Search A Light In The Darkness

Thursday 31 July 2008

Madeleine McCann parents set for Irish visit

Belfast Telegraph (Wednesday 30th July 2008) says: Kate and Gerry McCann are set to return to Ireland later this year.The couple and their young twins are expected to make the journey this autumn and plan to make a television appearance while they're in the country. The couple's visit will be their first time to arrive in Ireland since their four-year-old daughter Madeleine went missing last year.

Kate and Gerry are expected to take up on an open invitation to appear on RTE's The Late Late Show to address the nation and thank the Irish for their "incredible support".

One source for the Friday night chat show revealed to the Herald yesterday that "they are coming. It'll be at the end of September or early October," the source added.

The couple and their children were regular visitors to Ireland prior to Madeleine's disappearance in Praia de Luz in May 2007 while on holiday. And it is believed they want to return to meet and thank the Irish people for their support.

RTE bosses are hoping that the McCanns will come on the show and reveal first-hand the terrible trauma they've experienced. However, programme bosses are remaining tight lipped until closer to the scheduled visit.

Larry Masterson, executive producer of The Late Late Show confirmed that the interview remained "a possibility".

Mr Masterson is hopeful that the couple will appear on the Irish chat show after their spokesperson hinted that they would do so.

"We had their solicitor/spokesperson on The Late Late Show last season and he stated on the show that if they were coming to Ireland they'd come on the show."

The couple are said to be hugely grateful for the love and care the Irish public has given them since their oldest daughter's disappearance.

"Ever since Madeleine disappeared, the number of letters and Mass cards sent to them has been phenomenal," said family spokesman Clarence Mitchell, "In fact there have been more messages from Ireland than any other country in the world."

The trip to Ireland will be the family's first visit with their three-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, since Maddie was abducted in Portugal last summer.

Tarot Card of the Day

Justice (or Adjustment) is numbered eight in some decks and eleven in others. We see a female figure, holding the scales to represent the balance between good and evil, right and wrong within our lives. She also holds the sword which knights us or which claims retribution.

Justice is the supreme Judge. Here we see the effects of Karma, the idea that everything we do today has either a positive or negative effect upon our future. Every dark thought or deed weighs against us, balanced out (hopefully) by every good deed and loving thought.

We can be angels and we can be demons, it is our choice. We shape our futures by what we do and think now. If we stop blaming other people, or forces, if things go wrong then we take control of our own lives. Justice shows us that the natural cycles of the Universe will reflect back upon us exactly what we expect - so expect joy and happiness!

Eye scans, fingerprints to control NZ borders

BORDER CONTROL staff will be able to use iris scans and finger printing to check passengers' identities under major changes to New Zealand immigration rules.

Despite criticism from Amnesty International at the level of secrecy permitted, the changes look set to become law, with the National Party pledging its support.

National Party immigration spokesman Dr Lockwood Smith acknowledged the bill's provision for using biometric information would be "a little bit controversial" but said it would speed up passenger processing and ultimately benefit New Zealanders.

The bill would simplify visa and appeal processes and legislation would be more in tune with New Zealand's international obligations.

Smith said he had a "lingering concern" that New Zealand might be unable to deport a "bad egg" due to our obligations under the Convention against Torture, which prevents someone being deported to a country where they might be tortured.

"It's a lingering concern but not a major concern, because the chances of that are pretty remote. We would find ways of dealing with it." (www.stuff.co.nz)

Seahenge

Seahenge or Holme I is a Bronze Age monument discovered in 1998 just off the coast of the English county of Norfolk at Holme-next-the-Sea. It is sometimes described as a timber circle but bears only a superficial resemblance to this monument type.

The site consisted of an outer ring comprising fifty-five small split oak trunks forming a roughly circular enclosure around 7 m by 6 m. Rather than being placed in individual holes, the timbers had been arranged around a circular construction trench. Their split sides faced inwards and their bark faced outwards (with one exception where the opposite is the case). One of the trunks on the south western side had a narrow Y fork in it, permitting access to the central area. Another post had been placed outside this entrance, which would have prevented anyone from seeing inside. The timbers were set in ground to a depth of 1 m from the contemporary surface although how far they originally extended upwards is not known. In the centre of the ring was a large inverted oak stump.

It is possible to date the creation of Seahenge very accurately through dendrochronology since the rings on the trees can be correlated with other overlapping tree ring variations; the date of felling the oaks was found to have been in the spring or summer of 2049 BC. The upturned central tree stump was 167 years old when it was felled. Between 16 and 26 different trees were used in building the monument with palynological evidence suggesting they came from nearby woodland. Analysis of axe marks on the timbers indicates that at least 51 different axes were used in working the timbers. The largest axe was used to cut the central tree and not any of the other timbers. The excavators interpret each unique axe as representing a different individual, and thus consider it likely that Seahenge was a community endeavour. Holes in the central stump indicate that it was pulled onto site by rope. Pieces of the rope, made from honeysuckle stems, were found under the stump.

The site was discovered because of the actions of the tide on Holme Dunes, which is gradually wearing away the peat layers to reveal the landscapes laid down many thousands of years ago. In this instance the wooden posts and stump had been preserved in the peat and were revealed at low tides. Since the entire structure had been in an anaerobic waterlogged state for several thousand years, the logs had survived with little damage. In the early Bronze Age, the site was probably a saltmarsh environment, between the sea and the forest before the ocean encroached to form the modern coastline. Tidal action had scoured away overlying sediment which had built up in the intervening centuries revealing the timbers for the first time since prehistory. (Wikipedia)

All Personal Growth Involves Change

Personal growth is the process of responding positively to change.
It involves risk as you step from the known to the unknown.

All your growth will depend on your activity.
Your strength and growth will come only through continuous
effort and struggle.
There will be no development without effort.

Trouble is the common denominator of living.
It is the great equalizer of life.
Your trials, your sorrows and your griefs will develop you.
When good or bad fortune comes your way,
you must give it meaning and transform it into something of value.

What happens to you is not as important
as your reaction to what is happening.

A Word on 'Daily Merlin Insights'

Just a quick word of thanks in response to the many hundreds of e-mails we've had relating to 'Daily Merlin Insights'. I just want to let everyone know, because there are just too many e-mails to reply to each one individually, that the reason my Daily Merlin Insights are not currently 'daily' or even regular ... is due to our recent move to Australia and also holding down a very responsible full time position 'with so much to learn and do with so little time available to do it'.

The Daily Merlin Insights take so much preparation ... not just a whimsical type transcript but a contemplative procedure which can take a number of hours to complete. Currently, I do not have that sort of time at my disposal ...

