Merkabah

[Skarekrow]

Thoughts?

GUEST ESSAY: REALITY IS A HYPERDREAM
By Jason Barr

(This is a guest essay submitted to the Metaphysical Speculations Discussion Forum, reviewed and commented on by forum members.
The opinions expressed in the essay are those of its author.
For my own views on the subject of this essay, see my book The Idea of the World.)

​

Does reality 'seem' mental?

I understand that this might raise more questions than it answers.
However, it is important to know that reality does in fact appear mental, even though it is a common criticism that "reality obviously does not seem mental, look at me kick this rock!"

A good analogy to understand the plausibility of reality being mental is dreams, so you can look upon reality as a 'hyperdream.'

Reality while asleep?
These are dreams constructed mentally from emergent unstable minds and reality while awake is a hyperdream, which is more vivid and consistent while being constructed mentally from a fundamental stable mind.

Philosopher Erik Haynes:
This philosophy argues for a unified consciousness at the core of reality.
Humans are primarily conscious beings (or souls) with a tangible sense of reality provided by, and connected through, God's consciousness.

This can be compared to the way in which the dream world seems to incorporate everything that reality does yet one would not say that the dream world contains matter since dreams exist completely in the mind.

Since the mind is capable of producing a tangible reality in the dream world, then how much more so would God's mind be capable of creating a tangible reality for His creation?

The category of mentality, or 'consciousness,' is all that is needed to explain reality.
We know that this category of being has to exist and even honest physicalists ('materialists') admit this.

Neuroscientist Sam Harris:
Consciousness is the one thing in the universe that can’t be an illusion.
Consciousness is the fact of experience, the fact that something is happening, the fact that the 'lights are on' in some basic sense even if we don't understand anything.

So even if I'm a brain in a vat, what I'm calling consciousness is still a manifest fact of reality, and is the basis for every other fact.
In other words, we only believe objects exist because we are conscious of them.

We only know things because of mentality.
You cannot doubt it because even doubt is mental.

You really cannot get 'behind' mentality.

Reality can be explained just as well with less explanatorily useless postulates, as there is no need for a reality beyond the category of mentality.

Also, philosophical problems dissolve, such as the hard problem of consciousness that the physicalist has to deal with, and the interaction problem that the substance dualist has to deal with.

The category of non-mentality (or, a 'reality beyond consciousness') is therefore explanatorily superfluous and one of the biggest violations of Occam’s Razor I have encountered.

It should, in my opinion, be tossed in the graveyard with the aether and Russell’s tea pot, even if it cannot be 'disproven' with absolute certainty.

Leo Gura:
Notice that in your sleeping dreams, they have narrative arcs, they are always story based; it's always a sequence of events that happened to you just like ordinary life (in a spatiotemporal reality, controlling a body, interacting with objects etc.).

Doesn’t that make you suspicious about ordinary life?
Are you noticing all these similarities?

This should make you very suspicious.
The fallacy made by the vast majority of people in the world is confusing differences in degree with a difference in kind.

The degrees of vividness and consistency are higher pertaining to waking reality, but that does not magically make waking reality non-mental.

In fact, what it most likely means is that waking reality is a more vivid and consistent dream that we all share from different perspectives... Simple.

In conclusion, reality clearly does appear mental.
It seems precisely to be a more vivid and consistent dream that we experience from our own first-person reference points.

 

[John K]

It seems that leprosy or the black plague would be a more likely candidate...but what do I know, lol?

I thought I’d google bible and bleeding eyes for a laugh never expecting to find anything lol. It’s a bit of stretch but it all goes to show it’s true you can find anything in the bible if you look hard enough

What do you make of Lovecraft? His fantasy horror is completely gauche yet it’s filled with some kind of dreadful truesight vision as well. It feels like he’s writing metaphors for an altered consciousness experience that he can’t escape from. One or two other fantasy authors come across the same way - Hope Hodgeson and David Lindsay are a couple that I’m thinking of. Though Lindsay seemed to have a much more conscious understanding of his vision and was confronting and preaching it in his novels, while the other two were embracing and running in fear from it at the same time.

Thoughts?

GUEST ESSAY: REALITY IS A HYPERDREAM
By Jason Barr

(This is a guest essay submitted to the Metaphysical Speculations Discussion Forum, reviewed and commented on by forum members.
The opinions expressed in the essay are those of its author.
For my own views on the subject of this essay, see my book The Idea of the World.)

​

Does reality 'seem' mental?

I understand that this might raise more questions than it answers.
However, it is important to know that reality does in fact appear mental, even though it is a common criticism that "reality obviously does not seem mental, look at me kick this rock!"

A good analogy to understand the plausibility of reality being mental is dreams, so you can look upon reality as a 'hyperdream.'

Reality while asleep?
These are dreams constructed mentally from emergent unstable minds and reality while awake is a hyperdream, which is more vivid and consistent while being constructed mentally from a fundamental stable mind.

