CHRISTMAS: A (Lost) Cause For Celebration?

Here we go again. It is that time of the year again. I am quite amazed that we have reached the 21st Century and people still celebrate Christmas without being any wiser to its true origins. The idea that Christmas is the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ could not be further from the truth. This time of the year has become such a grotesque spectacle of excessive indulgence in all things immoral it leaves little in the way of any spirituality. Even if Jesus Christ really was born on 25th December and he intended us to celebrate his birthday, do you really think such an enlightened Being and Ascended Master would want us to celebrate it in the way it is done, with the massive exploitation, abuse and deaths of so many creatures in the meat and dairy industry, and in the cosmetics and perfumery industry, the global destruction of the environment and the extensive exploitation of peoples in the Third World, the drunken debauchery and sexual licentious behaviour that follows the festive irreverent revelry and the pretentious, false
emotive nonsense of people feeling obliged to send Christmas cards to people they do not even like? Picture this, and picture it well. The department stores are busy with all manner of people, the various arrays of scents fill the air tempting you to buy the latest designer perfume, its fancy, glittery packaging and heavy chemical smell hides the reality behind it. All of these perfumes and cosmetics contain the same ingredients and are made by the same companies, but you pay for the name on the label. You also buy into the suffering and exploitation of the animals that were tested on just so that you can smell 'nice' for a while. Then you go into the supermarkets and there you are confronted with so much choice of foods, all packaged clean and clinical…..but most of it is artificial and toxic and also hides another reality of suffering and exploitation just so that you can gluttonise on 3 times as much food on Christmas Day as a person in the Third World will eat in one week, and in doing so you will also contribute to the increase in green-house gases and deforestation in the process. You see it does not stop there. This is not just a one day a year activity. It may reach excessive proportions at this time of year, but for most people it is a life-style. What they eat, what they wear, what they buy, what they do in their life-style all adds up. A life-style which the world can do without.
So let us now examine the truth behind this continuing festival of foolish falsehood.
Firstly, and most importantly, Jesus Christ was NOT born on 25th December. In fact, he was not even born in the month of December. The Bible which narrates his birth tells us that the shepherds were with their flocks in the fields. All the Christmas cards depict shepherds with sheep in the fields at night which perpetuates this error. In that area of the world, December is too cold and harsh for shepherds to keep their animals out in the fields. The animals would have been kept indoors and would have been taken indoors at night from around autumn. The area where Jesus Christ was born was formerly part of Syria, although some of it now lies in the region known as modern Palestine. December is their winter time and can be as cold and wet as Europe. The fact that shepherds still had their animals out in the fields at night indicates that it was around late summer/early autumn, in the month of Ethanim which is September/October time when Jesus Christ was actually born. The Bible does not mention the number of Wise Men who travelled although Christmas cards also like to perpetuate the number of three Wise Men. This is probably associated with later 'trinity' beliefs in Christendom. It would more than likely have been a travelling caravan of merchants, holy men, chieftains and patriarchs en route from Yemen, Persia, Egypt and Babylon and included nobles, dignitaries or priest kings from these civilisations. They bought gifts of frankincense and myrrh. These products were highly prized and would only have been reserved for very important or royal persons which give further evidence that Jesus Christ was not just an ordinary person. Caravan trains travelling such routes carrying merchandise for trading purposes were common in those times and would not have aroused any suspicion. The specific 'Wise Men' or Magi could easily have travelled undetected with their caravans until they found the location where the important, royal Christ child was born, which by this time Jesus was now actually in a house and not in the traditional manger so beloved of Nativity scenes.
So why did December become such an important month in the Christian calendar in the first place? The reason originates with the Winter Solstice which falls around the dates of 21st and 22nd December. This is a time when the sun appears to stop in the sky prior to beginning its journey back across the heavens and is the shortest day of the year in the western northern hemisphere. After the Winter Solstice the days gradually get longer and the ancient European peoples considered this to be the birthday of the Sun. They believed that at this time, the Sun was reborn again. To celebrate this, there would be festivals in mid-winter and also as a way of helping folks to comfort themselves during long, dark and cold days. In ancient Rome, the Feast of Saturnalia was held between 17th and 23rd of December and gifts would be exchanged. The Romans also held the Feast of Brumalia on the Solstice Day and considered this to be the birthday of Mithras who was the Roman Unconquered Sun god. The Norsemen also celebrated their own Festival of Yule at this time to herald the return of the Sun.
