control of the heart rate, or control of the cardiovascular system and the like or more organ specific work such as increasing the activity in the liver or aiding the digestion, or maybe you want to do an experiment with self healing at this time?
Other forms of suggestion can be affirmations or a imaginary visualized journey and visualizing yourself performing certain tasks to allow your brain to grow in some ways that are constructive to executing certain tasks. It is believed that the neuro-plasticity effect may take 3 months of practice to achieve statistically significant change in the brain structure as a result of meditation. Use it! Be disciplined and work towards results.
If concentration breath doesn't do it for you, try mantra and experiment with other altered states methodologies. Most of all, be disciplined, and work to wards results. (it can actually be one of the most pleasurable things that you can do alone!)