Philosopher Erik Haynes:
This philosophy argues for a unified consciousness at the core of reality. Humans are primarily conscious beings (or souls) with a tangible sense of reality provided by, and connected through, God's consciousness. This can be compared to the way in which the dream world seems to incorporate everything that reality does yet one would not say that the dream world contains matter since dreams exist completely in the mind. Since the mind is capable of producing a tangible reality in the dream world, then how much more so would God's mind be capable of creating a tangible reality for His creation?The category of mentality, or 'consciousness,' is all that is needed to explain reality. We know that this category of being has to exist and even honest physicalists ('materialists') admit this.

Neuroscientist Sam Harris:
Consciousness is the one thing in the universe that can’t be an illusion. Consciousness is the fact of experience, the fact that something is happening, the fact that the 'lights are on' in some basic sense even if we don't understand anything. So even if I'm a brain in a vat, what I'm calling consciousness is still a manifest fact of reality, and is the basis for every other fact.In other words, we only believe objects exist because we are conscious of them. We only know things because of mentality. You cannot doubt it because even doubt is mental. You really cannot get 'behind' mentality.

Reality can be explained just as well with less explanatorily useless postulates, as there is no need for a reality beyond the category of mentality.
Also, philosophical problems dissolve, such as the hard problem of consciousness that the physicalist has to deal with, and the interaction problem that the substance dualist has to deal with.

The category of non-mentality (or, a 'reality beyond consciousness') is therefore explanatorily superfluous and one of the biggest violations of Occam’s Razor I have encountered.

It should, in my opinion, be tossed in the graveyard with the aether and Russell’s tea pot, even if it cannot be 'disproven' with absolute certainty.

Leo Gura:
Notice that in your sleeping dreams, they have narrative arcs, they are always story based; it's always a sequence of events that happened to you just like ordinary life (in a spatiotemporal reality, controlling a body, interacting with objects etc.). Doesn’t that make you suspicious about ordinary life? Are you noticing all these similarities? This should make you very suspicious.The fallacy made by the vast majority of people in the world is confusing differences in degree with a difference in kind. The degrees of vividness and consistency are higher pertaining to waking reality, but that does not magically make waking reality non-mental. In fact, what it most likely means is that waking reality is a more vivid and consistent dream that we all share from different perspectives... Simple.

In conclusion, reality clearly does appear mental.
It seems precisely to be a more vivid and consistent dream that we experience from our own first-person reference points.

I have a lot of resonance with this Skare. I’ve had quite a few dreams where I’ve woken up inside the dream, done stuff, gone to bed and fallen asleep, woken up again, all still inside the dream. What’s to say I’m really awake now? Maybe I’ll wake up eventually to find the whole damn thing was a dream. Whatever’s out there, and I believe there is something out there, the way we experience it seems to me to be much closer to the way we dream than is obvious normally.

 

[Skarekrow]

I thought I’d google bible and bleeding eyes for a laugh never expecting to find anything lol. It’s a bit of stretch but it all goes to show it’s true you can find anything in the bible if you look hard enough

What do you make of Lovecraft? His fantasy horror is completely gauche yet it’s filled with some kind of dreadful truesight vision as well. It feels like he’s writing metaphors for an altered consciousness experience that he can’t escape from. One or two other fantasy authors come across the same way - Hope Hodgeson and David Lindsay are a couple that I’m thinking of. Though Lindsay seemed to have a much more conscious understanding of his vision and was confronting and preaching it in his novels, while the other two were embracing and running in fear from it at the same time.


I have a lot of resonance with this Skare. I’ve had quite a few dreams where I’ve woken up inside the dream, done stuff, gone to bed and fallen asleep, woken up again, all still inside the dream. What’s to say I’m really awake now? Maybe I’ll wake up eventually to find the whole damn thing was a dream. Whatever’s out there, and I believe there is something out there, the way we experience it seems to me to be much closer to the way we dream than is obvious normally.

Lol...check this out - https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/diseases-bible
Even references to rectal bleeding, lmao.

Lovecraft is kind of enigmatic to me...I definitely feel that he suffered from some kind of mental...maybe not illness...but certainly seemed to have a head full of his own demons.
He also comes across in some of his tales as someone who has seen things not just from an imaginary standpoint necessarily...but maybe that is how he was trying to come across for fright factor, idk?
Everyone knows his stories of Cthulhu...but I really love the stories he wrote about doorways to other realities or universes.
I find those very personally satisfying to read.
I’ll have to read up on Hodgeson and Lindsay - what are your favorite(s) of each?
I keep meaning to ask you if you have read the Mark Chadborne series “The Age of Misrule”....for some reason you pop in my head when I see the books on the shelf (4 books).
I have a feeling you would like them?