Christmas has long been associated with the idea of exchanging gifts and this too is an ancient practice. Apart from the Romans, giving gifts at Saturnalia, they also exchanged presents on the Feast of Kalends, which we call New Year's Day and from where the western calendar originates. These customs prevailed all over the Roman Empire when Christianity was still a new religion. When Christianity spread to the northern lands, the Vikings were worshipping their own interpretation of the Creator in the form of Odin. Odin was believed to ride his chariot through the night sky during the time of the Winter Solstice when he would throw down gifts to worthy warriors. Due to the fact that the exchange of gifts was linked to pagan festivals, devout Christians originally did not exchange gifts at all. The whole idea of gift-exchange continued and could not be erased by the growing new religion of Christianity. As a result, the early Church decided to compromise by introducing their own Christian icon in an attempt to co-erce people into abandoning their own former associations with gifts and non-Christian religion.
They chose to introduce St. Nicholas, the former Bishop of Myra in the 4th Century.
One thing that qualified him for his role of gift-bringer was that his Feast Day was on 6th December, a date quite close to the Solstice and easy for both dates to be connected in the minds of the masses which the Church sought to control. St. Nicholas became a useful Saint to use as he was multi-purpose for the Church's aims. His responsibilities included the welfare of pawn-brokers, boatmen, parish clerks, dockers, and barrel-makers amongst others. So he seemed like a good old all-rounder for the protection of ordinary folk. He was also the Patron Saint of Russia and Aberdeen in Scotland. The best-known story about him tells of his leaving 3 bags of gold on a poor man's window-sill as dowries for his three daughters. One version of this tale states that the gold was thrown through the window and landed in a stocking that had been hung up to dry.
This could explain the whole idea behind the traditional Christmas custom of children leaving a stocking hanging up for Father Christmas to leave gifts in.
Jesus Christ is often known as the Light of the World, a title that continues with the theme of darkness in the retreat of the light, or the retreat of evil in the face of good.
The most central aspect to traditional Christmas is the Christmas tree but this is also steeped in ancient spiritual traditions. The tree chosen is the spruce which holds a rich symbolism long forgotten by most people. The Christmas tree was introduced into Great Britain by Prince Albert during the Victorian Era. It was a legacy of German medieval mystery plays where the tree was celebrated each year as a symbol of rebirth. The Norwegian spruce has become the traditional Christmas tree and, since the last World War, Norway has given one to England each year where it stands for all to see in Trafalgar Square. However, there are much older rituals which preceded the Christian symbol of the fir tree. The Church still fully aware of the much older pagan origins of Christmas were unable to ban the practice entirely especially as so many people still needed the reassurance of the Christmas tree symbol at a time when the ground was barren and the trees were naked. The tree was brought indoors to both represent the idea of bringing life and greenery back into the world and also to brighten up homes in the otherwise dark and barren environment at this time. This is probably why yew trees, which are symbolic of eternal life, remain in church yards. The Norwegian spruce also conjures up fairytale images of a traditional idyllic Christmas scene with expanses of white pristine snow, forests draped in pure whiteness with only the footprints of deer and moose. In Scandinavian countries, ancient myths still run deep throughout their culture. The greatest and most well-known myth tells of the World Tree or World Ash whose presence runs throughout history, in every culture and religion. The myth is of Yggdrasil, the tree of Odin who was the great All-Father Creator God. He was believed to have hung from this tree for nine days and nine nights to gain knowledge of the runes. This tree was also referred to as the Cosmic Tree which spanned the universe with its roots in the underworld and its branches supporting the heavens, while the trunk was the earth at its centre.
Symbolically, these images have been used as archetypes for human mental, emotional and spiritual growth. Like the tree, we are rooted in the physical world of matter which we need to function on an everyday level. Yet the roots can be perceived as our connection to both the Earth and as an entry point to the Underworld, or Hidden World of Spirit. From descending into the hidden depths of our subconscious, our spiritual growth can provide us with the ability to ascend the trunk towards a higher level of awareness to begin the process of transmuting our base substances or so that we may partake of that spiritual fruit traditionally forbidden in the Garden of Eden story. The same symbolic tree exists in Hebrew Kabbalistic Traditions and in Christianity; Jesus Christ was sacrificed on a tree. In Buddhism, the Buddha sat under a banyan tree for 49 days to become enlightened and the idea of a World Tree offering the stages of enlightenment exist in other cultures including ancient Greece, Egypt, South America and all shamanic belief-systems. Traditionally, the top of Christmas trees are decorated with stars or an angel. The star represents the same star which acted as a portent to guide the Wise Men to the place where Jesus Christ was born. Of course, both the star and angel is seen as the peak of enlightenment or the guiding force. Though my analysis of the modern trappings of secular Christmas is not meant to encourage complete doom and gloom at this time of year. People who know the true meaning of Christmas will be celebrating it while treading lightly on the earth. A Pagan friend of mine was once asked by her neighbour why she put up a Christmas tree if she was a Pagan? She replied that it was because she was a Pagan that she put up a Christmas tree! Sacrifice will mean giving up all the products of exploitation that everyone else will be indulging in and making it a lifestyle choice. By doing this, not only is the soul purified but also the mind and body, and in doing so not only do we move closer to the star at the top of the tree, or 'enlightenment', we also release all those negative and harmful connections that so many people are bound to in this current society, especially at this time of year.