I am undertaking 'insights' and have been for the last few weeks, but they are posted in the main Blog where and when I can ...

Thanks again for your patience and apologies for not being able to respond to everyone's e-mails.

'Sympathetic Magic'

All sympathetic magic is based upon two principles: first, "likes produce likes," or that an effect resembles it cause; and, second, that things having been in contact with each other continue to react upon one and another at a distant even after they have been severed or disconnected. The former principle is called the Law of Similarity, while the latter is the Law of Contagion or Contact.

From these principles the magician makes inferences. From the Law of Similarity the magician infers that he can produce any effect that he desires just by imitating it. And, from the Law of Contact, the magician infers that whatever he does to a material object will equally effect the person who once had contact with or possessed the object. This is the reason that when performing the spell the practitioner may have in her or his possession something personal of the person, such as a lock of hair, nail clippings, a piece of clothing, or a photograph, for whom the spell is being cast for.

In order for the above principles to form, or cause, sympathetic magic there also must exist a cause-and-effect relationship; if not, the magician’s inferences would never function. Simply, something must transfer the effect of the magician’s actions on the physical object to the person who once was in contact with the object. This thing or substance, for a better term, is believed to be a secret sympathy that exist between the object and person. This secret sympathy is an impulse being transmitted from one thing to the other by means of what we may conceive as a kind of invisible ether, not unlike that which is postulated by modern science for a precisely similar purpose, namely, to explain how things can physically affect each other through a space which appears to be empty.

Puppet healing, or magic, is another use of sympathetic magic. It might be said to be the reverse of burning in effigy. Instead of desiring to kill or injure the person whom the puppet represents the practitioner wishes to help him. The theory is whatever degree of healing the practitioner performs on the puppet, the same degree of healing is believed to occur in the person which the puppet represents. So it can be seen that those who subscribe to and practice puppet healing do believe that sympathetic magic can produce positive affects. Also, it is believed that it is the intention of the practitioner which determine whether the results of the sympathetic magic are good or evil.

Positive affects arising from sympathetic magic are also believed to occur in colour healing. Color healing can also be applied when the patient is absent by utilizing a photograph of the person. It is also referred to as distant color healing

In summary, sympathetic magic is the belief that what a magician does to a physical object that belonged to a person, or to a representation of the person will similarly effect that person. Many claim that there is no validation for sympathetic magic, the results which seem to occur from its use can be explained by other things. No doubt, in some incidents, this is true. However, with sympathetic magic, as with all magic, the most objective answer seems to be, if people believe in it then it is true for them. Sympathetic magic seems not to be limited just to the occult sciences; one sees individuals praying the Catholic rosary for sick people just as one sees Witches using their cords to heal the sick. Each individual is practicing an act of belief.

Wednesday 30 July 2008

A Little Insight: 'closer to the heart'

Merlin Tarot Card Insight
‘What has become of Madeleine McCann?’

A quick gaze using my oldest and most trusted divination aid … to help understand and comprehend this confusing ongoing mystery. To provide and explanation as to why the location of Madeleine McCann cannot be determined that easily ….

‘five cards … to provide the answer. Five cards to represent the five steps that remain as the unwary sheep are led across the stepping stones to what has been intended when this rapture was first started. The mystery is not a mystery at all. It is just a big secret. Something small that was made into something greater so easily.

There are five rings of power like concentric rings around this situation. The old man in the sky … reveals that which his younger is at the centre of. At the heart is a beating heart grown for this task. Prepared in some way for this task .. though she would not agree to anything. She is very much alive … but a vessel for other compartments to come through in the years that follow. For she is bound to return. She has been made to return. Manufactured specifically for the purpose. On the outside the sweet little girl … but genetically a monster. An abomination … for in truth she has been nurtured to bring down to earth the something which the religion worships … the very person central to it all that could bring all time and ultimate power to the cult. Fatima … convinced Gerry & Kate that their little girl could make a change … a big change … and if she was to be taken by the very people that the cult opposed … then all the more reason to create a fund dedicated to bringing her back and upturning all the stones in the process … ridding the world of the disease. A fanatical cause that so many in the medical world are a part … in opposition to many in the political world … whom they deem the enemy.

Five cards …. To see …

The shell in the Universe image has opened and into this reality wanders the hermaphrodite … the two sides made into one … two polarities merged to form a third power. A new political cause born from two factions in opposition. An alliance … Its shell the image of a subject taboo. Its veneer the cover story which generates so much opinion and controversy out there in the world. The contrived press story of the McCanns. It is a harmonious scenario. Contrived. Two cycles of three fishes brings joy. Two more turns of the wheel … two more phases of fishes … and there is joy.

A family born out of two different elements. Father and child of birds and mother of serpents. Child is most definitely related to father. Child is held by forces of father’s family. Somewhere in moorland reaches. She is being trained in the way of the warrior. In the way of a dedicated path. Safe … away from the storm clouds that brew over the father.

Mother holds the path of the arrow to her groin. She holds the salamander in the right hand. She is not aware fully of the truth. Father holds the sword .. and has the wisdom in his hands. It is his family behind the deed. Indirectly. Carefully planned … cold blooded and calculated. There is a wild cat of retribution before the mother. Someone looks the other way … the mother is aware. She believes that someone deliberately planned the taking … she has her suspects. But she looks in a different direction to where the father looks.

I asked if she is to be returned. I hear the lilt of north of the border. Aye she is to be returned. Aye she is safe. Aye she resides in a northern town. Aye she is to be revealed when least expected. Aye it was her in the footage. Aye clever agents of intelligence wrap the abduction around popular believes relating to Morocco and Belgium. But it is not paedophiles at all. It is the medical profession gone crazy. Hiding the secrets of the making of the eggs and the dividing of the cells and the cult behind the spirituality of divine births without the father present and the dedicated attempt for centuries to reincarnate the Magdalene. There is a madness here that revels in the fact Madeleine could be the one. They covert this child and test her … they will not bring any harm upon her. There is a madness with one who holds her … for the one who does is mind manipulated. She lost child of her own … and claims Madeleine as hers even though she knows the cause and knows the family behind the deed. Ireland. Dedication in the land and the soil. Kerry or Derry….. Gerry knows the land and estate where they have been hiding the little girl. She was taken over land and water for tests and verification. It is a big secret that so many of the rich and influential are part of. Prove the existence of the Magdalene … and oppose those who for centuries claim power over the masses with their false religion. Prove the Magdalene and those at the centre of the cult have the ultimate power … the birth of the true religion … worship of the Madonna. The end of the catholic faith and the beginning of the new millennia. This is madness which is around the situation.

