The Taybor Revisited

A couple of years ago, I was brought up short by the realization that Space 1999 might just be more than a shallow, if entertaining, 1970s science fiction vehicle. An episode from the second season called "The Taybor" forced me to give the series a rethink. Specifically, elements of the subtext and imagery, in that episode, point directly to the Tibetan concept of the rainbow body.

I watched "The Taybor" again, recently, and realized that I still hadn't given the episode, or possibly the entire series, enough credit. I'd glossed over a number of details, allusions so direct it's hard to imagine they are not conscious and deliberate.

This analysis of the series addresses the possibility that it's not meant to be taken at all literally – that it only really makes sense if you assume some sort of divine intervention and higher purpose to Moon Base Alpha's unlikely journey across the space.

The idea that the Moon could be thrown from its orbit to drift at speeds allowing it to cross interstellar space in time periods of weeks or months is difficult and often impossible for many viewers to accept. The mass of the Moon is so large and its orbit around Earth so apparently firm and the force of a series of atomic explosions so more likely to obliterate the Moon than to blast it out of orbit, that the imaginations of many of even the most ardent science fiction aficionados were challenged beyond their limit to stretch, despite the fact that the planet Pluto is credibly posited by scientists to have been a satellite of planet Neptune that broke away from Neptune and settled into an irregular orbit around the Sun. And then there is the difficulty that some people have of assimilating the prospect of such an event being caused by human error. Most people prefer to think of future, technological man as incapable of contributing to a disaster of such magnitude.

Today's Forecast: Dizzy

... with increasing chance of lower back pain, headache, and occasional piercing tones.

I rarely do these energy forecast type things, but the last few days have been so strange, I thought it merited mentioning. I've been having bouts of vertigo and some other symptoms, which tends to happen before things like earthquakes and other disasters, but sometimes connected to nothing I can pinpoint. It's been sort of constant, so that I only realize how dizzy I am when I'm walking across the room and realize I can only walk on the diagonal. It's a very strange feeling. Over the past few days, though, I've spoken to numerous people who are having these symptoms, particularly the dizziness and sense of dissociation.

I have no idea what this may be connected to. In terms of earthquakes and the like, the predictive capability is nil. I only see the connection when something happens and the symptoms suddenly abate. So, as a tool, it's pretty worthless. I am fairly certain it's in some way connected to magnetic fluctuations on the planet and the natural disasters are also symptoms, not really the cause.

I'm not going to pretend I really know what's going on. I just wanted to put it out there, because I know, for a fact, that I'm not the only one who's experiencing this right now.

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Fullmetal Plagiarist – UPDATED

Update: Spiritually Bypassing Citations (see below)
Update: How Many Cheneys on the Cooks Source Scale is This? (see below)
Update: Addicted to Plagiarism (see below)
Update: Plagiarizing Hay House (see below)


In this recent post on Teal Bosworth Scott Swan, I wrote about what I'm calling her "originality gap." I cited a number of examples of recycled material – numerous blog posts which rely on word for word lifts from her own previous articles. As stated, this is called self-plagiarism. I also touched on her propensity for relaying ideas, words, and images that strongly resemble work from other sources. I have noted a number of these parallels in the noncasts.

For instance, in the noncast entitled "The Bottomless Rabbit Hole," I referenced a rather striking similarity between her painting called Alchemy and art from the series Fullmetal Alchemist. Imagine my surprise at seeing that image, once again, heading her recent blog post.

The "Mormon Satanist" Speaks – UPDATED

UPDATE: How did Doc not know?! See below for details.

For years we've been hearing about "Doc," the alleged, ritual abuser of Teal Bosworth Scott Swan. Her recollections of him infuse her work as a "spiritual catalyst" with no small element of horror. He has hovered over her public life like a specter, more myth than man. His deeds were monstrous, as recounted in numerous blog posts and interviews. In this post, she explains her violent history with her former mentor/captor – and that veterinarians have easy access to peyote, for some reason.

For the thirteen years that followed, I was systematically and progressively separated from my family, I was tortured physically and sexually in rituals, forced to participate in sacrifices, raped, forced to eat and drink out of dog bowls, forced to undergo 3 abortions (all fathered by my principal abuser himself who was in his sixties at the time).  He performed them himself with veterinary equipment, which is why I had such a hard time conceiving my son.  I was photographed for sadomasochistic pornography, sold for money to men for sex out of outdoor gas station bathrooms and motel rooms, kept in basements, kept in a plank covered hole in the ground in my abuser’s back yard, exposed to electro-shock programming, forced to undergo isolation torture, left overnight tied up in lava caves in southern Idaho.  I was forced to participate in bestiality and necrophilia, drugged by my abuser with Ketamine, Dormator, Xylazine, opiates, peyote and speed (all of which he had unlimited access to due to being a vet).  I was chased through the Idaho and Utah wilderness by my abuser who loved to “play” tracking games in which he would hunt me, and if I won, I got a reward, if I lost, I was either raped, or he would “count coup” by making cut marks on my rib cage.  I was used as a lure to other children that ended up being hurt or on occasion killed by the cult group.  And the list could go on.  But this experience is still something that seriously affects my life today. On one hand it is obvious that I would not be doing the job I am doing today around the world if it wasn’t for this experience.  On the other hand, a life that is spent in a constant state of recovery from the past is a difficult life.

