Philosophy Section 3
Articles of interest
ALEISTER CROWLEY
Aleister Crowley was perhaps the most
controversial and misunderstood personality to figure in the new era
of modern day witchcraft. Known by the popular press of his
time as “The Great Beast” and “The Wickedest Man
in the World”, Crowley was a powerful magician, poet, prophet
and famed occultist. He was also a one-time witch, though most
of the elders of the craft would discredit him the title.
Crowley like many great men before him, was a man before his time.
He lived in a society that could little understand him or appreciated
his latent genius. His writings so shocked the peoples of his
era that he was robbed of the praise that it merited, and as a poet
he never received the recognition he deserved.
Aleister
Crowley was born October 12th, 1875 at 36 Clarendon Square, Leamington,
Warwickshire, England as Edward Alexander Crowley into a wealthy and
religious family at the height of the Victorian era.
Crowley despised and rebelled
against his family at every turn, even renaming himself 'Aleister'
to avoid sharing the same first name as his father, who passed away
when Crowley was 11.
Like many naughty young boys, Aleister entertained himself
through several activities, notably creating a "homemade firework"
with which he nearly killed himself, as well as torturing a cat in
several horrible ways to test the "nine lives" theory. He
dispensed of his virginity at age 14 with the help of a maid. At 17,
he contracted gonorrhea with the help of a street walker.
Crowley went on to attend Cambridge University, where he apparently
studied alpine climbing, living in the manner of the privileged aristocracy
and having a great deal of sex with both men and women. He also began
working in the Diplomatic Service, but as Crowley himself said "the
fame of an ambassador rarely outlives a century", and Crowley
wished to make a greater imprint on the world.
Having had this epiphany, he began searching for more lasting
pursuits and in 1898, at age 23, Crowley began his path of magical
enlightenment by joining The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Led
by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers other members included such notables
such as William Butler Yeats, Maud Gonne, Constance Wilde, (the wife
of Oscar Wilde), Arthur Machen, Moina Bergson, Arthur Edward Waite,
Florence Farr, Algernon Blackwood and possibly, though records for
their membership are shaky, Sax Rohmer and Bram Stoker.
The Golden Dawn's contribution to the Western Magical Tradition
is definitely worth noting, because it was their synthesis of the
Kabbalah, alchemy, tarot, astrology, divination, numerology, Masonic
symbolism, and ritual magic into one coherent and logical system which
led them to influence countless occult organizations to come. Mathers
adapted the system of magic outlined by Eliphas Levi, and through
Levi, the spiritual ancestry of the Golden Dawn was traced to the
Rosicrucian Brotherhood and from there, through the Kabbalah to Ancient
Egypt. Mathers' authority was held in part by his link to the "Secret
Chiefs", the "true leaders" of the Order, with whom
Mathers could communicate with only through metaphysical means.
Adopting the magical name Frater 'Perdurabo', Latin for "I
Will Endure", Crowley advanced quickly through the ranks of the
Golden Dawn, initially studying under Alan Bennett, who was Mathers'
spiritual heir. Bennett left England in 1899 for health reasons, moving
to Ceylon, what it now Sri Lanka, where he joined a buddhist monastery.
Unfortunately, Crowley, left to his own devices, managed to severely
fragment the order through sheer force of personality. In 1900, he
completed the studies necessary in order to obtain the rank of Adeptus
Minor, however the London controllers of the Order, disapproving of
Crowley's homosexual dabblings, refused to advance him. Crowley travelled
to Paris, where Mathers himself performed the ceremony, which only
served to further outrage the London members.
The ensuing uproar caused several of the London members to
resign, and Mathers was eventually expelled from the Order, specifically
on the grounds that he had put its authority into jeopardy by revealing
his suspicions that the founding documents linking them to an older
occult order in Germany had been forged by another member (which they
had been). Crowley attempted to obtain possession of the Order's property
on behalf of Mathers, interrupting one of their rituals in full Highland
regalia, wearing a black hood. As with any serious dispute between
occultists, astral attacks ensued. Crowley reported that the rebels
directed hostile magic against him as evidenced by the fact that his
rubber raincoat burst spontaneously into flames and he found himself
in a "furious temper" for no reason, so extreme that horses
ran away in fear at the sight of him. In the end, however, it was
the police who resolved the matter.
