PHOBOS-GRUNT RE-ENTRY TODAY: Russia’s malfunctioning Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt, will re-enter the atmosphere today, creating a brilliant fireball over a still-unknown part of Earth. Best estimates of the re-entry time range from 1700 UT to 2200 UT on Jan. 15th. The Aerospace Corporation has published some possible ground tracks.
fr/spaceweather.com
Last update: January 15, 2012 at 2:47 pm by By Ashish Khanal
M 6.7 2012/01/15 13:40 Depth 13.0 km SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS
09:40:20 AM at epicenter
Very strong earthquake approx. 100 km out of the coast of Elephant Island, an island which is often visited by Antarctica cruiseliners.
Elephant Island and the smaller islands around are all crowded with antarctic birds and animals. All kind of penguins like emperor penguins, seals, etc are common on these islands.
NO tsunami risk exist for populated islands (there are no people living within a radius of several hundred km). Additionally a M 6.7 earthquake is seldom generating a tsunami.
1003 km (623 miles) S (176°) from STANLEY, Falkland Islands
Update : The magnitude has been lowered by USGS to 6.5, a lot less energy than the initial 6.7. The earthquakes can be compared with the many earthquakes who are occurring at the South Sandwich Islands, islands with similar animals.
Update : We said earlier that these islands are a regular destination stop for Antarctica cruise ships. This destination is not so common than the Antartic peninsula, but we would not be surprised that tourists were visiting the penguin population on one or more islands.
This text is part of the program of Antarctica espedition organizer Oceanwide Expeditions :
The Atlantic Odyssey offers a unique possibility to visit several of the remotest islands in the world. Besides the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Shetland Islands, South Georgia and the South Orkney Islands, the Atlantic Odyssey visits Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena, Ascension Island and Cape Verde.
Update : As it is Antarctica summer and thus Tourist season, at least a couple of thousand people may have been walking on one of the many penguin islands of the Antarctic peninsula and may have felt the earthquake. A M 6.5 earthquake will be probably felt within a radius of several hundred km.
Update : Very strong aftershock of M 6.2. We expect many more aftershocks to happen the following hours and days.
for more and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2012/01/15/earthquakes-list-january-15-2012/
There are so many things in the works this week! One huge theme will revolve around the real versus the seeming. The energy now invites, no demands that you look around you and determine for yourself what is real and what is merely illusion. In support of this, there will be uncanny occurrences, things seen out of the corner of your eye, unbelievable things right in front of your face, and the sorrow of those things that cannot deal with the energies that are coming in. Emotionally, there will be ups and downs, and while you are feeling one way, the opposite with make itself known. This can throw you off center and make you question just what is going on. The advantage of this kind of soul-searching is that it makes you take a new perspective, see and analyze things differently. The old ways are no longer working, so you must try something new…. Or spend your time justifying why you need to retain the old stuff when it is not helpful. The choice is up to you. Again, pay attention to your senses and feelings. There is much to experience in these areas. Continue reading
Personal motivation consultant and author
What does wealth mean for you, deep down? What is your intention for wealth now? Yes, you have basic needs to cover, possibly fewer than you think.
Wealth speaks to me of expansion, and not just in financial terms. Does more money translate to greater happiness and fulfilment? Does security in life come from having a good pension entitlement? What is the more, the expansion that truly counts for you?
Psychologist Daniel Gilbert in his TED talk asks Why are we happy? and suggests we are often mistaken about what makes us happy, including financially.
A basic message of Christmas is that wherever we may find ourselves, in the equivalent of a lowly stable perhaps, we can start afresh. Each day offers the possibility of a new beginning, a new way of looking at what is in front of us, of seeing clearly the opportunity present.
This blessing I hope may help to awaken you to a new vision for today, a vision in which you count in the wealth and expansion of your life.
Spirit of Divine Love, we bring ourselves forward into the generous consciousness of your loving and Light with our gratitude for all of the many blessings that we enjoy and that enrich us.We offer ourselves for your guidance and infinite wisdom
to comfort, reassure and show us our best ways ahead.We appreciate your gifts to us, our natural talents and qualities,
the skills and strengths we have developed so far
and those we have yet to master.We know that as we give, so we also receive,
that we are One with all of your creation,
celebrating the contribution that comes from our own divine essence.Please show us the way, your way
that we may more fully enrich the world around us
and in so doing,
expand the boundaries of our own wealth experience.In each moment when we stop to take account
may we know your presence more fully
and know ourselves as one with your magnificence.We accept and receive your blessings
as we share our blessings with others.Baruch Bashan — The Blessings Already Are
If you are anything like me, you may be feeling some uncertainty about the coming year. Try these three steps to realize your greater wealth and well-being:
1. Forgive: Any time you are feeling out of balance or a sense of lack, forgive yourself for forgetting that you are Divine. Forgive yourself for the judgements you may be making that cause you to feel separate, alone or lonely. You are never alone.
