Merkabah

[Skarekrow]

Very interesting article and food for thought. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the complexity of the consciousness problem, but I've never had any problems understanding the difference between executing software and the computer hardware it's running on. In analogy, what the nuts and bolts consciousness guys seem to be doing is trying to understand Microsoft Office and the Internet by dismantling their cpus and hard disks and mucking about with all the electronic components. It seems to me that we need to understand the "software" of our minds and how it runs on the hardware. I'm not saying this is any more than an analogy, but it seems a very important one to me because I feel the true nature of our conscious and unconscious minds is much more like software than hardware - sadly, I don't think I'll be able to re-boot myself with an emergency JohnK pendrive any time soon - though maybe one day .....

It wouldn't surprise me if it turns out there is something inherent in matter that sets it off self-organising into structures of slowly increasing complexity in favourable circumstances - that there is the equivalent of a very low level "bios" built into it. I do like the idea of a consciousness field but I'd need more than just the bare idea to take it seriously - great idea to speculate and play about with though

Spoiler

Yeah...it’s not that the people don’t understand I don’t think...but more that they don’t accept the idea of the physical brain and nonphysical mind as being separate...or existing somewhere that isn’t physical.
Yes, the most common analogy used is the mind as a Television...we can take it apart and figure out that this controls the image...this the sound....etc., etc....but you will never find the part of the TV that produces the content you watch on it.
We can attempt to locate where the signal is received and where and how it is decoded and from what/where?
But...that could be immeasurable currently by us...if said signal is multidimensional (as I personally feel the mind is), then it may be impossible within our current stage in scientific knowledge to even come up with a good working model that is more than just speculation.
The Orch-OR theory attempts to do so - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchestrated_objective_reduction
But again...theoretical...and it wouldn’t really solve the issue besides...only reveal that the brain is a biologic quantum computer - which most people who study it are already quite certain of already.
But...it does make the point of consciousness existing in nonphysical space though...so IDK.

As far as rebooting goes...I got you covered if you ever want to reboot...

What you say also reminds me of Dr. Rupert Sheldrake and his theory of Morphogenetic fields and Morphic resonance --

Morphic Resonance - https://www.sheldrake.org/research/morphic-resonance
​

Morphic resonance is a process whereby self-organising systems inherit a memory from previous similar systems.
In its most general formulation, morphic resonance means that the so-called laws of nature are more like habits.

The hypothesis of morphic resonance also leads to a radically new interpretation of memory storage in the brain and of biological inheritance.

Memory need not be stored in material traces inside brains, which are more like TV receivers than video recorders, tuning into influences from the past.

And biological inheritance need not all be coded in the genes, or in epigenetic modifications of the genes; much of it depends on morphic resonance from previous members of the species.

Thus each individual inherits a collective memory from past members of the species, and also contributes to the collective memory, affecting other members of the species in the future.

​

 

[John K]

As far as rebooting goes...I got you covered if you ever want to reboot...

A good whack'll probably do the job OK whenever necessary ....

 

[jn56uytrx]

...it isn’t a question of us being individually conscious, because we share the same consciousness.
This means that we are essentially one, part of a greater unity rather that separate individuals.

A fascinating read! Thanks for posting the types of things you do. I find you wander in a direction I appreciate. I am grateful for posts like this because they give me language to begin communicating what I see, yet haven't been able to talk about with the language I've known.

I agree that even if panspiritualism doesn't answer core questions, it may just change the perspective enough to see the question differently, and that shift may lead to new answers.

Sorry! and the Nature of Suffering

Literally laughed out out. Fabulous!

Morphic Resonance - https://www.sheldrake.org/research/morphic-resonance
​

Thus each individual inherits a collective memory from past members of the species, and also contributes to the collective memory, affecting other members of the species in the future.

Another thing I have seen or sensed or just believed but didn't have language for. Thanks!

 

[Disguised]

This guy claims to have solved the riddle of dark matter. Remains to be seen after conclusive testing.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1712.07962.pdf

"This accumulation of evidence could possibly indicate that while we cannot currently directly detect negative masses, we may have been able to infer the presence of these negative masses via their gravitational effects. These effects would seem bizarre, peculiar, and unfamiliar to us, as we reside in a positive mass dominated region of space. As the interactions between positive and negative masses are mediated by gravitation, the effects are typically fundamentally related to the physical scale – generally requiring a sufficiently large accumulation of positive mass in order for negative masses to influence the dynamics of a physical system. One aspect that is particularly preposterous is the concept of runaway motion, but as quantum mechanics has shown, many absurd concepts constitute real, testable, and repeatable facets of nature."