Crowley was expelled from the Golden Dawn, only 2 years after
joining, chiefly through the efforts of William Butler Yeats, who
reportedly did not approve of Crowley's magical methods.
Crowley, understandably tired of all the fighting, chose to
travel the world, visiting Mexico, India, France, Ceylon, where he
reunited with Alan Bennett and studied Yoga. He also married Rose
Kelly, later revealed to be clairvoyant, travelling with her to Egypt.
In fact it was in Egypt, in March of 1904, that Crowley had
the most important experience of his life. Crowley had been trying
for several years to contact his Holy Guardian Angel using the methods
described in The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage with
no success. However it was in Cairo that Crowley finally encountered
an entity known as Aiwass, whom Crowley believed was his Holy Guardian
Angel.
According to Crowley's own account, while (unsuccessfully)
trying to summon sylphs for his wife's amusement, she began to receive
a very powerful psychic message from the Ancient Egyptian god Horus.
Skeptical of his wife's sudden clairvoyancy, Crowley demanded
answers to a series of questions from her, of which she had no possible
prior knowledge. Upon answering all things correctly, he took her
to a museum, and after passing several images of Horus (which the
still skeptical Crowley reports, he "noted with silent glee"),
she pointed across the room to a stele which could not be clearly
seen from where they stood. When they examined the stele (now referred
to as the Stele of Revealing, it was painted with the image of Horus,
and to Crowley's further conviction, it was labelled as item number
666 in the museum catalog.
Crowley had himself adopted 666 as his personal moniker in
rebellion to his religious upbringing many years before. After invoking
Horus, Crowley made his fateful breakthrough. For three days Crowley
took dictation from the entity identifying itself as Aiwass, the resulting
text, Liber AL vel Legis, became what is now known as The Book of
the Law.
This book was to become the central core of Crowley's philosophy.
Crowley was named the Prophet of a New Aeon which would end
the Age of Osiris and usher in the Age of Horus, a signal that a new
era had begun for mankind, and that the old religions were to be swept
aside.
At the time of his meetings with Gerald Gardner, Crowley was a feeble old man living in retirement at a private hotel in Hastings, barely kept alive by the use of drugs. It was here that he passed from this world into the next on the 1st December 1947. Unrepentant and unbowed he left this world with a final snub at the society that had so misunderstood him, he left instructions that he was to be cremated and instead of the usual religious service, his 'Hymn to Pan' and other extracts from his writings was to be proclaimed from the pulpit. Finally his ashes were to be sent to his disciples in Americ
GODS STRONGEST SOLDIER OF PEACE
GODS STRONGEST FIGHTER AGAINST WORLD MISERY AND POVERTY
"By
blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a
Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart,
I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus".
”Small
of stature, rocklike in faith, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was entrusted
with the mission of proclaiming God’s thirsting love for humanity,
especially for the poorest of the poor. “God still loves the
world and He sends you and me to be His love and His compassion to
the poor.” She was a soul filled with the light of Christ, on
fire with love for Him and burning with one desire: “to quench
His thirst for love and for souls.”
This luminous messenger of God’s love was born on 26 August
1910 in Skopje, a city situated at the crossroads of Balkan history.
The youngest of the children born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu, she
was baptised Gonxha Agnes, received her First Communion at the age
of five and a half and was confirmed in November 1916. From the day
of her First Holy Communion, a love for souls was within her. Her
father’s sudden death when Gonxha was about eight years old
left in the family in financial straits. Drane raised her children
firmly and lovingly, greatly influencing her daughter’s character
and vocation. Gonxha’s religious formation was further assisted
by the vibrant Jesuit parish of the Sacred Heart in which she was
much involved.
At the age of eighteen, moved by a desire to become a missionary,
Gonxha left her home in September 1928 to join the Institute of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland. There
she received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Thérèse
of Lisieux. In December, she departed for India, arriving in Calcutta
on 6 January 1929. After making her First Profession of Vows in May
1931, Sister Teresa was assigned to the Loreto Entally community in
Calcutta and taught at St. Mary’s School for girls. On 24 May
1937, Sister Teresa made her Final Profession of Vows, becoming, as
she said, the “spouse of Jesus” for “all eternity.”
From that time on she was called Mother Teresa. She continued teaching
at St. Mary’s and in 1944 became the school’s principal.