SOUND THERAPY FOR HEALING!

As a follow on to my last piece about the harmful effects of most western music in society I would like to look at situations where sounds can be beneficial.
Throughout history and cultures, sound and music has shown the ability to either heal or harm. Everything in the universe is made up of molecules which are all vibrating at different frequencies. The human ear can hear between 20-22,000 Hz so most of the frequencies given off by the objects in the world around us are either below, (too dense), or above, (too fine), our range of hearing but it does not mean that we cannot feel them. When astronauts first went into space they suffered 'space sickness' which was believed to be because they were being deprived of the Earth's resonance. Instruments that emitted 7.83 Hz- the Earth's frequency – were fitted and the 'space sickness' was no longer experienced. Our organs and other different parts of our bodies all resonate a different note which when blended together can produce a 'symphony' that is like our own unique fingerprint. Obviously, there are basic standard frequencies for optimum health and in an ideal world we would all be in harmony and balance. Due to the constant bombardment of negative factors in our lives such as stress, negative energies, pollution, etc, we are often just continually out of tune with our true resonance. This obviously impacts upon our lives over a period of time and leads us to dis-ease.
Sound Therapy is becoming a popular way of re-tuning our own individual resonance with the world around us and re-harmonising our mind, body and spirit. Sound is used to correct imbalance on all levels using a method known as 'Sympathetic Resonance Entrainment'. One example of this is using two tuning forks of the same note and holding them close to each other. When you strike one of these forks, the other fork will begin to ring. This is because the sound waves from the tuning fork that was struck has travelled through the air and activated the tuning fork that was not struck. The tuning fork that was not struck is considered as coming into sympathetic resonance with the other fork. Ancient instruments such as traditional Tibetan/Himalayan or Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls are often employed as is tuning forks, gongs, didgeridoo, voice toning, over-toning, percussion and mantras etc.
The various tones of a gong or a vocal over-toning can be very affective in healing although some people who may be sensitive can dislike some of the deeper sounds of a Singing Bowl or Gong which can resonate around a room and send a vibration through the human body before the sound is actually heard. Each person will be aware of their own levels of sensitivity and should ask the Sound Therapist to stop if they start to feel uncomfortable physically or mentally.
Sound Therapy is a complementary therapy and not meant as an alternative to orthodox medicine. It can be used as a preventative therapy or alongside orthodox medicine depending upon the nature of the illness or the level of that illness. Many people like to use Sound Therapy for emotional problems such as stress, tension, mild depression, etc. It can also be used to boost the immune system. If only we could detect and clear out imbalances and negative energies before they were able to manifest in physical illness.
When we allow ourselves to continue living our everyday lives without taking time out to listen to what our own bodies our telling us we can come to the point where are energy fields are so blocked that they will take a long time to clear. It is believed that negative energy manifests itself within the auric field long before being diagnosed as a physical illness. Sound Therapy, like Reiki, Spiritual Healing and Chiron Healing is a form of Energy Medicine in that it attempts to treat the energy fields of living beings before illness can develop or worsen. Such methods of healing have been done on both humans and animals with interesting and positive results.
Many ancient civilisations used sound as a powerful tool for healing. Modern practitioners of Sound Therapy tend to use a combination of both ancient and modern techniques to produce an effective healing tool that is a synergy of scientific fact, intuition and centuries of knowledge and wisdom taken from peoples who knew and used it. Sound Therapy has been known to help with headaches, migraines, insomnia, hormonal problems, cysts and many other problems. However, it will depend upon the cause and level of the illness as to whether Sound Therapy will help a specific individual.
Most people experience Sound Therapy as deeply relaxing, nurturing and energising. Gentle sounds are played around the person helping to shift energy blockages, negative energy patterns and so allowing the free flow of chi energy to be resumed. It is said to be particularly useful in supporting people who may be going through transitions or wishing to make a change in their life's direction. Sound Therapy is used to help restore and maintain balance on all levels and has been compared to a form of non-invasive sonic massage. Sound Therapy is also used in Feng Shui and Space Clearing.

STOP WESTERN MUSIC!

