These studies do not tie the phenomenon to alternate universes, though. The existence of multiple, parallel universes is predicted by the complicated mathematics of quantum physics. Even if these alternate universes exist, physicists say it is impossible to access or even perceive them.

Instead, the study of out-of-body experiences is the purview of psychologists and neuroscientists. Out-of-body experiences have been accidentally induced in patients undergoing focused electrical stimulation of the brain during epilepsy treatment. For example, one patient described an instantaneous feeling of lightness and the sensation that she was floating above the bed during the electrical stimulation of a region of her brain called the angular gyrus.

The angular gyrus is on the surface of the brain, toward the rear, and it is a region that receives input about vision, hearing, and touch. The angular gyrus is also close to the vestibular cortex, which processes sensory information to maintain the sense of balance. The brain stimulation research suggests that out-of-body experiences may be caused by the dissociation of information coming simultaneously from two or more senses.

This hypothesis is supported by recent studies that used head-mounted video displays to give people visual information that placed them in a different location. The visual information on its own did not give people the feeling of being outside their bodies. But when they saw their virtual body being touched at the same time as their real body was being touched, they felt as if the virtual body was their own body. Then, when a hammer was swung so that it appeared to hit the virtual body, measurements of skin conductance—a measurement of stress—indicated that the hammer was registered as a threat, even though it posed no real danger.

The studies show that information from the senses can modify the brain’s representation of the physical body. In addition to shedding light on out-of body experiences, the research provides insight into consciousness, since the feeling of being within one’s physical body is a foundation of the concept of self.

I enjoyed collecting candy from the many houses and we often had contests to see who could collect the most candy.  The neighborhoods were swarming with children who were going from house to house asking for treats.  Then, as the years went on, some unscrupulous people took it upon themselves to taint the candy with razorblades or poison, causing parents to refrain from taking the children out to enjoy the holiday.

The characters which represent Halloween are remnants of a pagan religion, ancient religions, Catholicism,  folklore, and politics celebrated ages ago.  They do not represent Christianity, but rather have to do with the occult, which is a false religion.  God clearly warns against using “divination, an observer of times, or an enchanter or a witch or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard or a necromancer,” (Deuteronomy 18:9-13).

Halloween, as it is celebrated in the United States, encourages the children to think of these things in relation to the images which represent Halloween.  Therefore, it is not a holiday which Christians and their children should celebrate.  By engaging in following these images, Christians knowingly or unknowingly are breaking the first commandment which says, “I am the Lord thy God. Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” (Exodus 20:2,3).   

Having knowledge of and contact with the symbols of Halloween, specifically, the witches, ghost, and skeletons, encourages the children to explore these images in depth.  They often become fascinated with them as they hear stories or watch television shows about them.  It is unfortunate that the Harry Potter books have become so popular, because children who celebrate Halloween have no trouble making the transition to following Harry Potter and the tales of sorcery

The Lord spoke of these practices as an abomination and any nation which practiced these abominations were driven out of their land, defeated in battles, and suffered losses.  God told the Israelites not to intermarry with the people who worshiped these false Gods and not to do as they did.

Anyone today who engages in these practices suffers financial ruin, loses their property, loses their jobs, and never recovers, unless they turn to the Lord.  Therefore, we are putting our children at risk for becoming involved in New Age teachings, as a natural progression from celebrating Halloween and suffering other misfortunes in life.  If they are unaware of what the Bible says about engaging in these practices, they may never know what is causing their misfortune and may continue to engage in these practices.                   

New Age Guru Busker

Image by avlxyz via Flickr

The Lord says in Deuteronomy 18:12, “’…because of these abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”  He also says that the Israelites shall posses these nations, in verse 14, “, For these nations which thou shalt possess…”  He also says that the Israelites will possess the land in Deuteronomy 19:1, “When the Lord they God hath cut off the nations, whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses.”