Yes...those are always bizarre to keep waking up into another dream...especially if it was something frightening...only to have a false sense of safety dashed as something else gets you before you actually wake up, lolol.
This happened to me a LOT as a child.
Part of it was the whole OOBE thing...there were nights I had trouble telling if I was really awake or not...especially when I would run back to my sleeping self and jump in bed while being chased by something, only to then “wake up” and not know if I really was awake or not.
And then, even now...I cannot say for sure about certain things that have happened.
Where things have carried over into this reality from a supposed “dream”....like that old hag incident where the mantle clock was thrown at the foot of the bed.
I was just like a normal dream sequence and then it was like alarm bells sounded and the dream was immediately interrupted and switched into some kind of awareness that this thing was in my house at the time coming down the hallway...I could clearly see it in my mind’s eye...then when it got to my room that is when I sat up in bed with my eyes still closed and yelled for it to “Get the fuck out!” (which I’m sure the neighbors must have heard lol).
Then pushing her (it) with some kind of energy waves or Qi...idk what...sensation-wise it was the same feeling as the vibrational state reached while trying to go out of body purposefully...quite pleasant feeling actually emanating from what seemed to be my core.
I pushed her with this energy while I yelled and through the wall she went...but...
Not before that clock flew off....one of the best paranormal incidents I’ve had.
A long, low, campaign dresser at the foot end of the room had stacks of folded clothes on top of it...but behind them was a mantle clock.
No clothes were knocked over.
The clock would have had to move almost a foot over the clothes then fly at least 4 ft or so where it hit the end of my bed in the dark and then thumped onto the ground - at which point I opened my eyes and flipped on the light to see what the hell just happened.
The clock was on the ground and I had no explanation other than my own perception of what transpired.
There is no physical way for that clock to have done that.
The same goes with that hanger incident...and the toys moving incident...ugh.

This is why I cannot just dismiss this stuff outright like some folks can.
It doesn’t scare me anymore like it did as a kid...and I know from other witnesses that it’s not just in my head also...so...
lol

Now was it a “ghost” or entity...or the “old hag” herself...idk.
It could have been some PSI burst of energy from me somehow...though the ways it has happened in the past doesn’t make it seem like that is always the case though could be for some definitely.

Gotta run right now...take care!
Much love!

 

[BritNi]

Well...it’s mostly just the transfer of books up there that remains to be done, lol.
The rest is finished (except for painting the doors)!

The black hole picture is crazy, I think it’s pretty cool...here are some artist representations...

​

Everytime I see posts about this, I think Muse.

Spoiler

 

[Skarekrow]

Everytime I see posts about this, I think Muse.

Spoiler

Love that song!!
Saw them 3 times in concert...my Son was really into them when he was younger also so they were his first concert.
Thanks!

I hope you are well?
Gotta run but will be back!

 

[BritNi]

Love that song!!
Saw them 3 times in concert...my Son was really into them when he was younger also so they were his first concert.
Thanks!

I hope you are well?
Gotta run but will be back!

I love them! I bet it was amazing seeing them live. I really enjoyed a specific band once until I saw then live. That lead singer couldn't even hit his notes. He stared at me as I was the only person in the crowd (about 15 feet away from him. I'd say?) not dancing or singing along. We had a conversation through eyes: with no words and he knows I was displeased. Lol.

True story. I got sick of the b.s. and went to a room upstairs where you can watch but drown out the music a bit. When their performance was finished he came up and almost approached me. But when I looked at up and into his eyes once more, he just walked away. Lol.

...I imagine he was an arrogant fuck who couldn't understand why someone wouldn't like his show. But, maybe he couldn't handle the truth.

Gosh. I can be a hell of a critic sometimes.

I'm sometimes afraid to go to live shows of artists I enjoy because of that experience. I liked their music, but now I can't hear their songs on the radio without cringing, regardless of how catchy the song is. Ruined! Sometimes the truth is daunting, but I guess it's better to know than be oblivious.

I'm good. @Skarekrow . I've just been catching up with a friend this last week so I haven't been too attentive to the forum. I guess that's alright though. Naturally I'd let the forum consume my life (well, all the free time I have, at least. Lol).

I hope you are well, too! ....praying for you: increased sleep and decreased pain.

 

[John K]

Lol...check this out - https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/diseases-bible
Even references to rectal bleeding, lmao.

Lovecraft is kind of enigmatic to me...I definitely feel that he suffered from some kind of mental...maybe not illness...but certainly seemed to have a head full of his own demons.
He also comes across in some of his tales as someone who has seen things not just from an imaginary standpoint necessarily...but maybe that is how he was trying to come across for fright factor, idk?
Everyone knows his stories of Cthulhu...but I really love the stories he wrote about doorways to other realities or universes.
I find those very personally satisfying to read.
I’ll have to read up on Hodgeson and Lindsay - what are your favorite(s) of each?
I keep meaning to ask you if you have read the Mark Chadborne series “The Age of Misrule”....for some reason you pop in my head when I see the books on the shelf (4 books).
I have a feeling you would like them?

