Welcome!

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This site is a collection of insights and oracular readings that the secular (or religious) Westerner may find useful in progressing their own Spiritual Life.

I also give free readings for those who apply. Fill in the contact form, and a reply will be sent. Please note, it must be stated that all readings are done for entertainment purposes only. (This statement is a legal requirement, so I can’t be burned at the stake, or something).

Along with my own slow development, this site is being developed also. Slowly.

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Other people’s sites I support, recommend, quote from and contribute to.

Guides to Enlightenment. The essential, free and priceless self-training tools for anyone interested in developing their spirituality in the secular West, these two guidebooks neatly fit into either a secular or religious worldview, with graded exercises which surely take you towards the final stage of enlightenment.

The Awakening Self – Emergent self-awareness. The home of the writings of my friend and guide, the Spiritual Teacher and outrageous free thinker D.C. Vision (1965-2012), aka Corvus.

Spiritual Development and the Occult

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There have been a few enquiries lately for information about the occult, and on one occasion by someone who sounded very young indeed.  She was interested in finding out about Wicca, and bless her, felt that here was likely to be found  trustworthy information.

The word “occult” simply means what is currently hidden from you, and the process of spiritual development shines a light upon what needs to be revealed. You don’t have to go looking for the occult – in fact, it is best to wait and see what comes to you to be looked at.

For too many, reading, writing and basic mathematics, and the ability to support oneself with food and shelter, are occult, and for those people it is essential that these skills are mastered. We are in these bodies in this place at this time for a reason, after all. For the young, the entire adult world is occult, and adjusting to it and the developing body will require all your skill, strength and resources. Always, whoever and wherever you are, the next step is here before you, now. Look at what needs to be done here and now, and do it as well as you can. These are all steps in spiritual development, as well as material development.

If, after this, you wish to embark on a dedicated process of spiritual development, the way is quite straightforward. But don’t be in too much of a hurry. This world needs to be lived in easily before the next world is tackled.

tripod

 

There are three “legs” and one central principle.

Leg One: Meditation or focused Prayer.

Leg Two: The study of inspired works.

Leg three: Service to humanity.

 

Working on all three legs together brings rapid unfoldment, and stability. A wise man said to me that three legs always give stability on uneven surfaces. Any other number will make the table/chair wobble.

A complete (and free) spiritual development system (incorporating an easy-to-learn meditation) is here(link) , and is a system designed for the non-religious or religious westerner.

The inspired works you choose to study can be from any of the world’s great spiritual traditions, or equally those eclectic works of modern teachers like DC Vision.

 

Service to humanity is best done in secret. The most important service to humanity for those on a path of spiritual development is to work on themselves. “Remove the plank from your own eyes before you attempt to remove the specks from other people” as a certain Master put it. Of course, while you are cleaning yourself up, you can help others whenever it is in your gift to do so.

The overarching principle is this: what you are doing is not for yourself, or your own group, nation or religion, but for all beings. ALL beings. Think carefully on this, because a sectarian favouritism has led very spiritually motivated and developed people (to give just one example,  Adolf Hitler) badly astray – I would expect that they and their followers will be paying for their mistakes for many painful lifetimes to come.

 

Guidebook for Empathic Control

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Several years ago a person on Paltalk, going by the name of “quietcountryhick”, gave instruction to help natural empaths gain some control over the interference that being around others had on their lives.

Here is a quote from his guide:

You ask how can they do this? How can I? I need to learn how to feel much better. And be alone in my own mind. You have to learn and use a couple of simple techniques. They need to be used every day from now on. Not only when you have a problem, but in the morning when you get up, around lunch time, perhaps after work and (again) definitely before going to sleep. It will take under 5 minutes each time. Probably 1-2 minutes each time after you get used to using them.

The complete guide follows (feel free to copy and paste):  Continue reading →

Another Musical Communication

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When I woke up humming this one, I actually wrongly identified it, so it took some time to work out the message. That can happen.

At the time, working as a trainee therapist, it snapped things into perspective.