In the first commandment found in Exodus 20:5, the Lord says he will “visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of them that hate me.”  God considers practicing these abominations as an act of hatred toward him.  The third and fourth generations following us will suffer because of our actions.

These verses cannot be taken lightly as we experienced the economic crisis of 2008 and many people in the Unite States lost their homes.  It is possible that many of the people who lost their homes were involved with a New Age practice such as astrology, tarot cards, witchcraft, numerology, palm reading, spiritism or any other such practice which God calls an abomination or that their ancestors were engaged in these practices.

Therefore, as parents of Christian children, we should make it out duty to ensure that our children do not become involved in these practices.  It is not too late to break the chain of this unfortunate condition and turning our backs on it to follow Jesus Christ instead.  In doing so, we ensure that our children will have a better life.

She is a setting for the long dawn of human history dating back to four millions years ago. In 1959, the skeleton of a hominid was discovered nearly two millions years old ion Olduvai george, Tanzania, Africa. Four years later an even older ape-man so was formerly called was found at Fort Ternan in Kenya. From this, it seems possible that man’s original home may be from Africa (An extract from Ancient times by m.crowder, R.j.cootes and E.snellgroove).

From many beliefs and perspectives, there are many of the opinion that human history started from Africa and their search for food, shelter and clothing’s and perhaps knowledge had expanded their coast leading to the rising of the different races ,continents like Asia,Europe,America etc that we have today. As many stories which has been fabricated can not removed the source but buttress the point of this earlier point. The ape-like man that began his origin in West Africa first started living on trees then in groups wandering in search of food. At some times perhaps he may come down from trees and by so doing became more and more adapted to staying on land till his feet were firm, stable, his hind legs became more powerful to support him and he was honored with the title THE WALKING MAN.         

Overtime he began to adapt to climatic conditions which influenced his speech and in little time, man was given his respect among all other mammals as the TALKING ANIMAL. The more he began to live in groups the more he had to reasonable to   make decision, he can slings a stone, chip a flake from rocks etc. Different tools for different purposes were made soon enough he was matured to be called the THINKING MAN. All these inventions lead to a new era of season a new age, the AGRICULTURAL AGE which is the father and basis for all civilization. They can hunt in groups, and overpower a huge animal because of the level of co-operation among them. They learnt to shelter their babies from predators.

All these years, man only had stone weapons to fight, hunt for food, and pick berries and fruits. This is referred to as the STONE AGE. Thousand years later, man knowledge expanded and through this, he was able to notice new shoots from seeds of eaten crops sprung out. Discovering this leaded to the advent agriculture which I earlier stated. Another earlier form of civilization was the practice of rearing of animals like cats, dogs, bulls, and poultry animals etc which are tamed to suit their desires. Soon man horoscope of learning expanded and civilization ascent. This is termed the NEW STONE AGE.                                                                

In the time of the New stone age, food plants which include barley,millet,rice,wheat, maize was first grown by the Neolithic people .Also, they learnt ways of how to brew beers and make wine.Overtime,they discovered ways of using yokes to control his livestocks,milking them and using them o pull and carry his farm produce. Overtime they developed ways of measuring time by watching moon at night.

Man was categorized into two groups those who want to settled down or those who want to keep wandering. That time consistency and choice defines everything. Either you are contented with the level of resources you have given the expanse of land or you keep wandering ion search of better option and even some either stay or leave based on choices. Some prefer farming and hunting life others want to keep rearing livestock’s and since these livestock’s are in high demands, they will do anything to fend for them like search for greener pastures, water availability and     fertile lands. The former groups were regarded as the settlers while the latter the nomads or cowboys in the Europe.                                                                                 

Settled life encouraged women to invent more. They knew how to plait twigs and rushes to make basket, using raffia palms fronds for mats, spinning wools into thread to make  clothes and most of all molding wet clay into crude pots which when dried up can be used to store farm produce. After all these developments, the farming sects began a community where they reproduce and had many children. They discovered the two main seasons i.e. the dry and the wet seasons and were wise enough to determine which was suitable for planting and which was suitable for harvesting the crops…………………………………………………………………………….part two in earnest.