Yes...those are always bizarre to keep waking up into another dream...especially if it was something frightening...only to have a false sense of safety dashed as something else gets you before you actually wake up, lolol.
This happened to me a LOT as a child.
Part of it was the whole OOBE thing...there were nights I had trouble telling if I was really awake or not...especially when I would run back to my sleeping self and jump in bed while being chased by something, only to then “wake up” and not know if I really was awake or not.
And then, even now...I cannot say for sure about certain things that have happened.
Where things have carried over into this reality from a supposed “dream”....like that old hag incident where the mantle clock was thrown at the foot of the bed.
I was just like a normal dream sequence and then it was like alarm bells sounded and the dream was immediately interrupted and switched into some kind of awareness that this thing was in my house at the time coming down the hallway...I could clearly see it in my mind’s eye...then when it got to my room that is when I sat up in bed with my eyes still closed and yelled for it to “Get the fuck out!” (which I’m sure the neighbors must have heard lol).
Then pushing her (it) with some kind of energy waves or Qi...idk what...sensation-wise it was the same feeling as the vibrational state reached while trying to go out of body purposefully...quite pleasant feeling actually emanating from what seemed to be my core.
I pushed her with this energy while I yelled and through the wall she went...but...
Not before that clock flew off....one of the best paranormal incidents I’ve had.
A long, low, campaign dresser at the foot end of the room had stacks of folded clothes on top of it...but behind them was a mantle clock.
No clothes were knocked over.
The clock would have had to move almost a foot over the clothes then fly at least 4 ft or so where it hit the end of my bed in the dark and then thumped onto the ground - at which point I opened my eyes and flipped on the light to see what the hell just happened.
The clock was on the ground and I had no explanation other than my own perception of what transpired.
There is no physical way for that clock to have done that.
The same goes with that hanger incident...and the toys moving incident...ugh.

This is why I cannot just dismiss this stuff outright like some folks can.
It doesn’t scare me anymore like it did as a kid...and I know from other witnesses that it’s not just in my head also...so...
lol

Now was it a “ghost” or entity...or the “old hag” herself...idk.
It could have been some PSI burst of energy from me somehow...though the ways it has happened it the past doesn’t make it seem like that is always the case though could be for some definitely.

Gotta run right now...take care!
Much love!

I'm a sucker for good fantasy - I'll look up 'The Age of Misrule' trilogy, thanks for the tip.

The best of Hope Hodgeson and David Lindsay are out of copyright so available in free downloads:

'The House on the Borderland' by Hope Hodgeson
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10002

'A Voyage to Arcturus' by David Lindsay
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1329

These are both early 20th century fantasies, but quite idiosyncratic. I think you'd like Arcturus in particular because it's a gnostic fantasy of great profundity and vivid imagary, even though the author's actual style of writing is a little ... vivid and ott ?? Like Lovecraft, these guys sit in between Victorian horror and fantasy, and the science fiction of the 1930s and beyond. I like them a lot because their work stretches our consciousness - like Lovecraft does. My thread Nightspore is named after a character (well not really a character!!) in Arcturus. Nightspore is the soul of Maskull who is the main character and (at first sight) hero of the book.

I agree with you about Lovecraft - he obviously experienced something. But he didn't half milk it lol.

More later - time for me to make our evening meal.

 

[BritNi]

I’m not especially good at taking compliments....or knowing what to say other than thank you?

I can relate. A "thank you" is sufficient because I can feel you mean it.

I have had zero desire to return to California since I left, lol.

I was born/raised in Cali. I left on my own after being emancipated at 16. I fear ever returning.
Washington is so beautiful, though. So green and rich in nature. I have fathomed relocating there.

The arthritis is not punishment for anything adventurous I did....but I’m sure lifting heavy patients and that sort of shit did not help the situation much either.
I cannot view it as a punishment, it just is what it is.
Sometimes bad shit happens for no reason to the nicest of people.
Not saying I’m super-nice or anything , but it was just the randomness of life and genetics.
Some people try to lay it out as a karmic thing, but I also abstain from that thought as imho I think that is not true in most cases either personally.
Not saying that there isn’t karmic stuff to deal with, only that not everything is because of karma as some like to portray it.

I screwed up on a bad day once and made a comment about that karma that poorly reflected me. I wasn't able to fully express my beliefs and I believe it may have resulted in me being misunderstood. I can relate to your views about karma as well. I'll try to refrain on reflecting further for the fact that I struggle with articulating my thoughts (to the fullest) often. Haha... if I had a joint I could ramble on forever. Lol. But, my line of work forbids it and it's not legal here. Whatevs.

Also, I can relate to you, as a caregiver(A lot of CNA+ work, too) for most my life. I do a lot of heavy lifting as I attend to falls on my own (although I shouldn't). I already feel the consequences, though nothing on your level. My mind is set on taking care now and not worrying about the repercussions. I hate to admit, but I have not always followed universal protocols as I feel it's more important to tend to the situation immediately (in some cases), than worry about finding a pair of gloves. I have always felt that if I die from a bloodborne pathogen as a result of helping someone, I won't care. I would rather have helped them. I'll die. Oh well. I'm a good judge though, and I've made it this far without contracting anything.

I'm glad that you have taken up swimming (my fave, for sure), and have meditation to help as well. I am trying to learn. A buddy of mine offered to help. I just need to discipline myself and make the time instead of spending so much of it here. Haha.

Yeah, it would have been nice to look at it...hopefully I can at my appointment later...though I still don’t see anything in my electronic medical record from the radiologist reading the MRI yet.
If i could just see it I can read it!!!
I actually know how...ugh.
I can at least see if any of my nerve roots or spinal cord are being compressed!
Of well....we’ll find out soon!

Lol...sometimes I feel like an alien.