He also killed her dog and threatened to kill her family members, as means of controlling her, and to keep her all to himself. He took some rather surprising risks, such as hogtying her with cables in a public parking lot, in full view of passers by. We're meant to believe that people didn't even notice an 11 year-old girl being bound and tied by a middle-aged man.

According to teal, Doc was both a "Blood Covenant" Mormon and a Satanist. He managed this paradoxical existence by having Dissociative Identity Disorder (multiple personalities). He was also, by her estimation, a "sadistic psychopath."  

Spiritual Catalyst or...

The magazine is out. What magazine, you ask? Why only the long-awaited publication from Ethics and the Modern Guru, about Teal Bosworth Scott Swan and containing an interview with her alleged Mormon Satanist abuser. It is available now in soft-cover on Amazon with a kindle edition to be released soon. It can also be purchased directly from CreateSpace here.

Addendum: The Kindle edition is now available. Details can be found here. 

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Pottermore Has Fallen

For those who have not yet discovered the genius, creativity, and hours of fun to be had on the Pottermore site, you're too late. It's over. In place of a rich, atmospheric virtual adventure, is a slick but dull marketing vehicle, that has been compared by many to Buzzfeed. I would agree, except that I find Buzzfeed more entertaining.

Before this ghastly change, Pottermore was an experience to immerse yourself in. You got to be a student at Hogwarts, sorted into a house, given an account at Gringotts, and able to shop on Diagon Alley for school books and supplies. Users combed through "moments," multi-layered images with hidden potion ingredients, Bertie Botts beans, chocolate frog cards, and loose galleons to plump up their bank accounts. You had to work for things, including Rowling's new writings, access to which was hidden in the moments and sometimes required casting spells and working out puzzles to find. Like a student in a challenging school for wizards, you needed to use your wits and pool your talents. The new site is better suited to the dilettante who's never even read the books.

Pottermore did telegraph the coming changes, but not how drastic they would be. They did not make it clear that accounts would be flushed entirely with all the supplies collected, articles bookmarked, and potions made over years. They simply took everyone's hard work and devotion and threw it away. Their flippant answer to where it's all gone: "website heaven."

There were little indicators over time that the powers that be were losing interest in keeping up the site. The number of moments grew smaller as the books in question grew longer. They did away with comments. But, the first major sign of trouble came when they announced that the upcoming house cup would be the last and that Pottermore would be changing. I followed the unfolding discussion on their Facebook page.

When Bad People Teach Great Yoga

As discussed here, Bikram Choudhury has a long, documented history of being an awful person. He's sexist, lookist, bigoted, and almost unimaginably arrogant. He's also been accused of multiple sexual assaults and his accusers may finally get their day in court. Six women have come forward with claims of sexual assault, harassment, and rape.

Dana McClellan and Sarah Baughn have gone public with their experiences. Both were young and deeply enamored of Choudhury's yoga, swore by its effectiveness, and enrolled in teacher training. But, their fondness for their teacher evaporated when he started molesting them.

Baughn said she always discouraged Choudhury's advances, and reminded him that he had a wife and she had a boyfriend. But Baughn claims Choudhury would not stop his sexual pursuit, and would insist she brush his hair and massage him. “I was shocked, and I was sick,” she said of his unwanted advances. Baughn says Choudhury more than once touched her in a sexual way and even climbed on her, she said.

. . .

"You know, he told me that I was going to be like Mother Teresa, and I was going to influence the world if I only followed him,” McClellan said. But she claims the yoga guru raped her during a teacher training program in San Diego in 2010. McClellan claims Choudhury flattered and touched her and schemed to get her alone.

In her legal complaint, McClellan alleges Choudhury pulled down her pants and forced himself on top of her. She said she begged him to stop and tried to fight him off.

. . .

Baughn and McClelland said Choudhury ruined their lives, smothered their self-confidence and trust and left them with deep emotional scars.

. . .

And they said, poisoned their love and devotion to an ancient art of healing.

"Hindu Witch" Fired by Air Force Clinic

An Air Force clinic at Fort Meade in Maryland is under scrutiny for the suspicious firing of a dental technician. Deborah Schoenfeld was a Hindu woman working among evangelical Christians, and they apparently made her life hell.

Schoenfeld's claims would seem outrageous and absurd if they were not corroborated by sources for the Air Force Times. And, if this kind of thing were not so frighteningly common in 21st Century America.