A person of profound prayer and deep love for her religious sisters
and her students, Mother Teresa’s twenty years in Loreto were
filled with profound happiness. Noted for her charity, unselfishness
and courage, her capacity for hard work and a natural talent for organization,
she lived out her consecration to Jesus, in the midst of her companions,
with fidelity and joy.
On 10 September 1946 during the train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling
for her annual retreat, Mother Teresa received her “inspiration,”
her “call within a call.” On that day, in a way she would
never explain, Jesus’ thirst for love and for souls took hold
of her heart and the desire to satiate His thirst became the driving
force of her life. Over the course of the next weeks and months, by
means of interior locutions and visions, Jesus revealed to her the
desire of His heart for “victims of love” who would “radiate
His love on souls.” “Come be My light,” He begged
her. “I cannot go alone.” He revealed His pain at the
neglect of the poor, His sorrow at their ignorance of Him and His
longing for their love. He asked Mother Teresa to establish a religious
community, Missionaries of Charity, dedicated to the service of the
poorest of the poor. Nearly two years of testing and discernment passed
before Mother Teresa received permission to begin. On August 17, 1948,
she dressed for the first time in a white, blue-bordered sari and
passed through the gates of her beloved Loreto convent to enter the
world of the poor.
After a short course with the Medical Mission Sisters in Patna, Mother
Teresa returned to Calcutta and found temporary lodging with the Little
Sisters of the Poor. On 21 December she went for the first time to
the slums. She visited families, washed the sores of some children,
cared for an old man lying sick on the road and nursed a woman dying
of hunger and TB. She started each day in communion with Jesus in
the Eucharist and then went out, rosary in her hand, to find and serve
Him in “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for.” After
some months, she was joined, one by one, by her former students.
On 7 October 1950 the new congregation of the Missionaries of Charity
was officially established in the Archdiocese of Calcutta. By the
early 1960s, Mother Teresa began to send her Sisters to other parts
of India. The Decree of Praise granted to the Congregation by Pope
Paul VI in February 1965 encouraged her to open a house in Venezuela.
It was soon followed by foundations in Rome and Tanzania and, eventually,
on every continent. Starting in 1980 and continuing through the 1990s,
Mother Teresa opened houses in almost all of the communist countries,
including the former Soviet Union, Albania and Cuba.
In order to respond better to both the physical and spiritual needs
of the poor, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers
in 1963, in 1976 the contemplative branch of the Sisters, in 1979
the Contemplative Brothers, and in 1984 the Missionaries of Charity
Fathers. Yet her inspiration was not limited to those with religious
vocations. She formed the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and the Sick
and Suffering Co-Workers, people of many faiths and nationalities
with whom she shared her spirit of prayer, simplicity, sacrifice and
her apostolate of humble works of love. This spirit later inspired
the Lay Missionaries of Charity. In answer to the requests of many
priests, in 1981 Mother Teresa also began the Corpus Christi Movement
for Priests as a “little way of holiness” for those who
desire to share in her charism and spirit.
During the years of rapid growth the world began to turn its eyes
towards Mother Teresa and the work she had started. Numerous awards,
beginning with the Indian Padmashri Award in 1962 and notably the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, honoured her work, while an increasingly
interested media began to follow her activities. She received both
prizes and attention “for the glory of God and in the name of
the poor.”
The whole of Mother Teresa’s life and labour bore witness to
the joy of loving, the greatness and dignity of every human person,
the value of little things done faithfully and with love, and the
surpassing worth of friendship with God. But there was another heroic
side of this great woman that was revealed only after her death. Hidden
from all eyes, hidden even from those closest to her, was her interior
life marked by an experience of a deep, painful and abiding feeling
of being separated from God, even rejected by Him, along with an ever-increasing
longing for His love. She called her inner experience, “the
darkness.” The “painful night” of her soul,
which began around the time she started her work for the poor and
continued to the end of her life, led Mother Teresa to an ever more
profound union with God. Through the darkness she mystically participated
in the thirst of Jesus, in His painful and burning longing for love,
and she shared in the interior desolation of the poor.