Nature is a wonderful teacher if only we would listen. Unfortunately, we live our lives bombarded by all things unnatural which have deafened and blinded us to hearing and seeing the inner knowledge which lie deep within us and all around us in the natural world. Nature itself responds to the environment just as we do. Even animals and plants respond to certain types of sounds. It has been discovered that whereas classical music can cause plants to twice as fast as those plants not exposed to classical music, plants which are exposed to rock music wither and die very quickly. Such plants exposed to classical music have been found to grow towards the speakers but the plants placed near to speakers producing rock music have been found to lean away from them. It has also been discovered that a music instrument creating sound waves will cause the protoplasm of cells, (which is the fluid medium inside all cells of plants, animals and humans), to increase its motion. Later research has found that when later generations of the seeds of these plants went on to produce other plants they also showed increased growth. This indicates that the music may have altered the chromosomes of those plants.
It is not far-fetched to consider that certain forms of music can affect the physical structures of living things. Music is just sound waves but not all sound waves are beneficial or desirable. Now we know that the power of sound can affect physical objects and that sound waves can cause our ear drums to vibrate which then goes on to cause a chain reaction in our middle and inner ears all of which eventually causes nerve impulses to reach our brains which are then perceived as sounds. Sound can be quite demonstratively destructive. Take for example, the ability of an opera singer who can shatter a glass or the fact that we can hear earthquakes before they actually happen…due to the fact that sound travels faster in the air than in the earth. Our bodies also resonate or vibrate in response to and with sound waves that we are exposed to. Some research has shown the relationships of this resonance with the planets in our solar system. Our DNA and RNA molecules, which are the building blocks of our chromosomes, resonate to an octave tone, (a musical relationship), of the earth's rotation pattern. If our DNA vibrates to the sound energies we are constantly exposed to, then when we listen to certain types of harmful music, our own bodies and those of future generations, through our chromosomes, may well be damaged. The different frequencies of sound waves that are produced by musical instruments correspond to various musical notes. Different parts of our bodies resonate with different notes and the harmonics produced by different musical instruments. In a sense, we become a dance comprising all of our energy fields, atoms, molecules, cells, tissues and organs each swirling in a rhythm to the beat of each sound wave. This can be either a dance of harmony, which can be healing, inspiring and life-enhancing or a dance of chaos, which can lead to energy malfunction, dis-ease, and life-drainage. This affects us on our mental, emotional, spiritual levels as well as physical levels.
This dance of nature to sound and music has been demonstrated by physicists. In this century, Dr Hans Jenny devised a device called a "tonoscope", which consisted of a metal plate on top of an oscillator. The oscillator produces vibrations in the plate that are adjustable according to volume and pitch. When different materials are placed on top of the tonoscope, patterns emerge in response to the vibrations that are similar to patterns found in nature. For example, when paste is placed on top of the tonoscope, a pattern emerges which resembles the early stages of cell division and patterns resembling the iris and pupil of an eye were produced when a crescendo of sound vibrated through powder. The most interesting result was when Dr Hans Jenny used a microphone to vibrate the tonoscope and made the ancient vocal sound of AUM or OHM, which is a mantra often used in Eastern-based meditation. The pattern which was produced consisted of a perfect circle filled with concentric squares and triangles.
The strange thing here is that this very same pattern is found in the yantra or geometric artwork that has been used for centuries in the East to represent the AUM of OHM. This demonstrates that there is a profound relationship with sound and matter. Dr Alfred Tomatis, a French ear specialist, spent most of his life measuring the affects of different sound frequencies on the human body, researching which ones boosted or depleted our energy systems and how such effects are brought about. His conclusion was that the ear is not just made for simply hearing but also for energising the brain and body.
He discovered that certain kinds of music which had an abundance of certain frequency ranges actually recharged the central grey nuclei cells in the brain.
These cells act like tiny batteries that power our brain-waves. He also discovered that the re-charging mechanism of these tiny batteries did not come internally but rather it was certain frequencies of sound from outside of our bodies which provide the re-charge. As sound travels through our inner ear, it whirls around through the coils of the cochlea. From there it comes upon a long line of 24,600 cells called Corti cells, which 'dance' a perfectly synchronized 'dance' to each sound. This 'dance of the Corti cells' produces energy that splits off with some of it going to the brain, some going to the vestibular branch of the auditory nerve and then through to the muscles throughout the body. We might now be considering what kind of sound waves do we need to produce these body-energising effects? When it comes to music it is more likely to be classical music and not rock music! Dr Tomatis discovered that classical music like Baroque produced frequencies which were found to be energising and also tension releasing. Researchers have gone on to apply these methods to plants and onto humans with some interesting results. When classical music like Baroque was played to diners in a restaurant it was found that they ate more slowly, digested their meal more easily and did not gain weight. When people ate to rock music they ate very quickly, had very poor digestion and gained weight. Dr Tomatis had also discovered that such life-energising frequencies could enhance psychological health too. Children with learning disabilities and autism were developing more normal lives and some research involved the sounds that babies hear when they are in their mother's wombs. He discovered that by placing a specially sealed microphone and speaker into water he could stimulate the sonic environment that a baby experiences before birth. He also found that playing the sounds of a mother's voice through this fluid media to her autistic son, made the child turn off the electric lights, climb onto his mother's lap, assume the foetal position and start sucking his thumb just like a baby inside the womb. The sound frequencies which predominated in the fluid environment which Dr Tomatis used were of the same sound frequencies that dolphins make and which are also found in bird song. These are same frequencies which have been found to be the most beneficial for re-charging our brain cells – around 8,000 herz! It is no coincidence, that the sounds of dolphins, whales and bird song have become very popular for use in meditation and relaxation therapies for the modern society which suffers so much from stress, tension, emotional and mental exhaustion.