Thoughts....prayers. ♥
From what I can tell, you are an alien. But, I think that's true INFJ feeling for the most part.
I feel like one, too. ....I'm a pretty alien though. Haha.
I get the frustration. You could tell them that you'd read it yourself, but they just look at you like you're incompetent. Like, you don't have to have a PhD to know shit. Damn. lol...

♥ ♥ ♥ I hope you have a day as beautiful as your heart sweet, sweet Krow. ♥ ♥ ♥

 

[Ginny]

I'm glad that you have taken up swimming (my fave, for sure), and have meditation to help as well. I am trying to learn. A buddy of mine offered to help. I just need to discipline myself and make the time instead of spending so much of it here. Haha.

So relatable! Not just the forum, but the general distractions of life keep interfering with picking up any other kind of routine

I get the frustration. You could tell them that you'd read it yourself, but they just look at you like you're incompetent. Like, you don't have to have a PhD to know shit. Damn. lol...

Couldn't agree more

 

[Skarekrow]

I love them! I bet it was amazing seeing them live. I really enjoyed a specific band once until I saw then live. That lead singer couldn't even hit his notes. He stared at me as I was the only person in the crowd (about 15 feet away from him. I'd say?) not dancing or singing along. We had a conversation through eyes: with no words and he knows I was displeased. Lol.

True story. I got sick of the b.s. and went to a room upstairs where you can watch but drown out the music a bit. When their performance was finished he came up and almost approached me. But when I looked at up and into his eyes once more, he just walked away. Lol.

...I imagine he was an arrogant fuck who couldn't understand why someone wouldn't like his show. But, maybe he couldn't handle the truth.

Gosh. I can be a hell of a critic sometimes.

I'm sometimes afraid to go to live shows of artists I enjoy because of that experience. I liked their music, but now I can't hear their songs on the radio without cringing, regardless of how catchy the song is. Ruined! Sometimes the truth is daunting, but I guess it's better to know than be oblivious.

I'm good. @Skarekrow . I've just been catching up with a friend this last week so I haven't been too attentive to the forum. I guess that's alright though. Naturally I'd let the forum consume my life (well, all the free time I have, at least. Lol).

I hope you are well, too! ....praying for you: increased sleep and decreased pain.

The first two times were really great...and it was super fun watching him get blasted by his first big arena concert with lasers and shit hahaha.
You know, when the bass vibrates your bones!

The third time the singer seemed to kinda be phoning it in, but it was still good and very entertaining.
They are one band that I would definitely say is actually better live than in recordings - though I hate, hate, hate live recordings...best to see them actually live.
That is pretty damn funny about the singer...hahaha.
IAMX and Moto Boy were both phenomenal live as well...I got to see them...well, IAMX multiple times as well, but the venues were always nice and small, very freaking cool.
When I saw Bowie it was...hmmm...2003ish?
That was at the Shrine across from USC and I had nosebleed seats...but a good pair of binoculars.
Almost got killed by someone driving the wrong way over 100 with no headlights on in my lane of traffic after the show...holy shit!
It was one of those moments where you pull over and have to stop your heart from skipping.
Crazy fuckers.

Strange what you remember about things sometimes.

Yeah...arrogant people always rub me the wrong way...and they usually don’t like me either because they can tell I see right through them and their BS.
That is one of my huge pet peeves...please tell me if I ever sound arrogant about anything, it certainly is never my intention.
The ego is a sneaky bastard though!
(Blasted it away last weekend )
I had to sob after it was silenced...the realization of the sheer amount of negative and frankly cruel self-criticism my ego likes to berate me with was uber-clear at that time in that mind-state.
It really is amazing to me how much of that goes on constantly in the background no matter if you are consciously thinking it or not...but it really helps to have a more complete view of just how much it is happening and impacting me...that was clarified for me and I am most grateful for that.

Thanks for your prayers of less pain and things!
I actually do believe that those things make a difference in this reality.

 

[Skarekrow]

I'm a sucker for good fantasy - I'll look up 'The Age of Misrule' trilogy, thanks for the tip.

The best of Hope Hodgeson and David Lindsay are out of copyright so available in free downloads:

'The House on the Borderland' by Hope Hodgeson
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10002

'A Voyage to Arcturus' by David Lindsay
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1329

These are both early 20th century fantasies, but quite idiosyncratic. I think you'd like Arcturus in particular because it's a gnostic fantasy of great profundity and vivid imagary, even though the author's actual style of writing is a little ... vivid and ott ?? Like Lovecraft, these guys sit in between Victorian horror and fantasy, and the science fiction of the 1930s and beyond. I like them a lot because their work stretches our consciousness - like Lovecraft does. My thread Nightspore is named after a character (well not really a character!!) in Arcturus. Nightspore is the soul of Maskull who is the main character and (at first sight) hero of the book.

I agree with you about Lovecraft - he obviously experienced something. But he didn't half milk it lol.

More later - time for me to make our evening meal.

Yes...it is a trilogy!
Here I was thinking I was missing a book....hahahaha.
LMAO
(Was searching for it the other night)


The “Misrule” books really go in depth into the Arthurian legends...tales of fairies, etc.
Lots of history about certain churches in England and Scotland that is pretty fascinating.
It was a super-fun enjoyable series...really just flew through the books as the story moves along at a pretty fast pace, but also one of those where you have to pick the book back up to find out what happens next, lol, or stay up too late reading it.