 

[Skarekrow]

A good whack'll probably do the job OK whenever necessary ....

I remember when we still had TVs that would actually respond when you whacked them - sometimes by working even!
Or how you had to adjust the tracking on the VCR...ugh.
Now...you whack it and it’s sure to break...but I guess even us humans have a built in “planned obsolescence” so to speak anyhow, hahaha!

A fascinating read! Thanks for posting the types of things you do. I find you wander in a direction I appreciate. I am grateful for posts like this because they give me language to begin communicating what I see, yet haven't been able to talk about with the language I've known.

I agree that even if panspiritualism doesn't answer core questions, it may just change the perspective enough to see the question differently, and that shift may lead to new answers.



Literally laughed out out. Fabulous!



Another thing I have seen or sensed or just believed but didn't have language for. Thanks!

Thanks!
Glad there were some things to ponder and some things to make you laugh.
That artist has a whole series of those Philosopher comics...I will be posting more to be sure, I just didn’t want to throw them all out at once lol.

Yes...that is part of what this thread has become - a way to find the right expression for incomprehensible or ineffable events, experiences, or thoughts.
Be sure and feel free to post your own material that you feel would be fitting.

Sheldrake has one of the “disavowed” TED talks...which is incredibly sad as it is one of the more fascinating talks the TED series has done.
(search: banned ted talks)
People who are unwilling to try and maintain even a crack of open-mindedness got their panties in a bunch and complained.
But of course...let’s all just ignore the data he has built over the years to prove his theory and others such as telekinesis or the very real sense of someone staring at you...those are too silly and crazy to possibly be true.
(sigh)
Glad that more people are starting to question the small bits of reality we think we understand, instead of just accepting something blindly that feels intuitively wrong on many levels.

This guy claims to have solved the riddle of dark matter. Remains to be seen after conclusive testing.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1712.07962.pdf

"This accumulation of evidence could possibly indicate that while we cannot currently directly detect negative masses, we may have been able to infer the presence of these negative masses via their gravitational effects. These effects would seem bizarre, peculiar, and unfamiliar to us, as we reside in a positive mass dominated region of space. As the interactions between positive and negative masses are mediated by gravitation, the effects are typically fundamentally related to the physical scale – generally requiring a sufficiently large accumulation of positive mass in order for negative masses to influence the dynamics of a physical system. One aspect that is particularly preposterous is the concept of runaway motion, but as quantum mechanics has shown, many absurd concepts constitute real, testable, and repeatable facets of nature."

Rad.
I read just the first part...very interesting.
I’ll have to read the whole thing in a bit here!

It’s amazing that dark matter takes up such a large amount of space in our known universe, like 95%...yet we cannot find it!
Makes me think that it is sitting right in front of our face in the next dimension or two up, which somehow interacts and gives some balance to our universe in this dimension maybe?
Maybe one day we will learn how to take the measurement of something as it blinks in and out of this reality...but we are quite a ways away from that.
Thanks my friend!

 

[Disguised]

Rad.
I read just the first part...very interesting.
I’ll have to read the whole thing in a bit here!

It’s amazing that dark matter takes up such a large amount of space in our known universe, like 95%...yet we cannot find it!
Makes me think that it is sitting right in front of our face in the next dimension or two up, which somehow interacts and gives some balance to our universe in this dimension maybe?
Maybe one day we will learn how to take the measurement of something as it blinks in and out of this reality...but we are quite a ways away from that.
Thanks my friend!

It surely is. I got as far as Peuso-Riemmannian manifolds that explained spacetime in particular sets of gravitational fluctuations and thought to myself that this just isn't right. How can spacetime be manipulated into something that doesn't make any sense in the form of gravitation and energy as a whole but still is accurate and used in descriptions of certain phenomena. What is out there?

Not sure if @Skarekrow already posted this here, but

 

[Skarekrow]

It surely is. I got as far as Peuso-Riemmannian manifolds that explained spacetime in particular sets of gravitational fluctuations and thought to myself that this just isn't right. How can spacetime be manipulated into something that doesn't make any sense in the form of gravitation and energy as a whole but still is accurate and used in descriptions of certain phenomena. What is out there?