Quoting Virgil

"Time has conceived and the great sequence of the ages starts afresh. Justice, the Virgin, comes back to dwell with us, and the rule of Saturn is restored. The Firstborn of the New Age is already on his way from high heaven down to earth. "

A New Order of Ages: The Masonic Enlightenment and the Symbols of America

The Great Seal of the United States is one of the world's most easily recognized emblems, yet the obscure symbolism it contains is understood by few. Over the years since its creation, there have been a number of controversies about just what, exactly, is the meaning of the obscure ancient symbols and numbers in its design.

There are those who argue that despite appearances, the Masonic looking symbolism is pure accident. Despite arguments to the contrary, the easily recognized symbols on the back of the US one dollar bill appear to have an unmistakably Masonic flavor. This of course gives rise to numerous conspiracy theories about ancient 'Satanic' cabals** with designs on world rulership, most based on bizarre interpretations of Masonic philosophy.

Certainly, Masonry and its ideals played a part in the founding of this country. The enlightenment philosophy embraced by Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and other engineers of American Democracy evolved from the same Rosicrucian roots that Freemasonry did. To understand the symbolism employed by the founders, one must look at the historical development of their unique philosophies.

Rosicrucianism was born in a time when the divine right of Kings was understood as a universal truth. Rulers were empowered by God and God's Church, which alone held the keys to salvation and knowledge of God. A newly evolving movement began to bubble up throughout Europe, spreading dangerous ideas- that individuals could approach the divine without the aid of the Church, that the development of reason and the pursuit of knowledge were more important than faith, and that religion, science, and philosophy could be used together to create an ideal society. The Rosicrucians also taught a curious philosophy of personal unity with God, a mystical Christianity that relied heavily on kabbalistic practices learned from hebrew Mystics, designed to bring an aspirant a first hand experience of the Divine.The newly invented printing press allowed a new freedom- the anonymous promulgation of ideas. Despite the intense secrecy of the movement's founders (to this day, the original authors of the Rosicrucian manifestos have never been pinned down), the ideas caught like wildfire.

The primary incubators of this secretive movement were the lodges of Freemasonry, where the utopian ideals of the Rosicrucians took root. According to Masonic philosophy, man in the beginning of his journey is like an undressed stone- full of potential, but rough and unrefined. According to these ideas, man did not reach his potential as a slave to religious superstition, social striving, and and blind obedience, but through reason and understanding the laws underpinning the natural world. To the Freemason, God was expressed in the complexity and beauty of the creation- and by understanding that Creation, one could understand one's true place in the world. Diligent study and exploration of universal truth was stressed over blind acceptance of dogma, yet the hand of the divine was to be acknowledged always.

The primary educational vehicle of the Rosicrucians and Freemasons was symbolism. Lacking the dogmatic belief system of religion, the Masons employed symbols as a teaching aid. Masonic historical legend is understood to be allegorical, and points to the ideas of the wisest of history as originators of its body of thought- King Solomon, Euclid, Pythagoras, and the architects who brought the Egyptian civilization out of the mud- all men who, to some degree, rejected the established superstitions of their day to pursue enlightenment through the natural order they observed in the universe. (read more ...)

Out of the Blue

With heightened awareness, at this point in time, and a glance across at the sigel which appears like the crossing of two swords. An obvious Scottish/Celtic connection from 'out of the blue'. Each point in the design represented by an 'sphere' ... representing each part of the situation considered/analysed and thought through. Meticulous planning and patient execution. No reaction here. Something anticipated and planned beforehand. But even so, the planned and the anticipated things can still go wrong. Unforeseen and unanticipated fate can be a real hindrance.

Time passes by longer than planned. But, it appeared 'out of the blue' and executed like a well rehearsed routine. Interesting is the contemplation of who or what those 8 Spheres are and also the 2 Swords ...

Relating this to the Servants of the Light. As always pure intuitive speculation. But with the undertone of the gist to it all ... we must continue this way. Wandering blind there is no other way. Catch the vibe and ride on that wind once more ... circling over the elusive location to sense what are the attributes to that place. But, back to the Servants of the Light .. the Two of Weapons represents two sides claiming rights to the flaming sword. Perhaps two halves of the same at one time now in opposition. Former friends/colleagues or even family in opposition? There is not much known about the past lives of the main characters in the tale. Their surface lives perhaps have been spoken of ... but their networks of influence can only be speculated.

But the 2 of Weapons indicates wrath and revenge and anger. Perhaps pointed towards them by the connection with the 8 of Spheres ... the eight eggs in the one basket. The conception of one of the eight? The utilisation of one? Are we wandering back to the process of IVF again and the religious opposition of someone once loyal to them? Is it feasible that someone opposed them so strongly they would take away that living, breathing, one and keep them apart? The opposition of two who were the same, part of the same group?

Is it too far fetched to consider this? No more far fetched than the preposterous bollocks which came out of Portugal relating to the Cadaver dogs? Ridiculous lies that brought them to their knees it seems.

Choosing now the 3rd image for this muse ... but first the energies of blackmail and apparent ransom fly through the ether. There is real sense of a sword of Damocles once more. This sensation would pass by, and has remained since the first RV relating to this mystery. The overwhelming feeling of an avenging woman of a faith is felt once more. Devoted to something but against what she knew the main characters were planning to do ...

The 8 of Weapons relates, as previous insights have revealed, to the elusive location ... quite randomly chosen ... out of the blue ... today's news related a story of remains found on a bleak moorland (Nothing to do with this mystery by the way) ... but it was told to me back in June that where remains/a body are uncovered on a moor ... the elusive location could perhaps be found not far from here ... by some quirk of fate or strange circumstance that is. I elected in mid-June not to put this information anywhere (I had no access to the internet at the time). Thus it seems the 8 of Weapons relates to the land close by to this desolate moor ... over the mountains ... not far ... on a hilly aspect. Perhaps that is where the flaming sword could have been found at one time ... relating this to something said in previous weeks between the red rose and the white rose. It may be an old location now ... but there should or could have been clues at one time. The term out of the blue is relevant ... but connections will not say why or when ... or how ...

But, I must reiterate as I have done since it all began ... the Shining Star prevails. She will be found/returned alive. I am still insistent in my convictions. The woman who has her in her custodianship knows her worth ... and will not bring her to any harm. There is something so significant to it all .... I say this as a final word ... this has now gone on too long, it is time she was put where she can be found or handed over to someone of the faith who will be sworn to silence ... permitting a safe haven for her to be taken to. It is time ....

Tarot Card Meditations II - The Hermit

You are in a great round building, shaped like a planetarium. There is an unbroken dome of concrete overhead. There are no windows. The place is dark and cool, the air is fresh and scented with pine and musk. There is a great park inside the round building.