From Amazon -

A dragon firebombs a freeway.
Shape-shifters stalk the commercial district.
The deadly Wild Hunt wreaks havoc on the highway.

The Age of Misrule has dawned.

When Jack Churchill and Ruth Gallagher encounter a terrifying, misshapen giant beneath a London bridge, they are plunged into a mystery that portends the end of the world as we know it.

All over the country, the ancient gods of Celtic myth are returning to the land from which they were banished millennia ago.
Following in their footsteps are creatures of folklore: fabulous beasts, wonders and dark terrors.

As technology starts to fail, Jack and Ruth are forced to embark on a desperate quest for four magical items—the last chance for humanity in the face of powers barely comprehended.

A pedal-to-the-floor, high-octane fantasy thriller that pitches magic and wonder into a pop culture mash-up of the modern world.
Described as "One part Lord of the Rings, one part Illuminatus!, one part Arthurian romance, one part Harry Potter—100 % original!”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

​

Thank you again for the book suggestions and the links!
I will read them for sure!
I very much enjoy vintage science fiction actually!
It’s quite amazing the things some predicted in their stories that have come to pass or are supportive of new theories of quantum physics, etc.!

Take care and have a peaceful day!!

 

[Skarekrow]

I can relate. A "thank you" is sufficient because I can feel you mean it.


I was born/raised in Cali. I left on my own after being emancipated at 16. I fear ever returning.
Washington is so beautiful, though. So green and rich in nature. I have fathomed relocating there.


I screwed up on a bad day once and made a comment about that karma that poorly reflected me. I wasn't able to fully express my beliefs and I believe it may have resulted in me being misunderstood. I can relate to your views about karma as well. I'll try to refrain on reflecting further for the fact that I struggle with articulating my thoughts (to the fullest) often. Haha... if I had a joint I could ramble on forever. Lol. But, my line of work forbids it and it's not legal here. Whatevs.

Also, I can relate to you, as a caregiver(A lot of CNA+ work, too) for most my life. I do a lot of heavy lifting as I attend to falls on my own (although I shouldn't). I already feel the consequences, though nothing on your level. My mind is set on taking care now and not worrying about the repercussions. I hate to admit, but I have not always followed universal protocols as I feel it's more important to tend to the situation immediately (in some cases), than worry about finding a pair of gloves. I have always felt that if I die from a bloodborne pathogen as a result of helping someone, I won't care. I would rather have helped them. I'll die. Oh well. I'm a good judge though, and I've made it this far without contracting anything.

I'm glad that you have taken up swimming (my fave, for sure), and have meditation to help as well. I am trying to learn. A buddy of mine offered to help. I just need to discipline myself and make the time instead of spending so much of it here. Haha.


Thoughts....prayers. ♥
From what I can tell, you are an alien. But, I think that's true INFJ feeling for the most part.
I feel like one, too. ....I'm a pretty alien though. Haha.
I get the frustration. You could tell them that you'd read it yourself, but they just look at you like you're incompetent. Like, you don't have to have a PhD to know shit. Damn. lol...

♥ ♥ ♥ I hope you have a day as beautiful as your heart sweet, sweet Krow. ♥ ♥ ♥

Yes...I grew up in the central valley there...hot and dry and....ugh.

I had an Aunt who used to live up here who we would visit from time to time....I always wanted to move up here....in 2009, I did!
Hooray!
It’s it nice.
If you don’t like the rain though...not your place.
But it’s very beautiful...green...clean air....stuff to do....lol.

I get what you mean about karma.
There is a whole group of folks out there though who like to blame every ailment on karmic issues or an unbalanced chakra...this or that...when it’s NOT in your hands and it all amounts to basically victim blaming (not that I see myself as a “victim”).
Perhaps there are components of karma at play...perhaps your chakras make a difference in this or that...but to those people who use the word “dis-ease” as if it’s not real and is created by ourselves, just know that that irritates the living fuck out of me and my foot in your ass would be very "dis-easing” too if you keep on that line of thinking around me hahaha.
Sure your emotional state and everything else play a huge role in illness and disease...but to those that try to say that - “You have the power to heal your DNA and body all along!”
I say...keep it to yourself...if anyone thinks for one second that I CHOSE this (even subconsciously), or it’s a punishment for a past karmic deed, or that I haven’t tried just about everything under the sun to ease it or “cure” it - I will break their damn nose.


Yes...there have been circumstances where I have pushed my body to it’s limits on the job...especially on the ambulance.
As far as universal precautions goes...yeah, I understand.
I was exposed to all sorts of everything in my many years in the various places I’ve worked.
Was never too scared of AIDS or Hepatitis from a needle stick or anything, but it was the patients we would get in with damn flesh-eating bacteria that is so aggressive you can practically watch it eat the flesh away.
One of our Anesthesiologists actually contracted it from someone and we had to debride HIS leg....yikes!
Luckily all was good....made it my whole career without a single needle stick or similar exposure.