Not sure if @Skarekrow already posted this here, but

Well, I for one will have to read up on my pseudo-Riemmannian manifolds (and my Lorentzian Submanifolds) if I am to know just what in the hell exactly he is going on about.
It almost seems like the code behind the program running you know?
If you could see all the programs for each clump of matter that has coalesced and gains sentience......perhaps we are like fish awash in a sea of consciousness...unaware that we exist within a greater body of reality.
Consciousness being dark matter/energy.
Cheers man!!

 

[Skarekrow]

Aaaand this is how Skynet will get into all our homes and murder us in our sleep...

 

[Skarekrow]

​

 

[JennyDaniella]

​

LOL “don’t be a cunt.”

Yah basically. Dat easy.

 

[Skarekrow]

Sweet!!

A 'super blood wolf moon' and
five eclipses are among 2019's major astronomy events

Stargazers around the world, rejoice!
The universe is about to give you an exciting astronomical year.

2019 is featuring five eclipses, a rare planet transit,
one of the best meteor showers and a super blood wolf moon, but the fun doesn't stop there.

The new year will also bring three supermoons, a blue moon,
multiple meteor showers, close approach by the moon and Jupiter and several rocket launches.

Although we would love to talk about all of the extraordinary occurrences,
these are our top events to watch for in the sky in 2019:

January 6: Partial Solar Eclipse

The new year kicks off with an impressive bang, and no, we don't mean fireworks.

In the first week of 2019, the moon will pass between the
Earth and sun to stage a partial solar eclipse, NASA reports.
Unfortunately, it will be visible only from northeast Asia and the North Pacific,
as it will happen around 8:42 p.m. ET in the United States.

Sky & Telescope predicts people will see 20%
of the sun covered from Beijing, 30% from Tokyo and 37% from Vladivostok, Russia.

January 21: Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse

​

For the first time in three years, the United States will be able to experience a total lunar eclipse.
According to NASA, it will be one of the sky's "most dazzling shows,”
as the moon will be at its closest point to Earth,
making the moon appear slightly bigger and a lot brighter,
an event that is often referred to as a "supermoon."​

But that's not the only thing that will make this eclipse stand out.
Total lunar eclipses are often call "blood moons" because when the sun, Earth and moon align, the sunlight that passes through the Earth's atmosphere will appear to turn the moon red.
And because lunar eclipses can occur only during a full moon
-- and the first full moon in January is known as a "wolf moon”
-- many are calling this spectacular event a
"Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse.”

At around 12:12 a.m. ET, people in North and South America,
as well as those in western parts of Europe and Africa, will have front-row seats to this show.

May 6: Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower

Although we will see multiple meteor showers through the year,
the Eta Aquarids meteor shower will be one of the best ones we will be able to witness, Sky & Telescope reports.

The Eta Aquarids was created by the dusty debris left behind by Halley's Comet,
which flew by Earth in 1986, and although the famous comet won't be entering our solar system again until 2061,
its remnants appear in our skies each year.
This year is expected to put on quite a show.

According to NASA, we can expect a new moon two days before the meteor shower.
The new moon will mean darker skies,
which will make it possible for the human eye to appreciate the Eta Aquarids' dazzling show.

Although the Eta Aquarids will be active April 19 through May 26,
its peak night will begin around 3 a.m. ET until dawn on May 6,
and it's expected to produce as many as 20 to 40 meteors or more per hour.

July 2: Total Solar Eclipse

Were you able to witness the cool solar eclipse in North America in 2017?
Well, now South Asia and South America will enjoy a day of no sun.

In the late afternoon of July 2,
a total solar eclipse will occur over southern parts of Chile and Argentina,
and parts of the South Pacific.

The entire event will take place from 12:55 to 5:50 p.m. ET,
with the maximum eclipse occurring at 3:23 p.m., Sky & Telescope reports.

July 16: Partial Lunar Eclipse

We begin 2019 with a partial solar eclipse, so it's only fair we also get a lunar one. Unfortunately, the United States will not be witnessing this one, either.

South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia will be able to see the full moon
dive about two-thirds of the way into the Earth's umbral shadow beginning at 9:31 p.m. UT , Sky & Telescope reports.

November 11: Rare Transit of Mercury

For the second time in two years,
Mercury will make rare pass in front of the sun, NASA reports.

Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, passes between Earth and the sun about 13 times a century.

The last trek took place in 2016,
and for the first time in 10 years, the small planet was visible from Earth.