2. Be grateful: Count your blessings, even and especially the small ones. The little things count. Remember then. In the evening, write down a minimum of 5 things you have appreciated during the day.
3. Bless: Bless your day, your night, the neighbor and those who would in some way offend you. Wish well whoever is around you, whoever you may pass in the street. Bless your work, your projects, your computer, the hands that type on its keyboard, those who read what you have written — including yourself. Bless your world with a smile — you never know who might benefit from such a simple gesture. Be creative with your blessings — there is no limit to the goodness you can extend as you expand your wealth and well-being in 2012.
You do not have to be a saint or a savior to extend blessings. You may wish to bless others silently with your thoughts of goodwill. Your actions of caring and thoughtfulness may communicate blessings. The skills and talents you express at work are an expression of your blessings. The touch of a warm hand, a comforting arm to hold, a gentle smile all speak of blessings.
Through your forgiving, gratitude and blessing you might find greater stability and contentment within the changes that are happening around us. What is more, you may find that the changes themselves produce greater blessings than you could ever have imagined.
May 2012 bless you with many opportunities to expand beyond your former limits of wealth and well-being and into the greater appreciation of who you truly are.
Author, ‘War of the Worldviews’; Founder, The Chopra Foundation
It’s a well-worn truth that the modern world is built upon science and technology. But this truth doesn’t dominate everyday life as much as one might think. Science is materialistic, and it explains the world through objective data. People lead their lives, at least partly, apart from materialism. The spiritual side of life exists and always has, which defies objective data. So does art, which isn’t mystical, not to mention emotions, intuition, morality and much else that makes life worth living.
Most of the time we are satisfied with this kind of catch-as-catch-can dualism. One of the easiest precepts from Jesus to follow is “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and render unto God what is God’s.” If you substitute “science” or “materialism” for Caesar, everyone does exactly that, compartmentalizing personal and spiritual experience in a separate box from iPads, microwaves and space shuttles.
The problem is that a compartmentalized life feels inadequate, which is why a public debate has been ongoing for 200 years about whether God or science is the ultimate master of reality. The answer matters. If you plump for God then miracles, mysticism, the soul and invisible forces have a chance to be real. If you plump for science instead, then physical existence can be completely trusted and the rational mind will in time solve all apparent mysteries. In either case, dualism no longer pinches; some kind of non-dualism wins the day.
In my posts, articles and books I’ve argued that science can expand to include miracles and mysticism. There is no need to deny the miraculous if everything is a miracle. There is no mystery surrounding mysticism if we look into the subtle essence of the human mind. More importantly, a non-dual world based on consciousness would be a better world. The fact is that science won’t reach answers to every riddle, so plumping for materialism is an empty gesture — even a hoax — when it comes to explaining a broad range of issues:
These questions seem so abstract, not to mention so huge, that everyday life seems content to pass the by, and materialists are content to call them metaphysics, putting them high on a shelf to gather philosophical dust. But I’d argue that no questions are more relevant to my life and yours, once we reduce them to the personal scale.
One could add many other important issues to the list, but all would have one thing in common: until you understand the mind, you haven’t truly understood reality. Life comes to us as experience. This is true of driving a car, raising a child, catching a cold or building a super collider in order to detect subatomic particles. Experience is how we participate in the universe. The super collider isn’t set aside in some objective space, even though data tries to be objective. Every moment in every scientist’s life is a subjective experience. It consists of sensations, thoughts, feelings and images.
You can claim, as non-dual materialists do, that the subjective side taints the objective and should be considered an unreliable guide to truth. But to say this makes two mistakes, and they are whoppers. The first mistake is that the mind cannot be located in the material world. Primitive peoples, as we like to call them, believed that spirits inhabited physical objects, a perspective known as animism. Trees contained tree spirits, the sky was the home of rain gods, and little demons lurked all around. Yet when it says that mind exists in the brain, neuroscience is committing the same fallacy. The brain is made up of atoms and molecules. It is a thing, like a tree, and to say that the mind is only the brain means that you have attributed consciousness to atoms and molecules. No one has ever explained how mind suddenly arises in blood sugar when that sugar crosses the blood-brain barrier. It is simply assumed.
