An Esoteric Look at Cats

Cats have been familiar to the human household from all antiquity, but they were probably first domesticated in Egypt, where, so far back as two thousand years ago, a temple was dedicated to the goddess of cats — BubastisPasht — represented with a cat's head. The Greeks inherited this feline pet of the house from Egypt, and from Greece the cat race, such as we have it now, was disseminated over Europe. It was a familiar element in Greek household life, and if anything was broken, according to Aristophanes, the phrase went then as now, "The cat did it." But cats were never venerated in Greece with religious adoration as in Egypt, the only country that gave them Divine honor, and where, if a cat died, the whole family shaved off their eyebrows in token of mourning. 

It is believed that the devil often assumes the form of a cat. The familiar of a witch is always a black cat; and it is supposed that black cats have powers and faculties quite different from all others of the feline tribe. They are endowed with reason, can understand conversations, and are quite able to talk if they considered it advisable and judicious to join in the conversation. Their temperament is inquisitive, they are artful malignant, and skilled in deception, and people should be very cautious in caressing them, for they have the venomous heart and the evil eye, and are ever ready to do an injury. Yet, the liver of a black cat has the singular power to excite love when properly administered. If ground to powder and infused into a potion, the recipient is fated to love passionately the person who offers it and has worked the charm.

The cat of the aforementioned legend had evidently charming manners, and was well intentioned; but there are other cats of evil and wicked ways, that are, in fact, demons or witches who assume the cat-form, in order to get easy entrance to a house, and spy over everything.

Cats are very revengeful, and one should be very careful not to offend them. A lady was in the habit of feeding the cat from her own table at dinner, and no doubt giving it choice morsels; but one day there was a dinner party, and pussy was quite forgotten. So she sulked and plotted revenge; and that night, after the lady was in bed, the cat, who had hid herself in the room, sprang at the throat of her friend and mistress, and bit her so severely that in a week the lady died of virulent blood poisoning.

Yet it is singular that the blood of the black cat is esteemed of wonderful power when mixed with herbs, for charms; and also of great efficacy in potions for the cure of disease; but three drops of the blood are sufficient, and it is generally obtained by nipping off a small piece of the tail. The observation of cats is very remarkable, and also their intense curiosity. They examine everything in a house, and in a short time know all about it as well as the owner. They are never deceived by stuffed birds, or any such weak human delusions. They fathom it all at one glance, and then turn away with apathetic indifference, as if saying, in cat language — " We know all about it."

But cats are decidedly malefic; they are selfish, revengeful, treacherous, cunning, and generally dangerous. The evil spirit in them is easily aroused. It is an Irish superstition that if you are going a journey, and meet a cat, you should turn back. But the cat must meet you on the road, not simply be in the house; and it must look you full in the face. Then cross yourself and turn back; for a witch or a devil is in your path. It is believed also that if a black cat is killed and a bean placed in the heart, and the animal afterwards buried, the beans that grow from that seed will confer extraordinary power; for if a man places one in his mouth, he will become invisible, and can go anywhere he likes without being seen. Cats have truly something awful in them. According to the popular belief they know everything that is said, and can take various shapes through their demoniac power. A cat once lived in a farmer's family for many years, and understood both Irish and English perfectly. Then the family grew afraid of it, for they said it would certainly talk some day. So the farmer put it into a bag, determined to get rid of it on the mountains. But on the way he met a pack of hounds, and the dogs smelt at the bag and dragged it open, on which the cat jumped out; but the hounds were on it in a moment, and tore the poor animal to pieces. However, before her death she had time to say to the farmer in very good Irish — " It is well for you that I must die today, for had I lived I meant to have killed you this very night." These were the last dying words of the cat uttered in her death agonies, before the face of many credible witnesses, so there can be no doubt on the matter.

Cats were special objects of mysterious dread to the ancient Irish. They believed that many of them were men and women metamorphosed into cats by demoniacal power. Cats also were the guardians of hidden treasure, and had often great battles among themselves on account of the hidden gold; when a demon, in the shape of the chief cat, led on the opposing forces on each side, and compelled  all the cats in the district to take part in the conflict.