Finally got the MRI results...that’s for another post, hahaha.
But about what I expected.
Lots of bone being eaten away.

Yes...it’s hard to make it into a habit, especially if you have a job and a life and things to do like most people!
lol
Let me know if I can help you with any questions about meditating...I’m not a professional by any means, but I found a few things that helped me.
Thank you again for all the words and thoughts of kindness and caring.
I appreciate it very much and don’t take such things lightly.
Have a good one and much love!

 

[Skarekrow]

So relatable! Not just the forum, but the general distractions of life keep interfering with picking up any other kind of routine


Couldn't agree more

Yes for sure, I agree as well!
A lot of people like to meditate before bed for that reason.
Imho though it can be more beneficial when we are more aware and not so tired...but if you cannot find a consistent time then it could help one also relax to get to sleep if they are having trouble too.

As for the MRI...yeah...it’s silly that they do that...but I have it now.
At least the report.
I would really like the actual MRI.
Gonna request a copy.

Hope you are well today?
Thanks for the camaraderie!
Much love!

 

[Ginny]

Yes for sure, I agree as well!
A lot of people like to meditate before bed for that reason.
Imho though it can be more beneficial when we are more aware and not so tired...but if you cannot find a consistent time then it could help one also relax to get to sleep if they are having trouble too.

As for the MRI...yeah...it’s silly that they do that...but I have it now.
At least the report.
I would really like the actual MRI.
Gonna request a copy.

Hope you are well today?
Thanks for the camaraderie!
Much love!

I'm doing fine, thanks for asking
Trying to get tired so I get enough sleep for tomorrow.

Didn't do all that I wanted, but I made a list to work off in my alone time it will definitely help me concentrate.
Disorder is always discouraging further activity, quite annoyingly so. Even though the cats seem to love it

 

[Skarekrow]

I'm doing fine, thanks for asking
Trying to get tired so I get enough sleep for tomorrow.

Didn't do all that I wanted, but I made a list to work off in my alone time it will definitely help me concentrate.
Disorder is always discouraging further activity, quite annoyingly so. Even though the cats seem to love it

I totally understand!
That’s most of my days it seems, haha.
Get some rest!

 

[Ginny]

I totally understand!
That’s most of my days it seems, haha.
Get some rest!

Will do, pretty soon
Aim is for midnight the latest (in about 40)

 

[Skarekrow]

Hmmmm?

Sunday, April 14, 2019
A Terrifying Case of Precognition ​

One thing I keep learning about our mysterious minds—in every category of a phenomenon—say, a mystical experience, a reported alien contact, or the effects of psychokinesis—there are endless variations.

Nothing is mechanical, or exactly predictable about mental life.
No matter how time-tested a rule, it will always be broken.

Precognition subverts our commonsense idea of time and our intuitive sense of cause and effect.
Since when does the effect come before the cause?

Precognition—also called foreknowledge and prophecy—is to know of specific events that have yet to occur.
That may sound impossible, but plenty of evidence says it’s a real effect.

Laying aside the attempt to explain precognition, we should be aware of how strange the phenomenon is.
The story I want to mention makes it even stranger.

Isabel F. wrote an account of her experience to me:
“The ability of my mind to function in an unusual way is by recognition through the form of dreams. It is always the same dream and with the same consequences.” It’s the consequences that make having this dream so traumatic.

Since she was twelve years old she had a recurrent “dream about a couple getting married, the groom happens to be one of my friends, but the bride is some girl I have never seen before in my life.”

The reason Isabel finds it so hard to talk about this particular dream is plain enough.
“Every time I have this dream,” she says “the groom who happens to be my friend gets killed in real life.”

Precognition is clearly a gift, but also, it could be a curse.
Isabel shared with me three examples of her cursed gift.

The first occurred when she was twelve.
She had what she called her “nightmare’ of Carlos, her friend, getting married to a strange girl and then woke up at six in the morning.

Two hours later her father called from work to tell her that Carlos was killed in a car accident.

She was fifteen when it happened again; this time the groom was Javier.
She had the dream on a Sunday afternoon, and was frightened because of what happened after the first time.

She kept the dream to herself.
In the morning, Isabel’s mother called her family in Columbia, and learned that Javier was killed in a motorcycle accident.

That’s two.

More recently, on a trip to visit her family in Columbia, she had the same marriage dream, this time the groom was another friend, Fernando.
Isabel was so upset she drove for four hours to Fernando’s home, but a half hour after she arrived, the police showed up: “Fernando was shot four times and was dead when they found him.”

She gave no further examples, preferring not to discuss her experience, and lives in fear of having the dream again.
She misses the friends whose deaths she knew in advance, but couldn’t save.

I’m baffled by this weird, narrowly channeled, and useless display of a paranormal ability.

Why should anybody be endowed with such a cruel gift?
The only value it seems to have is philosophical, as if it wants to remind us that time is riddled with mysteries.

And by inverting the relationship between cause and effect, it strikes a blow against common sense.
Maybe these weird displays of nature are meant to make us question our basic beliefs about reality.

If so, the lesson seems to be that the insights we may gain don’t come cheaply.