The second mistake, intimately connected to the first, is that observers can stand apart from what they observe. Instead of being a participatory universe, science asserts that outside reality is separate from us; we are like children with our noses pressed to a bake shop window, staring through the glass but never going inside. This view reduces experience to data and then goes further by saying that data is superior to experience. This cannot remotely be true. The data about your body, such as blood pressure, heart rate, hormone levels, etc., is essentially the same as the data from Buddha, Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso. It seems obvious that when you throw out all the factors that make these individuals unique, you have thrown out something pretty essential — the very meaning and purpose of life.
I’ve argued that a new world is being born in which nothing needs to be thrown out, and such a world can only be based on experience. Experience covers billions of people leading different lives, but one element is always present: consciousness. Thoughts and actions occur in consciousness. This is so obvious that it feels a bit meaningless, like saying that all marine life occurs in the sea. But the world’s wisdom traditions exist to open our eyes, seeing beyond the obvious to something incredibly important: If you delve into consciousness, you will find the essence of existence, meaning it purpose, direction and goal. You will know deeply and fully who you are, and when that unfolds, you will know what reality is.
Non-dual consciousness doesn’t celebrate subjectivity over objectivity. To do that is simply to take the mistakes of materialism and turn them on their heads. Non-dual systems all make the same claim: “Everything is made of X.” Science says that everything is made of matter and energy. Non-dual consciousness says that everything is made of mind. An alien landing on Earth in a spaceship, lacking bias either way, could easily see why these two worldviews consider the other preposterous. To say that everything is matter and energy is preposterous when you are trying to get at the mind and subjective experience. Non-dual consciousness is preposterous when you are trying to figure out where stars and galaxies come from. In other words, the physical seems secure in making its claims on us, while the mental seems just as secure when telling the story of inner life.
The great challenge is to decide which preposterous claim is, believe it or not, actually true. For thousands of years human beings had no difficulty believing that Creation was happening in the mind of God; the spiritual origin of the universe was certain. Today, people have no trouble believing that tiny physical things called atoms and molecules will reveal why we fall in love, create art and have thoughts in our heads. I’m not defending an ancient bias as opposed to a modern one. Rather, there has been an evolution, bringing us to the point where we can go beyond crude animism, whether of the spiritual or materialistic kind, at last seeing how consciousness works in the whole scheme of reality.
We can explain the galaxies and personal experience at the same time by finding the same origin for each. If nature goes to the same place — an invisible workshop beyond time and space — to create a supernova, a rose, human love and our craving for God, then non-duality solves everything. My position is that non-duality must be based in consciousness, since it is inescapable that the only reality we know comes through experience. Without a doubt we live in a participatory universe, and the sooner we surrender the delusion that data is superior to experience, the closer we will come to transforming the world.
The Huffington Post Catharine Smith First Posted: 1/14/12 12:19 PM ET Updated: 1/14/12 01:58 PM ET
House of Representatives bill SOPA and its Senate counterpart PIPA are designed to punish websites that make available, for example, free movies and music without the permission of the U.S. rights holders. Opponents of the bills, however, worry that the proposed laws would grant the Department of Justice too much regulatory power. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has called the measures “draconian.” Other Internet giants who oppose the bill include Facebook, eBay, Mozilla, Twitter, and Huffington Post parent company AOL.
The White House on Saturday officially responded to two online petitions, “Stop the E-PARASITE Act” and “Veto the SOPA bill and any other future bills that threaten to diminish the free flow of information,” urging the President to reject SOPA and PIPA.
The statement was drawn up by Victoria Espinel, Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator at Office of Management and Budget, Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, and Howard Schmidt, Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator for National Security Staff. They made clear that the White House will not support legislation that disrupts the open standards of the Internet.
“While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet,” the statement read in part.
The White House statement went on to say, however, that the Obama Administration believes “online piracy is a real problem that harms the American economy” and that 2012 should see the passage of narrower legislation that targets the source of foreign copyright infringement.
The letter also highlighted the following four points:
Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small. […] We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet. […] That is why the Administration calls on all sides to work together to pass sound legislation this year that provides prosecutors and rights holders new legal tools to combat online piracy originating beyond U.S. borders […] We expect and encourage all private parties, including both content creators and Internet platform providers working together, to adopt voluntary measures and best practices to reduce online piracy.