This year, the transit will begin at 7:34 a.m. ET and last around 5 1/2 hours.
It will appear as a black dot across the the face of the sun,
and stargazers will be able to see it with the help of a telescope and solar filters.

December 26: Annular Solar Eclipse

2019 closes on a high note with a rare and glorious "ring of fire."

The annular eclipse occurs when the circumference of the
sun shines brightly from behind the moon.

This year, the eclipse will begin right at dawn
and pass over the Arabian Peninsula and arc over areas of South Asia.



​

 

[Impact Character]

Sweet!!

A 'super blood wolf moon' and
five eclipses are among 2019's major astronomy events

Stargazers around the world, rejoice!
The universe is about to give you an exciting astronomical year.

2019 is featuring five eclipses, a rare planet transit,
one of the best meteor showers and a super blood wolf moon, but the fun doesn't stop there.

The new year will also bring three supermoons, a blue moon,
multiple meteor showers, close approach by the moon and Jupiter and several rocket launches.

Although we would love to talk about all of the extraordinary occurrences,
these are our top events to watch for in the sky in 2019:

January 6: Partial Solar Eclipse

The new year kicks off with an impressive bang, and no, we don't mean fireworks.

In the first week of 2019, the moon will pass between the
Earth and sun to stage a partial solar eclipse, NASA reports.
Unfortunately, it will be visible only from northeast Asia and the North Pacific,
as it will happen around 8:42 p.m. ET in the United States.

Sky & Telescope predicts people will see 20%
of the sun covered from Beijing, 30% from Tokyo and 37% from Vladivostok, Russia.

January 21: Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse

​

For the first time in three years, the United States will be able to experience a total lunar eclipse.
According to NASA, it will be one of the sky's "most dazzling shows,”
as the moon will be at its closest point to Earth,
making the moon appear slightly bigger and a lot brighter,
an event that is often referred to as a "supermoon."​

But that's not the only thing that will make this eclipse stand out.
Total lunar eclipses are often call "blood moons" because when the sun, Earth and moon align, the sunlight that passes through the Earth's atmosphere will appear to turn the moon red.
And because lunar eclipses can occur only during a full moon
-- and the first full moon in January is known as a "wolf moon”
-- many are calling this spectacular event a
"Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse.”

At around 12:12 a.m. ET, people in North and South America,
as well as those in western parts of Europe and Africa, will have front-row seats to this show.

May 6: Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower

Although we will see multiple meteor showers through the year,
the Eta Aquarids meteor shower will be one of the best ones we will be able to witness, Sky & Telescope reports.

The Eta Aquarids was created by the dusty debris left behind by Halley's Comet,
which flew by Earth in 1986, and although the famous comet won't be entering our solar system again until 2061,
its remnants appear in our skies each year.
This year is expected to put on quite a show.

According to NASA, we can expect a new moon two days before the meteor shower.
The new moon will mean darker skies,
which will make it possible for the human eye to appreciate the Eta Aquarids' dazzling show.

Although the Eta Aquarids will be active April 19 through May 26,
its peak night will begin around 3 a.m. ET until dawn on May 6,
and it's expected to produce as many as 20 to 40 meteors or more per hour.

July 2: Total Solar Eclipse

Were you able to witness the cool solar eclipse in North America in 2017?
Well, now South Asia and South America will enjoy a day of no sun.

In the late afternoon of July 2,
a total solar eclipse will occur over southern parts of Chile and Argentina,
and parts of the South Pacific.

The entire event will take place from 12:55 to 5:50 p.m. ET,
with the maximum eclipse occurring at 3:23 p.m., Sky & Telescope reports.

July 16: Partial Lunar Eclipse

We begin 2019 with a partial solar eclipse, so it's only fair we also get a lunar one. Unfortunately, the United States will not be witnessing this one, either.

South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia will be able to see the full moon
dive about two-thirds of the way into the Earth's umbral shadow beginning at 9:31 p.m. UT , Sky & Telescope reports.

November 11: Rare Transit of Mercury

For the second time in two years,
Mercury will make rare pass in front of the sun, NASA reports.

Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, passes between Earth and the sun about 13 times a century.

The last trek took place in 2016,
and for the first time in 10 years, the small planet was visible from Earth.

This year, the transit will begin at 7:34 a.m. ET and last around 5 1/2 hours.
It will appear as a black dot across the the face of the sun,
and stargazers will be able to see it with the help of a telescope and solar filters.