Think about the wonderful music of nature……the first thing you are woken up with, if you are lucky, is the sound of the birds. Already you find it energising to hear them in the morning and then in the evening the bird song changes to make you feel relaxed and ready for resting.
Today I woke up with some stupid song stuck in my head which I found it difficult to get rid of. It was some song that had been playing while I had been waiting in a queue in a shop the day before. I had, in effect, been brain-washed and mind-controlled, by this rubbish and it took almost 3 days before I was able to shake it out of my mind.
Certain kinds of music are energising for our minds and bodies, especially children, and can help us learn more and learn faster, digest our food better, stimulate our IQ and generally boost our immune systems.
Certain kinds of music can be physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually draining and can impact upon our immune systems and overall health. There is specific concern regarding how it can affect the hormonal levels especially in teenagers….and guess who listens to music most? Yes, teenagers!
Certain frequencies of sound are beneficial to our bodies and are more present in certain types of musical instruments and with certain composers.
Music can affect cell protoplasm and even chromosomes which can affect later generations.
Researchers and educationalists are finding a direct relationship between music and the mental, verbal and behavioural development of children and teenagers.
It has become a rather disturbing fact that everywhere we go now in society we are submitted against our will to music. It is played in supermarkets, department stores, work-places, restaurants, coffee bars, from cars, from houses, flats and parks, etc, and usually at a volume which is highly uncomfortable. On my way to work, I hear drivers blasting excessively loud music from their cars at 8:00am in the morning like as if they want to be in a permanent, continual and eternal disco! If using a mobile phone is banned due to it distracting a driver how more so distracting is music? The driver cannot hear or pay attention to the traffic conditions or other road users while he is in his/her own world of mind-distorting music. It is usually some offensive rap or pop music played at full blast rather than Classical themes!
My dentist likes to play Classical music quietly in the background in his dental surgery which has the effect of relaxing and soothing his patients. I would think twice about going in there if he was playing any of the loud obnoxious music so prevalent everywhere else.
It is interesting to note also that vivisectors and technicians who abuse animals in research laboratories routinely play loud rock music. Loud rock music was used to torture detainees in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq.
Most music today is extremely negative and has lyrics which focus on either the glorification of violence, drugs and sex, contempt for women or has themes which pander to the illusionary notions of romance and 'love'. All these concepts are harmful to teenagers and young people. Most people have become so used to music everywhere they are even oblivious or ignorant of the lyrical content. An article I read recently written by a Muslim gentleman tended to assume that only the Western world was afflicted by this disease and that only Muslims were being harmed by it. Unfortunately, although this type of music does have its roots in Western, Secular Society it has now also invaded the so-called 'Muslim' World. In most major cities in the Middle East, whether it is Cairo or Tehran, you will no doubt hear some car blasting out this type of audio assault and many of the coffee bars are now starting to follow suit. You can sit in a Fast-Food Take-Away Restaurant in Cairo and you will hear loud obnoxious rap music glorifying gang-violence, drugs, prostitution, misogyny and even sodomy….yes, I understood the American rapper's words quite clearly even if the rest of the clientele may or may not have been oblivious to what was really being blasted out as families sat their with their young children and their wives wearing hijab. Hypocritical? Of course! Are Muslims the only ones being harmed by it? Of course not! However, it is true to say that anyone with an ounce of intellect or aspirations to a more spiritual life-style will be seriously offended and harmed by this extreme abundance of music which now dominates societies all over the world. Many others are oblivious of the fact that they are actually being mind-controlled and brain-washed by this toxic rubbish and that their bodies are no doubt being harmed in one way or another. I can remember the time when I visited a nightclub because it was my friend's birthday and partly because I wanted to see how bad society had become. I was not proved wrong on the second point. I had to come straight out after about ten minutes because I could not physically bear the sound of the noise emanating out of the place! The next day I had a hang-over affect…not due to alcohol as I do not drink but obviously due to the sound which had poisoned my head in that place! I can only say that the people in there must be either totally addicted or brain-washed by this crap or under the influence of drugs and alcohol. I will not make that mistake again! I went against my better judgement and my beliefs by going in such a place to begin with. Again, not so long ago I had to go into a café to get a sandwich and had to leave pretty quickly with my sandwich in hand due to the loud rock music which was playing at full blast. I could feel my nerves being pushed to the limits and I started to get a headache. Why are we being assaulted in this way against our will? Music has become an addiction.