This is not the end of the debate, the White House statement emphasized. “Moving forward, we will continue to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis on legislation that provides new tools needed in the global fight against piracy and counterfeiting, while vigorously defending an open Internet based on the values of free expression, privacy, security and innovation,” the letter also read.
Following the release of the White House’s statement, SOPA sponsor and House Judiciary Chairman (R-Texas) Lamar Smith issued a statement of his own.
“I welcome today’s announcement that the White House will support legislation to combat online piracy that protects free speech, the Internet and America’s intellectual property,” Smith said,according to The Hill. “That’s precisely what the Stop Online Piracy Act does.”
On Friday, CNET reported that Smith said he will remove from the bill one of the most hotly contested provisions, Domain Name System requirements. Previously, SOPA had called for DNS blocking of infringing websites.
On Thursday, PIPA author Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) said that “more study” was needed to asses the bill’s DNS-blocking provision.
The White House’s statement condemned DNS blocking in regulatory efforts and said that it “pose[s] a real risk to cybersecurity and yet leave contraband goods and services accessible online. We must avoid legislation that drives users to dangerous, unreliable DNS servers and puts next-generation security policies, such as the deployment of DNSSEC, at risk.”
A House Oversight Committee hearing on SOPA’s DNS-blocking provision had previously been scheduled for January 18. However, according to Tech Dirt, Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-California) said that the hearing will be postponed for the time being and that the focus now should be placed on the Senate’s PIPA bill, which Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has committed to moving forward in the next two weeks.
from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/14/white-house-sopa-pipa_n_1206347.html
By Dean Ramsden
There are astral forces at play in the manifest world that are almost invisible to the eye of the modern person. What hides from us is the role the Lower Astral spirit world has upon human activity, and personal development. Despite the desire of most humans to live a good and comfortable life there exist various forces in our world that thrive on destruction and the abuse or sacrifice innocent life force. In this article we will step out of the sanitized cultural worldview of the Western world and into the shamanic perspective.
In the shamanic reality commerce with spirits for the good of the community is their job description and one unenvied by normal people. It is only when we are impacted by the spirit world either directly through our own perception, or through actions that are visited upon us with a sinister agenda, that we may give attention to shamanic reality. Coming to terms with the deeper meaning of how the Lower Astral affects us is addressed in this chapter. So, what exactly is a Shaman? He or she is the go-between of the people in the manifest world and the varieties of spirit people.
Modern Western people live in a world where they are insulated from many of the spirit world forces this subject requires us to have experience and knowledge about: the true nature of suffering in the manifest world around us. Our chickens and cattle are slaughtered in factories far from our homes, and our food is wrapped in plastic and stamped with an expiration date. We don’t see the death of the animal ourselves, as native or pre-modern people were likely to experience on a daily basis. We don’t need to develop our personal strength or warrior skills because we are told our police and military will take care of the aggression of others towards us. As a substitute we get to watch the digital killing of others, from the comfort of our TV and movie houses, living vicariously thrilled through the fictional or foreign destruction, usually far away from our homes. The modern person lives in a bubble of sanitized life, able to pass judgment on the poorer living conditions of native or non-modern people but unaware that these very people possess something vital the modern person has lost. The Shaman and the non-modern person accepts and understands how the spirit world works. The modern dismisses the spirit world as an archaic superstition of uneducated people, best consigned to the past along with the theory of the flat earth, and creationism – and in that arrogance lies our vulnerability to the Lower Astral destructive energies running amok in our lives. When we don’t acknowledge an important part of reality we will find ourselves out of balance, and unable to construct an authentic sense of the real world; this struggle is tied into the way psychological denial works to keep us sane in a chaotic world.
To best open ourselves up to the natural world of lower spirit interactions we usually have to step outside of our modern culture and society. It is hard to find the real information we need in our concrete jungle cities and small towns, or by watching TV programming created by other moderns passing on to us their own social conditioning. We have to physically and emotionally relocate ourselves to places that, although impacted by the modern world, still remain in touch which the spirit world. One option that many choose is South America, as we find many modern people drawn to the Shamans of that huge continent. In concert with rituals that may involve the ingestion of psychotropics (such as Ayahuasca) moderns find themselves deepening into the spirit world of nature seeking spirit contact to inspire them. Shamanic knowledge usually steps outside of the modern prohibition on psychotropics, and uses it for purposes of awakening the mind and the heart. Other people will travel to Asia, and explore non-Western spiritual paths and transformational practices like yoga and Tibetan Buddhism.