All nations seem to have appreciated the mysterious and almost human qualities of cat nature; the profound cunning, the impertinent indifference, the intense selfishness, yet capable of the most hypocritical flattering when some point has to be gained. There traits are not merely the product of brute instinct with unvarying action and results, but the manifestation of a calculating intellect, akin to the human. Then their grace and flexible beauty make them very attractive; while the motherly virtues of the matron cat are singularly interesting as a study of order, education, and training for the willful little kitten, quite on the human lines of salutary discipline. Humboldt declared that he could spend a whole day with immense profit and advantage to himself as a philosopher, by merely watching a cat with her kittens, the profound wisdom of the mother and the incomparable grace of the children. For cats are thoroughly well-bred, born aristocrats; never abrupt, fussy, or obtrusive like the dog, but gentle, grave, and dignified in manner. Cats never run, they glide softly, and always with perfect and beautiful curves of motion; and they express their affection, not violently, like the dog, but with the most graceful, caressing movements of the head.

Peter Underwood (parapsychologist) dies at age 91

February 7, 2015
SIMON FARQUHAR
Displayed with permission from The Independent

Ghost stories are manifest in every corner of this world, but it is an area of human fancy the British seem particularly partial to. We are an old kingdom, of gloomy, powerful weather and lonely places, an island nation reminded everywhere of its lost glories and past injustices. Ever since the cobwebby Christmas tales of Dickens and MR James, the business of ghost-hunting has seemed something of a gentlemanly pursuit - and Peter Underwood, who has died at the age of 91 after a life devoted to the pursuit of spooks, epitomised that gentlemanliness.

Immaculate, urbane and sophisticated, he was a living link with a very faraway past; long after the other key players in the drama of Borley Rectory (touted as "Britain's most haunted house") had died, Underwood still lived to tell the tales. He wrote over 50 books on his subject, many of them gazetteers which collected oral history on supposed hauntings from around the country. He had a very healthy attitude to the supernatural, believing that 98 per cent of reports had a natural explanation; it was the other two per cent that foxed him. Nevertheless he collected every account he could, for the most part allowing his readers the pleasure of determining what was a likely story.

Born into a Plymouth Brethren family in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire in 1923, his mother from a prosperous farming family, Underwood had his first brush with the ethereal at the age of nine when he believed he saw his father Eli, a metalworker who founded a chain of hardware shops, appear at the end of his bed a few hours after he had died.

His professional interest in spooks was sparked by his grandparents, who lived at nearby Sarratt, a village which brings to mind TH White's wistful "Soft Voices at Passenham", a story in which the author describes the neighbourhood as "a good locality for ghosts. They have more ghosts there than ratepayers."

One of Sarratt's many shades was said to haunt his grandparents' home, and whenever curious tourists knocked, young Peter assumed the role of tour guide. He would regale goggle-eyed visitors with the tale, and was so fascinated when many shared their own experiences of the paranormal in return that he began to scribble them down.

After a private education, some of which was with a personal tutor, he joined Dent, the publishers. After military service with the Suffolk Regiment, which was halted in 1942 by illness, he continued to work there until devoting himself full-time to writing and ghost-detecting in 1971. He had joined the Society for Psychical Research in 1947 and from 1960 was president of the Ghost Club.


Two particular hauntings rapped loudest in his career. The first is known as The Greenwich Ghost, photographed scurrying up a circular staircase at The Queen's House Museum by a visiting clergyman in 1967. It's a wonderful picture, far too good to be true, and, deliciously, it has never been satisfactorily explained. Easily his favourite, Underwood would go no further than to call it "puzzling".


His other great case was Borley Rectory. A sorrowful building on the barren edge of the eerie end of Essex, Borley was a media circus in the 1930s, when celebrity ghost hunter Harry Price set out to prove its reputation for hoary apparitions. In the years since Price's death most of the Borley legend has been debunked, but Underwood, Price's executor as well as his protégé, remained fiercely loyal to him, dedicating the absorbing book he wrote on the subject (The Ghosts of Borley, with Paul Tabori) to his old friend, a gesture that rendered the book useless from the off to sceptics.