You wander among giant shadowy trees. The roots of the Trees are long and spidery. There is a sense of tension in the air like that just before a thunder storm. Other people in the park of the giant dark trees become afraid and leave. You are not afraid and remain. You wait to discover the meaning of the moment to come in the park of the Trees of the gods.

Open your eyes and look at the High Priestess Trump. Imagine yourself waiting for something in such a sacred place. Soon you must go into the outer dark to light a spark. Look now at the Trump of the Hermit. You have gone into the darkness of the night. Raise high the lamp of clay with the light of heaven, the Nar Ha- Aritz Ba-Ar Ha-Schmim. With your will, cause the golden radiance of the lamp to slowly force away the darkness.

This is the technique of the ever-moving spark. Take firm in hand your soul. Sit fixed, not rigid, not relaxed/ Send thoughts about the place. Let one thing be another. Dreams lie. Eyes see. What can you see? Find a fitting lightness -- let it fasten on nothing. Trace letters and swirls and spirals with the divine spark. Let it alight nowhere. Draw near. Rush around. Go past. Fly back. No calmness and no fear. Only swift dartings of the mind and eyes behind closed lids. Following the darting thought. Move quickly with it. Pay no heed to the fantasies that form where it has been. Let your awareness follow only the darting and dancing spark.

Tarot Card Meditations I - The High Priestess

The Fool is a soft breeze blowing everywhere in space. The Magician is a mighty whirlwind reaching from earth to sky. The High Priestess is the quiet within the wind, the peaceful eye within the storm. She dwells in a place where the air stirs not and even thoughts are quiet. This vestal is a child become almost a woman. Her days of protection and trust are with her yet. With her also is the first bloom of the mysteries of the Moon, the mysteries of later spring turning to summer in her body.

Look at the picture on the High Priestess card. See the priestess. Let your eyes meet hers. Her eyes flicker and then still. They look deeply into yours. In your heart a question grows. It slowly rises to clarity. The Priestess waits to answer it.

Close your eyes to the outside world. Let the blue and white of the little goddess shimmer before your mind. From your heart a need has reached out. From the temple of the Priestess a soft answer comes. The answer is not in words, for the need surpasses words. Let the soft blue and white of the goddess dissolve in silver moonlight. In the radiance find meaning.

Lughnassad - August 1st

In the Wheel of the Year, Lughnassadh is the first of three harvest festivals, and although the days are still hot and sunny, they are growing ever shorter, marking the rapidly approaching winter season (which for the ancient Celts began at Samhain, our modern Hallowe'en). Like Imbolc, its partner across the Wheel, Lughnassadh is a cross-quarter day, and as other cross-quarter holidays is celebrated from sunset the night before, as the Celts believed the days began with the vanishing of the sun as opposed to its rise.

The alternate name for this Sabbat is "Lammas", which is derived from the Christian festival of "Loaf-Mass". In essence, this festival was a day of first fruit offerings, marking the beginnings of the harvest with bread baked from the first grains. "Lughnassadh" translates to "the feast of Lugh", the Celtic sun-god of many skills. Traditionally, this is the time of year for fairs and festivals. Many Highland Games and Clan Gatherings occur around this time of year, family reunions and games of skill to honour Lugh and the mythical funeral games he held to honour his foster mother Taillte.

Concepts: · harvest; family; friendly competition; demonstration of skill in sports and arts; the bounty of the Earth; the diminishing power of the Sun God and Vegetation God.

Source: themagicalblend.com

Tarot Card of the Day

The Eight of Disks, is The Lord of Prudence, which is not quite as austere a card as it first sounds. It's another of those Disks that works on more than one level. In the purely material and mundane sphere it indicates a period where financial resources must be carefully managed.

So long as it does not appear with cards like the 10 of Swords or the 5 of Disks, there will not normally be any grave material problem. But there is a warning here that there may be unexpected expense, and good money management will enable us to fund whatever arises.

At the next level, the 8 of Disks can apply to a period where you enter into additional training in order to enhance your career projects. In this case look for cards like the 3 of Disks, or the Ace, to indicate some new area of study. Then look for cards like the Universe, or the Sun to indicate the successful outcome of your efforts.

Finally in the spiritual area, when the Lord of Prudence comes up with cards like the Priestess, Death, the Moon, or the Hierophant, you're approaching a period of rapid spiritual development - almost an initiation. In this case, this card is warning you to be alert for opportunities, ready to deal with stress and pressure, and to manage your energies thoughtfully and carefully. You can perhaps see the correlation which exists with regard to energy management between the material and spiritual definitions of the card - in either case energy must be regulated and respected in order for life to go smoothly and for you to get the best out of your experiences.

New Zealand - Storm causes chaos across the country

Gale force winds and heavy rain have caused havoc across the country , with one woman dead after her body was pulled from a swollen river and her partner still missing.

It is the second large storm to hit Northland in the past week and emergency services are advising people to travel only if necessary. Police say if people have to travel they must adhere to the conditions.

Last weekend's big storm killed three people and a fourth died in a house fire, when candles were used after electricity was cut.

Today most parts of the country were dealing with the storm or were bracing for it to hit, as emergency services worked overtime to clear roads.

Tornadoes hit northern Buller this morning with gale force winds ripping through properties in Westport. Met Service spokesman Bob McDavitt said a severe wind warning for Westport and Buller had been issued until about 9pm today.

Motorists throughout the country have been urged to keep speeds right down in the wet slippery conditions.

The weather bought power lines and trees down in the Far North, Hawke's Bay and Manawatu and some roads have been closed, with slips making many roads impassable.

Some slips are not expected to be cleared until at least tomorrow.

Thames-Coromandel Mayor Philippa Barriball is urging residents to stay where they are and avoid any unnecessary travel.

Stormy conditions have led to a number of highway closures in Hawke's Bay and Gisborne , while motorists have been urged to used extreme caution due to surface flooding between Blenheim and Kaikoura .

Flooding has been reported across the Hastings District and a slip and trees on the road have closed the road between Shannon and Opiki in Manawatu.

A number of roads in the Marlborough area have been closed and police said they anticipated more road closures. (Yahoo Xtra NZ)

L.A Rocked By Earthquake

A strong earthquake has struck Southern California - rattling millions from Los Angeles to San Diego, and even Las Vegas.

The 5.4 quake was centred 29 miles south east of downtown Los Angeles, near Chino Hills in San Bernardino County.

The midday shake was followed by 27 aftershocks, the largest estimated at a magnitude of 3.8. Tall buildings in LA swayed and fire officials described it as a major seismic event.