During the last years of her life, despite increasingly severe health
problems, Mother Teresa continued to govern her Society and respond
to the needs of the poor and the Church. By 1997, Mother Teresa’s
Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members and were established in 610
foundations in 123 countries of the world. In March 1997 she blessed
her newly-elected successor as Superior General of the Missionaries
of Charity and then made one more trip abroad. After meeting Pope
John Paul II for the last time, she returned to Calcutta and spent
her final weeks receiving visitors and instructing her Sisters. On
5 September Mother Teresa’s earthly life came to an end. She
was given the honour of a state funeral by the Government of India
and her body was buried in the Mother House of the Missionaries of
Charity. Her tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage and prayer
for people of all faiths, rich and poor alike. Mother Teresa left
a testament of unshakable faith, invincible hope and extraordinary
charity. Her response to Jesus’ plea, “Come be My light,”
made her a Missionary of Charity, a “mother to the poor,”
a symbol of compassion to the world, and a living witness to the thirsting
love of God.
Less than two years after her death, in view of Mother Teresa’s
widespread reputation of holiness and the favours being reported,
Pope John Paul II permitted the opening of her Cause of Canonization.
On 20 December 2002 he approved the decrees of her heroic virtues
and miracles.
Prophetic
or Clairvoyant Dreams
For two weeks prior to the attack I had six dreams
of a new Tree of Life.
When we dream we move our conscious awareness into other grid experiences.
Sometimes we remember those events when we return our consciousness
to third dimension and sometimes we do not.
It is our physical body that needs to rest, repair and balance itself
each day.
Prophetic dreams and visions can manifest immediately or years later.
Usually they manifest within two to tree days after the dream.
Some of our dreams are personal based on our own experiences.
Other dreams are 'collective' meaning that the grid as created a stronger
marker from which many people will go to see the events. They will
then interpret what they see on the grid based on their emotional,
spiritual, and mental awareness. You can see many things in dream
time, but if you have no way to interpret that information in third
dimension, it will be lost when you return to your physical body.
The same is true with deep meditation.
Many people could have seen the events of the World Trade Center attack
on the grid, and have remembered it different ways. Some might remember
an airplane crashing, an explosion, smoke, cries for help, the World
Trade Center before the event, etc.
The marker is on the grid before the event happens - so it can be
experienced in different ways.
When the event is this unbelievable to the mind, it will often discount
the event and not remember at all.
As there are parallel realities many people I know feel that they
stepped into an altered reality when this event occurred.
Numerology
Look for the triggers and synchronicities your soul has set up for
you at this time. They will guide you.
Many people are triggered by digits which may have gone from double
to triple to quadruple. 11.11 is an example.
Digits often reflect grid numbers. I believe that we live in grid
553 moving our consciousness to grid 555 or elsewhere.
There are also all kinds of numerology events linked to the terrorist
attack that have been posted on the Internet. They merely reflect
the fact that reality moves in patterns.
Synchronicities:
Date Of The Attack: 9/11 - 9 + 1 + 1 = 11
September 11th is the 254 day of the year: 2 + 5 + 4 = 11
After September 11th, there are 111 days left until the end of the
year
119 is the area code to Iraq: 1 + 1 + 9 = 11
Twin Towers, standing side by side, look like the number 11
The first plane to hit the tower was flight 11
The State of New York was the 11th State to enter the Union
New York City consists of 11 letters
Afghanistan consists of 11 letters
The Pentagon consists of 11 letters
Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted of the first WTC bombing, contains
11 letters
On Flight 11, there were 92 people on board: 9 + 2 = 11
On Flight 77, there were 65 people on board: 6 + 5 = 11
The letters in Osama Bin Laden's name add up to 11.
The
Great Pyramid
In the Grand Gallery, which is the staircase that leads to the King's
Chamber, there is a Calendar Stone based upon a precise system of
measurements. Following along a timeline of these measurements, it
has accurately predicted many profound planetary events, including
the birth of the Christ two thousand years ago. The significance of
the Calendar Stone at this time is that it reached its end on September
17, 2001.
This New Moon (September 17, 2001) ending and beginning cycle happens
to coincide with the ending of the calendar encoded in the Great Pyramid
of Giza.
September 17, 2001 is related to the pyramid. The ancients considered
Giza the foundation stone of the Earth.
It is at the central node in the Earth's energetic gridwork and connects
with the major star systems catalyzing planetary evolution, namely,
Sirius, the Pleiades, Orion, Ursa Major and Alpha Draconis.
As such it functions as the CPU (central processing unit) for the
planetary consciousness network and thus orchestrates the path of
planetary soul unfoldment.
