Spirituality for Living

Balance, the middle way, we hope to list toward it. At times it seems that we do not, often because we fear we are wrong. Like fumbling for a needed object in the dark, we go too far one way or too far another and we think it’s all very hard. We really make it [...]

What is the ‘god’ structure in Hinduism? That differs, but there are some principles across the board. One is the concept of a universal spirit called by many names actually, but not in a divisive way. More as a recognition of the manifold nature of this universal spirit. It is called by the brahminists Brahman, [...]

How did Satan as a figure get into the Christian story? It stems from a schism in Semitic faiths, and the catholic or “universalist” agenda of early Christianity. This schism in Semitic faiths echoed even in Egyptian religion. This is why there was a conflict between them and the Egyptians. Set was a Semitic deity [...]

What’s my religion, if I have one? Officially I don’t, or perhaps in the strictest sense of the word religion I do. I adopt a Gnostic view and see the spirit and the universe as one, however you choose to characterize these principles. I see neither a reason to anthropomorphize divinity, nor to view it [...]

There is a subjective truth, and it is true, and there are more universal truths. There is no absolute departure from the truth, even psychology says this. It is why their therapies have any chance of working, and also why psychological disturbance can endure for so long. The disturbed soul isn’t entirely wrong. Jung said [...]

So to speak more on mortification of the flesh practices, they often show that there is more to us than our desires. Practices served as rights of passage, much like tribal ritual scarification. It still is practiced in the Opus Dei. They are flagellates if I recall. Opus dei, work of god in Latin. Some [...]

Halloween is very much ingrained in our collective unconscious, and has a very long history. It was basically the Celtic New Year. Like the Norse legend of the world being born of ice, they see winter as the first season not the last (or rather they did). Halloween is more like the traditional thanksgiving. This [...]

I wonder how Machiavelli would be seen back in the day? As you know Machiavelli, had considerable influence as a strategist, but not much virtue. His power came from “not revealing the rules of the game”, and for supposedly not having much virtue but he would not have been villainized in African culture.  His guidelines in [...]

There are basically two ritual paths, and you will find one or the other in any faith. An exoteric path and an esoteric. An ecstatic path or a contemplative, same thing. Though one is seen as holy and is approved, and the other tends to get demonized. There is even a story from the Bible [...]

It’s actually quite interesting how very far from gone witchcraft is. It wasn’t really shamanism, and wasn’t driven by a tribal view of nature. The phrase old wives tales for example.  Often it not always refers to the lore of witchcraft. Women in particular, and to a lesser degree men, have been making intuitive observations [...]

People argue the relativity of truth, or the nature of absolute truth. The paradox is that all truth is relative so none of it is. It behaves like truth and this relative truth is very here and now. It is in this reality so the ‘nothing matters’ crowd is wrong, and the ‘everything needs to [...]

Satanism is more complex than people see it and it has had a long history. The Knights Templar were accused of it and many factions of Christianity were dismissed as Satanism including most if not all Gnostic Christianity. So there have been different nested groups that contribute their belief systems to modern Satanism. Even Catholicism [...]

Tantra is seen as dark, especially among the Ophites. A Tantric practicing Gnostic Christian sect for who the serpent was both eros and wisdom. Thus sex became separate from religion in Christianity. Most of the sexual beliefs in Christianity came well after the time of Christ. He did not teach them himself, and he even [...]

The idea of the matriarchal society is strong in a lot of cultures. Matriarchy by spiritual and not military leadership and the two coexisting. In the Yezidi culture (the non Islamic Kurds), women are not made to wear veils by anything but law as supposedly Satanist as they are. As the Ophistes were seen, they [...]

There are so many ‘isms’ in this world (Communism, Islamism, Anarchism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, etc.). I think that those limit our awareness, and freedom? My own view of ‘isms’ is that if you are looking for “self” in an ism then yes, it’s an encumbrance. But like words they can be stepping stones, useful tools.  [...]

When I give my talks I tend to just go with the flow of inspiration, regrettably it means I sometimes “leave no trace”, even in my own mind.
I like the format of these discussions, going with the flow. It gives all a chance to talk and is more interactive. People learn by doing, not by [...]

Life gives us many hard lessons, but the hardest one of all is the passing of a true friend.  Harder still is helping load him into the unceremoniously gray van.  The hardest yet will be helping to carry his coffin, but things can be learned from this tragic time.  The biggest thing I learned was [...]

Angels and demons are all the same, and humans just started dividing them all up with concepts of good and bad? Originally they were the powers that governed all aspects of life, literally all, even Nasragiel the keeper of the gate to hell. And it was heavily debated even in early Christianity what ones conduct [...]

To date, even in modern parapsychology, much of the old understanding of angelic powers is gone. There are still reported encounters or sightings of unknown beings that behave much like the “angels” of old. Though without any seeming divine agenda nor a malicious one. The Mothman might be the most readily apparent and the dialogue [...]

The word ‘cannibalism’ itself was actually a Spanish ethnic reference to the caribe tribesman of what we all know as the Caribbean islands. In the case of the more common examples of traditional endocannibalism, and even in the case of much exocannibalism, it was believed that a spiritual essence was contained in a particular part [...]