The driver in his car who has to blast out music on his way to work early in the morning, the school-children who are listening to music in their headphones on the bus on the way to and from school, the people who play music most of the day every day……this is an addiction!
They cannot function, they cannot do their day-to-day duties and they cannot live without the accompaniment of music.
If you look at most of these people who moronically nod their heads and tap their feet in time to their music they are addicted to you will notice that their eyes are pretty dead as if their very soul has been taken away. There is no spirit left inside. Of course I am not one of the extremists who say that all music should be banned. I am not a Holy Joe who says all music is evil and from Satan. What I am saying is that I believe that the way music is being used in our society has become evil and there are Satanic elements to it, definitely. To not listen to any music at all is as unbalanced as listening to music all of the time. Like in anything, moderation is the key and there is a time and place for everything. However, it seems that moderation has been lost and music is being played all the time in every place now. I believe that music should be only allowed in either specially licensed public performances like concerts or if people want to play music they should be limited to how loud and how long they play it. There is no harm in playing different types of music according to one's moods, some music can be uplifting, inspiring, calming…….sometimes a blast of good heavy metal music helps to clear out an atmosphere…so long as it is not played longer than 15 minutes and does not annoy neighbours. More and more people are becoming aware of the dangers of music in our modern society and the way it has pervaded everything to the point of becoming an environmental pollution. Just because some Muslim and Christian groups have called for it to be banned in public does not make it a religious issue. It is a human issue which affects us all regardless of our beliefs or lack of them. Those of us who do believe in a God know that the Creator who created us must know what is best for us. Unfortunately, most people have chosen to follow Man's Laws and not God's Laws to our ultimate detriment it seems. The Creator did not exactly leave us each a personal Manual to guide us when we were born into this world but many of the teachings found through religious texts and ancient civilisations can teach us what is the best course of life we should adhere to, what we should avoid and what we should embrace. If we follow these, listen to our own intuitions, and heed Nature we will discover many truths. The world we currently live in is increasing in negative energy and it is poisoning not just our bodies and minds but also our spirits. The obsession with music in the public sphere of everyday life is just one example of this.

Borley Rectory as it was in the 1800s before it burned down. It was reputed to be the 'Most Haunted House in England' and investigated by the famous psychic researcher of the time, Harry Price.

CHASING SHADOWS

I would like to take to task the issue of paranormal research, or maybe the lack of it, by suggesting that perhaps some methods may not only be a waste of time but also may even be leading us in the wrong direction.
First of all, let us look at what have become known as classic cases. These types of cases are usually always documented in the sort of books, which demand the title of “Most Famous Haunted Houses”, or words to that effect. We are probably all familiar with one or two of them. Borley Rectory was once considered the most haunted house in England and its reputation as such became the subject of many books. Harry Price was well known, both for his investigation of Borley Rectory and his subsequent books, but he also became the target of much criticism both for his handling of the case and his reporting of such events, which some people claimed he hoaxed himself.
Why would any self-respecting paranormal investigator risk his reputation and that of psychical research in general by hoaxing phenomena in one of the most famous cases of the time? If there were genuine paranormal phenomena occurring in the first place, why would Harry Price bother hoaxing and putting his reputation and the credibility of the case on the line? We will never know the truth about Borley Rectory because it is now long gone and we only have accounts written at a time when spiritualism and the paranormal was at its most fashionable and therefore lucrative as a money-spinner from books and the such-like.
But, what of modern hauntings? There are still a few classic cases around and famous places which are claimed to be haunted and likewise attract the usual attention from both paranormal investigators and the public alike. It does seem to me, however, that the more haunted a house is reputed to be, the more that reputation has to be maintained and even more so if it means that money can be made from it.