Underwood never pedalled mumbo-jumbo, but he was drawn to the idea of a ghost being an "atmospheric photograph", pondering that "all of our actions are perhaps recorded on some sort of eternal tape, and under certain conditions, maybe climactic, occasionally they reappear. I don't honestly think the figures that are seen represent an afterlife. I think it's much more likely that it's some kind of echo of a previous life."

Sadly, towards the end of his own life, internal squabbles shattered the gentlemanly mood of the Ghost Club; Underwood was ousted after more than three decades as president in a bizarre skirmish that involved anonymous calls to the police falsely accusing members of being part of an IRA cell (they were accosted by police while preparing for an all-night vigil at a haunted abbey in Hampshire). Compared to the supernatural, human nature proved far more destructive, and the incident caused the society more harm than any of the destructive poltergeists and faked phantoms in their long history ever did.

He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a leisurely author, thoughtful rather than gullible; Underwood's work was "no common task", as he called his 1983 autobiography; but after a lifetime spent chasing shadows, what he leaves behind is a solid treasury of legends and superstitions which make fine fireside reading, and here and there tell us something about the situations and ideas that perpetually disquiet us: stories that certainly would appear to be immortal.

Peter Underwood, author, broadcaster and ghost-hunter: born Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire 16 May 1923; married 1944 Joyce Davey (died 2003; one daughter, one son); died Bentley, Hampshire 26 November 2014.

Alien Roadkill

The Kybalion: A Video Introduction To

Be Careful What You Ritualize

Pretoria - An occult crime specialist and a psychologist will interview a teenager who admitted to hacking four of his family members to death with an axe, but claimed he was possessed by a demon at the time.

Judge Hennie de Vos on Monday postponed the trial in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria of the teenager, now 16, until Tuesday.  This was so a social worker could consult his aunt, his guardian, and the defence and prosecution. The social worker is expected to give evidence on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Marika Jansen van Vuuren told the court Kobus Jonker, an occult expert and sociologist, wanted to consult the accused and study the defence's expert reports before he could give an informed opinion.

Lana Augustyn, for the boy, said she would seek a postponement for a psychological report.
Such a report would help the court decide on a sentence for the boy, who was 14 when he committed the crimes, she said.

In August last year the teenager pleaded guilty in the high court sitting in Delmas to four murders. He admitted attacking his mother, 42, grandmother, 58, 5-year-old brother, and 4-month-old baby sister with an axe. His grandmother survived, but died later in hospital.

The boy was presently incarcerated in a place of safety.

According to his plea explanation he and a friend had researched Satanism on the internet out of curiosity some time before the murders.  "We came across a ritual that we followed.  The ritual was to burn three black candles while covering ourselves with a red cloth. "While covered with the cloth we had to praise the devil and tell him that we loved him. We followed this ritual approximately three days prior to the day of the incident.  "On 23 May 2013 during the afternoon, I spent my time visiting my two friends. We smoked dagga during the afternoon. The dagga made me feel high." He came home around 20:30 that evening. ‘Kill them, kill them’ "When it was very late I started to feel not like my usual self. There was a noise in my head and a voice calling out 'kill them, kill them'.

"When I looked at my family I saw them as if they were covered in blood. I took the axe that was in my bedroom. I attacked my mother with the axe. She opened the door and ran outside in an attempt to get away from me. "I followed her and when she fell under the tree I hit her several times with the axe. I then went to the room where my younger brother was sleeping. I also hit him with the axe."

He found his grandmother in the toilet and attacked her as well. "I remembered that my grandmother begged me not to do it, but I continued to hit her with the axe. After I hit my grandmother with the axe I noticed the twins. "They ran away and I think they called the uncles from across the street to come and help my family and stop me from killing them. "I realised that the men wanted to stop me. I also realised that if they catch me the community would kill me because I killed my family members.

"I took the baby and ran with her towards the veld where I also hit her with the axe. The noises were no longer in my head and I was scared." 