LA Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury in the city.

Offices and restaurants could be seen evacuating workers and customers.

Seismologist Kate Hutton of the US Geological Survey office said the quake struck at 11.42am and was initially estimated at 5.8, a figure later revised to 5.4. She said the quake, estimated at 7.6 miles below the earth's surface, was "pretty shallow by worldwide standards". (Sky News Wednesday 30th July 2008)

Quote For The Day

Reality and truth are staring you in the face.

The question is: how do you interpret what you see? Your experience of Reality is shaped by your interpretation of it.

Change the beliefs you hold about Reality, and your world will be transformed.

Tuesday 29 July 2008

A Brief Gaze

The speculation still reigns to this day. Is it? Was It? Are they? Did they? Is she? Will she be found? The murmurs sound incessantly. The pleas to the unborn reign incessantly. It creates a thought form world of its own. A realm of speculation where each and every possible avenue exists to be wandered down. Each and every nook and cranny of cyberspace has the answer. Has the solution. The reason they did this ... and they did that. There is every conceivable explanation for the DNA found in the room. Every wrong move done or wrong thing said. Each and every second has been expanded into minutes ... hours ... days of assumptions. An elastic band stretched and stretched to breaking point.

Because of human weakness, the condemned live in the padded death cell. But still no sight or sound of either a living or a not-living child has not been uncovered.

There are numerous 'dodgy' sightings and much wanton speculation. That was when the white billowing clouds willing provided visuals for the excited and expectant crowd. But now ... after the vultures seem to have circled and have left with virtually no titbits on which to fatten ... there is only silence.

But it has not ended the speculation. It has not ended the chitter chatter on the forums. Within blogs ... everywhere in cyberspace it continues. At light speed to somewhere which nobody knows ... a destination seemingly unplanned.

But the inevitable will be a solution. Or a sighting. Or a return. Or a mourning. More than likely a safe return when it suits the great whoever ... the man in the moon who knows just where the perfect crescent replica is kept in hiding. Her destination is known by an elite group of people. The same group who have links to the outside world and observe the endless murmurs that circumnavigate the internet. They must laugh and chuckle at some of the juicy gossip that fills the imaginary pages within cyberspace ...

Tonight's Servant of the Light is but a brief gaze ... the Three of Spheres and the spokesperson dressed 'like the fool' ... the servant well versed in saying what is written on the table whilst hiding out of view what is really the gist of the situation. Three facts are offered in the future ... the three titbits thrown to the crowd. Relating to the flower, the star and the heart .... Behind him the thousand points of light shine. Only those behind the scenes know the significance of those light sources and their interest in this situation.

But know between him and those light sources are the big red curtains of a theatre or a stage. They are drawn back tightly to the left and the right of the stage. He sits upon his rickety wooden chair before his circular table upon the stage ... busily speaking those words he has learned to say hoping all the while that he can be kept mutually exclusive from it all.

Mal Occhio

The Evil Eye -- mal occhio -- truly exists, & modern western culture has so deeply repressed all knowledge of it that its effects overwhelm us -- & are mistaken for something else entirely. Thus it is free to operate unchecked, convulsing society in a paroxysm of Invidia.

Invidious Envy -- the active manifestation of passive resentment -- projected outward thru the gaze (i.e. thru the whole language of gestures & physiognomy, to which most moderns are deaf, or rather which they are not aware of hearing).

It's especially when we're unconscious of such magic that it works best -- moreover, it's known that the possessor of the Eye is nearly always unconscious -- not a true black magician, but almost a victim -- yes, but a victim who escapes malignity by passing it on, as if by reflex.

In more traditional worlds (worlds of the "symbolic order" as Benjamin puts it, as opposed to worlds of "history"), people remain much more attuned to the languages of gesture; where there's no TV & "nothing ever happens", people watch people, people read people. Passersby in the street pick up your mood, & according to their temperament they clash with it or harmonize with it or manipulate it. People react to you most often on the basis of the idea you project -- through clothes, position (job), spoken language. In Eastern cultures the interlocutor is more likely to be reacting to an inner state; perhaps one was not even aware of this state, or perhaps the effect seems like "telepathy". Most often, it is an effect of body language.

The Mediterranean & Mideast worlds evolved a complex phenomenology of the mal occhio because they are more given to envy than we Notherners. But the Evil Eye is a universal concept, missing not in any space (such as the chill & rational North) but only in time -- to be exact, in historical time, the time of cold Reason. Reason's protection against magic is to disbelieve it, to believe it out of Reason's universe of discourse. "Asia's defense against magic is more magic -- in this case, the blue stone (common from Lebanon to India, maybe even farther East) or else, in the Mediterranean (our own "Asia"), the downpointed bull-sign of the fingers, or the phallic amulet.

But Reason & Magic are both superstitions ("left-over beliefs"). The mal occhio "works"; but the analysis is neither rational nor irrational. Who can explain the complex web of signs, symbols, forces & influences that flow & weave between such enigmatic monads as ourselves? We can't explain how we communicate, much less what. If the "symbolic order" was replaced by "history", & if History itself is somehow now in the process of "disappearing", perhaps we may at last breathe free of the fogs of magic & the smogs of reason. Perhaps we can simply admit that "mysteries" such as the Eye -- or even "telepathy" -- somehow appear in our world, or seem to appear, which means simply that they appear to appear, & thus that they appear.

The proper organ for this kind of knowledge would be the body.

Now Envy is universal. But some societies attempt to keep it under control, while in others it is unleashed by being turned into a social principle. We have no defense against the Evil Eye because our entire social ethic is rooted in Envy. At least the benighted Asians have their amulets & prophylactic gestures. It was not Reason which banned these frail defenses, however. It was Christianity. "Verb. sap.," as English schoolboys used to say.

The two post-Xtian ideologies -- Capitalism & Communism -- are both fueled by Envy. In both systems it is a survival trait -- no, it is an economic trait. "Oeconomy" -- an old word for the totality of all social arrangements. The "Eighties" was not the decade of greed (which at least has the dignity of an active force) but of envy. The minorities envied the majority, the poor the rich, the "addicted" the healthy, women men, blacks whites... yes, but the rich envied the poor (for their idleness), the healthy envied the "addicted" (for their pleasures), men envied women (as always), whites envied blacks (for their living culture, & for their suffering) & so on.

A crude anthropology (note the "anthro") claims that "primitive mind" experiences Envy as a female principle -- (hence the phallic defense against the Evil Eye). A very limited view. "Envy" may be yin when compared with the yang of "greed", but the Evil Eye, as a prolongation of Invidia, is pointy & penetrative, like a dagger -- a death-dealing phallus -- to which one opposes the phallus of life.