These are some of the accusations and treatment Schoenfeld was subjected to.

• In her time at Epes Dental Clinic she was actually and specifically accused of “witchcraft” and “bringing demons into the office.” She has been officially advised that she is not allowed to know who her accusers are.
• She has been openly disparaged for not having the same religious views as her superiors (Evangelical Christian) and being “uninterested in taking part” in Christian rituals or the rampant and rapacious, workplace-based, Evangelical Christian proselytizing which is outrageously and comprehensively supported by her former command.
• She has been admonished that practicing yoga is “Satanic” and will “cost (her) her soul”.
• She was advised by her chain of command to pray against the recent Supreme Court ruling against same sex marriage, as it is “an abomination to their religion”.

Warren Jeffs Controls Bodies and Souls

Warren Jeffs has been getting a lot attention lately, and I don't think it's the kind he likes. A recent CNN special focused on two of his adult children, both of whom claim he molested them when they were very young. This weekend Showtime will premiere Prophet's Prey, a documentary about the FLDS leader. Jeffs continues to maintain strict control of his empire from behind prison walls.

The revelations from Becky and Roy Jeffs are harrowing, but not terribly surprising. It's been clear to outside observers, for some time, that Jeffs is an out-of-control sexual predator. All I could think watching this show was that Roy, in particular, needs serious intervention. All other implications aside, these are sex abuse survivors and their wounds are evident.

There is little more that can be done to corral Warren Jeffs. Barring the kind of divine intervention Jeffs is counting on, he will be spending the rest of his days behind bars for his molestation of underage "celestial wives." But, imprisonment has not loosened his grip on the FLDS. He's effectively put them all in prison, making them suffer as he is suffering, on a beans and water diet, and holding them accountable for his incarceration. Like so many cult leaders, Jeffs seems to see his membership as extensions of his own ego.

Pagan Candidate Causes Libertarian Shake-Up

I was hoping The Wild Hunt would weigh in on the strange candidacy of Augustus Sol Invictus, and they have obliged. The news yesterday was awash in stories of the strange paganish practices of this Libertarian opponent of Sen. Marco Rubio, that actually caused both the chair and vice chair of the Florida chapter to resign in protest.

Much of the upset seems to be over stories of Invictus's sacrifice, some say dismemberment, of a goat. Invictus disputes the dismemberment charge, but not the sacrifice. As The Wild Hunt points out, animal sacrifice is an ancient religious sacrament still practiced in many religious contexts. I would add that Christianity is a religion based on a human sacrifice, that of Christ, otherwise known as the Lamb of God.

I'm not a fan of animal sacrifice, but criticism of the practice by practitioners of religions built on such foundations smacks of hypocrisy.

A similarly ironic statement came from Republican strategist and adviser from the Trump campaign Roger Stone.

“The guy is a nut, speaks in tongues or whatever. Weird stuff,” Stone said. “They need someone to run against him to make sure he doesn’t win and make us all look crazy.”

One assumes Stone won't be courting the Pentecostal vote. Apparently a whole lot of evangelical Christians are crazy.

CNN: Warren Jeffs Molested His Children

DVR Alert: Tonight on "This is Life," Lisa Ling interviews two of Warren Jeffs's children. Both claim that he molested them when they were children. Charges of sexual abuse are not new for Jeffs, who is currently incarcerated in Texas for taking child brides and molesting them as well. Testifying in that trial were his niece, nephew, and a third woman, all of whom claim to have been molested by the man who inherited the leadership his church community.

It's quite clear that Warren Jeffs is a serial predator, whose sexual compulsions made a large cult that spans several states and parts of Canada into his hunting ground. I won't say I'm looking forward to watching Ling's coverage this evening, but I think it's must viewing for anyone who has been watching this horrible tragedy unfold for lo these many years.

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Blood Moon, Super Moon

Tonight we will be getting quite a light show, as a rare astronomical event unfolds.

This coming Sunday night (September 27), observers around the world are set to be in for a treat as two celestial events combine. In a rare occurrence, the Moon will reach its closest point to Earth (known as a supermoon) at the same time as it undergoes an eclipse, the first such alignment since 1982 – and the last until 2033.

During the event, when the Sun will be directly behind us in respect to the Moon, the lunar surface will appear a deep red color. Lunar eclipses are fairly common, with 16 occurring this century already, but only five supermoon eclipses have taken place since 1900.

It will be best seen at every longitude from the U.S. to Europe, encompassing Central and South America, the U.K. and Africa. Observers in western Asia and Alaska will have a lesser view. Check out this map at timeanddate.com to see the best locations.

Graham Hancock on Dreams and Awakening

Graham Hancock's agile and inquisitive mind is on full display here, demonstrating, once again, why his many books have inspired so much interest and controversy. This interview covers a lot of territory, focusing almost entirely on his more recent work and interests.