 

He said he hid in an abandoned room and wanted to kill himself, but could not do it. "I was severely assaulted and injured by the community until the police arrived and arrested me. I believe that due to the influence the dagga had on me, I felt as if I was possessed by a demon who told me to kill my family. "I felt huge anger in me during this incident," the boy said.

Ghost chases man out of hotel room.

Wellington (dpa) - A cricket player on the Pakistani national team was reportedly traumatized after seeing a ghost in his New Zealand hotel room, a local news report said Tuesday.
Haris Sohail awoke one night over the weekend believing he was shoved by a supernatural psence in his room in the Rydges Latimer Hotel in Christchurch.
He phoned team management, who discovered him in a feverish state, local pss agency NZME said.
Sohail slept that night in the coach's room before moving to another room, stuff.co.nz reported.
A spokesman for the hotel said he would not comment on any ghost-related questions.
The Pakistan team is in New Zealand for a series of warm-up matches ahead of the Cricket World Cup, which starts next month.
The Rydges Latimer was built after the devastating earthquake of February 2011, about 100 metres from the site of the CTV building, which collapsed, killing 115 people.

Who Is Eso Terry?

Okay, in recent days I have received several post from my readers asking, "Who the fuck is Eso Terry? -- not in so many words.  So, I figure it is time I tell you.  

First of all, I'm a Midwest boy raised in a little town called Detroit Michigan.  Well, today it is a little town but when I was growing up there is was a major city.  That's right, one of the original 13, as we would say.  And growing up in the most diverse city of its time was really a blessing.   I learned from an early age that the color of one's skin didn't matter and that what matters is the content of their heart.  And so, while my city was burning from race riots, I was like, "fuck yeah, they can't hold us down forever."  The problem with this is I was white -- well, half Jewish, but the half that didn't count since my mother was a gentile, to which of learning, I replied, "I didn't want to be in the club anyway."  That was one of the many fact-finding answer I received accidentally through conversations with my mother, but none was greater than when she told me I was white.  "I don't want to be white!" I cried.  "Tough shit!" she said.   Well, from there it got worse, we moved to the all-white suburbs with carpeted floors and sealed windows to keep the central air in and riffraff out.   The first day at my all-white school I got my Converse stolen, the second day, I was told I couldn't play on the "elite" side of the playground because I wasn't friends with the King of the Hill (the school principal's son who was a blond-hair blue-eyed Nazi if there ever was one).  So I cried to go back to the safety of my inner-city school with its wooden framed windows you could jump out of when you had too much, and its wooden floors you could slide across for miles in you socks.  Needless to say,  I was reminded how lucky I was to be in the Middle Class (code word at the time for "all white") suburbs.  Yes, the clicky white suburbs that would show me the true meaning of success in the US: gated communities of haves who don't want anything to do with the have not's.

So, like most of the white punks forced to worship their material blessings, I did what we all did: drugs until I dropped out of high school and enlisted in the U.S. Navy.  Yes, I was going to be a sailor, travel, see the world.  And I must have lucked out on the multiple-choice questions for I was slotted as a Communication Specialist with a Top Secret Clearance.  Yes, a fucking Top Secret Clearance in the U.S. Navy at the tender age of 17.   I'll admit, at first I liked it.  I mean, for the first time in my life I had had a purpose.  Soon, however, I was privy to information I wish I never had.  Things I still have to be careful of when mentioning, and so can only tell you they included U.F.O's on radar that we were following. I also got to read interested messages, messages of how we had been in contact with other worlds.
They were called "The Oranges."  I figured any day the news would be made public, but it wasn't.  And so I got out of the Navy and began writing articles for an underground paper in Berkley, which allowed me a lot of time to pursue my favorite hobby of the day:  alcohol.  Yes, I got diagnosed with the drinking disease, joined a twelve-step program, got a white-color job, and tried to forget all that I had learned about contact with other beings.  I soon realized, however, that the public would never know the truth of our alien visitors, and so felt I was part of the coverup by not sharing the truth I knew.  That truth is this:  I'm not sure if they are Lizard People, Greys, Dark Gods or what, but they
are everywhere.  I fear that they might be allowing us to over populate so they can use the same logic to kill humans that hunters use to kill deer: If we don't hunt them they will over-populate and starve.  I'm not sure if they want to use us for food, workers, fuel, or what, but their plan is a dark one, and unstoppable if we continue to deny what we are seeing in the skies....

