The Bible's Falacies

Just a short five minute clip of Sam Harris raising some reality(not fundamentalist) based points about how most people gloss over the truly grotesque and illuminate the divine aspects of holy books. I thought he was quite eloquent and right on point, which is why I am sharing this with you here. Even fundamentalists would find offense at this.

I was raised with the exact argument he's speaking of, that the Old Testament was wiped away and no longer relevant once Jesus died for the world. And yet the whole time growing up I always wondered why we kept reading the Old Testament.... still can't figure it out. The smartest thing to do would have been to strip away all the(95% of the Old Testament) newly rejected(as forgery or highly questionable) gospel and only talk about what actually pertains to us now. But those two books are still stuck together in the same binding like they belong together.

The Laughing Christ in the Gospel of Philip

The lord said it perfectly:
"Some have entered the kingdom of heaven laughing, 
and they have come out laughing."
They do not remain there:
one because he is not a Christian,
another because he laments his later acts.
As soon as Christ went down into the water
he came out laughing at everything in this world.,
not because he thought it a trifle, but out of contempt.
whoever wants to enter the kingdom of heaven will do so.
Whoever despises everything of this world, scorn it as a trifle,
will emerge laughing.
So with the bread and the cup and the oil,
for above is one superior to all these. 

______________________________________________

The term Christian is being used in a derogatory sense here, as in labeling oneself not being helpful for the soul/aiua to evolve beyond the pettiness which this life can be.

Why would we lament our later acts after spending time with pleroma? I can think of a million reasons. Just one off-hand would be this: resentment that in order to do the right thing we have to stay and deal with the insanity which is this life. So not only do we resent him for at least a moment or two for telling us that we have to stay but we also resent ourselves for feeling such an abhorrent thing for him to begin with. We KNOW that he's right. But that doesn't make us less emotionally inept at dealing with the cold hard facts. In acting out that 'lament' of our later acts we can do some pretty stupid stuff; do things we never would otherwise. Like a typical teenager thumbing their nose at their parents.

The bread and the cup and the oil reference-- think of annointings, blessings, wine, breaking bread and the like. Philip states that these three things themselves are trifles but the heavenly All is superior to all these and we shouldn't get so immersed in ceremony or iconography. 

11/18 addendum:
Looking back at this now I see that the laughing may also have to do with the absurd things pleroma shows a person when immersed within his being. Try being squishie hugged by a Santa Claus/Jim Carrey/Jaques Cousteau type charactor. Loving, irreverently funny, insatiably curious and educational nerd. Yep. That's him. That's The Man.

Donut and Coke Bottle Challenge-- Hint #3

On 7/21/12 I posted an announcement for the Donut and Coke Bottle Riddle.

It has been more than two months and as I promised, I have another hint for you.

As a refresher,  hint #1 was to figure out where each item goes and what astronomical phenomenon it can be equated to. Hint #2 is that it has nothing at all to do with food.

Here is hint #3 to this universal riddle is this: Study the Electric Universe theory. Then study the similarities between quasars and pulsars. Now go back and read about the Electric Universe theory again. Put it all together. What are the similarities with all three? Quasars and pulsars helped us arrive at the Electric Theory to begin with and has helped debunk the Big Bang Theory. (Yeah, that was a trip and a half trying to explain this to my twelve year old high schooler. "Yes, honey, you were taught this particular theory. But now we're rethinking it." Poor kid is living in interesting times...Like suddenly finding out the earth isn't flat.)

Helpful visuals and explanations of the Electric Universe being seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5crTaDIhqE4&feature=relmfu  Pay careful attention to the information at 3:00 forward concerning the emitted beams of radiation.

http://www.thunderbolts.info  contains a wonderful archive of proof for this theory. Many pictures and examples.