December 26: Annular Solar Eclipse

2019 closes on a high note with a rare and glorious "ring of fire."

The annular eclipse occurs when the circumference of the
sun shines brightly from behind the moon.

This year, the eclipse will begin right at dawn
and pass over the Arabian Peninsula and arc over areas of South Asia.



​

Oh, wow. I know what I will be doing at my birthday this year.

 

[Skarekrow]

Oh, wow. I know what I will be doing at my birthday this year.

 

[Skarekrow]

Had a really great massage yesterday that I got as a Xmas gift!
Currently am a bit sore...I had some knots...well...my back is like one solid knot, lol.
My back looks a bit like this right now -

The marks are from cupping therapy which helps by basically giving you a giant hickey on your back - this is supposed to cause an inflammatory response in that muscle and the surrounding tissues helping to break up some of the more stagnant knots and bring fresh blood to the region.
Very often in surgery we would spin down the patient’s blood in the centrifuge and mix various parts of blood with things like bone grafts and whatnot as this actually is shown to improve healing time and help the bone to solidify.
Worth a try!
Especially if it’s a gift.

If the cupping does anything or not...the rest of the bodywork was spot on (get it?) and was really fantastic..

 

[JennyDaniella]

Sweet!!

A 'super blood wolf moon' and
five eclipses are among 2019's major astronomy events

Stargazers around the world, rejoice!
The universe is about to give you an exciting astronomical year.

2019 is featuring five eclipses, a rare planet transit,
one of the best meteor showers and a super blood wolf moon, but the fun doesn't stop there.

The new year will also bring three supermoons, a blue moon,
multiple meteor showers, close approach by the moon and Jupiter and several rocket launches.

Although we would love to talk about all of the extraordinary occurrences,
these are our top events to watch for in the sky in 2019:

January 6: Partial Solar Eclipse

The new year kicks off with an impressive bang, and no, we don't mean fireworks.

In the first week of 2019, the moon will pass between the
Earth and sun to stage a partial solar eclipse, NASA reports.
Unfortunately, it will be visible only from northeast Asia and the North Pacific,
as it will happen around 8:42 p.m. ET in the United States.

Sky & Telescope predicts people will see 20%
of the sun covered from Beijing, 30% from Tokyo and 37% from Vladivostok, Russia.

January 21: Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse

​

For the first time in three years, the United States will be able to experience a total lunar eclipse.
According to NASA, it will be one of the sky's "most dazzling shows,”
as the moon will be at its closest point to Earth,
making the moon appear slightly bigger and a lot brighter,
an event that is often referred to as a "supermoon."​

But that's not the only thing that will make this eclipse stand out.
Total lunar eclipses are often call "blood moons" because when the sun, Earth and moon align, the sunlight that passes through the Earth's atmosphere will appear to turn the moon red.
And because lunar eclipses can occur only during a full moon
-- and the first full moon in January is known as a "wolf moon”
-- many are calling this spectacular event a
"Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse.”

At around 12:12 a.m. ET, people in North and South America,
as well as those in western parts of Europe and Africa, will have front-row seats to this show.

May 6: Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower

Although we will see multiple meteor showers through the year,
the Eta Aquarids meteor shower will be one of the best ones we will be able to witness, Sky & Telescope reports.

The Eta Aquarids was created by the dusty debris left behind by Halley's Comet,
which flew by Earth in 1986, and although the famous comet won't be entering our solar system again until 2061,
its remnants appear in our skies each year.
This year is expected to put on quite a show.

According to NASA, we can expect a new moon two days before the meteor shower.
The new moon will mean darker skies,
which will make it possible for the human eye to appreciate the Eta Aquarids' dazzling show.

Although the Eta Aquarids will be active April 19 through May 26,
its peak night will begin around 3 a.m. ET until dawn on May 6,
and it's expected to produce as many as 20 to 40 meteors or more per hour.

July 2: Total Solar Eclipse

Were you able to witness the cool solar eclipse in North America in 2017?
Well, now South Asia and South America will enjoy a day of no sun.

In the late afternoon of July 2,
a total solar eclipse will occur over southern parts of Chile and Argentina,
and parts of the South Pacific.

The entire event will take place from 12:55 to 5:50 p.m. ET,
with the maximum eclipse occurring at 3:23 p.m., Sky & Telescope reports.