I could go on, but I'll stop there.
 

Eso Terry is a doctor of truth, and this is my blog.

Peace Out.

Crystal Gazing: An Intro To.

CRYSTAL GAZING  

Before gazing into a crystal you must have faith in your psychic abilities and stop thinking that psychic abilities are a special gift only a few people are given.  That is nonsense: we are all psychic entities having a human experience.

We use our psychic powers every night when we dream.  Yes, our earthly body sleeps and our psychic body roams about the future, past, and present.  Have you ever had a  feeling of evil to come, a strong feeling which came true?  The car broke down... Something was stolen...  Something lost... etc.  That 'feeling' was your psychic being opening up to you.  Now, what if you could attain this more often?  Well, you can with a little understanding:

FIRSTLY. — We have not one body but two, an earthly and a spiritual (psychic)
body.

SECONDLY. — Though normally contained in the earthly body, it is possible for the spirit to escape from its prison, and pass from place to place at a speed greater than light. This occurs during sleep, the artificial or forced sleep of the trance, and also when one gazes into the crystal.

THIRDLY. — We have four eyes. Two earthly eyes, and two very much keener spirit eyes. It is with these spirit eyes that we see the future and the past in the crystal.

FOURTHLY. — Each one of us is sending out thought-waves at this moment.  These are known by spiritualists as our aura.  It is found in different colors, which depend on our characters or the thoughts leaving us.  Certain reds show rage, for instance.

WHAT THE CRYSTAL IS FOR

There is nothing magic or in any way wonderful about the crystal itself.  It is merely a means of fixing the attention of our earthly eyes, so that we may see the more clearly with our spirit eyes.

JUST DO IT!

When you look into the crystal, whatever you do don't worry about whether or not you will see anything!  Try to think steadily of what you wish to see; this will at first seem hard, but practice will help you, and practice makes perfect.

Then remember to keep any glare of light from the eyes; it is wise to sit with one's back towards the light.  Let your surroundings be quiet and peaceful; there must be absolutely nothing which may catch your attention and so take it off the crystal.  If, for instance, a noisy bus or other vehicle were to pass during the time in which you were making your attempt, it would probably disturb things very much.

One should never be discouraged if nothing whatever is seen at the first few attempts.  A puppy cannot at first see out of its eyes, and it is the same with a beginner in crystal gazing: spirit eyes may take time to open, while others, more fortunate, may find theirs open almost at once.  Never strain the eyes in an unwinking stare.  Let them wink and blink quite naturally.  To do anything else would be sure to take your attention from the picture which you wish to see.

In conclusion, it will be of interest to know just what you may expect to see when, and if, your spirit eyes open.  Probably a misty, fogged appearance will first be seen in the crystal.  This will remain for some little time, until finally the scene or person (whatever it may be) will appear.  The latter may be faint and dim, or it may be clear-cut like a good photograph.

The clearness or otherwise will depend among other things upon the keenness of sight of the spirit eye.  It will also be influenced by the degree of quiet, and upon the absence of anything likely to disturb the searcher in the realms of the future.

The Druids

The secret doctrines of the Druids were much the same as those of the Gymnosophists and Brahmins of India, the Magi of Persia, the priests of Egypt, and of all other priests of antiquity. Like them, they had two sets of religious doctrines, exoteric and esoteric. Their rites were practised in Britain and Gaul, though they were brought to a much greater perfection in the former country, where the Isle of Anglesey was considered their chief seat. The word Druid is generally supposed to be derived from " an oak ", which tree was particularly sacred among them, though its etymology may also be found in the Gaelic word Druidh, ' a wise man ' or ' magician. 

Their temples, wherein the sacred fire was preserved, were generally situate on eminences and in dense groves of oaks, and assumed various forms.