I recently spoke with somebody in the U.S. Justice Department who happens to have impressive psychic abilities.
One thing he said was that his gifts caused him no end of trouble.

I’m not surprised.
People with special gifts often suffer as a consequence of having them.

There’s a dangerous side to having psychic talents, as Socrates, Jesus, and Joan of Arc found out.

 

[Skarekrow]

I get this from time to time...it’s very strange!
It literally sounds and feels like my head is exploding!
Can be very disconcerting...when it happens once, then it seems to happen several more times before I finally fall asleep.
Unlike the vibrational state - this is not pleasant at all and also feels like there is an accompanying electrical shock or voltage running through my head all at once.
Though not really painful, feels really uncomfortable, lol.
I think this must have something to do with the blurred lines of my sleeping and awake states that has seemed to have persisted into adulthood somewhat maybe?
Now the sounds themselves are the same as the vibrational state, the electrical buzzing, loud explosions, people talking or yelling, etc.
Except with EHS, it’s only a split second of loud sound while the VS can go on for a long time and such sounds can easily cause you to lose coherence and completely wake up without separation.
The description sounds like the moments before going OOB, the sensations, sounds, and the feeling of not breathing for example are all the same (though you are breathing you don’t register it as your body is asleep, very scary the first couple times)...and many think that we all go OOB when we sleep at night and just don’t realize it, this may be a glimpse?
My own theory of the sounds is that it is the collective consciousness being heard for just a moment or a minute all at once without the filter of your brain at work deciphering it.

(Energy weapons huh?)

IDK

Enjoy!

Putting a Cap on Exploding Heads

​

If you Google your symptoms and the results point to something called “exploding head syndrome,” should you see a doctor, a demolition expert or someone who can make you a cement hat?

The correct answer is “a) see a doctor.”
Exploding head syndrome is a hypnagogic condition that occurs in that mysterious transitional state between sleep and full wakefulness.

We’ve all experienced the “hypnagogic jerk,” that embarrassing spasm that cause your body to twitch and head to snap back, usually during sermons in church.

Exploding head syndrome is a more serious condition which causes sufferers to hear extremely loud noises like gunshots or explosions as they are falling asleep or waking up.

New research by the American Sleep Association (ASA) is helping to identity the causes and possible treatments for exploding head syndrome.
While causing no pain, it interferes with sleep and can trigger severe anxiety.

Some sufferers hear the noise in only one ear, others in both and many people hear it coming from inside their heads.
While anyone can experience it, it’s most common in women and people over 50.

Most suffers feel the loud noise is coming from inside their heads – hence the name.​

Possible causes include anxiety, extreme fatigue, minor seizures in the brain’s temporal lobe or hearing disorders.
It may also be an evolutionary leftover from our ancestors whose brains jerked them awake with spasms or noises when they might be in danger or falling out of a tree.

After ruling out fireworks or trigger-happy neighbors, those suffering from exploding head syndrome are advised to try yoga, meditation or a hot bath before bed.

The ASA reports that many drugs interfere with sleep and can be a possible cause, so refraining from taking them, after checking with a doctor first, may alleviate the symptoms.

Clomipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant, is sometimes prescribed for treatment.

The good news, for both you and your sleeping partner, is that “exploding head” is just an expression.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Link - Exploding head syndrome:​

Individuals with exploding head syndrome hear or experience loud imagined (Are they though??) noises as they are falling asleep or waking up, have a strong, often frightened emotional reaction to the sound, and do not report significant pain; around 10% of people also experience visual disturbances like perceiving visual static, lightning, or flashes of light.

Some people may also experience heat, strange feelings in their torso, or a feeling of electrical tinglings that ascends to the head before the auditory hallucinations occur.[2]

With the heightened arousal, people experience distress, confusion, myoclonic jerks, tachycardia, sweating, and the sensation that feels as if they have stopped breathing and have to make a deliberate effort to breathe again.[4][7][8][9]

The pattern of the auditory hallucinations is variable.
Some people report having a total of two or four attacks followed by a prolonged or total remission, having attacks over the course of a few weeks or months before the attacks spontaneously disappear, or the attacks may even recur irregularly every few days, weeks, or months for much of a lifetime.[2]

Some individuals mistakenly believe that EHS episodes are not natural events, but are the effects of directed energy weapons which create an auditory effect.[10]

Thus, EHS has been worked into conspiracy theories, but there is no scientific evidence that EHS has non-natural origins.

 

[Ginny]

Why should anybody be endowed with such a cruel gift?

If the that person cannot act quick enough despite her precognitive abilities, maybe it is a means of psychic preparation?
If she lost her fear of those dreams, her fear of death, she may be able to work on/with this gift, too.

 

[Skarekrow]

If the that person cannot act quick enough despite her precognitive abilities, maybe it is a means of psychic preparation?
If she lost her fear of those dreams, her fear of death, she may be able to work on/with this gift, too.

I totally agree.
Unfortunately it sounds like such experiences from an early age has given her some bad PTSD and anxiety about it all.
It’s probably all the harder when people don’t believe you on top of it all happening I would imagine.
Hopefully she can come to some terms and acceptance as she gets older.