July 16: Partial Lunar Eclipse

We begin 2019 with a partial solar eclipse, so it's only fair we also get a lunar one. Unfortunately, the United States will not be witnessing this one, either.

South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia will be able to see the full moon
dive about two-thirds of the way into the Earth's umbral shadow beginning at 9:31 p.m. UT , Sky & Telescope reports.

November 11: Rare Transit of Mercury

For the second time in two years,
Mercury will make rare pass in front of the sun, NASA reports.

Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, passes between Earth and the sun about 13 times a century.

The last trek took place in 2016,
and for the first time in 10 years, the small planet was visible from Earth.

This year, the transit will begin at 7:34 a.m. ET and last around 5 1/2 hours.
It will appear as a black dot across the the face of the sun,
and stargazers will be able to see it with the help of a telescope and solar filters.

December 26: Annular Solar Eclipse

2019 closes on a high note with a rare and glorious "ring of fire."

The annular eclipse occurs when the circumference of the
sun shines brightly from behind the moon.

This year, the eclipse will begin right at dawn
and pass over the Arabian Peninsula and arc over areas of South Asia.



​

Woot woot! Can’t wait for the 21st!!

 

[Skarekrow]

Food for thought...

Unknown Friends That Help Us

It gives us a curious slant on life to know we may have unknown friends.
Unknown in that we really don’t know how they operate, who they are, or where they come from.

Sometimes they seem to come from the other side--in this example, not surprisingly, from a mother.
Theresa Cheung, a University of Cambridge graduate, with a master’s in theology and English, said that while driving towards a junction behind a truck, she was about to turn left but her dead mother’s voice told her to shift to the right lane.

She said: “Even though she had died a few years earlier, it was my mother’s voice, and I obeyed instantly. If I had turned left, you wouldn’t be reading this now, because I would have driven into a pile-up that claimed the lives of three people in cars directly behind the truck. I can’t explain that voice; it must have been my mother guiding me … It proved to me there is an afterlife.” (Daily and Sunday Express. 2018. express.co.uk/news/ weird/935615/life-after-death-afterlife-what-happens-when-you-die)

I have a similar story from a nurse who was once my student.
She was driving to work and had reached a stop; when the light turned green, she was about to press the gas pedal when she suddenly saw her dead mother appear standing in front of the car.

The nurse froze while exactly at that instant a Mack truck ran the red light, and would have killed her if she had not been stopped by the apparition of her mother.

Once again, somebody’s life seems to have been saved by an unpredictable intervention from nowhere.

Here’s another story I heard from a student.
In 1967, in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, an American soldier, Celestino B., was saved by an unknown voice that called him three times to move toward the end of the dugout during an air raid.

As soon as he did that, a bomb struck the very seat where he was sitting and killed everybody in line up to but excluding him.
An unknown voice saved Celestino.

His mother prayed to Padre Pio for her son and credits the miracle to the Padre—but who knows for sure?

Even more obscure is the identity of the unknown friends that save people as reported in cases from a book called The Third Man, a collection of stories by John Geiger about people caught in terrible circumstances who are saved in mysterious ways.

For example, in one case a man lost in a blizzard in the vicinity of his arctic outpost would have surely perished if an unknown form and voice had not appeared out of nowhere and led him just to the point he needed to reach so he could make it back on his own.

The title of Geiger’s book is a reference to a poem of T.S. Eliot where such an unknown presence is invoked.

In Josh Slocum’s great travel book, Sailing Around the World Alone, the author describes how the spirit of the great sailor, Sir Francis Drake, would appear to him during rough weather, converse with him, and take over the tiller while Slocum slept.

Stories of this sort aren’t hard to find.
I’ll mention as a last example, the belief found everywhere in the mythology of guardian angels.

It seems likely that this belief is based on stories of unexplained helping interventions such as the examples above. . .

From Plato to the Upanishads, many if not most traditional religions have embraced the belief in a transpersonal or transcendent mind.
Modern scientific materialism evolved in such a way that seemed to falsify that belief.

According to it, our minds are weak, fragile byproducts of our brains, and their powers are confined within the limits of what brains can do.

But this is no longer the mainline view.
Today the majority of pros agree that science is unable to reduce our mental life to our brain life.

There are correlations not explanations.
Consciousness cannot be squeezed conceptually into the brain.

Our brains are tiny dots in a boundless sea of consciousness.
But that sea does connect with our personal river of consciousness.