Some of you who have a basic knowledge of these two men may think that the title of this article is purely for shock value. Those who have that opinion would be wrong. This is a feel good article, not a religious debate, so please read on.

For those of you who do not know who these two men were, here is a very brief catch up. Saint Augustine lived between 354 AD and 430 AD, became a Christian in roughly 387 AD, became the Bishop of Hippo and wrote the major Christian theological work City of God. Aleister Crowley, who lived between 1875 and 1947, on the other hand became one of the greatest, or most infamous, depending on you spiritual views, occultists and mystics to ever live. Crowley wrote many books on the occult and mysticism. Crowley’s name has become synonymous with evil by the culturally and spiritually ignorant. Crowley held a dim view of organized Christianity.

Image via Wikipedia

So why would one think that Saint Augustine, one of the founding fathers of Christendom, and Aleister Crowley, one of the founding fathers of modern occult mysticism, may be on the same page. Simple; because of the words they used. Words that in one instance are so similar they need to be pointed out. Saint Augustine said how to live a Christian life could be summed up in one statement “Love and do what you will.”. Aleister Crowley is perhaps most famous for his saying “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law, love is the law, love under will.” The similarity between these two philosophies can not be ignored. I am sure others have been aware of this link between these two men via words long before I became aware of it. I present it in this article for a slightly different purpose that has nothing to do with Saint Augustine or Crowley.

Image via Wikipedia

I am presenting this to you all as a reminder to your inner self of who and what you truly are; a wake up call for your soul. “Do what you will.” and “Do what thou wilt” do not mean “oh just do what ever you want to do” in some careless fashion, on the contrary, it means create the reality that you want to live that is best for your soul. It is the same as Joseph Campbell saying “Follow your bliss”. It is what all religions and spiritual traditions have tried to teach people. We create reality.

That we should will the reality that we wish to be made; manifest it from a state of pure unconditional love. Pure unconditional love can sometimes appear harsh especially when coming from an iconoclast like Crowley. You may even come to understand Crowley’s actions in life were needed to get humanity back on track to understanding the truth that we create reality.

This understanding comes with great responsibility. The responsibility of a creator. Coming to this understanding will give you a soul in the way the Gurdjieff eluded to when he said “all humans are robots in search of a soul”, I may have paraphrased that a bit. So with great love in your heart accept your role as a creator and do what you will or what thou wilt. This awareness and acceptance of it will change your life for the better.

As for an answer to the title question, yes Saint Augustine and Aleister Crowley are most definitely on the same page. After you cut through all of the BS all philosophies are essentially after the same thing which is finding a way to improve existence.

Author’s note: No matter what your particular spiritual belief is, you may have preconceived prejudices against any of the philosophers mentioned in this piece, therefore I urge you, for your own sake to give up that negativity and get to know what they actually taught and why they taught it before you continue making judgments. Getting to know what any of the four philosophers mentioned in this piece, taught is an act that could take considerable time and effort. It is not something can be done with Cliff Notes, or second hand from books, or websites, who are attempting to refute or discredit any of these men. You have to read their works to understand them. I am speaking to those who hate Saint Augustine just as much as I am speaking to those who hate Crowley, Campbell, or Gurdjieff.

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“For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside

That it ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive.”

Bruce Springsteen from the song Badlands

What are negative thoughts? Quite simply negative thoughts are any thoughts where you are focusing on what you do not want or what you do not need. It is as simple as that. Positive thoughts are thoughts where you are focusing on what you want in your life not want you need in life. Getting hung up mentally and emotionally on the particulars if something is a want or a need is also a negative thought. Just focus on what you want mentally while you physically take care of your needs without holding focus on them.

How this relates to peak experiences, moments of revelation, and epiphanies is people, unless they learn to control their thoughts in a positive direction, often slam one of these “in the moment” mental states miles away from them by allowing negative thoughts to take control.