I remember hearing it on the radio some time later, and the host said that he wondered if there was a dance to it. I remember shouting at the radio “yes there is, and we’re all doing it.”

Now a mask is worn voluntarily, the steps are danced with more intentionality and awareness, as an interface: a sort of Windows XP for the Soul.

Oh yes: The music is the Masquerade Waltz by Aram Khachaturian.

Using Tones as a Meditation Aid

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Beginning regular meditation feels intimidating, threatening. Yet there are technologies which can make the experience much easier in practice.

Two which use audio tones to entrain the brainwaves are of special interest. Try both.

First: Isotones.These require no particular equipment, and do not require stereo headphones.

Download and try the deep meditation tone from Iso-tones.com. It is 30 mins long, and ramps down gradually to a useful frequency: begin 10 minutes in once you are used to it.

I have downloaded a copy (with birdsong) which you can try, or download from here.

Second: Binaural Beats.

These do require stereo headphones, or at the very least decent stereo speakers in a quiet space. This file is a tone at 538 Hz which is said to stimulate the heart, and has a theta wave binaural beat embedded. This file is 30 minutes long. The original is a three hour long Youtube video provided by Eric Bartel, and edited using Audacity.

You can try it below, or download it from here.

 

You will find that using these aids will familiarise your brain with the state required, and it will then be able to reach it without the aid easily, and you will be able to recognise it has done so.

There are many effective free resources which can be downloaded and then used without an internet connection.

Many smartphone apps, such as Insight Timer, have a selection of free meditations with beats embedded.

 

Using Books as a Means of Communication

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Books can also be used as an oracle. The mechanics of this are no different: there is no such thing as a meaningless coincidence for those on the Path. In the West, the Bible has long been the book of choice for this: St.Francis of Assisi used a three verse “reading” when looking for guidance on the rules for his new order. For new agers there are several books which have been produced specifically for this purpose.

The ideal would be a book that covers the full spectrum of human and religious experience, as the Tarot and I Ching do (which makes them ideal for the task). However, there are occasions when it is not appropriate to start shuffling cards or throwing coins. A dictionary, or short encyclopaedia can yield an additional perspective on the difficulties faced in these circumstances.

As always, Oracles are to be used only when the course of action is not clear, and never as a means of escape from duty. Used in either of these circumstances, an oracle can be relied upon to show us the error of our ways! So, take it seriously, and – as with other questions that cannot be answered from a personal perspective – ensure that this is written up in the Spiritual Diary.

Death and Devil in the Tarot

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If you are present when the cards are chosen you might be disturbed and worried if either Death or The Devil come up in response to your question.

All the Tarot cards are symbolic, and have meanings which transcend their surface appearance.

Death in the Tarot usually means the complete end of some situation, usually a period of life. It might signify a complete change of role, as with retirement where one is very attached to one’s occupation, the complete breakdown of a relationship, or other meaning depending on the question asked.

The questioner is usually being encouraged to allow that situation to go in the past, in order to make space for something new to arise in its place. The figure of death holds the scythe, clearing away any remaining stubble from the harvest so that the field can be prepared for re-sowing, that kind of thing.

 

 

 

The Devil in the Tarot is a caricature of the ancient godform Pan, the horned godform of the ancient world. The man and woman chained up are really in fancy dress (or undress), chaining themselves – the chains are always loose enough that if they really wanted to break away, and take their horns off, they could.

Often the meaning is looking at the self-created demons in our own life, and why we are keeping ourselves chained to them. Also, we usually need to have a good laugh at the caricatures we have made of ourselves, and the situations we have got ourselves into – particularly with but not limited to sexual partners! Laughing at ourselves opens up the possibility of freedom from the Devil in the Tarot.

The Devil has an important role in spiritual development more generally: he helps us to find our true spiritual level. By giving in to the temptations he offers, until we can say “No more!” we travel down to the level from which we can start to ascend with a strong foundation in bedrock. Most new students want to start from a much higher place – this is a waste of time, they are like the cartoon character who suddenly discovers he is running on air before plummeting to the ground with a smack!