Quasar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar

A quasi-stellar radio source ("quasar") is a very energetic and distant active galactic nucleus. Quasars are extremely luminous and were first identified as being high redshift sources of electromagnetic energy, including radio waves and visible light, that were point-like, similar to stars, rather than extended sources similar to galaxies.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=20444

This research suggests that, in addition to its mass and spin, the quasar's central compact object may have physical properties more like a highly redshifted, spinning magnetic dipole than like a black hole. For that reason, most approaching matter does not disappear forever, but instead feels the motor-like rotating magnetic field and gets spun back out.

and/or pulsar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar

Post a comment below and let me know how you're doing with this riddle. I'd really like to hear from you.

As a side note I must say that it has been increasingly stimulating to think further about this riddle in the context of actual astrological phenomenon. When I arrived at the answer to the riddle I had never heard of the Electric Universe theory or studied quasars or pulsars! I had to literally trip across pictures and information about these things to understand how to make this concept .... edible... for you. Digestible? Eh... I'd get lost in a thesaurus if I tried to come up with a better descriptive than that. 'Edible' works.

Until I learned about these real phenomenon I didn't have a clue as to how to present this riddle challenge. Like a good collection of healing herbs in a cuppa steaming hot water to make tea, the images had been steeping in my brain for a long time but I didn't have the language to use for you. All I had was the visualization and the emotion being shown to me as an explanation for what was happening and why.

Rather like a powerful case of deja vu. Mentally going to a library, reading a whole row of books and later discovering, 'Hey! That looks familiar... I can't remember the name of the books but I know I've learned this stuff before.' Gnostically speaking, sometimes it's creepier than hell. Once you get used to it, yeah, it becomes a bit easier to swallow. But in the beginning or in times of a massive flood of information it can be a little tiring and straining on the brain synapses.

"I read a really great book," is not something we uncommonly say we do in our sleep. Couldn't tell you a whole lot about it besides a few scene frames and grasp at a few ideas which were presented but we do remember that it was captivating. Sometimes TMI and disgusting, and you realize that Somebody sometimes acts like an overgrown toddler poking at something gross saying, "Isn't this awesome!??"  Ok, yes. Biologically speaking, it is awesome and magnificent and deserves to be appreciated. But not when I'm reading about something completely unrelated and You go off on a tangent. I can appreciate the hilarity of the moment but it still activates my gag reflex. Surely I am not the only one He has an affinity to for showing the physical differences between species and all their peculiarities?

Absent and Now Returned

This blog disappeared for a number of months for a few reasons. A few I can go into and a few I just can't. My apologies for the extended absence. A few Readers have written me wanting to make sure I was still breathing. I am, thank you for your concern. And I hope that the blog continues to exist for quite some time. 

#1 Reason-- I began to receive some pretty scary harassing messages from people. It wasn't your typical literalist Biblical bullshit of, "You're going to hell, bitch! Quit preaching all that love and unity and shit. We hate you!" No. That I can handle. I just shake my head and hope that one day that person finds peace. 

This was more sinister. I research and sometimes even bring to you some of the topics which I find are directly affecting people today. Things like vaccines, education, genocide, political lies and maneuvering, warmongering that my own country is perpetuating, and oh yeah... some religious stuff I find interesting along the way. 

The blog has morphed from a religious documentary of my evolution in gnosis into a (sometimes)rant filled diary about the injustices I see and read about. I can't apologize for that. This blog is personal and I have a really difficult time dividing my attention to write about only certain topics. My husband says that that he (now!)"likes that I'm not a mindless drone" and that I read so much about the world. That didn't used to be the case. I used to drive him crazy bringing up topics like this to discuss. But he's evolved along the way, too. He understands that I can't sit idly by and watch the world turn upside down. The more I talk the more he listens and I can see a subtle change taking place with him over time. This has been gratifying.

These threats, though, have become personal and terrifying. My computer was hacked. My husband's  computer was hacked. My husband works at home and his work computer was in danger because it runs off the same ethernet system. Granted, his employer's firewalls are world class but still, the danger was quite real. 