For example, there was one recent investigation at a well-know haunted location here in the north-west of England from which one particular piece of paranormal phenomena was reproduced, (‘reproduced’, probably being the operative word here), via a tape recording of an alleged “demonic scream”. I have listened to this tape recording myself and, in my opinion, it is possibly the sound of a fox, which has been recorded and amplified in some way, i.e. it is almost certainly a hoax. People who live in cities and are estranged from Nature are unfamiliar with the sounds of wild animals. The dog fox’s bark and mating call of vixens in season is a strange sound, (banshee-like), to those who have never heard it. In the still of night, it can even be quite eerie to the unaccustomed ear. When you think about it, any enterprising businessperson who wants to make profit from alleged hauntings will ensure that those hauntings will continue. Any one of us who are prepared to pay extortionate costs to conduct overnight vigils blatantly encourages this. I have nothing against paying money if it goes to a charitable cause, but I draw the line at contributing to those making profits on the backs of gullibility. So the ghosts have to keep haunting at all costs. Yet in the real world of paranormal phenomena, which does undoubtedly exist, such phenomena are spontaneous, are not always consistent, do not always occur on a regular basis and certainly never on demand. One major reason why most paranormal phenomena cannot be studied under laboratory conditions. After all, no one can tell even the wind which way to blow! It is also quite interesting to note that some of the proprietors of alleged haunted places do not welcome animals. In view of the fact that animals, especially dogs, are natural ‘psychic detectors’ and can often be the ‘spirit level’, (excuse the pun), in equalising situations, i.e. Is there a real paranormal presence or isn’t there? If there is, nine times out of ten, the dog will know before anyone else. After all, animals do not lie and cannot be taken in by a hoax, can they? So why are investigators and the public continually patronising such questionable areas? One of the answers to this could be that most people in general like to have their ears tickled and will even pay for the privilege. In other words, sensationalism is more appealing. Anything less does not keep people’s attentions span for too long, most people being fickle in nature anyhow.
Trying to find out the real truth seems too much like hard work and could well rock the boat of most people’s perception of what the paranormal is, or for that matter what it isn’t.
Most if not all hauntings and ghosts are simply ‘replays’ of an emotional event, which has emitted certain charge energy into the morphic biosphere and can be picked up by sensitive individuals at particular times. This morphic resonance or morphogenetic fields or blueprints theory suggests that all organisms possess an invisible energy field around them, which carries that organism’s history, which can be communicated to other morphic fields of the same type of organism. This philosophy has recently been brought to public attention by the biologist-philosopher Rupert Sheldrake, (“A New Science of Life”, Bond and Briggs 1981).
It is true to say that a traumatic event may possibly release psychic energies, which can culminate into paranormal activity. Areas in the world where trauma and torture have occurred both in the past and in the present possibly release psychic energy which sensitive will undoubtedly feel, both now and in future times. Sensitive people who have been in places like Auswich, Bosnia and Kosovo report feeling extreme negative psychic energy in the atmosphere.
Then there are the audio and visual images, which can also be experienced by individuals on a repetitive basis. They are merely images trapped in time.
Take for instance the following example. Everyone has their favourite video or music tape which they like to play over again at times. For me it is all of Prince Naseem Hamed’s fights on video. I can watch the guy time and time again in the ring doing what only he can do best. But Naz isn’t there anymore. He was only there at the time he was recorded in those moments of his time reality. Looking at it now is looking at a past event recorded and being played back in my present time reality. So while I watch him knocking seven bells out of Steve Robinson in a fight that occurred in 1996, he along with everyone and everything else has moved on and is doing something else now. This is how I see ghosts and hauntings. They are just like video and audio replays. To continue investigating such ‘events’ is surely a waste of time.
Nothing will change and nothing is achieved. Ghosts will continue to haunt like a stuck record because they are not intelligences in their own right. They are long gone people and events. Meanwhile, investigators chase after them like the proverbial little dog trying to catch his own tail and all he does is run around in circles making himself even dizzier in the process. Pursuing them is pursuing thin air.
What then of so-called inter-active ghosts, or more precisely spirits? Whereas ghosts seem to indicate mere senseless projections – spirits on the other hand are more normally perceived as personalities possessing and demonstrating actual awareness, not only of themselves but also of us.
A classic documented case of paranormal inter-activity is the story of the so-called Trianon Adventure at Versailles in France. In August 1901, two English ladies were walking through the palace at Versailles, outside Paris, looking for the Petit Trainon, the mini-palace beloved of Marie Antoinette. After becoming lost they noted a still, eerie quality to the atmosphere, (Oz factor?). During the course of their stroll, they encountered various individuals attired in pre-French Revolution period costume who acknowledged them and gave them directions. As they approached what they took to be the Petit Trianon, the elder of the women saw a fair-haired middle-aged woman, dressed in the same period clothes as the other people they had seen, sketching on the lawn just below the terrace. Then a young man directed them to the Petit Trianon front entrance, where joining a wedding party on a guided tour, they found themselves in normal circumstances once more. Only briefly did they exchange the suggestion that the Petit Trianon may be haunted. Both women returned to Versailles on separate occasions, finding that some of the surroundings they had formerly seen were now dramatically changed. The older woman later matched the woman she had seen sketching on the lawn to portraits of Marie Antoinette. In 1911, both of the women wrote their experiences, which were published pseudonymously under the title, “An Adventure”, claiming that they must somehow have ‘entered’ within an act of Queen Marie Antoinette’s memory?