Hancock has spoken many times of the importance of states of consciousness other than the "alert, problem solving state." Here he talks about how hard it is for "dreamers" in western civilization. I can strongly relate to his stories of criticism by teachers for being a dreamer. My introduction to this academic assault on the imagination started in the first grade, when I was struck daily with a ruler for "daydreaming." Hancock refers to dreams of horn and dreams of ivory. This metaphor traces to book 19, lines 560-69, of the Odyssey, in which Penelope questions her dream of Odysseus's return.

Stranger, dreams verily are baffling and unclear of meaning, and in no wise do they find fulfillment in all things for men. For two are the gates of shadowy dreams, and one is fashioned of horn and one of ivory. Those dreams that pass through the gate of sawn ivory deceive men, bringing words that find no fulfillment. But those that come forth through the gate of polished horn bring true issues to pass, when any mortal sees them. But in my case it was not from thence, methinks, that my strange dream came.

The image is powerful. It suggests that all dreams are of the same substance, but that the false, illusory dream is cut off from its original state. The horn is a solid expression of a vortex. As I wrote here, the horn of plenty, cornucopia in Greek, is a symbol of manifestation into the material world. It seems to me that dreams of horn are soulful dreams, connected to our spiritual origin.

"Witchcraft" Blamed for Grisly Murder

This is how it starts, people. A grisly crime in some sleepy, provincial community, a proximal association with an astronomical event, police officers with notions, credulous reporting by so-called journalists, and it all adds up somehow to an occult ritual.

Numerous news outlets are breathlessly reporting a "Wiccan Ritual Killing" in Pensacola, FL. That Wiccans don't ritually sacrifice people and that nothing about this crime appears in any way ritualistic, notwithstanding.

This NBC article was floating down my Facebook timeline this morning.

A triple homicide in Florida is suspected to be a "Wiccan ritual killing" related to the "blue" moon, police said Tuesday.

The three victims, all from the same family, were found after a welfare check on Friday, July 31, said Escambia County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Andrew Hobbes.

"It appears that this might be connected to some type of Wiccan ritual killing and possibly tied to the blue moon," Hobbes told NBC News.

. . .

When asked how the evidence suggests these are ritualistic or Wiccan killings Sgt. Hobbes said, "The injuries to the victims, the positions of the bodies and also the person of interest right now is also a practitioner." 

The LHC and Another Mystery Particle

Here's where I pretend to understand quantum physics well enough to relate some very important news. The Large Hadron Collider, which enabled the detection of the elusive Higgs boson, or "God particle," has also revealed the pentaquark. It is effectively a new state of matter.

In 1964, two physicists - Murray Gell Mann and George Zweig - independently proposed the existence of the subatomic particles known as quarks.

They theorised that key properties of the particles known as baryons and mesons were best explained if they were in turn made up of other constituent particles. Zweig coined the term "aces" for the three new hypothesised building blocks, but it was Gell-Mann's name "quark" that stuck.

This model also allowed for other quark states, such as the pentaquark. This purely theoretical particle was composed of four quarks and an antiquark (the anti-matter equivalent of an ordinary quark).

I was just the other evening listening to an older interview with William Henry, in which he touched once again on the LHC. Henry has noted the similarity between the LHC and the 8 spoked wheel of Mayan prophesy.

Cameron Clark On Not Being a Victim

This is a really great, in depth interview with Cameron Clark. Her months long experiment in living and working in Teal Bosworth Scott Swan's "intentional community" has been previously discussed in a lengthy interview posted here and in the Cameline video posted here. This discussion brings much needed clarification of some of the finer points of her experience and perspective.

Cameron endured a great deal in a relatively short period of time, including not so subtle pressure to kill herself. Despite all this, she says that she has never considered herself to be a victim. She feels she made choices and learned valuable lessons. So, I thought it was awfully funny that the Ask Teal episode posted the following weekend dealt directly with victimhood. That whole idea of not seeing yourself as a victim? She's against it.

For a true believer in the "law of attraction" to stand against the idea of personal responsibility requires some rather profound convolutions of thought.

The unhealthy Ego is concerned with power. Not the good kind of power (like empowerment), the kind of power that needs something to be less powerful in order to feel powerful by comparison. And the ego can gain this power by being the good guy. People who are trapped in victimhood mentality are after the kind of power that belongs to someone being righteous or good. But the ego that is concerned with being righteous or good needs someone to be the bad guy to exist. Similarly, an ego can gain power by being the victor. People who are trapped in victor mentality are after the kind of power that belongs to someone superior and strong. This kind of person cannot ever admit to vulnerability. This kind of ego may be unwilling to admit to any negative emotions at all. Or it may not have a real problem with expressing anger or negative emotional states that it perceives as strong, while refusing to admit to negative emotional states that it perceives as weak. This ego crumbles at the thoughts of admitting to fear and especially hurt. Admitting that their feelings got hurt is like a death sentence. This ego thinks that by denying vulnerability, especially any notion of victimhood, it is a victor. It was won.