It's taken all this time to get stuff straightened out so that I can feel somewhat safe posting online again. That does not mean that danger isn't present. I've been hearing and reading about other blogger's websites which have been ripped down for talking about the very same things I do. Obama's NDAA bill doesn't only purport to protect us from foreign terrorists, it claims that American citizens should be thrown in jail without legal representation in exactly the same manner-- and for reasons which should make us all take a hard look at where we are and how exactly we arrived here-- for stating opinions which go against the government, discussing political events with the express purpose of inciting change(I didn't say violence- I said change), and simply being an activist in general. You don't have to say things like you're going to murder someone or say that you're planning some awful bombing. Nope. All you have to do is talk about how shitty the government is and BAM! you're on the NDAA watch list as a possible civilian terrorist. 

Free speech is no longer a right. 

I read a story a while back which was in all the alternative news channels about a woman who was an Occupy activist. She was arrested and thrown into solitary confinement for months without trial or representation. Why? She and two of her buddies(who weren't even in town at the time!) were accused of being involved in violence which took place at an Occupy rally. After months of her friends and family screaming at news stations, writing letters and calling congressmen, and general mayhem, the woman was finally released. Her two friends have not been released and their ordeal has no end in sight. If that first woman had no friends and family who knew where she was she'd have simply been yet another desaparecido.

In the end we have to make a stand. What are we willing to put up with and for how long? Do we run for cover from our own government when WE are supposed to be the government itself? We elect people who no longer represent our opinions. Lobbyists and corporations rule the land, not us.  Our 'representatives' are bought and paid for, with only a few exceptions. 

If my blog is torn down then so be it. At least I was able to enlighten a few people and pass along some information in my brief time here. 

I plan to keep writing and keep hope alive. 

Back to School Time and Vaccines

Both my boys (11 and 12) got their physicals today and of course we were shown their vaccine records so they could be updated. Now up until three years ago I had no problems with vaccines except for making that decision about my own body(I got pneumonia from a flu and chickenpox vaccine which put me in the hospital for three weeks). About my stepsons, though, this was of course a bit more tricky. Hubby had his own ideas and I had mine.

Through time, reading, and much deliberation, I decided to broach the topic with my husband about discontinuing vaccines with the boys. He fought me hard last year but gave in. This year, after all the ranting I'd done about all the new research on Gardasil killing pubescent girls he finally woke up. The trigger was, I think, that they started pushing it so hard toward BOYS and for the most inane thing: genital warts. Gimme a freaking break. Warts never killed anyone. 

"Son, I'm terribly sorry but if you don't get this potentially deadly vaccine your penis may not be as attractive to a woman." 

I hope that sounded just as ridiculous to you as it does to me. 

Cervical cancer? Ok, yeah. I can agree with there being a need for a vaccine-- if one did exists which was SAFE!-- to protect our girls. But when you give a girl the Gardasil vaccine, she gets WARTS on her body, and after a lot of other complications then drops dead-- well. I have to say that there's a sick sort of irony in there somewhere. 

If you see a sudden surge in adolescent boys with genital warts in the next decade or so ehh... I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions about why and how that might be coming about. This puts me in mind of our  dear ex-president saying emphatically, "I. Did. Not. Have. Sex. With. That. Woman." (But he did ruin her dress.)

Also, if they can come up with a vaccine for cervical/penile/anal cancers and genital warts then why the hell can't they cure breast cancer yet? With as much money thrown at the Komen foundation I have to wonder where all that money is going. They have a vaccine for several cancers but can't kill it? 

A vaccine for CANCER but we still can't cure the common cold? I do not believe for a minute that the science behind this is based in reality. Wishful thinking, maybe, for those who have been affected by these cancers or warts in some way but realistically speaking: what is the gain here? You can't cure the people who are already sick besides irradiating them and injecting them with poisons and then hope their immune system reboots. It's a crapshoot. 

Getting back to my boys being hounded to get their vaccines today. The nurse was nervous and shoved a pile of papers at me when I informed her we were declining. The doctor, however, was more composed and wanted a specific reason. I was pretty blunt. I told her that when the companies which are making these vaccines remove four items then we'll get vaccinated again. 