The New Moon on that date coincides with the ending of the Great Pyramid
calendar and the beginning of a new level of planetary initiation.
The Great Pyramid calendar system ends as it reaches the center of
the antechamber, signifying the end of the preparation before the
initiate faces entry into the King's Chamber.
The calendar dating system in the antechamber coincides with such
important planetary initiatory experiences as the Great Depression,
Hitler's rise to power, the Korean War, the finding of the Dead Sea
Scrolls and the explosion of the Atomic Bomb.
These events were opportunities for the planetary soul to release
the egoic veils and blocks, which prevent us from accessing the love,
wisdom and divine will/power of the soul.
On September 17th, 2001, we face our entry into the Kings Chamber,
the place where the initiate was propelled out of body into an experience
of death and rebirth in the higher dimensional realms.
Upon return from this three-day journey in the coffer, the being was
an awakened initiate, a soul who knew the Truth of their existence
and was capable of living it.
New Moon's are excellent timings for seeding or reseeding our personal
and collective intent. If it feels aligned for you, this just may
be the perfect time for consciously intending to live the pure truth
of your being in every moment.
General Information
Nowadays, in the public mind, the word "cult" is more likely
to be associated with brain-washing, manipulation of followers, public
scandals over cult leaders' sex lives, murder and mass suicide, rather
than religious worship.
One of the difficulties of defining a religious cult is that it is
an organization in a condition of gradual change. A religious cult
may be encountered in its early, middle or late stages of evolution.
At its beginning the cult consists of a small group of people focused
around a benign leader to whom individuals are attracted. At its end,
it can become a manipulative, exploitative, multi-national organization.
What most people mean when they speak of a cult, is a New Religious
Group (NRG) which has acquired the characteristics of mid-late stage
evolution.
It is possible, by using an evolutionary line, to identify at which
point the group you are in or are considering joining, has evolved
to, and how it might be expected to develop.
There are approximately 40 characteristics of cult life. However,
in identifying a NRG which has evolved into a dangerous cult, it is
really only necessary to observe the lifestyle of the leader and the
attitude of members to the leader, to make a diagnosis. By the time
a NRG has evolved to its mid-late stage, the leader is authoritarian,
declaring herself or himself to be divine and is considered to be
so by many of the members. Following the leader is believed to be
the only route to enlightenment or salvation - as defined by the cult.
The leader lives in luxurious circumstances at the members' expense,
removed from the main body of the group. The leader is largely inaccessible
except to a privileged few. The leader makes prophecies of future
events which the group prepares to encounter. The members manifest
almost unquestioning submission to the leader treating him or her
like a celebrity or saint.
There is no definition of cult that is universally accepted by sociologists
and psychologists of religion.
The term cult is popularly applied to groups characterized by some
kind of faddish devotion to a person or practice that is significantly
apart from the cultural mainstream.
For example, certain kinds of activities may take on cultlike ritualistic
characteristics (recent widespread interest in intense physical exercise
has been termed the physical fitness cult).
Movie stars, entertainers, and other public figures sometimes generate
passionate bands of followers that are called cults (the Elvis Presley
cult, to cite one). Groups that form around a set of esoteric beliefs
- not necessarily religious - may also be termed cults (for example,
flying saucer cults). When applied to religious groups, cult retains
much of this popular usage but takes on more specific meaning, especially
when contrasted with other kinds of religious organizations.Cults
and Other Forms of Religious Organization
The most commonly used classification of religious organizations is
as churches or sects. Although there have been numerous modifications
of the original distinction, the following points are generally retained.
BELIEVE
Religious
Information
Source
web-site
Our List of 1,000 Religious Subjects
E-mailChurch refers to a religious organization claiming a monopoly
on knowledge of the sacred, having a highly structured or formalized
dogma and hierarchy, but also being flexible about membership requirements
as the organization attempts to minister to the secular society of
which it is a part.
Sects, on the other hand, are protests against church attempts to
accommodate to secular society. A sect views itself as a defender
of doctrinal purity, protesting what it interprets as ecclesiastical
laxity and excesses. As protectors of the true faith, sects tend to
withdraw from the mainstream of worldly activities, to stress strict
behavior codes, and to demand proof of commitment.