My father who is also sensitive tells me of a couple of experiences he has had when staying at an old inn in Tewkesbury. Whilst staying at the pub, he awoke one night to suddenly see a young girl about twelve years old and dressed in a white shift, standing at the bottom of the bed. My father was startled and enquired what she was doing. Immediately, the girl looked at him in response. Suddenly at this point she seemed to lift herself up into the air and go to jump onto my father. In automatic response he went to throw up his arms to protect himself but found that he could not move. It was as if he was paralysed. In an instant, the girl disappeared into thin air before she landed on top of the bed. My father was too embarrassed to say anything to anyone at the time for fear of ridicule. This is a common reaction of people who have genuinely experienced phenomena that they cannot understand or explain, unlike the many sensation-seekers who claim to experience the paranormal as routinely as eating hot dinners. However, on his second stay at the same place, albeit in a different room, this time with his friend, they both heard sounds in their room, which could not be accounted for. This time, he joked to the landlady the next morning that as the place was so old that it must be haunted. She said it was, and mentioned the little girl! Though surprisingly, it was not a feature they liked to advertise.
So in this instance, regarding the little girl who my father saw, (and who apparently was associated with the pub’s past), and who interacted with him, is another example of interactive phenomena. This of course, still does not necessarily prove this apparition was the spirit of a dead girl. All it shows is that my father saw the image of a young girl who displayed awareness of his presence also. My father’s experience could well have been similar to the experience of those two ladies at the palace of Versailles. It may have been some kind of time/dimensional slip.
Maybe this is one area of research, which should be considered when dealing in particular with inter-active so-called ghosts. Are they ghosts in our reality, or are we the ghosts in their reality? When someone professes to see the ghost of a 17th Century Cavalier, for example, that 17th Century Cavalier might be well and truly living when they see him and what they are experiencing is his time for a split second. Are these so-called ghosts really intruding into our space or are we momentarily glimpsing into their space and time reality? This could be a pointer to the story of the Versailles incident and my own father’s experience. Did different time dimensions momentarily stray into each other? Were both parties merely sensitives who perceived the other’s presence? Perhaps the ladies at Versailles were considered as ghosts by the people in the period costume. Perhaps my father was considered as a ghostly intruder to that little girl who may have been seeing him as the ‘anomaly’ in what would have been her room in her time and reality. Was she jumping at him to try to ‘catch him’ or prove his solidness?
To sum up, I personally feel that to continue paranormal research in the way that too many researchers have done for too long may well be not only a waste of time, but could be leading us in the wrong direction. Pre-conceived ideas that every haunting, ghost or spirit is automatically associated with the so-called dead is another barrier to real research. Spirits may exist, but perhaps not in the way we think they do!
Unfortunately, I also feel that both our own psyches and intellect, and any technology we have at our present disposal to try and research further, is so primitive that it may well be another century or so before we even begin to grasp alternative knowledge which could point us in the right direction to understanding the paranormal, or at least certain aspects of it.

THE FAMILIARS ACT 2006

THE FAMILIARS ACT 2006!
Before me were 12 High Court Judges in traditional robes sat in a line behind a long wooden bench. The room was in a 15th Century type old building and it had timber beams across the ceiling and a wooden floor. Before them on trial was a young man who was an Animal Rights Activist. One of the judges opened up a large, leather-bound book to show me. I was representing the young man. In this book were the evidence and the exhibits to prove the man’s guilt. The judge opened the book and pointed at a couple of pages which had black and white pencil drawings in of animals and he said to me, “Look – he has 12 familiars, all of them imps of different varieties and the law of the land says only 10 are allowed! The Familiars Act 2006 only allows 10 animals to be owned – the man has 12 therefore he should be sentenced to 12 years in prison.” I looked at the sketches of the man’s animals or pets – normal everyday animals alongside strange-looking ones, imps and demon-type creatures – but he had too many and he had broken the law. His fate was sealed! This was a dream I had about a fictitious Act of Parliament which had been introduced. Why the year 2006 was in it I do not know but the word ‘Familiars’ is an old medieval word to describe the pets and companion animals of witches, which were also known as ‘imps’. Its imagery tied up with the legal world, animal rights, English history and medieval witchcraft trials. Dreams are strange, are they not? Yet, in a way what do they say? Animal Rights Activists have been imprisoned for 12 years in reality for the most trivial of offences. Is the present scourge of Oxford University against the SPEAK Campaign and Animal Rights in general nothing more than a 21st Century witch-hunt?