1. Thiomersal 
2. Squalene
3. Aluminum
4. Polysorbate 80

She said that all of these ingredients serve a purpose in the vaccine and that they can't remove them. I told her that I don't recall reading in my multivitamin information insert that the human body has a deficiency of any of those ingredients. 

"Well, I give my kids these same vaccines and I feel comfortable doing so." 

"I'd like my documentation on the physical so we can leave." 

She left the room and got me the paperwork and that was that. Here's the list of vaccines she wanted to give my twelve year old boy: 

1. HPV(Gardasil)
2. Meningococcal
3. Hepatitis A
4. TD or Tdap
5. Chickenpox

Five. That's FIVE vaccines with all of those insidious ingredients that he would have gotten today if I hadn't spoken up. That's five shots of thiomersal, five shots of squalene, five shots of aluminum, and five shots of polysorbate 80. 

Considering the fact that this twelve year old is probably going to be in college by the time he's fourteen or fifteen he certainly doesn't need all this crap floating around in his brain! Although some days I am tempted to gag him to protect him from himself and his ever-eloquent and comedic smart mouth, the truth is that at some point he's going to outgrow this phase and learn how to not sound like such a snot. I'm willing to wait. But I certainly don't want to deprive him of the chance to do that by turning him into another stupefied sheep. We've got too many already. 

The whooping cough vaccine(Tdap) certainly hasn't helped all those people the past few years which have contracted it. Seventy percent of the people who've contracted it were vaccinated! Herd immunity theory is debunked with that alone. 

The more I read about school districts trying to force the Gardasil vaccine on children in their school clinics even without parental consent the more strongly I began to feel about refusing further vaccines for the boys. You have to ask yourself why these pharmaceutical companies are so gosh darn insistent that our little boys shouldn't have genitial warts and our little girls have to be protected from cervical cancer-- especially when it's now shown that the only thing the Gardasil vaccine can positively do is give a false negative on a Pap smear. Congratulations. They just killed another woman. If that's not proof of a soft kill operation then I don't know what more people need to see.

"Christ and the Soul" in Gospel of Philip

I believe gnosis is universal, timeless, and didn't only begin in the Christian era of when Christ lived and died. How could it be that Plato and all the dozens of other proto-gnostics wrote allegories using symbolism Christians and other Mystery religion sects did centuries later? One followed the other, yes, but there are such gaps in time and space that it almost seems impossible to reconcile. 

It doesn't make sense because they were so removed from one another, despite the evidence that a few of them maintained a correspondence and became on again/off again teachers. These schools were wiped out time and time again. Gnosis can't be learned or felt with only a few letters exchanged. Momentum needs to be built, forward thinking and actions are needed to propel a thing like gnosis into a community affair or even be accepted as a 'muse' which one can count on for truth and comfort.

The best theory about how gnosis has traveled through time is that these themes are universal to the human psyche and within pleroma these thoughts are a constant. Time is not linear within him and I think this is the most difficult concept to accept. Daydreams and nightdreams are used as vehicles for communication. With us being so interconnected, if you consider that as a possibility then it all comes into focus quite sharply that there is no true original thought or idea. No one has a patent on anything! We're just very good at recycling and re-finding/re-imagining and refurbishing what has already been imagined countless times before. 

Think of the many 'renaissances' which have existed before now.  Count the many monuments left behind by civilizations which have flourished and then fallen- too many to count, really. We have all the evidence we need to say definitively: human beings are endlessly creative and tirelessly spiritual in nature. We are not atheist in nature! We are creative beings who want to connect to the divine in every way. It's what we long for when we are awake and when we dream. Why else would we go to such extremes, swinging madly between dark chaos and filth all the way over to courtly love and saccharine sweet paintings of rather naughty flying dresses?