See? Feeling like a victim is bad, except when it's good.

Sea Change

When I was a kid, I got into an argument with some of the grown-ups at my church. (Yes, I have always been as I am today.) I had been at a youth service where we had sung fun, kid-friendly songs instead of hymns. One of the songs was "They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love." These are the lyrics.

We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other
We will work side by side
We will work with each other
We will work side by side

And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah, they'll know we are Christians by our love, our love
By our love, our love, by our love, our love, by our love, our love
By our love, by our love, by our love, our love
by our love

Psychic Pets and Other Proven Things

I touched on this experiment in intellectual dishonesty in this post, but Rupert Sheldrake here presents the documentary proof that Richard Wiseman misrepresented his own data to proclaim all evidence of psychic pets so much hugger mugger. What always kills me about things like this is that headlines always win. That's true even when the headlines are at odds with the articles they introduce, let alone when the journalism is equally shoddy. Wiseman's widely covered "debunking" of Sheldrake's meticulously documented pet telepathy experiment was the shot heard round the world. No one from the press bothered, apparently, to note that he was shooting blanks.

In that same post, I quote Wiseman admitting that the only means by which serious scientists can continue to dismiss evidence of remote viewing is by putting a thumb on the scale.

I agree that by the standards of any other area of science that remote viewing is proven, but begs the question: do we need higher standards of evidence when we study the paranormal? I think we do... Because remote viewing is such an outlandish claim that will revolutionise the world, we need overwhelming evidence before we draw any conclusions.

And, yes, he also commits the cardinal error of misusing the phrase "begs the question." I tire of saying this, but while it may raise the question of whether or not to disregard any standard by which science might remain a truthful and dispassionate practice, it does not beg it. To beg the question is to commit the logical fallacy of petitio principii, circular argument. That Wiseman also has little facility with logic and critical thinking should probably come as no great shock.

Coraline and the Blue Pearl

My dear friend Frog recently created this satire of Coraline called Cameline. His point is that there are some very odd parallels between Cameron Clark's experiences in House Teal and Coraline's in the Pink Palace apartments. It got me thinking about some of the deeper elements of Coraline, things I'd overlooked when I saw it in the theater. So, I've given the film a fresh look and moved Neil Gaiman's award-winning book up on my reading list, which is to say, I've now read it.

It goes pretty well without saying that Gaiman is a genius. Coraline, the novella, is a masterpiece. Like Alice in Wonderland, to which it is often compared, there's a nod to the shamanic ability of children to traverse worlds through the odd doorway. The story has its own version of the Cheshire cat and even a tea party of sorts.

It is also a brilliant depiction of narcissism. The Other Mother lives in her own world, populated by puppets she controls. Those who defy or bore her – who no longer reflect her desires – she throws behind a mirror. She eats up the lives and souls of anyone who crosses her path. Anyone who has ever been taken in by a narcissist for any length of time knows the kind of creeping surreality, the warping of perception, that comes from being caught up in their world view.

Henry Selick expanded on Gaiman's book, which wasn't really long enough for a feature film. Characters were added and storylines were extrapolated. What I now realize about the film, is that a mythic subtext was woven through it and that these themes are revealed in striking visuals.

Wesolowski to be Tried by Vatican Court

Could Vatican culture finally be changing?

A Vatican prosecutor on Monday ordered the trial of a former Roman Catholic archbishop accused of paying for sex with children while he was a papal ambassador in the Dominican Republic and of possessing child pornographic material.

Jozef Wesolowski, a Pole who had been defrocked by a Vatican tribunal, last year became the first person to be arrested inside the Vatican on paedophilia charges.

A statement said the trial, the first on paedophilia charges to be held inside the Vatican City, would start on July 11.

Wesolowski was the Vatican ambassador to Santo Domingo, when local police found that he was procuring underage male prostitutes. Vatican investigators then found child pornography on his computer.

Shadows Before Despair

A little birdie delivered some screenshots to me last night. Apparently, there was a little dustup on Teal Tribe. It was quelled pretty quickly. The unintentional instigator either quit or was banned in short order. (In the third screenshot, you can see the little grey check that indicates that this former triber has left the building.) So, what was the cause of this well-contained incident? Once again: the shadow work.

Click Image to Expand

Shadows Before Suicide

I've always found the theme song from M*A*S*H to be darkly compelling. Beautiful and melodic, it is an oddly seductive paean to ending it all. Reading the latest from the marvelous Gaby Petris, it occurs to me that for many people, Teal Bosworth Scott Swan's relentless obsession with suicide has a similar allure for many of her followers. She is far more dangerous. When she speaks of suicide as, not only painless, but blissful, she does so without tongue in cheek. Hers is a kind of siren song pulling her many suicidal followers closer and closer to the rocks.