Today we are focused not on the middle and higher spirit world of spirit beings that offer us support, but on the Lower Astral: those primal spirit forces that thrive on sacrifice and on physical suffering. For our journey into this reality I’d like you to come with me to the Northern part of Borneo, the Malaysian state of Sabah. This is where I have made my home for the last three years. And here is where the local Shamans, the Bobohizan, have ruled the villages of the Kadazan peoples that lived here for hundreds of years. The Bobohizan shamans are, sadly, dying out as North Borneo people are leaving their traditional homesteads and gravitating to the small cities in Sabah and the Malaysian peninsula. As with all South East Asians, Borneo people want modern conveniences, cell phones, and flat screen TVs. They want modern employment that will get them all these things. The Kampungs (village communities) are increasingly bereft of resources, and the Shamans have no one interested to take their place after they pass away. The traditional Shamanic ways may well die out soon, ending the power of the elder Bobohizan to serve their people.
But there are still small pockets of the old world being kept alive. Outside of my home town of Kota Kinabalu, here in Malaysian North Borneo, lies the cultural village of Monsopiad. An oasis of the Kadazan past, Monsopiad is striving to keep the Kadazan cultural vision alive. You can come there, and watch traditional dances, but Monsopiad is also an ideal place to encounter the spirit world of the Lower Astral. Here you will find a spirit stone transported from the nearby Gaya Island, and consecrated with gallons of animal blood. And you will find the Skull House of the warrior Monsopiad, who three hundred years ago took forty-two heads of his village’s enemies as proof of his prowess. The skulls of these victims lie tied together, now raised high against the roof line of the Monsopiad Skull House, to protect them against disrespectful tourists. But there is no need for protection against local people, who inherently respect the power of the spirit world. Hence the Skull House remains unlocked even at night, managed only by an aged Bobohizan and Monosopiad direct descendant. He is also the last Shaman to hold Monsopiad’s ancient sword used in rituals. “If you cut yourself with this sword”, he once said, “your wound will not heal. The sword of Monsopiad is still hungry for blood.” Thankfully, the demon weapon is not on display for careless tourists looking to test out his words.
The story of Monsopiad is of a Kadazan warrior who initially served his community as protector against attacks upon his village of Kuai. Vowing to hunt down and fight off these marauders against the villagers, Monsopiad soon gained the reputation as a master warrior. The taking of this enemies heads, which began as a way to advertise his power, soon became an ungovernable personal compulsion. But over the years Monsopiad’s attitude of service for his community turned into provoking other men just so he could have an excuse to kill and then behead them. The community began to fear their hero. Eventually a group of the community banded together one night, and killed him. Even so, he remained beloved for his warrior power, and the good he had done, and Kuai was renamed Monsopiad village.
The Ttradition of Monsopiad illustrates the power of the spirit world to thrive on the sacrifice of the good, and the use of suffering to feed the lower astral spirit beings. There are many other teaching stories throughout the world that mirror this shamanic insight, just like the Bobohizan of North Borneo. Blood sacrifices and the worship of stone icons are emblematic of many lower Astral rituals, from Western Europe though the Middle East, the African continent, and of course the Americas. The Shaman spills the blood of animals (or — as with some cultures — humans) to appease the lower Astral beings, and distract them from interfering in the community; left alone these spirits will tend towards inciting the spilling of human blood by proxy. The Shaman has to oppose the influence of the Lower Astral when necessary, but always remains vulnerable to having their good actions subverted by the same Lower Astral energy. Monsopiad slowly became the enemy he fought against — for the good of his community — over the years. I imagine that living with the accumulation of trophy skulls only deepened the grip of the Lower Astral realms in Monsopiad’s village. For in local Kadazan tradition, when you die your spirit goes to the sacred mountain, Mount Kinabalu, but if you are beheaded your spirit remains trapped in your skull.
As modern day people we are no longer are attuned to the life-and-death activities of our villages, and have little use for native wisdom that we casually dismiss as primitive superstition. As I wrote earlier, our food is delivered to our supermarkets, and our wars are displayed on TV screens, and we don’t get to wash away any blood — either of war or of a sacrificed animal — from off our hands. But someone, somewhere in the world, is either fighting or being sacrificed to maintain our modern life style. The Lower Astral has not left the modern human race; it has simply hidden itself away beneath the veneer of denial. Our Western military are now the warriors Monsopiad used to fight against. Or, in some cases, they have become Monsopiad himself. That which we fight we will become, and perhaps even more so. But these words are not an indictment against modern living but to invite us all to move closer to the realization of the ancient Shaman: to revitalize our connection with the manifest and the spirit worlds. If we open up to the nature of the Lower Astral we can, as do native peoples, work around the more destructive aspects of living out our lives.