“You cannot get sick enough to help sick people get well”

Abraham-Hicks

One example of this is when people go on holiday, to a place that is more desirable to them than where they are living, will often get lost in the moment for a little while, however then begin to think about the comparison between where they are “in that moment” and where the live most of the time. I hear people say things like “This is so nice. It is so much better than the city here at the lake.”  What they should be saying and thinking is only “It is so nice here at the lake.”

Be “in the moment”, for when you are not you detract from that gift you that are experiencing. I struggle with this as well. I love to travel, however when I travel and just enjoy the experiences “in the moment” my travels are better than when I am thinking about going back home to work. Also I live where many people vacation and at times I like to day trip where they live, the dreaded city. To me it is not dreaded and I also have peak experiences in the city.

Be “in the moment” wherever you are, in the city, in the country, at the lake, in the mountains, or even watching television. I am glad to say that I am now in a process learning to be happy in many situations, be it Sky-trekking on holiday, going to a U2 concert in the city, shopping at the mall, being at work, or sitting on a bench at the edge of a lake near my house. Even with in this process of becoming I have to remind myself when those thoughts come into my head, such as “I am sure glad I am here instead of there” when I am having a good experience. Now I try to brush off negative thoughts so that I can remain in that state of happy gratitude.

At this point some readers may bring into their minds negative thoughts such as “remembering the less fortunate helps us appreciate things more” or other thoughts of that nature. The reason I bring this up is that when I talk about such things quit a few people bring up such things because they have been socially conditioned to bring up such things. If you have these types of thoughts ever, stop having them because all those thoughts do is create misfortune for yourself and all of creation, including those less fortunate that you say are concerned with. Thoughts create reality, not the other way around.

“you can’t focus on the problems of the world and help anyone”

Abraham-Hicks

Another example of tripping out of the moment is when you have moments of revelation in our life about what you need to experience happiness and begin to list them off. This okay to list off the things that make you happy. However when people bring the word “need” into it and then get mucked up in the mire of thinking about the things they feel they do not need to make them happy it is a negative. Stop doing that to yourself. You can be sure that somewhere deep down inside you if you are listing off something as a non-need to your happiness some part of you, no matter how minor is feeling that it is a need for you happiness. Be honest with yourself about this.

Money is one of the big ones that people begin to wax philosophical about in listing their their non-needs. So many people have this moment of revelation about not needing money it has become trite to even speak of this as a moment of revelation. Granted, an unhealthy lust for money is a negative thing because it perpetuates the lie of lack in the universe. Many people actually have a hatred of money because of some wrong doing that someone they think of as being financially wealthy has done to them in their past. That past injustice leads people trip into the “epiphany” of “money doesn’t buy happiness” often out of sour grapes while others fall into that same “epiphany” simply because they have never experienced extreme poverty in their lives.

Money is a tool in this material world and nothing more so view it that way while giving unconditional love to that idea and reality of money. Holding disdain because of personal feelings of lack for a tool disallows people to experience those precious moments of being in the moment. Once you get that concept that money is merely a tool you can get on with your life with money and happiness being a matter of fact while you live in the moment. Money does not buy happiness. There is nothing that you need to gain happiness. True happiness is separate from all externals as it comes from within you.

“You cannot get poor enough to help poor people thrive”

Abraham-Hicks

Now that you are aware of this idea of allowing yourself be “in the moment” the next time you have a peak experience, epiphany, or moment of revelation and you drift away from that wondrous gift into negative thoughts that take you out of that moment you can just brush those same negative thoughts away and get on with the most important thing in life which is being happy “in the moment”. Being happy “in the moment” affects the whole of the universe positively so make that your primary goal. The goal that your heart knows has always been your goal in life. It is good to be happy.