The adytum or ark of the mysteries was called a cromlech, and was used as the sacred pastos , or place of regeneration. It consisted of three upright stones, as supporters of a broad, flat stone laid across them on the top, so as to form a small cell. Kit Cotey's House, in Kent, was such a pastos. Considerable space, however, was necessary for the machinery of initiation in its largest and most comprehensive scale. Therefore, the Coer Sidi, where the mysteries of Druidism were performed, consisted of a range of buildings, adjoining the temple, containing apartments of all sizes, cells, vaults, baths, and long and artfully-contrived passages, with all the apparatus of terror used on these occasions. Most frequently these places were subterranean.

The system of Druidism embraced every religious and philosophical pursuit then known in these islands. The rites bore an undoubted reference to astronomical facts. Their chief deities are reducible to two, — a male and a female, the great father and mother, Hu and Ceridwen, distinguished by the same characteristics as belonged to Osiris and Isis, Bacchus and Ceres, or any other supreme god and goddess representing the two principles of all being. The grand periods of initiation were quarterly, and determined by the course of the sun, and his arrival at the equinoctial and solstitial points. But the time of annual celebration was May-eve, when fires were kindled on all the cairns and cromlechs throughout the island, which burned all night to introduce the sports of May-day, whence all the national sports formerly or still practised, date heir origin. Round these fires choral dances were performed in honour of the sun, who, at this season, was figuratively said to rise from his tomb. The festival was licentious, and continued till the luminary had attained his meridian height, when priests and attendants retired to the woods, where the most disgraceful  were perpetrated. But the solemn initiations were performed at midnight, and contained three degrees, the first or lowest being the Eubates, the second the Bards, and the third the Druids. The candidate was first placed in the pastos bed, or coffin, where his symbolical death represented the death of Hu, or the sun ; and his restoration in the third degree symbolized the resurrection of the sun. He had to undergo trials and tests of courage similar to those practised in the mysteries of other countries, and which therefore need not be detailed here.

The Druids taught the doctrine of one supreme being, a future state of rewards and punishments, the immortality of the soul and a metempsychosis... Their doctrines were chiefly those of Pythagoras.

Their authority in many cases exceeded that of the monarch. They were, of course, the sole interpreters of religion, and consequently superintended all sacrifices; for no private person was allowed to offer a sacrifice without their sanction. They possessed the power of excommunication, which was the most horrible punishment that could be inflicted next to that of death, and from the effects of which the highest magistrate was not exempt. The great council of the realm was not competent to declare war or conclude peace without their concurrence. They determined all disputes by a final and unalterable decision, and had the power of inflicting the punishment of death. And, indeed, their altars streamed with the blood of human victims. Holocausts of men, women, and children, enclosed in large towers of wicker-work, were some- times sacrificed as a burnt-offering to their superstitions, which were, at the same time, intended to enhance the consideration of the priests, who were an ambitious race delighting in blood. The Druids, it is said, preferred such as had been guilty of theft, robbery, or other crimes, as most acceptable to their gods; but when there was a scarcity of criminals, they made no scruple to supply their place with innocent persons. These dreadful sacrifices were offered by the Druids, for the public, on the eve of a dangerous war, or in the time of any national calamity ; and also for particular persons of high rank, when they were afflicted with any dangerous disease.

The priestesses, clothed in white, and wearing a metal girdle, foretold the future from the observation of natural phenomena, but more especially from human sacrifices. For them was reserved the frightful task of putting to death the prisoners taken in war, and ndividuals condemned by the Druids ; and their auguries were drawn from the manner in which the blood issued from the many wounds inflicted, and also from the smoking entrails. Many of these priestesses maintained a perpetual virginity, others gave themselves up to the most luxurious excesses.