The functioning of the Lower Astral is organized around the sacrifice of the good, or the vulnerable, and to spill blood: either emotionally or through acts of violence. Usually the one that is attacked is designated an “enemy”, and acts are assigned to this enemy that lead towards a counter (and violent) response. This is the influence of the Lower Astral: actively create an enemy, and then justify your destructive response (as well as hiding your selfish or narcissistic agenda that is the end result of your attack upon him or her). The energies of the Lower Astral are all around us, in our everyday lives, our challenging relationships, and can be seen in world events. But we moderns have lost our “canaries in the coal mine”. We are losing the Shaman wisdom, worldwide. Without these gatekeepers serving the community by both understanding the Lower Astral as well as helping normal people balance the forces of the spirit world, our world will be subject to much avoidable suffering. The psychotherapist cannot help us come to terms with this reality. The politician cannot help us by writing new laws or demanding additional taxes. Even the guru, or spiritual teacher, may not be able to help us break out of the enchantment of spiritual denial. Only the Shaman has the skill set that we need to awaken us; and there are increasingly few of them to help
So how does the modern person work with the Lower Astral, in this declining age of the Shaman? What can we do to protect ourselves, and our clients and communities? We must awaken to the realities of how the Lower Astral influences us: emotionally, mentally, and physically. The Lower Astral turbo charges our hidden agendas of anger, fear, and selfish agendas in our relationships, and in our self identity. It strives to create an “enemy”, a person that is different, or dangerous to me -and then justifies destroying that enemy (or driving it out), to serve narcissistic ends. It desires to spill virtual blood (as in emotional pain) or actual blood (as in acts of physical violence). As long as our conscious awareness can be manipulated in this way we will witness the sacrifice of the innocent, the suffering of the innocent, and the dark gaining of selfish power behind the scenes. Working with the Lower Astral may involve actively opposing their incursions, as did the heroic Monsopiad in his early days. But at some point we must go beyond all opposition, and learn to dissolve or mitigate the lower astral influences upon our lives. Denial of any problem must be replaced with resolve to deal with the problem. Again, the story of Monsopiad points the way towards the dangers of how we, inevitably, may become that which we have opposed. The final step may not be to imagine a manifest world free of all destructive aspects of the lower astral, or to unrealistically purge or remove all evil from the world, but one where we learn to clear and integrate these Lower Astral energies. If we can evolve the lower astral into higher forms of spiritual energy, we can all grow together, human being and spirit being.
Modern people are not going to embrace blood sacrifices in order to appease the Lower Astral beings, that much is certain. But suffering caused by the Lower Astral can be reduced by raising our own consciousness, and the consciousness of our clients and our community, so that spiritual wisdom comes to rule our lives, not our primal vulnerabilities. Once we are aware of the way the Lower Astral affects us, and others, we can move towards important changes in our relationships. The Lower Astral’s strength is in how it hides itself from view. Take away the camouflage of denial, and our lack of knowledge, and everything can be changed. Ask a Shaman, while you still can. Or, even better, become the Shaman yourself. Here’s how you start:
1. Build a relationship with the spirit world, using meditation or rituals to reach out from the manifest world to the bodyless voices of the Astral. Yes, you will need to over-ride the modern person’s assumption that all non-self inner voices are a symptom of schizophrenia, but that is only a belief system ploy to keep you away. The voices around you exist, if only you learn to listen. And you can and should be able to turn them off when needed.
2. Energetically relate with the spirit world via a go-between psychic’s method. This is why psychics use the Tarot deck, or cast runes, or take psychotropics like Ayahuasca: they are variations on methods that break the hold of the manifest brain on the astral realities around us. While I am personally against psychotropics (the negatives match the positives in number, when using spiritual drugs) I do recommend every working healer to learn a bridging method. It helps focus the inner mind towards the astral speakers, and makes their “words” and intention clearer to us.
3. Align your spirit communication around the middle and higher astral (“White” magic) rather than follow the seductive lure of the Lower Astral (“Black” magic) that promises personal power over others. Learn the differences between these two approaches, so you won’t fall into the Monsopiad trap, and self-destruct.
