death
Psychopomp Anyone? (Part 2)
“You must free yourself. The magic is within you.”– Bruce K. Avenell
During the process of grieving the loss of someone close to us, many times the lost energy tie we have with them is what we are feeling gone. Of course, we have strong feelings for them, but also the loss of shared exchange energy is what we are feeling. Sometimes this may be an energy co-dependency break off we are responding to, and this is what we have to deal with. However, if you have been doing something to regularly replenish your own inner energy supply, such as a system of meditation, then this should serve as a buffer against such a shock on your energy system. This is another reason that both you, as a person who will eventually cross over, and this person you are grieving, should have been striving to sustain your own energy supply independently of each other.
Other negative situations can make the transition to the other side very difficult. People who were so wrapped up in their earthly possessions may not realize they have died or don’t want to accept the fact, and refuse to pass on. Or others may become disoriented and have trouble making the transition, getting lost in the astral dream worlds. Either person may remain attached to a familiar place, such as a house they once inhabited, or become negative nuisances to those left behind, actually ‘haunting’ these areas. Not letting go like this may cause one to appear as some kind of spirit, apparition, ghost or phantom. Or if a person died of a violent or quick death, they may remain in the general vicinity of the incident, not knowing what to do. Such stranded entities usually have a detrimental effect on the physical people they hang around, often attaching themselves to them. This can result in the energy being sucked right out of them, possibly causing physical, emotional, mental and spiritual problems over time. Before you become enamored with the idea that your relative or friend may still be hanging out with you from the other side, consider the possible negative consequences for both of you.
Psychopomp Anyone? (Part 1)
“When one door closes, another opens…but often, we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which is opened before us.” — Helen Keller
In one of my meditations of just under 10 years ago, a very strange thing did indeed happen. At that point I had been doing this meditation scene for over 30 years, and nothing quite like this had ever occurred before. After I had been into the meditation for only about fifteen minutes and just started to actually get somewhere, suddenly a woman was right there jutting her face in mine. Now I don’t mean physically, but at some spirit level. She presented herself in a way that it appeared she was involved with some kind of voodoo or black magic.
Immediately I was jolted back some, totally unprepared for this. But I kept my composure, as I wanted to keep the contact going, this being such a very curious thing. She was obviously quite irritated with me about something. As the contact progressed and we “discussed” this concern she had, I began to get a picture of what was happening.
Anyway, this is the story. Turns out, as she says, that she is a psychopomp. A what, you ask? Exactly. I had the same reaction. For a few moments in the early part of this contact I started to wonder if all this was the result of something I had ingested the night before and this was just a total hallucination. But I went ahead and decided to see this thing through.
The Way of 12.21.12
“Do good, for good is good to do. Spurn bribe of heaven and threat of hell.” — The Kasidah, Sir Richard Burton (aka Haji Abdu El-Yezdi)
“The end is near.” So they say. Have been saying. Will continue to say. It is our way, isn’t it? To want to know when the end is? And why is that, do ya’ think?
I have been listening and watching all this for at least 25 years, since 1987 when the hyped-up ‘great’ Harmonic Convergence began this 25-year countdown. A clock that has finally wound down (thank goodness!). But believe me, another clock will start up to replace it, one way or another. And we will be facing another ‘end-of-the-world’ or ‘spiritual rebirth’ scenario.
I think there are a couple of factors of why we paint ourselves in a corner with these scenarios. First, we fear the end of everything, because we think there is nothing after ‘the end.’ So, this unknown end cannot include us, because it is ‘the end.’ And second, fear seems to be a common fuel that our world runs on. If the powers that be can keep that fire stoked, then there will always be something else out there to fear. Another end of something we must stress out about. And stress and tension will always keep us down, keep us bound to a never-ending cycle of perpetual concern.
Belief vs. Experience
“A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows.” – Samuel Clemens
Is there an amicable meeting ground between one person’s religious beliefs and another’s spiritual experiences? Or are these worlds and the people who inhabit them just too different, too much in conflict? I know this is a tall order, but I would like to explore that a bit here. Now right off I want to make it clear, this is not going to do an anti-religion diatribe here. That wouldn’t be fair, because it’s too easy, offering the target rich environment that they do. Obviously, that doesn’t mean I won’t take religion to task. No, I am trying to communicate what I think I might understand here. Ha, isn’t that how it always is? We think we know more that we do, but then we probably know more than we realize. Is that a paradox? Is that what I’m diving into? And maybe the questions I ask here are some evidence of a paradox in operation?
Anyway, here is my personal conundrum. Every once in a while I get asked about the religion I practice. Actually, and I want to state this emphatically, I do not practice any religion, any philosophy, or any belief system, at all. Does that make me an atheist, or a malcontent? Of course not. I just don’t adhere to the doctrine and dogma fed to the masses via the ‘recognized religions’ of the world. I know there are much larger forces and beings at work in the Cosmos than little ol’ me. Then the next question comes, but what about the spirituality that you sometimes talk about? My answer usually doesn’t soothe them, because it falls outside the normal parameters of religious belief. I answer that I base my spirituality on my own personal experiences. Uh, oh. Most just nod politely, not quite knowing how to take that. A few, I wish I could see their thought bubbles, because I’m sure they are priceless. A small percentage do engage with me beyond that, but don’t usually follow me too far. Such nonsense seems to be beyond the horizon of many. But I am not perturbed, insulted, or even concerned with all of that. It is the norm and I accept that. However, over the years I have seen more movement in my direction in this, so I am hopeful.
Finer Moments
“Life is eternal, and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.” – Rossiter R. Raymond
Exactly twelve years ago today was not a happy one for me. But it was quite instructive. Debbie, my wife of 17 years, and the mother of my two sons, passed from the physical world and into the next one. She had been fighting cancer for four years, and the battle had just taken too much of a toll on her body. That actual day she passed is still very vivid in my memory. Her mother, our two sons, and myself were present at her bedside. She had chosen to be at home when this happened. Within an hour after she left and when the funeral home was taking her body for cremation, I suddenly saw her standing in the area connecting the dining room to the living room. Now of course, I’m talking about her ‘spirit’ presence. And I didn’t see her with my physical eyes, but my spiritual sense of sight. She seemed to be floating about two feet off the ground and she looked radiant, but with this puzzled look on her face. Then she spoke to me in my mind, wanting to know what all this fuss was about.
The Fear Machine
“He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
I don’t buy it. Not only don’t I buy it, I just didn’t, and don’t, get it.
So, you ever notice how the world seems driven by fear? Gotta work harder and faster to pay all those bills, because if I don’t I’m afraid I won’t be able to eat, have shelter, or find a suitable partner to couple with, and then I’ll die. Gotta hunt more or grow more foot so I can eat, or I’m afraid I’ll die. Gotta kill those other people over there or I’m afraid they’ll take my land, and then I might die. Gotta get more stuff, or I’m afraid I won’t have enough stuff, and then I could die. Gotta do this or that, or I won’t have this or that, and that means I’m gonna die. That’s what it comes down to, right? Being afraid we might die, right? Because we got all these things so we don’t die. And if we die, oh my, we’re dead and gone, and never ever more trips to Oz.
Like I said, I didn’t, and I don’t, buy it. We’ve been sold a bill of goods, all based on fear.