A gender-analysis of the Eye will get us nowhere. The association of the Eye with women may arise from the tendency of women to be more sensitive to body language than men, & thus to hold on to certain "magics" even as they begin to vanish form those worlds which discover history (which, as everyone knows, is not, by-&-large, her story).

The Nuer belief that all accident, illness & death are caused by witchcraft. Most Nuer witches are unaware of themselves as witches. They suffer from envy. According to our tribal beliefs, all accidents are accidental - no one is to "blame". We suffer from envy, but we are "innocent".

The effect of two human beings on each other occur on so many levels that flat concepts like witchcraft or accident can't begin to do it justice. And yet, matters are not nearly as tangled & dark as the theory of witchcraft would have us believe, nor so brutal, so industrial, as the theory of the mechanistic universe. The body knows much without knowing, the imagination sees much that it does not need to understand. The body & the imagination overstand - they are above mere understanding & its clumsy abstractions.

Blue is the color of the sky & its happiness, air & light against the earth & shadow of Envy. But blue is also the color of death - as with the old Bedu woman who told Lawrence that his blue eyes reminded her of the sky seen thru the sockets of a bleached skull. The Yezidis, the "devil-worshippers" of Iraqi Kurdestan, refuse to wear blue beads or even clothes because it is the color of their Lord, Satan, the Peacock Angel, & to wear blue to ward him off would deeply offend him. So the blue bead is homeopathic -- a bit of evil used to defend against evil -- perhaps a fragment fallen from the Horned One himself, powerful in its goaty virility against the chthonic negative-Yin- like power of Envy. And yet the stone is also the serenity of azure, turquoise, infinity, the Feminine -- a bit of mosaic from the matrix of the sky, or of water.

Similarly the bull-sign, when seen upright & face on, is undoubtedly a yang- ish sort of symbol -- but pointed down & seen in reverse -- as it is presented to the view of the Evil-Eye-suspect (altho the gesture is made surreptitiously), the sign becomes a Stone age woman-image, two legs & a vulva -- so that potency against the Evil Eye comes from the "horns" which are stabbed down, the virile element --but within that symbol is embedded the power of the goddess as well.

The apotropaic complex is thus to be seen as neither male nor female nor even, properly speaking, androgynous. The symbols revolve not around gender but engendering, around life or energy itself as a value opposed to the negativity, the vacuum, the deathly cold of envy.

The opposite of the gaze of love is not the gaze of hate, but that of envy, passive, unliving in itself, vampirically attracted to the life in others. A barren woman sees a pretty newborn baby -- she praises it to the skies, but her words mean the opposite of what they say; unknown even to her, her gaze pierces direct to the infant's breath. Are we so certain that the language of gesture is weak, an evolutionary appendix soon to be bred out of the species? -- do we not suspect that it is strong, powerful enough to attract love, or to make sick, even to kill?

Everywhere in our world this deadly gaze is directed at us, as in Bentham's Panopticon. We are described to ourselves as victims, as patients, as passive focal points of misery -- we are shown ourselves deprived of this or that commodity or "right" or quality which we most desire. The ones who tell us this -- are they not the rich, the powerful, the politicians, the corporations? What could we still possess to awaken in them such invidia, & the endless assaults of their mal occhio?? Could it be that unknown to us or to them) we are alive & they are dead? The TV screen can be an ultimate Evil Eye -- because it is already dead, & the dead (as Homer showed us) are the most envious of all beings. Everything mediated is dead, even this writing -- & the dead yearn for life.

Envy is an abstraction because it wants to "take away from." The Evil Eye is its weapon in the psychic/physical world. Against it, then, must stand not another abstraction (such as morality) but the solidest of fleshy realities, the over-abundant power of birth, of azure breezes. The amulet we fashion against an entire society of the Evil Eye can be no more & no less than our own life, adamantine as stone & horn, soft as sky.

'The Evil Eye' ... and other curses

The Evil Eye is a curse. It matters not the detail of exactly what the evil eye is ... more importantly is the nature of the evil eye and other curses ....

Curses are the magical things that people fear the worst. They are not diseases in the sense of the germ theory, but they act a lot like them sometimes. It's more like a malaise, actually. It's a feeling of discomfort that seems to have no specific cause or location. It just hangs around you like a cloud.

A curse works because the recipient or recipients are influenced to interpret reality differently than before. They are now attuned to the bad things that the curse will do them and believe that such things will occur. Subsequent events that resemble the curse effects are attributed to that nebulous cause. As more of these events are collected, the victim begins to act as if the negative effect is more and more inevitable. The whole thing becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, after you start the ball rolling. Curses build over time until a crisis point is reached and some drastic action is taken, resolving the tension.

Curses are best dealt with by exchanging the victim's belief in the curse for a belief in a cure. This breaks the cycle of expectations and begins a new cycle of less unpleasant expectations, those of a blessing.

Another Crop Circle 'Message'?

Uffington, nr Swindon, Oxfordshire.
Reported 13th June 2008.

Source: The Crop Circle Connector

Anqet

Anqet was the goddess of the island of Sahal, near the First Cataract of the Nile. She was shown as a woman who wears a crown of ostrich feathers. Her sacred animal was the gazelle. She was the daughter of Satet, the wife of Khnemu. Together, the three deities formed the Triad of Elephantine, the principal deities of that city.

Anqet was originally a water goddess from Sudan. Her name meant, "to embrace" which was interpreted to mean that her embrace during the annual Nile floods fertilized the fields. Later, she became a goddess of lust, whose attributes and cult were obscene. However, her cult's origins can be traced back to the Old Kingdom. She is closely associated with Nubia. She is not an imported goddess though.

Her worship was common throughout northern Nubia and the center of her worship was the island of Sahal, near Aswan. There she was called the "Lady of Sahal" (Nebt Satet). Anqet's temple at Sahal was called "Amen-heri-ab".

Holistic Healing

Healing is done by the channelling of healing energies through the healer to the patient by a combination of empathy and intent directing energy, usually through the hands in the presence of the patient or though prayer for absent healing, "absent healing it has to be said is every bit as effective as contact healing" because the energies and the intent are the same either way.

A Healer seeks to supplement the depleted energy of the recipient, dealing with stress at whatever level it exists and releasing the body's own natural healing abilities to deal with the problem in the most effective way.

Patients receiving healing tend to experience sensations of being relaxed and re-energised, its also quite common to feel a tingling sensation much like pins and needles or to feel hot/cold, all of these sensations are perfectly natural and not at all uncomfortable for the recipient.