4. Cultivate a long-term relationship with one or more spirit people (spirit guide, or guardian “angels”) via communication with them, including question-and-answer dialogues. Like a good friendship, or a new romantic person in your life, it takes time to get to know someone.
5. Track the outcome of your spirit guide’s counsel over time. Do they truly support the higher spiritual aspects of living in the manifest world? Or, do they want to use your “channel” with them for other ends, like promotion, or attention?
6. Become aware of the impact of the Lower Astral in the world around you. Watch for it in national and international politics, in the operation of multinational corporations and banking cartels, and in military actions. Learn to see who is the designated “enemy” du jour, and keep your heart open towards the innocent victims. Don’t parrot the party line; think for yourself outside of boxes created for you by others.
7. Learn an energy healing skill that illuminates Lower Astral interactions, and which also can reduce or eliminate Lower Astral attachment to the energy body of your clients. There are healers and shamans who can pass this on to you, either using traditional spirit “extraction” methods, or by learning how to change the vibrational nature of the lower aspect via Etheric body and Astral body healing methods. Ridding the energy body of Lower Astral accumulation helps the client find themselves, and will help develop their spiritual and personal consciousness. The alternative is to allow the Lower Astral energies unimpeded access to a rich source of energetic food: the primal human nervous system and the endocrine system. This keeps the ancient game going, with human beings as the loser.
8. Know that you — as a modern Shaman — can make a difference in the life of your client, and the health of your community. Know your value, and become the warrior of the Light you know yourself to be.
This is an extract from the upcoming book “Astral Energetics”, by Dean Ramsden. Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved.
Dean also offers Home Study Audio Classes in “Astral Energetics” that deepen your practical understanding of the Astral worlds for modern day healers and spiritual seekers. Go here for more information, or email Dean to be placed on the 2012 Astral Energetics Class email list.
Coming soon: accompanying articles on The Middle Astral and The Higher Astral.
To find out more about the Monosopiad Cultural Village in Sabah, North Borneo, including free downloads, please visit http://www.monsopiad.com
About Dean Ramsden
Dean Ramsden is the creator of the field of Relational Energy Healing.
from: http://www.spiritofmaat.com/jan12/deeper_meaning_of_astral_energies.html
ExopoliticsTV interview with Drunvalo Melchizedek
Uxmal pyramid of the Magician Soothsayer, Yucatan
By Alfred Lambremont Webre, JD, MEd
In an exclusive Dec. 20, 2011 ExopoliticsTV interview with Alfred Lambremont Webre, author and spiritual researcher Drunvalo Melchizedek reveals a number of the hidden components of the prophecies for the Mayan End Time (2007 – Jan. 1, 2016), including the discovery of Mayan codexes that had been thought destroyed during the Spanish conquest. Drunvalo works directly with Mayan elders in the Yucatan and Guatemala.
WATCH INTERVIEW
Readers can watch the ExopoliticsTV interview with Drunvalo Melchizedek embedded in the article above or at the URL below:
A new cycle based on the divine feminine
These Mayan prophecies include possible Earth Changes and consciousness transformation during the period through January 1, 2016, when a new cycle based on the divine feminine begins.
Drunvalo shares the Mayan insight of the importance of our heart connection to our survival and thrival during these times. Drunvalo states, “It is the heart that contains the original instructions of Life, and when the heart is again in control of a person’s life, Life responds with joy and power. When the Mer-Ka-Ba [a dual torsion field of Light connecting mind and soul] is directly connected to the Sacred Space of the Heart, that person’s life becomes interconnected to all life everywhere and moves into higher consciousness naturally.”
Recommended reading
2012 – 2025: A positive human future
1. Are you on a 2012-13 catastrophic or positive future timeline? Part 1
2. Are you on a 2012-13 catastrophic or positive future timeline? Part 2
3. GOOD NEWS! Universe singularity now emanating pre-wave energy for ‘enlightened unity consciousness’
4. Laura Eisenhower: Unity consciousness will collapse military-industrial complex
ExopoliticsTV interview: Laura Magdalene Eisenhower – Christ/Sophia consciousness and a positive future
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peep23d_coI
Copyright 2011-12
Alfred Lambremont Webre, all rights reserved
27 Feet of snow for Alaskan community, Anchorage on the road to break record
| Published on January 13, 2012 6:15 am PT – By TWS Staff Reporter – Edited by Staff Editor |
Residents in Cordova are looking at another storm, according to meteorologists. 16 more inches on top of what has already fallen could come later tonight and in (TheWeatherSpace.com) – Cordova, an Alaskan Community centered in Southern Alaska, just east of Anchorage, is trying to fix what mother nature gave them and 27 feet of snow in one storm was what that gift was.