As the Romans gained ground in these islands the power of the Druids gradually declined ; and they were finally assailed by Suetonius Paulinus, governor of Britain under Nero, A. D. 61, in their stronghold, the Isle of Anglesey, and entirely defeated, the conqueror consuming many of them in the fires which they had kindled for burning the Roman prisoners they had expected to make — a very just retaliation upon these sanguinary priests. But though their dominion was thus destroyed, many of their religious practices continued much longer; and so late as the eleventh century, in the reign of Canute, it was necessary to forbid the people to worship the sun, moon, fires, etc. Certainly many of the practices of the Druids are still adhered to in Freemasonry ; and some writers on this order endeavour to show that it was established soon after the edict of Canute, and that as thereby the Druidical worship was prohibited in toto, the strongest oaths were required to bind the initiated to secrecy.  

 

Happy New Year Message from Dr. TVBoogie-AKA Eso Terry

Celebrations in honor of the beginning of the year are found universally throughout the world.  Such observances may be primarily religious or entirely social, but they consistently demonstrate the significance attached to the renewal and continuation of life expressed in a calendar cycle.  Most scholars agree that New Year celebrations at their most basic are a mimesis of death and rebirth or recreation, mirroring and giving power to the most significant of the seasonal cycles; hence they are a rite de passage for all. 

The year is for most societies computed on a lunar calendar; since this does not precisely match the movement of the earth around the sun many resort to irregular months, extra days every few years, or a system whereby some days simply 'fall off' the calendar and are not reckoned as real time.  Since the moon is usually the basis of the year, most societies celebrate the New Year at one of the equinoxes or solstices or the new moon nearest an equinox.  Later societies allocated fixed calendar dates for the New Year; medieval Europe celebrated Annunciation Day 25 March as New Year until the Gregorian calendar's introduction in 1852.

The most characteristic features of New Year celebrations around the world, which in their details are as diverse as the peoples celebrating, are license and feasting.   Often special foods are prepared, as in Japan where cakes are offered to the sun and moon and a purifying rice gruel is eaten to mark the end of the seven days of festivities.  To eat well at the beginning of the year, no matter how meager the fare has been until then, is a charm to ensure that the coming year will bring food in plenty.  The representation of the Old Year as a hoary wizened man, overtaken by the cherubic New Year in Western Lore is a reminder of the roots of the festival, the dichotomy of death and rebirth that recalls ancient ritual king-slaying as a means of restoring vigor to the cosmos and society.

If you are unhappy with the results of today's celebration, don't fret, the Chinese New Year is celebrated during the first full moon of the year which isn't until this Sunday (Jan 4th) at 10:54pm.  The Chinese observe the Feast of Lanterns by hanging colourful and highly decorated lanterns from houses and graves with street celebrations and firework.  We Pagans get to run around nude, although for me it is a private affair I do on my patio.

So, enjoy your New Year Day, mine isn't until Sunday.

Dr. TVBoogie. 

Another UFO in China.

Merry Chistology Everyone!!!

It is Christmas morning and what better time to write about this most wonderful time of year where even the greediest of the greedy are forced to place the words "Peace" and "Joy" in their store fronts.  Some call it "Christmas" others "The Holidays" and a few of us, "The Winter's Soltice." Whatever the title, the Christian's believe they own it as they do all the other scared sights of ours they have buried over the years; and so, I feel I must give onto Caesar that which is his:  “Christology.”

First, if you belief Christ is more than a distorted recount of history used to gain power in the world, then you are probably reading the wrong blog.  I for one, however, do believe that this “Christ” thing you speak of is a phase to which is finally coming to an end and once it does, we will return to the ancient wisdom we all know is in us.  I base this reasoning on a few things, but for time sake, I will narrow it to one: it was around 331/332 AD that the world had its last Pagan leader (Emperor Julian of Rome) and how since this time the Christian church slowly stripped us of the knowledge and powers we once had which gave us the world of poverty and illiteracy which we are only now fully understanding.  Hence, I bring you the true meaning of Christmas: Christology. 

The first Christology was developed by Paul, one of Jesus’ twelve apostles.  Paul conceived of Jesus as the Christ, a pre-existent divine being who had descended into man to save humankind from the powers of law, sin, and death.  The resurrected Christ was raised up to sit at the right hand of God, and would return at some point in the future to judge humankind. 