More Musical Messages

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Some time after being blessed with the “Editions of You” message, and still prevaricating a little, my story to myself was that I was definitely “on the Path” and doing OK.

The Master put His finger on my self-deception clinically with this communication. My self-deception was subtle. It was some time before the awful truth was teased out of this message, despite the smoke and mirrors of the personality, and remedial action planned and taken.

Symbolic messages are like that – they contain layers of meaning. With one flash of energy, an entire message can be sent, and entire story can be told.

A very efficient means of communicating a message, as you would expect from an extraordinary level of consciousness.

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Case History of a Reading.

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Question: What about restarting my work, and shall I set up a website to promote it?

Answer: This is two questions, obviously, but one symbol in the mind. In the past, the motivation behind your work has been the satisfaction of the body’s wants, the feeling of being helpful, the company of others who appreciate you – in short, the primary purpose has been to make YOU feel good about YOU. Now, after a break,  you are wondering whether to restart that work,  and this question is driven by the nostalgia for the good times, good feelings remembered. You were good at the work, but it is not the feeling that the work needs to be done for its own sake that is your motivation for asking this question now. You just want more of a role, and the satisfactions that would come from having that.  You have told me that you are working on a spiritual path, and therefore it is the Higher Self/Soul and not the personality which is to be favoured. The oracle is clearly saying that for the immediate future you are to work, yes, but you are to work alone, and yes, also that the setting up of a website is encouraged. The story suggested is that you are being asked to do the work for its own sake – look up Karma Yoga – rather than to gain satisfaction through direct contact with others, or by gaining others’ appreciation. Apart from doing this work in solitude, you are to accept no limitation on the work: it is to be an outlet for the creative impulse, for the Soul, and not to be subverted for the delight of the personality.

Messages through Music

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The English Spiritual Teacher, Dr. Douglas Baker, used to say that the Soul is forever looking for ways to guide the personality. Or, to put it another way, your Higher Self is always looking to show you the best choices you can make. Unfortunately, communication isn’t straightforward: the Higher Self uses the language of symbol, and the personality uses the language of words.

Douglas Baker said that your Soul will use any songs, any music, you have heard to send you messages.

So when you wake up with a song going around in your head that you haven’t heard for ages, it could be a message. Give it a lot of thought.

Here is one such communication received many years ago, the first such message recognised. (One comes every few years, when it’s important and apposite). The meaning was in the words: they  were very appropriate to my life at the time, including my practice of largely wearing shades of blue clothing, and meditating in front of a picture of a Master, and my frittering much of life away instead of doing the work that needed to be done.

It was a real shock  to realise that as I was watching the Master’s picture, He was also watching me from the other side of the frame.

It changed my view of Glam Rock!

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How do Oracles Work?

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For many years I thought that you had to have great psychic powers to read the Tarot, but I no longer believe that is the case.

What I do believe is that the universe is full-to-overflowing of intelligence, and that everything in the universe is connected. Science is still a little wary of calling the universe intelligent – although it seems to be able to do lots of stuff that scientists can’t explain, but accepts that everything in the universe does seem to be connected.

If everything in the universe is connected, and the universe is full of intelligence, how can the Tarot NOT work?

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The Swiss psychologist, Carl G Jung, had a name for the mechanism. He called it “synchronicity.” He defined synchronicity as occurring when an apparent coincidence can be shown to have meaning.

Here, the coincidence is the drawing of a selection of Tarot cards together with an apparently unconnected question or situation. The two situations are causally apparently unrelated, yet meaning is present.

So, no, I don’t need to be psychic. I need to know enough about the cards to weave a story from them that illuminates an aspect of the question or situation. And there will be one.

If you believe in God of course, as Jung did (and I do), then, again, how can the Tarot not work?

What the questioner is asking, is that the universe so arranges itself, or that God so allows the universe to arrange, that the cards answer your question.

So, let it be a question that you couldn’t find answered any “normal” way, be sincere, and give the answer a lot of thought.