I want to show you a precarious vortex that is massing around the teacher Teal Swan. Within it suffering people seeking an answer are circling. I want to communicate a sense of its dangerous undertow. That pulls people in. And under.

I first became aware of Gaby's writings, when her first post on this topic was recommended to me in a comment on my last post on teal. It is also must reading. When I learned that she was working on a more in-depth piece, my only question was, how can I help? Together, Gaby and I sorted through screenshots we've both collected of Teal Tribe discussions about the suicide option, and about the 22 year-old triber who recently took his own life.

When I really delve into the patterns of teal's communication with her flock, the picture that emerges always proves to be so much worse than I'd thought. I am eavesdropping, I know, as I look at these snapshots of Teal Tribe conversation. I am not a tealer or a triber. I am an observer, a rubbernecker, watching accidents occur in slow motion. And it is an awful thing to see the train coming and be so unable to stop it.

Teal Tribe is brimming over with creative, intelligent, even brilliant, people. Many are also wounded and vulnerable. And, far too many are suicidal.

In Which Michael Shermer Finds the Time

As I noted here, Rupert Sheldrake challenged professional skeptic Michael Shermer to a debate in 2003. He accepted. And now, a mere twelve years later, that debate will take place.

Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, who was caught giving critiques of  Sheldrake's work without reading it, agreed to debate Sheldrake... if only he could find the time.

In March 2003, Dr Sheldrake challenged Shermer to a debate, which he accepted, and several times and venues were suggested, but all were rejected by Shermer. As of 2009, the debate has still not taken place.

Well, better late than never. The dialogue, hosted by TheBestSchools.org, commenced on May Day with opening statements from both thinkers.

Doctor Who and the Approaching Skingularity

William Henry believes that we are facing a time of decision. Will we choose to remain fully organic beings or will we merge so completely with artificial technologies that they become part of our very skin? Henry has released an eBook, free to whomever asks for it. I recently received my copy and have only just started reading it and poring over the spectacular images. More information on The Skingularity is Near and how to receive your copy can be found here.

In March, Henry appeared on Coast to Coast AM to discuss our future, what is increasingly possible and what is our true potential. Whether or not you agree with Henry that humans are inherently and organically capable of transforming into light beings, the vision of tech companies to transfigure us through technology should reasonably terrify you. They're wearing us down, though, by promising ease, interconnectedness, and even virtual immortality.

Many of the technologies under development mimic the language, the imagery, and even the properties of cross-cultural resurrection and ascension mythologies. The possibilities entice not only because the promises are fantastical but because they resonate with core archetypes. Henry points out that it may well be a devil's bargain. We may be handing over our fundamental liberty to a convergence of state and corporate power. What looks like an enhancement of human power could really be very cleverly packaged tyranny.

We humans have an instinctual fear of merging with inorganic machines that has long played out in our modern mythologies. The Borg of Star Trek: Next Generation portray our primal terror of losing our humanity and independence to co-optation by intelligent machines. The Matrix trilogy depicts a world lost to our development of artificial intelligence, as self-aware machines reduce humanity to batteries and trap our consciousness in a VR simulacram. But the most direct parallel to Henry's "skingularity" and it's conflict with natural human evolution plays out in Doctor Who.

Rapid Pole Shift in Our Lifetime?

As I mentioned here, pole shift appears to be underway. It also appears to be happening far more rapidly than has long been predicted by the establishment. In this episode of Dreamland, Linda Moulten Howe interviews UC Berkeley's Dr. Paul Renne about geological data that dramatically accelerates the predicted timeline. Renne worked with an international team of geologists to analyze volcanic ash sediments in a lake bed in Italy. They were able to track the shifting patterns that preceded the last pole shift, the Brunhes-Mutuyama event, and have determined it was quite rapid, probably under a hundred years.

The authors, including Berkeley graduate student Courtney Sprain and her supervisor Professor Paul Renne, are not the first to suggest the last flip was unusually fast, but Sprain says the evidence they have found in the Suilmona Basin, east of Rome, is very clear. “The paleomagnetic data are very well done. This is one of the best records we have so far of what happens during a reversal and how quickly these reversals can happen,” says Sprain.

Volcanoes upwind of the basin, including Sabatini and Vesuvius, erupted frequently during the reversal, and the changing magnetic field can be seen in the sediments laid down. Argon-argon isotopic dating allowed Sprain and Renne to date the ash layers far more precisely than has been done before.

“What’s incredible is that you go from reverse polarity to a field that is normal with essentially nothing in between, which means it had to have happened very quickly, probably in less than 100 years,” said Renne. “We don’t know whether the next reversal will occur as suddenly as this one did, but we also don’t know that it won’t.