Healing can be helpful for a wide range of physical and psychological conditions some times to a remarkable degree, apart from its value in aiding relaxation and thus helping to relieve pain healing is also notable for initiating improvements in all aspects of a persons well being.

Healing is in no way an alterative to orthodox medical treatment: but it is complementary to it. Healing can be of great benefit when a person is suffering with depression or simply feeling lost and alone for whatever reason, it can also be of great benefit when physical symptoms are brought about through stress. for it often leaves people with renewed faith in themselves and in the future and gives them an added zest for life.

The faith of the recipient or lack of it is unimportant all that is asked for is an open mind and a genuine desire to improve.

Holistic healers are nothing more than a channel, (the energies come through us not from us) most healers readily accept the energies come from a much higher and greater source than ourselves and will pray to whom ever they believe in.

A Few Words on Mind Control Programs ...

Code-named MKULTRA (and pronounced m-k-ultra), was the brainchild of CIA Director Allen Dulles, who was intrigued by reports of mind-control techniques allegedly conducted by Soviet, Chinese and North Korean agents on U.S. prisoners of war during the Korean War. The CIA wanted to use similar techniques on its own POWs and perhaps use LSD or other mind-bending substances on foreign leaders, including Cuba's Fidel Castro a few years after the project got underway in 1953.

Heading MKULTRA was a CIA chemist named Sidney Gottlieb. In congressional testimony, Gottlieb, who died in 1999, acknowledged that the agency had administered LSD to as many as 40 unwitting subjects, including prison inmates and patrons of brothels set up and run by the agency. At least one participant died when he jumped out of a 10th-floor window in a hotel; others claimed to have suffered serious psychological damage.

Mr. Vance learned about MKULTRA in the spring of 1963 during a wide-ranging inspector general survey of the agency's technical services division. The inspector general's report said: "The concepts involved in manipulating human behavior are found by many people both within and outside the agency to be distasteful and unethical."

As a result of Mr. Vance's discovery and the inspector general's report, the CIA halted the testing and began scaling back the project. It was terminated in the late 1960s.

MKULTRA came to public light in 1977 as a result of hearings conducted by a Senate committee on intelligence chaired by Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho). Mr. Vance gave several long phone interviews to committee staff members but never had to testify.

The CIA has been involved in developing sophisticated mind control programs since the early 1950s. MKULTRA is the most infamous of these, yet thanks to a virtual media blackout on the subject, very few people are aware of any of these disturbing programs. In a rare recent article in the Washington Post (see below), a few of the many disturbing aspects of MKULTRA are discussed. The article is an obituary for John K. Vance, a member of the CIA inspector general's staff in the early 1960s who discovered that the CIA was secretly conducting illegal mind control activities in MKULTRA.

Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), government documents dealing with MKULTRA and other secret mind control programs are now available to the public. In 1973, tipped off about forthcoming congressional investigations, CIA Director Richard Helms ordered the destruction of all MKULTRA records. Fortunately, 20,000 pages worth of MKULTRA documents contained in the CIA's financial records were overlooked. Though only a small fraction of the original documentation, these surviving documents reveal highly disturbing operations in which unknowing citizens were subjected not only to LSD, but also to radiation, lethal biological agents, and even torture for reasons of "national security."

"The concepts involved in manipulating behavior are found by many people both within and outside the Agency [CIA] to be distasteful and unethical. Nevertheless, there have been major accomplishments both in research and operational employment. Many additional avenues to the control of human behavior have been designated under the MKULTRA charter, including radiation, electro-shock, and harassment substances. Some activities raise questions of legality implicit in the original charter. A final phase of the testing places the rights and interests of US citizens in jeopardy. [The MKULTRA program] has pursued a philosophy of minimum documentation in keeping with the high sensitivity of the projects. Some files contained little or no data at all. There are just two individuals who have full knowledge of the MKULTRA program, and most of that knowledge is unrecorded."

Though the MK ULTRA program was terminated in the late 1960's, other even more sophisticated top secret mind control programs continue to this day

Source: Want.To.Know Info

Tarot Card of the Day

The central theme of what is traditionally called the Wheel of Fortune card is cyclical change. The Wheel keeps on rolling, churning events in a ceaseless progression of ups and downs, either way freeing us from the past. No one can escape its cyclical action, which can feel somewhat terrifying -- no matter whether we are rising or falling. When one is balanced on top there is a moment of crystal clarity, but the only part of the Wheel not going up and down is the hub, which is your eternal Self, the Source of Freedom.

Every one of us will occupy all the points on the wheel at some time or another. The cycle of the wheel is its lesson -- and we can learn to take comfort in it (as we do when we celebrate our birthday). If you don't like the look of things right now, just wait -- things will change. Of course, if you do like the look of things right now, enjoy it while it lasts, because that will change too!

Monday 28 July 2008

Nothing in Plain English

Images around the Eight of Weapons ... a distinct edge to the connection made this night, as the Two Old Dears stand on the periphery alarmed by the state of play. So much disarray at this moment in time upon the earth plane. Lack of motivation. Wheels standing still ... yet free from a rut. Silence shrouds the valleys and folk can only assume there is nothing new afoot. Nothing in plain english can be written in case the wrong eyes read what is here. But much has been said which is of interest to the right places. The prospect of 'bingo' (attaining the elusive location) resumed. One of the two would often try her luck, would know she was never bound to win but entered in the spirit of it all anyway. It is not the case in these instances. It is a different fate that drives the bandwagon with certainty. Though the wrong eyes read, they fail to perceive what is written behind these words. Far seeking eyes know that life is very much still coursing through those veins. There is little risk.

Now we have the Giver of Weapons. A figure in white bestowing the flaming sword upon the kneeling knight amid the estate bestowed with prize deer ... native and imported. A gathering of the past where the kneeling knight had walked through the grounds away from it all in discussion with an influential group. Something spoken then bestowed on the powerful inner circles the permission to undertake that which has now befallen. A pledge of support for some elusive campaign.

The card of Strength and the lady in white heals the wounded red lion. This can best be understood as the determination of the 'said' empress to ensure that the alert is agreed by the lions within Europe. The image is has background of yellow and green. The image of infinity, the figure of 8 above her head. The deadline and the determination to succeed for the cause.From this sense it can be gleaned as being such a success. And with more being planned, the 'said' empress has become a figurehead for a stubborn cause.