“Simply project to them, Dear Heart come into the vortex where the solutions are and feel the relieve that I have found here and become part of the solution instead of straining against the problem”

Abraham-Hicks

Author’s Notes: This article was inspire by a few factors in my life as of late. Firstly the experience that I had at the U2 concert in Edmonton Alberta on June 1 2011, reading the teachings of Abraham through Jerry and Ester Hicks, and working with Brainsync and Monroe Institute Brainwave Entrainment Programs.

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Here’s an updated version of the old “Chicken and Egg” question: Is mankind’s voracious, and nearly insatiable appetite for a continuous diet of mediated information caused by the huge influence and effect of media upon our lives… or, is the huge influence and effect of mediated information upon our lives responsible for our voracious, and nearly insatiable information appetites? Have the “Information Pushers” which have come into our societies come, unbidden, to turn us into “Information Junkies”, or did we, consciously and intentionally, give birth to them?

Few of us would admit to deliberately giving birth to offspring which would grow up to demand, command and take over so great a portion of our every waking thought – and which even has the ability to quite predictably determine nearly every action that we take. Yes, our media serves our various interests, needs and desires. Our Information Technologies make our lives more “functional” – more “useful” – more “pleasurable.” We’re not about to imagine ourselves doing without our Digital Phones and iPods, our Flat Screen Videos, and Laptops, our Broad Bands and our Blackberrys – and, (heaven forbid!) the Instantaneous Connectivity of our Internet!

We’re all interactive, digital denizens of a light-speed world that is globally gregarious and scientifically terrific. We occupy an electro-luminescent environment of our own design. We are the eager and happy progenitors of the hand-held devices that allow us to interface with most everyone and everything on our planet that is essential and significant. We know whats happening – to whom and for whom – everywhere, all the time. We LOVE connectivity (…to heck with privacy!) and instantaneousness. Hey!, if you don’t want it seen or heard, broadcast, narrowcast, duplicated, relayed, replayed or replicated then, for God’s sake, don’t do it!

And it matters less about our cast, class or culture: The tent-dwelling Bedouin has a sattelite dish atop that tent. There are as many Cellular-phone carriers in the former Soviet Union as there are anywhere in North America… if not more. The Eskimos on top of the world are as interconnected as the Islanders down south in Pago-Pago. And, of course, as “different” as we all may have  once thought we all were, we are finding daily that all those seemingly divergent “dfferences” we all had – really don’t amount to a hill of Sushi… or a mound of Mostacoli… or a carafe of… well, take your pick.

Thats it: ready or not, we’re all “Planetary Citizens”, whatever we happen to think about it. And it is no longer just a sentiment or an empty platitude that what happens to any one of us affects, and alters, and involves all of us. And any of us who still reject or dismiss that notion are going to find ourselves stuck in exercises of futility – and endeavors made difficult by our own stubborn refusal to accept and to wrap our “Old Energy” heads around this New Age reality. The few remaining dictatorial regimes left on the planet have been made rudely aware that their days – and the thought systems that supported them – are numbered. And they may as well face the fact that it’s far more “Technological” than political, personal or ideological.

A few of the more intractible among these ailing autocrats may still cling to the notion, and the false comfort, that it is just a “Phase” – a temporary trend which will blow over and that things will soon get back to “normal”. But, just you can’t reenslave a man who has become Free – even if you could re-attach his chains. For those chains will no longer be able to fit around his new head – or her new heart. The new form of “Rulership” that has been birthed and is growing and squalling like a healthy 3 month old, is Self-Rulership. And any type of Government that is born in this day and age must be born of the True Spirit of that Self-Government, now evolved and burgeoning in the hearts of the New Humankind that the Universe has evolved upon earth. The opening of our global minds is not about to be re-shut; not by coercion, intimidation or invitation. our Higher Self has no known substitute.

by Marcus B. Chism, MA.  Reading Specialist & Literacy Advocate

We live in  times described often today as a “New Age”. We witness and participate in  phenomenal amounts and kinds of alteration and rearrangement. Things are changing! Not just in America and the “Western” world, but all over our planet.  We witness major shifts in activities, attitudes and alignments on any number of levels and in a multitude of spheres of influence. These shifts, whether social, cultural, political, scientific or academic – be they technological, metaphysical, economic, institutional or personal – are all happening at once – and at a pace and intensity  that cannot compare to any changes in any previous age.  New Age advocates will tell you that there is New Energy in the earth!