So, in a sense, each of us is indeed a small thing; but in another sense, we are a great, infinite thing.
How we view ourselves depends (most of the time) on the kind of experiences life throws at us.

Contractile or expansive.
The big question: Are there ways we can learn to burst open the floodgate of higher consciousness?
Any ideas out there?
Stories of unknown friends?
Secret allies?
Mysterious interventions?

 

[Skarekrow]

Bizarre, strange history...
(Doppelgänger, or a glitch in time or the “matrix” of reality?)
Enjoy!

Wherever You Go, There You Were:
A Vardøger Goes to Tipperary

“I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt

Its a long way to Tipperary…​

Doppelgängers are a bit of a nuisance, what with their disrespect for your individuality and traditional portending of death and ultimate doom.
A proper monster, when you think about it, guaranteed to creep out you and your friends, complicate your job, get you in hot water with the spouse, possibly replace you, and generally muck up life through a mixture of confusion and uselessness.

Heck, there’s even an umlaut in its name, which should be enough to fill one with horror.
Curiously, there appear to be a few sub-species of doppelgängers with less nefarious habits or malign intent.

I’m thinking in particular of the Norwegian Vardøger and his close cousin the Finnish Etiäinen.
These peculiar doubles just seem to arrive before you do.

Basic Vardøger behavior is to precede one in reaching their intended destination, resulting in witnesses swearing they’ve seen the actual person before said person physically arrives.

While this besmirches one’s reputation for punctuality, even if you arrive on time, it’s not the most sinister preternatural event one can experience. Vardøger (Old Norse for something like “watchman soul”) and Etiäinen (Finnish for “firstcomer”) are common in Norwegian and Finish folklore, but in at least one instance, it seems that a merry Vardøger put in a delightfully mundane appearance in Tipperary, Ireland.

Lieutenant-Colonel William Matthew Bigge (1812-1889) of the 70th Surrey Regiment of Foot was temporarily quartered at Templemore in County Tipperary, Ireland in 1847.

The 70th Regiment had returned from Montreal in 1843, and would depart for India in 1849.
Guess that’s why they call them a “Regiment of Foot”.

They get around.
Bigge had the fortune (or misfortune) to witness the arrival of a Vardøger at the military encampment on February 20th, 1847 at 3 P.M., an experience which so disconcerted him that he jotted down a written statement regarding it, and placed it into an envelope, which he sealed, only opening it many years later in the presence of the famed Victorian parapsychologist Edmund Gurney on July 17th, 1885.

Together they read the account.

I was walking from my quarters towards the mess-room to put some letters into the letter-box, when I distinctly saw Lieut.-Colonel Reed, 70th Regiment, walking from the corner of the range of buildings occupied by the officers towards the mess-room door; and I saw him go into the passage.

He was dressed in a brown shooting-jacket, with grey summer regulation tweed trousers, and had a fishing-rod and a landing-net in his hand. Although at the time I saw him he was about 15 or 20 yards from me, and although anxious to speak to him at the moment, I did not do so, but followed him into the passage and turned into the ante-room on the left-hand side, where I expected to find him.

On opening the door, to my great surprise, he was not there; the only person in the room was Quartermaster Nolan, 70th Regiment, and I immediately asked him if he had seen the colonel, and he replied he had not; upon which I said, “I suppose he has gone upstairs,” and I immediately left the room.

Thinking he might have gone upstairs to one of the officers’ rooms, I listened at the bottom of the stairs and then went up to the first landing-place; but not hearing anything I went downstairs again and tried to open the bedroom door, which is opposite to the ante-room, thinking he might have gone there; but I found the door locked, as it usually is in the middle of the day.

I was very much surprised at not finding the colonel, and I walked into the barrack-yard and joined Lieutenant Caulfield, 66th Regiment, who was walking there (Myers, 1919. p159-161).

Bigge voiced his puzzlement to Lieutenant Caulfield, describing the odd manner of Colonel Reed’s dress (apparently it was not fishing season), keeping his eye the whole time on the only door leading to the mess room.

Of course, nobody emerged from the mess hall, and ten minutes later, the real Colonel Reed sauntered into the compound.

I saw the colonel walk into the barracks through the gate— which is in the opposite direction — accompanied by Ensign Willington, 70th Regiment, in precisely the same dress in which I had seen him, and with a fishing-rod and a landing-net in his hand.