We are left with a lot of unknowns. Geophysicists still don't understand why this happens, how frequently it happens, or how varied the effects are. What is clearer is that past events have caused enough thinning of the earth's magnetosphere to allow serious damage from solar and cosmic radiation. This may, in fact, have caused the extinction of the Neanderthals.

A complete write-up of this interview can be found here on Howe's website.

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Medical Cannabis DeleTED

Here's another TED Talk you're never going to see because they're scared. The official reason: "Boca Raton is not ready for a talk on Cannabis." But we all know the real reason. TEDx Boca Raton is afraid of having their charter pulled by TED and being left in the lurch like TEDx West Hollywood. They've been reined in by the parent organization.

You'd have to be living under a rock not to know that new discoveries are being made about the healing properties of cannabis. And what is most troubling here is that this talk wasn't even about the kinds of medical marijuana that make people high. It's about non-psychoactive compounds that are currently being developed into effective medical therapies. Graham Hancock has posted the text of Michael Zapolin's proposed talk, so you can at least read it. Here's just a smidgen.

Cannabis Sativa comes in two varieties, one is the traditional marijuana plant that is smoked, vaporized, and eaten for its psychoactive effect. The other is called industrial hemp, which is used worldwide as a food ingredient and to make products like rope and clothing.

What is virtually unknown is that there are over 70 different elements in the plant including a group referred to as Cannabinoids. What makes this really interesting is that each one of us has an endocannabanoid system in our bodies that allows us to interact with these different elements. The question is … why would we have this system inside our bodies unless we were supposed to be interacting with this plant?

. . .

What wasn’t realized until recently is that the Industrial Hemp variety that is non-psychoactive, has naturally high levels of CBD, higher than are found in the typical marijuana plant. Industrial hemp characteristically has less than 1% THC and high levels of CBD. The evidence is showing that these Cannabinoids are not specifically a cure for epilepsy, colitis, diabetes, or cancer, but what they’re doing is helping boost your own immune system so you can naturally fight off whatever it is that’s ailing you.

. . .

So how can something this amazing not be available? As usual, with any conspiracy, it’s important to follow the money. At one time in United States history, hemp was the number one crop because it is so incredibly strong and cheap to grow. Some of the many uses of hemp were rope, clothing, building materials, sails in ships, and as a bio-fuel. Not to mention the Constitution of the United States is written on hemp paper. There were also some very powerful industries and individuals that played a huge role in the prohibition surrounding hemp. The Dupont family controlled the cotton industry, which saw hemp as an obvious threat. William Randolf Hearst’s newspapers were printed on paper and he owned significant timber reserves. These powerful families wrote the very legislation that outlawed hemp and funded the propaganda campaign known as “Reefer Madness” where they predicted that marijuana would make people go insane and destabilize society. Many industries since then have also been threatened by cannabis and have fought hard to keep it illegal. The pharmaceutical industry fears it because they can’t patent and own it, and the alcohol industry sees it as a natural enemy. Our own government, it is said, has kept it illegal for the reason that they don’t need everyone walking around freethinking, asking questions like “Why am I paying taxes? Why are we in so many wars?”

And as usual, with any topic that is too hot for TED, you simply follow the money. Chris Anderson has turned "ideas" into a cash cow for himself, with donations and outrageous ticket prices, while giving a lot of unpaid speakers their fifteen minutes of fame... and a healthy dose of cultish indoctrination.

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Oprah Interviews FLDS Turncoat

Possibly of interest, Willie Jessop, former Warren Jeffs bodyguard, current apostate, was interviewed by Oprah in a show to air tonight.

Winfrey catches up with Jessop in an episode of "Where Are They Now," to air Sunday on the OWN network

Jessop parted with Jeffs just before Jeffs' trial in 2011. He since has started cooperating with federal and Utah authorities, so much so that the United Effort Plan, the polygamous trust operated by the state of Utah, agreed to sell him land at a reduced price.

He also took possession of Jeffs' compound in Hildale and turned it into a bed and breakfast.

Jessop remains a controversial character, with many continuing to doubt his motives. But he did give us a lovely tour of Warren Jeffs's former compound before turning it into a bed and breakfast. Maybe tonight he'll explain how one repurposes a rape room and makes such a place a charming place to stay on vacation.

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Triple Whammy

Today is the Vernal Equinox. It is also a supermoon. And a total solar eclipse. It's a triple whammy of celestial events, capping off a week of turbulent space weather and challenging transits. If you're feeling overwhelmed and enervated you're not alone. I'm hearing widespread reports of disrupted sleep cycles, intense dream activity, and erratic energy levels. I am not exempt from any of the above.

According to some skywatchers, this eclipse signals the apocalypse.

The connection between Friday’s eclipse and the end of the world comes partly from the “Blood Moon Prophecy”. That refers to the theory that a tetrad — four consecutive lunar eclipses, with six full moons between them — is a sign that the world is coming to an end.