Enchantingly beautiful, isn't she? Flirty and living in the moment on that swing. And the shoe! Do you see it? She's so happy and carefree that she is smiling even as her left shoe goes flying off her foot. Of course the paramour she's teasing in front of her is enjoying the spectacle of her happiness. Pleroma is like that handsome lover, grinning at us saying, "There you go! Live and love and laugh. I wants to see it and experience it with you!"

Is there gnosis in paint? What about in a bottle of Smirnoff? .... I have to say 'yes' to both of those. I tend to get a little more lyrical with my own paintbrush when I combine it with a good stiff drink or five. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that!! It's the experience which matters; the internal dialogue which takes place and in which we find answers. It's the experience of life itself which drives us higher and higher, like the lady on that swing, to reach toward the gentle light of love which we feel deeply within us. A lot of times it difficult to see pleroma around us but when we center ourselves once more we can branch out from there and learn to truly live again.

When you have a run in with a person or even a group of people and you think: "Man, they really need to retract that stick up their @#$%. They'd be happier."  You are on the path of gnosis. Seeing unhappiness and gnowing(<-- My fingers slipped on the keyboard but it's funny so I'm keeping it) the solution to it is gnosis demystified. Truly, it is that simple. What brings you peace? To be exclusive or to be inclusive? Are you happy hating other people? Don't you think the divine wants us to be One or to be many and fight endless wars with one another?

And those riddle-like verses in the gnostic gospels aren't always built with a hundred layers like a french Opera cake. Some, like the  Gospel of Philip can be read quite literally- but only if you know the players. 

Christ as the Savior of humanity:

"Christ came to buy. He rescued and redeemed,
redeeming aliens. He made strangers his own.
He brought his own and made promises,
construing a strategy, and gave his life
when he appeared and when the world began.
Then he came and took back what he promised,
which fell into the hands of thieves. They captured it,
but he rescued it back. Then he redeemed
both the good and evil people of the world."

Could Philip be talking about literalists overtaking the gnostic sects with the line 'came and took back what he promised which fell into the hands of thieves'? Or maybe he's speaking of Judas 'stealing' what belonged to the world and which left the world(at least in the flesh) because of his deeds?

Either way you want to interpret this passage, the crucifixion story is not original only to Christian tradition. Nearly every religion has a holy person which is sacrificed in some way for knowledge or need of a group of people for what their death can offer. Why is that? Why this need for sacrifice?

A New Martyr?

I really sense it's about the hit the fan for Assange. 

Ecuador grants Assange asylum; UK vows to 'carry out' extradition anyway.  An interesting read.

From the gnostic perspective he is a bit of a dramatic hero; serving up the Truth cold and bitter tasting while politicians scream and yell in their offices, "Off with his head!"

I'm just praying the guy doesn't get taken out by a sniper. It's good to hear that he's still working, though, while being holed up in that embassy. I think the only currency he could use in trade for Ecuador's help is to bury their secrets a bit longer. 

Nap Time and Play Time

 Last summer, me and my boy taking a nap. Killer Kitty rarely vegges out with me like this. That day though I guess he was in the mood for major mommy cuddles.

This is also last summer, right before it got really hot and Big Mouth got shaved.  On her back is riding(courtesy of my husband) a Transformer toy named "Scrapheap." She doesn't look too enthused but Scrapheap is having a ball.

Learned or Just Innate Laziness?

I don't want to spell out specifics on this topic, I'm sure you can think of at least ten different scenarios in your own life, but today it hit me as hard as a fifty car train on full speed-- what the hell is wrong with people?! Yes, it was one of those days where only a blanket sort of question could cover all the bases. The expletives were bad. Fortunately(or not) they were all in my head. Saying things aloud just doesn't help anymore. Like seeing an asshat driver doing something totally stupidly dangerous and you stamp your hand on the wheel ten times to honk your horn at them in frustration only to discover that your horn doesn't work. I actually do know what that's like. Both horns are broken in both our cars. So yes, very frustrating.

I'm starting to think that my own generation is the 'learned' lazies and our children's generation is the 'innate' variety of lazy. It's just so much easier not to do something even though it's staring you right in the damn face. Because you know someone else will probably take care of it. I wasn't raised lazy but another close family member was. The contrast in our personalities is a stinging reminder of just what divides us. It's aggravating as hell to deal with.