Lieutenant Caulfield and I immediately walked to them, and we were joined by Lieut. Colonel Goldie, 66th Regiment, and Captain Hartford, and I asked Colonel Reed if he had not gone into the mess-room about 10 minutes before.

He replied that he certainly had not, for that he had been out fishing for more than two hours at some ponds about a mile from the barracks, and that he had not been near the mess-room at all since the morning.

At the time I saw Colonel Reed going into the mess-room, I was not aware that he had gone out fishing — a very unusual thing to do at this time of the year; neither had I seen him before in the dress I have described during that day.

I had seen him in uniform in the morning at parade, but not afterwards at all until 3 o’clock — having been engaged in my room writing letters, and upon other business.

My eyesight being very good, and the colonel’s figure and general appearance somewhat remarkable, it is morally impossible that I could have mistaken any other person in the world for him.

That I did see him I shall continue to believe until the last day of my existence
(Gurney, 1918, p430-431).

Colonel Reed was understandably alarmed at hearing that his double had preceded him, and particularly that it seemed to be emulating his keen sportsman’s fashion sense.

Bigge felt it important to note that he had never experienced any sort of hallucinations, had been away in Dublin and thus hadn’t really seen Colonel Reed for the previous week, and that he had actually described Reed’s attire to several witnesses before the legitimate Reed arrived.

Nothing else happened.
Nobody died.

No preternatural events ensued.
The Vardøger Lieutenant Colonel Reed just got there first.

And in many ways, that is far creepier than a ghost with a good backstory as explanation or a doppelgänger with doomsday prophecies.
Headline-grabbing sorts of paranormal occurrences are all the rage, particularly these days in a world of intense competition for market attention, but there’s something compelling about anomalies, monsters, and things that are anomalous, but barely go bump in the night.

Maybe it’s a symptom of incipient neurosis, but my guiding principle is similar to Rufus Wainright’s.
“I like to make the mundane fabulous whenever I can”.

References
Gurney, Edmund, 1847-1888. Phantasms of the Living. Abridged ed. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., 1918.
Holms, A. Campbell. The Facts of Psychic Science and Philosophy. Jamaica, N.Y.: Occult Press, 1927.
Myers, F. W. H. 1843-1901. Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death. London: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1919.
“Cases Received by the Literary Committee”. Society for Psychical Research (Great Britain). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research v2. London: Society for Psychical Research, 1885.

 

[Skarekrow]

In The Ethics of Ambiguity, Simone be Beauvoir describes many ways in which a person can avoid authentically engaging in the world, one of which was the "adventurer", who merely seeks out adventures without caring about the content of the adventures.

He does this merely as a means to "flee nihilistic despair", and avoid an authentic confrontation with the Other (i.e., engaging in the world at large with a moral stance).

John Stuart Mill was an early Utilitarian, believing that the only good was ensuring the best possible life, and greatest happiness, for the greatest number of people.

Since each person's happiness counts the same, we must work to ensure everyone is living the happiest possible life.
Mill did, however, make distinctions between different types of happiness, and his theory of utilitarianism was more advanced than maximizing mere pleasure, which is closer to Bentham.

Ayn Rand was a 20th century philosopher and author, and while she has been largely ignored in academic philosophy, she is still very well regarded in the train fanfic community, for her seminal work Atlas Shrugged.

It has the distinction of being the longest, and arguably the best, train fanfic ever written.

Karl Marx is of course known for his communism.
In Das Kapital he discussed "socially necessary labor time" (here replaced by "adventuring necessary labor time").

He also discussed how workers were alienated from their labor by means of their salary, which disconnected them from the product of their labor.
He isn't wearing pants because apparently sometimes he was so broke that he had to pawn his only pair of pants, and couldn't leave the house.

How he got to the pawn shop again to get them back is anyone's guess.

Max Stirner was an egoist, anarchist, and somewhat of a nihilist.
His stance on property rights was as follows: "Whoever knows how to take, to defend, the thing, to him belongs property.”

He believed everyone should be working towards their own benefit, and should only band together in a "union of egoists", which would be a group that works together for their own personal good.

If being part of the group is ever not advantageous to the individual, they should leave the group or the group should be dissolved.

 

[John K]

Found this wandering about the internet - I think it escaped from Merkabah

 

[Skarekrow]

Found this wandering about the internet - I think it escaped from Merkabah

View attachment 47016

Cooooool!
Thanks John!
I dig it.