From the vast cosmos itself – down to the cellular level;  from the outer parameters of our collective human consciousness – down to our individual belief systems; from our digitalized documentation storage and retrieval modalities – down to our genomically quantifiable DNA and our synergically qualifiable RNA, we  citizens of Planet Earth are experiencing, causing and participating in serious shifts and major modifications in this world today.

In this environment of flux, realignment and renewal, we as Reading Specialists and Literacy advocates see ever more clearly the significance, if not the critical importance, of effective and efficient self expression skills and capabilities. What grows more and more apparent to us daily is how completely our external conditions mirror our internal development. Like it or not, we are all co-creators of what it is we live in the midst of aboard Spaceship Earth! Continually refining how well we communicate with one another must remain high on the list of our planetary priorities.

New Age writers and “Channelers” tell us we need today to become more aware of how powerful and significant human consciousness truly is. Human Consciousness, they say, needs to be recognized in the same way as any other “Force of Nature” is recognized. Our consciousness – especially our collective consciousness – we are told, affects this planet as absolutely as do the forces of gravity or electro- magnetism.

And “Human Consciousness” does not refer merely to our thinking. The concept includes more than just our cerebral musings; more than those conclusions arrived at by exercising our mentality. The scope of our consciousness in this New Age includes both our minds as well as our hearts. Indeed, the metaphysical  writers, channelers and philosophers of today will include our mental, physical, spiritual and emotional selves in any definitive description of  “whole” Human Consciousness. This, they say, is the level of wholeness, or “oneness” at which our consciousness makes us one with that of our living. breathing Planet Earth – and even one with the Universe itself!

Responsibly excercising judgement, discernment, and discrimination as well as applying compassion, integrity and sensitivity in our dealings with one another are all included in this most significant force known as Human Consciousness. This is why we are confident that we can never take the relevance and significance of Self Expression Skills and their relationship to Self Esteem too seriously. We believe that that same seriousness about both the right and the responsibility in a free society to express one’s self was in the minds of America’s founders when they crafted the protection of the First Amendment into that nation’s Constitution.

As Reading Specialists and Literacy Advocates we happen to think that self expression is one of the very most “Human” of human rights – as well as one of the most empowering of human responsibilities.
At the heart of our motivation for making HOW TO SPELL BETTER THAN WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY; Become a MASTER SPELLER in Just 8 Weeks!  available as an ebook is the earnest desire to help insure that as many as possible have an efficient, effective and empowered “voice” in this, the “New Age.”

“IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD”

pLeOaVcEe!

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Vanessa Hudgens stands up to those who have brought to light his pictures: “It’s just silly because I am a person who lives the present and all that was in the past. ” He adds: “The fact that someone is taking things all the time in the past simply selfish. I mean it sucks. I already issued a statement the first time it happened. It’s just unfortunate that people are remembering the past and not the present. “

She also acknowledged she is reading a self help book called The Four Agreements written by New Age spiritualist to help him cope with the whole subject of scandal, and admits: “Honestly I’ve changed. ” “You really have to stay strong, because sometimes there are hard times. Especially in this business. There are many great actresses who have taken a benefit from this. “

But this experience has really helped him mature. “I see myself as a young adult, much more than what I had seen before. It is as if I had my eyes opened my eyes and I’m awake and ready to control my future. “

With regard to its relationship with Zac Efron actress admits that not everything was easy for them, and in fact, their relationship was something “hard. ” Hudgens reveals a Los Angeles Times: “It was interesting. There came a point where it was as if we no longer pay attention to anything, because a week we were getting married and after we had broken the following week and the next I would have a son. It was certainly a very rough things. “