For the entire season, Cordova has received 172 inches of snowfall. However, the nearby area of Valdez has seen over 318 inches. Anchorage comes in topping at 81.3 inches.
Anchorage, Alaska has broken the record for the most snowfall in a year, being meteorologists use July1st as the start. However, for a winter season the city nears to break 132.8 inches of snowfall, a record set back in the 1954 to 1955 winter season
from: http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-11312-27-feet-snow-alaska-storm-cordova.html
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| This graphic, published by the Russian space agency Roscosmos, shows where the failed Mars probe Phobos-Grunt could crash to Earth. The arrow points to a possible re-entry site on Sunday, Jan. 15. CREDIT: Roscosmos |
A huge hunk of Russian space junk is set to crash to Earth in the next few days, but nobody knows exactly when or where it’s going to come down.
The 14.5-ton Mars probe Phobos-Grunt, which got stuck in Earth orbit shortly after its Nov. 8 launch, may re-enter the atmosphere at 11:22 a.m. EST (1622 GMT) on Sunday (Jan. 15), according to the latest estimate published today (Jan. 13) by Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency.
If that projection is accurate, pieces of the failed spacecraft will splash into the Atlantic Ocean about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) south of Buenos Aires.
But that’s a big if.
Uncertain predictions
The predicted time and place of re-entry could change in the future, Roscosmos said. Indeed, the newest estimate is substantially different from two others the space agency issued earlier in the week, which had the probe coming down earlier on Sunday and falling into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Java or near Madagascar. [Photos of the Phobos-Grunt mission]
Further, other organizations and observers tracking Phobos-Grunt have their own estimates, some of which roughly agree with Roscosmos’ predictions and some of which have the probe crashing later, perhaps early Monday morning (Jan. 16).
So all we know for certain right now is that Phobos-Grunt will fall to Earth soon, somewhere between 51.4 degrees north latitude and 51.4 degrees south latitude — a stretch of the planet ranging from London in the north to the Falkland Islands in the south.
And the predictions won’t really start firming up until shortly before the probe’s fall, experts say.
“About two hours out, the U.S. military will publish their last re-entry prediction, and that will likely be the most accurate public prediction, as they have very accurate data on the object’s orbit that will not be available publicly,” said Brian Weeden, a technical adviser with the Secure World Foundation and a former orbital analyst with the Air Force.
“Up until then, I would take any prediction with a large grain of salt,” Weeden told SPACE.com in an email.
Most of probe should burn up
Most of Phobos-Grunt’s weight consists of toxic fuel, prompting some concern that its crash could spread dangerous chemicals over populated or environmentally sensitive areas. But Roscosmos officials have said that the fuel will burn up high in Earth’s atmosphere.
The vast majority of Phobos-Grunt should meet the same fate, according to Roscosmos. The space agency estimates that no more than 20 to 30 pieces of the probe, weighing a total of less than 440 pounds (200 kilograms), will reach the ground.
While it’s tough to vet these claims, they’re likely to be fairly accurate, Weeden said.
“Since they have the most data on its construction and design, I don’t think anyone else is in a position at this point to contradict them,” he said. “And their statement is reasonable and consistent with what normally happens.”
At this point, the world may be getting rather accustomed to giant pieces of metal falling from the sky. Phobos-Grunt’s crash will be the third uncontrolled re-entry of a big spacecraft in the last four months, following NASA’s defunct UARS satellite in September and the dead German ROSAT satellite in October.
Nobody on the ground was hurt by UARS or ROSAT debris. In fact, no one is known to have ever been injured by a chunk of man-made space junk.
The $165 million Phobos-Grunt spacecraft launched Nov. 8 on a mission to collect soil samples from the Mars moon Phobos and send them back to Earth (“grunt” means “soil” in Russian). Shortly after liftoff, however, the probe’s engines failed to fire as planned to send it on a path toward the Red Planet.
Russian officials still aren’t sure what caused the failure, though they recently raised the possibility that some sort of sabotage may be responsible.
This story was provided by SPACE.com, a sister site to LiveScience.
from: http://www.livescience.com/17917-russia-spacecraft-phobos-grunt-crash-predictions.html