Since the time of Paul, innumerable Christologies have been conceived.  They are complex and their history has been fraught with controversy.  Early Christologies focused on Jesus as the incarnation of Logos (God or the Ultimate Reality) and not as the historical man.  Christological controversies of the Patristic Age (which concerns the lives, writings, and doctrines of the Fathers of Christianity) usually focus on the questioning of the humanity and/or divinity of Jesus.  These included Gnosticism as the major christian deviation in the second century, from which evolved Docetism, which held that Christ only appeared to be human.  Arianism denied that the divinity of Jesus preexisted as the Son of God.  Apollinarianism held that preexisting divinity replaced the human spirit of the human Jesus.  The church denounced such teachings as heresies, usually by statements from formal councils. 

Christologies of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation placed great emphasis on the meaning of Christ’s passion and crucifixion.  During the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century, Jesus came to be regarded as a moral teacher; and in the nineteenth century interest returned to the historical Jesus.  More modern Christologies examine both the historical Jesus and Jesus as the absolute bringer of salvation and, in his death, the definitive Word of God.  Some modern Christologies start “from below” rather than “from above,” finding Jesus first to be truly human, and then discovering his divinity in and through his humanity. 

Lively debates center on the “dilution” of Christian orthodoxy by liberal theologians in America.  Michael Dummet at Oxford points to an apparent consensus among teachers of Catholic theology in American seminaries that Jesus died without believing that he was Christ of the Son of God; that he knew nothing of the Trinity; that he knew from his mother who his natural father was; that he taught the imminent arrival of a messianic figure called the Son of Man but never claimed that this was himself.  They are teaching, Dummet observes, that when Jesus died, his body remained in the tomb and decomposed there. 

Newer Christologist indicate less emphasis on biblical sources and more importance being given to scientific, psychological, and social considerations.  Modern Christologies undoubtedly will respond to the renewed interest in mythology, such as developed by Joseph Campbell... 

So, as you can see, Christ is a moving target, and in a few years, after it is proven that there are other forms of beings in the universe, I’m sure Christ will be claimed as the driver.  What really sucks, is the only proof we have is he was a very Zen guy. 



Merry Christology everyone!!!

The Pendulum as an Oracle.

A pendulum can provide a quick and portable oracle for the witch.  However, it only answers questions with "yes" or "no," and it only answers for the present, so remember that the answer is subject to change with time, or with a change of perception.
 

A pendulum should be small and relatively lightweight.  A crystal bead is ideal.  It should be just heavy enough to swing freely from its cord.  The pendulum cord can be made of thin string, embroidery silk, fishing line or even a slender jewelry chain, as long as it is light enough to swing freely, strong enough not to break easily, and flexible enough not to kink or readily form knots.  The cord should be approximately ten inches long.  If you want it longer or shorter, you will know after a few rounds of questions.  Some New Age and occult shops sell ready-made pendulums which are fine if they have not been used before.

Always cleanse and consecrate your pendulum when you get it (or make it) before its first use.  Keep it on your altar, preferably wrapped in some favorite little cloth or pouch.  You may want to carry it around with you in your pocket or purse.  Try to keep it wrapped to keep out distracting vibrations, and do not let anyone else use it.  Others may ask it questions, but you are always the one who holds it.

To use it, hold the pendulum cord lightly between thumb and forefinger.  Ask your question in a form which is suitably answered with a "yes" or "no."  The query may be aloud or silent.  Do not move your hand.  The pendulum will move by itself (that is the whole idea.)  Experiment for a while to determine how it works for you.  A helpful technique is to ask the pendulum "What is your movement for a 'yes'?; next, ask it "What is your movement for a 'no'?.  This should be repeated several times until you are sure of your pendulum's response.  The movements will appear to be combined if the matter is not yet decided, or if the answer is literally "yes and no" or just plain, stupid.

 
How does it work?  Some say there is a special spirit of the pendulum.  Another theory is that the user plugs into the Collective Unconscious, where all knowledge and answers reside.  Another: we each tap out own inner wisdom when we concentrate on the pendulum's swing.