School for our boys starts on the 20th. Yippy Ki Yay. I am resolved(that's getting to be a joke) to doing only two things this year while they are in school: working and cooking dinner. Nothing else. Nada. I'm not getting caught up in all their school bullshit and letting them run me into the ground like I'm some sort of magician or wishing well. 

No yelling, no screaming, no reminding. They can get behind all they want but they aren't crying to me about it. Their father is going to be the kind and loving shoulder they can whine to or cry on; or at least try to. I don't think they're going to get very much compassion from him. I think now that they have been getting way too much compassion actually and it's led to a situation where they'd rather talk about something rather than do something about it. There is such a thing as talking something to death. I've reached the end of my rope. I'm tired of talking and talking and talking and nothing changes. I write reminder notes until my fingers bleed and it does nothing. Their eyes glaze over and they don't even see them anymore. 

So, no more reminding. I'm letting people take care of their own problems. I've got my own to deal with and they don't leave me very much time to listen to repetitive nonsense.

Secret Book of John -- The One

The Secret Book of John, an excerpt titled "The One."

A spirit appeared to John and told him that he would teach him of unimaginable things:

"I asked if I might understand this and it said to me, The One is a sovereign that has nothing over it. It is god and father of all, the invisible one that is over all, that is incorruptible, that is pure light at which no eye can gaze. 

The One is the invisible spirit. We should not think of it as a god or like a god. For it is greater than a god, because it has nothing over it and no lord above it. It does not exist within anything inferior to it, since everything exists within it alone. It is eternal, since it does not need anything. For it is absolutely complete. It has never lacked anything in order to be completed by it. Rather, it is always absolutely complete in light. The One is: 

illimitable, since there is nothing before it to limit it,

unfathomable, since there is nothing before it to fathom it, 

immeasurable, since there was nothing before it to measure it,

invisible, since nothing has seen it,

eternal, since it exists eternally,

unutterably, since nothing could comprehend it to utter it,

unnamable, since there is nothing before it to give it a name. 

The One is the immeasurable light, pure, holy, immaculate. The One is unutterable and is perfect in incorruptibility. No that it is part of perfection or blessedness or divinity: it is much greater. 

The One is not corporeal and it is not incorporeal.

The One is not large and it is not small. 

It is impossible to say, 

"How much is it?" or "What kind is it?"

For no one can understand it. 

The One is not among the things that exist, but it is much greater. Not that it is greater. Rather as it is in itself, it is not a part of the eternal realms or of time. For whatever is part of a realm was once prepared by another. Time was not allotted to it, since it receives nothing from anyone: what would be received would be on loan. The one who is first does not need to receive anything from another. Such a one beholds itself in its light. 

The One is majestic and has an immeasurable purity. 

The One is a realm that gives a realm, life that gives life, a blessed one that gives blessedness, knowledge that gives knowledge, a good one that gives goodness, mercy that gives mercy and redemption, grace that gives grace. 

Not as if the One possesses all this. Rather it is that the One gives immeasurable and incomprehensible light. 

What shall I tell you about it? It's eternal realm is incorruptible, at peace, dwelling in silence, at rest, before everything. 

It is the head of all realms, and it sustains them through its goodness. 

We would not know what is ineffable, we would not understand what is immeasurable, were it not for what has come from the father. This is the one who has told these things to us alone."

_______________________________

It sounds as though John received quite an earful from this angelic spirit! How do you measure something so infinite in it's infinity? How does the human mind grasp it without going insane?

"The one who is first does not need to receive anything from another."

So he does not crave our adulation or obeisance, he simply offers to show us the mystery behind the curtain. It's free. No sit, kneel, pray, sit, kneel, pray required. No long chants or prayers at a certain time of the day and no facing a certain direction. There is no ritual required to summon him and no hoops to jump through because he is already here! We just have to open our ears.