Those that believe in the prophecy see it partly borne out by the Book of Joel, which says that “the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes”. That has been connected to the phenomenon of the blood moon — the phenomenon where the moon turns copper red as it passes under the Earth’s shadow.

March’s solar eclipse have been connected by some to the series of lunar ones that are seen as harbingers of the end times. This solar eclipse sits in the middle of the tetrad, and is seen as another signal that signs are appearing in the sky.

James Ray Under the Radar

Since leaving his prison cell, James Arthur Ray has quite predictably been working on a comeback. My biggest concern about a post-incarceration Ray has never been that he would once again ascend to the dizzying heights he attained as part of The Secret. It's that he would consolidate a small, devoted following, without ever becoming big enough to invite much media scrutiny. If I had to guess, I'd say that this is precisely his strategy.

Ray is not courting media as he once did. He's avoiding all but the most sycophantic and controllable outlets. If they won't lob him softballs like the thoroughly compromised media whore Piers Morgan, he's not interested. So, when Bloomberg reporter Matt Stroud came calling, Ray declined to be interviewed on the record. 

The result is a fairly even-handed article about Ray's appearances in small rooms anywhere he can scrape together an audience. Unlike Morgan, Stroud also interviewed Ginny Brown, who lost her daughter Kirby to Ray's sweat lodge inferno. The writing is dispassionate. The facts are damning.

Ray no longer commands huge auditoriums at thousands of dollars a head. Stroud caught up with him at the Tatum Ranch Community Center teaching "around 30 name-tagged men and women who last week shelled out $495 for his daylong presentation." The event is ironically titled "Resources for Epic Living."

Tesseract: A Journey Through Art and Time

A Wrinkle in Time was considered essential reading in my home. My mother simply loved this book and, once she'd persuaded me to read it, so did I. It has all the elements: a strong female character that any adolescent girl could admire, a fantastical storyline, and travel to other planets. I've always loved stories about interstellar travel. The book revolves around something called the tesseract which allows the central characters to move through space at light-speed by folding, or wrinkling, time. I'd always assumed "tesseract" was one of those funny, made-up words. Obviously, I was incorrect and I only learned this years later when I began to work with sacred geometry and learned about the hypercube, aka, the tesseract.

James Ray: Man on Fire – UPDATED

Click to Expand

The winner of the tin ear award has to go to Dr. Sharron Stroud who writes:

James Arthur Ray will be speaking for Innerfaith Spiritual Center Worldwide February 22nd. He has lifted himself Phoenix-Like from the Ashes of his former experience and is making a difference with what he has learned. Our Way of Life teaches the Power of Forgiveness and the Evolution of the Soul. The Path of each Being is filled with Spiritual Contracts and Karmic Experiences, the point being, what will we do with them?

What "hellacious hot" furnace did the old bird rise from, you ask? Why the one that consumed the lives of Kirby Brown, Liz Neuman, and James Shore, of course.

Stroud has stiff competition from Ray himself, though. Of all his new products, which does he choose to feature in the copy for this event? An ebook called Answers to Life's 11 Most Burning Questions. Natch! Reserve your ticket today, and you too can receive a free memento of the burning ring of fire that was that deadly sweat lodge.

Graham Hancock on Ancient Magicians

The sequel to one of my favorite books of all time Fingerprints of the Gods appears to be on track for its publication later this year. As Hancock explains, this lecture is already a little out of date because his research is moving at a pace. It is, however, extremely compelling. The correlations between the ancient catastrophe myths and the archaeological evidence really coming into focus. I highly recommend laying aside some time to hear about these Magicians of the Gods.

Hancock also mentions a very strange Ayahuasca experience. I mentioned this in an earlier post but I hadn't realized that he'd collected all those Facebook posts and placed them here on his site.

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Blaming Religion

I noticed a link on my Facebook feed this morning to a Salon article on the "6 reasons religion may do more harm than good." The first reason listed: religion promotes tribalism.

Religion divides insiders from outsiders. Rather than assuming good intentions, adherents often are taught to treat outsiders with suspicion. “Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers,” says the Christian Bible. “They wish that you disbelieve as they disbelieve, and then you would be equal; therefore take not to yourselves friends of them,” says the Koran (Sura 4:91).

At best, teachings like these discourage or even forbid the kinds of friendship and intermarriage that help clans and tribes become part of a larger whole. At worst, outsiders are seen as enemies of God and goodness, potential agents of Satan, lacking in morality and not to be trusted. Believers might huddle together, anticipating martyrdom. When simmering tensions erupt, societies fracture along sectarian fault lines.

No fan of tribalism, me, but religion is hardly unique in this tendency.

Case in point: In a link right under the one for that article, I noticed another Salon article, really a book excerpt, on "toxic atheism." In it, atheist Chris Stedman describes the same kind of tribal exclusivity, judgment, and othering among his compatriots.