And then the Hermit. The lantern of illumination shining in the dark. Observed by the network tree within cyberspace. Learning and understanding. Sensing more and more the gist of what is going on. The Hermit goes it alone. Its identity comprehended but not truly understood. Left there in isolation to shine its light and lead to wherever the path may take the observers. Towards a snowbound destination it appears ... farsight hints there shall be snow on the ground where the observers reside. But then, will it still be resolved? The snow on the ground points also to the elusive location. Linked thus is the Hermit to the final image, that of the 2 of Spheres. The scales still imbalanced by an unknown hand within the bounds of cyberspace. It could have been solved ... but that which has been established within cyberspace is so vital. So important to that which is ahead. It grabs attention and reveals viewpoints ... providing a database of opinion for the road which has been planned ahead.

'Lost & Found' Spell

What you need is a picture or an item that may represent what you have lost; 7 green candles and a gold or silver coloured incense ...

at a noon hour, chant this 3 times:
"Guiding spirits I ask your charity, lend me your focus and your clarity.
Lead me to what I need to find restore that and my peace of mind. So shall it be!"

Wait for the candles to burn out then the spell will start to work.

Power Animals: The Elk

Elk are seldom seen alone, preferring to live in large herds. This does not mean they don't need some personal space. If they are cornered they will make full use of there magnificent antlers. They are known to fight aggressively with other elk for mating rights, and it is not uncommon for them to draw blood over this matter. Nevertheless, they can be unpredictably passive one moment and aggressive the next.

An elk's incredible stamina enables them to run for long periods of time, while their strong reflexes allow them quick response to anything in their path. They never graze at night, and if the herd is attacked they will bolt in every direction to confuse the predator.

Elk's regal demeanor reminds us that if we are confident, we can claim our Empowerment. It teaches us to maintain and protect ourselves by taking time out. Elk realizes it is important to remain closely connected with community, and be observant of subtle energies.

Image of the Day

AVEBURY at sunset

'The Strangest Yet' ....

This crop circle must rate as the strangest yet. It displays a vast array of 'sigels' and 'pictographs' which will apparently have a clear meaning to the creator of this circle ... and perhaps to the recipient as well.
We, ordinary mortals, can only speculate what the pictograph depicts ... and what the message relates to whoever is meant to observe this crop circle .... From this first photograph of the crop circle, Avebury stone circle can be seen to be in close proximity to these pictographs.

I sense there is some definite correlation between the Avebury formation and the crop circle's 'rings'. There is some logic to the entire thing which will be lost to the every day observer of this crop circle.

Debunkers have been partially successful in condemning ALL crop circles as being man made. Therefore to the majority, this will just be another clever design made by some 'drunken lout for a laugh'.

This is one crop circle I will not readily dismiss. There is something distinctly 'ancient' about the alphabetic code that appears beside the two circular designs within this 'crop circle'. It certainly has 'something to say' .... the circular design on the left has a deliberation about it.
I'm dumbfounded however, and do not have the foggiest idea what is being said!

Crop Circle Avebury Manor 22nd July 2008

What is Parapsychology?

Parapsychology is the scientific and scholarly study of certain unusual events associated with human experience. These experiences have been called "psychic" for want of a better term.

A common misconception is that a parapsychologist is a psychic. Not so. Likewise, a child psychiatrist is not a child! Instead, a parapsychologist is a scientist or scholar who is seriously interested in the "paranormal." Unfortunately, many telephone books and on-line sites use "parapsychologist" as a synonym for psychic entertainer, mentalist, conjurer, astrologer, or psychic reader. This is an inappropriate use of the term "parapsychologist." The Parapsychological Association is an elected affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest scientific organization in the world. In contrast, organizations of psychic readers and mentalists are not members of the AAAS because they are entertainers, not scientists.

What does it mean to study psychic phenomena? A long-held, common-sense assumption is that the worlds of the subjective and objective are completely distinct, with no overlap. Subjective is "here, in the head," and objective is "there, out in the world." Parapsychology then is the study of phenomena suggesting that the assumption of a strict separation between subjective and objective may be wrong. Human experience suggests that some phenomena occasionally fall between the cracks, and are not purely subjective nor purely objective. From a scientific perspective, such phenomena are called "anomalous" because they are difficult to explain within current scientific models.

These anomalies fall into three general categories: ESP (terms are defined below), PK, and phenomena suggestive of survival after bodily death, including near-death experiences, apparitions, and reincarnation. Most parapsychologists today expect that further research will eventually explain these anomalies in scientific terms, although it is not clear whether they can be adequately understood without significant (indeed, probably revolutionary) expansions of the current state of scientific knowledge. Other researchers take the stance that existing scientific models of perception and memory are adequate to explain some or all parapsychological phenomena.

In spite of what the media often imply, parapsychology is not the study of anything considered weird or bizarre. Nor is parapsychology concerned with astrology, UFOs, searching for Bigfoot, paganism, vampires, alchemy, or witchcraft.

Many scientists have viewed parapsychology with great suspicion because the term has come to be associated with a huge variety of mysterious phenomena, fringe topics, and pseudoscience. Parapsychology is also often linked, again inappropriately, with a broad range of "psychic" entertainers, magicians, and so-called "paranormal investigators." In addition, some self-proclaimed "psychic practitioners" call themselves parapsychologists, but that is not what they do.

Many feel that the strangest, and most interesting, aspect of parapsychological phenomena is that they do not appear to be limited by the known boundaries of space or time. In addition, they blur the sharp distinction usually made between mind and matter. In popular usage, the basic parapsychological phenomena are categorised as follows:

  • Psi : A neutral term for parapsychological phenomena. Psi, psychic, and psychical are synonyms.
  • Telepathy : Direct mind-to-mind communication.
  • Precognition: Also called premonition. Obtaining information about future events, where the information could not be inferred through normal means. Many people report dreams that appear to be precognitive.
  • Clairvoyance : Sometimes called remote viewing; obtaining information about events at remote locations, beyond the reach of the normal senses.
  • ESP: Extra-sensory perception; a general term for obtaining information about events beyond the reach of the normal senses. This term subsumes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.
  • Psychokinesis : Also called PK; direct mental interaction with physical objects, animate or inanimate.
  • Bio-PK : Direct mental interactions with living systems.
  • NDE : Near death experience; an experience reported by those who were revived from nearly dying. Often refers to a core experience that includes feelings of peace, OBE, seeing lights and other phenomena.
  • OBE : Out-of-body experience; the experience of feeling separated from the body, often accompanied by visual perceptions as though from above the body.
  • Reincarnation: The belief that we live successive lives, with primarily evidence coming from the apparent recollections of previous lives by very small children.
  • Haunting : Recurrent phenomena reported to occur in particular locations that include apparitions, sounds, movement of objects, and other effects.
  • Poltergeist: Large-scale PK phenomena often attributed to spirits, but which are now thought to be due to a living person, frequently an adolescent.