Cults have some of the same characteristics as sects. In fact, some
scholars prefer not to make a distinction. There are, however, some
noteworthy differences. Cults do not, at least initially, view themselves
as rebelling against established churches. Actually, the practices
of cults are often considered to enrich the life of the parent church
of which they may be a part. Cults do not ordinarily stress doctrinal
issues or theological argument and refinement as much as they emphasize
the individual's experience of a more personal and intense relationship
with the divine. Most of these groups are ephemeral, seldom lasting
beyond a single generation; transient; and with fluctuating membership.
Mysticism is frequently a strong element in cult groups. Religious
orders such as the Franciscans began as cults built around the presence
of a charismatic leader who emphasized a life style dedicated to attaining
high levels of spirituality. Mormonism began as a cult, became a sect,
and eventually evolved into a church. All the great world religions
followed this same pattern of development as they accumulated members
and formalized hierarchy and dogma.Contemporary Cults
Cults are as old as recorded history, but contemporary interest in
cults became amplified during the late 1960s and early 1970s as numbers
of educated middle class youths abandoned traditional religions and
embraced beliefs and practices that were either culturally unprecedented
(Eastern religions) or seemed to be throwbacks to an earlier era (Fundamentalist
Christianity). During this period, young people were increasingly
found living in various types of religious communes and engaging in
unconventional behavior, such as speaking in tongues (glossolalia),
faith healing, meditating (often under the tutelage of a spiritual
leader or guru), and following leaders that conventional society tended
to look upon with suspicion and distaste. Interest in cults turned
to a combination of fascination and revulsion upon the mass suicide
of the Jones cult in November 1978.
Modern cults come in a bewildering variety of ideologies, practices,
and forms of leadership. They range from those adhering to a sort
of biblical Christianity to those seeking satori (sudden enlightenment)
via the pursuits of Zen Buddhism. Some cults have a flexible, functional
leadership, such as many groups in the Charismatic Movement emanating
from the mainline Christian religions, and others have mentors who
control and orchestrate cult events, such as the Reverend Sun Myung
Moon, leader of the Unification church. Some Hindu gurus, such as
Bhagwan Shree Rajineesh of the Rajineeshee sect have been believed
by their followers to be living embodiments of God.
The common denominator of all the modern cults is an emphasis on community
and on direct experience of the divine. In a cult, participants often
find a level of social support and acceptance that rivals what may
be found in a nuclear family. Cult activity, which is often esoteric
and defined as direct contact with the divine, generates a sense of
belonging to something profound and of being a somebody. The modern
cult may be viewed as a cultural island that gives adherents an identity
and a sense of meaning in a world that has somehow failed to provide
them these things.
Several factors have been suggested as contributing to the quests
of modern youths for meaning and identity via cults. Each of these
factors relates to a disenchantment with, or loss of meaning of, traditional
ways of viewing reality. A list of these contributing elements would
include the following: the turmoil of the 1960s, including the unpopular
Vietnam War, the assassinations of several popular national leaders,
and growing evidence of top level political incompetence and corruption;
continued widespread drug use among youths, which tends to disrupt
family relations and fosters the formation of drug subcultures stressing
esoteric experience; the rapid expansion of technological innovations
such as computers, and social organizations, such as bureaucracies,
that tend to erode the individual's sense of being in control of his
or her own destiny; the apparent failure of traditional religions
to solve problems of war, hunger, and alienation; the growth of humanistic
education that tends to discredit traditional ways of believing and
behaving; the threat of ecological and nuclear disaster; and finally,
affluence, which provides the means to pursue alternative life styles.
Cults are challenges to conventional society. As such, they engender
intense questions concerning their possible impact. The modern cults
have clearly raised anew the legal issue of how far a society is willing
to go to guarantee religious freedom. Some of the cults have been
accused of brainwashing members and thereby violating the 1st Amendment
to the Constitution. Court cases involving young people who were forcefully
removed from cults by parents are still being decided. Future court
decisions could significantly modify traditional protection of religious
diversity in the United States. Some cults, Hare Krishna being one,
have established a legal defense and public education organization
to fight for their rights to exist and practice what they believe.
Other impacts are less clear. This wave of cults could crumble into
the dust of history as so many others have. Conversely, this age could
also be one of those historical junctures that produces an enduring
change in theories of human nature and in the structure of social
organizations. If so, the new cults provide some idea of the nature
of that change. Almost all of them represent an emotional and personal
approach to religious experience; they emphasize continued adaptation
in a changing world; they stress the attainment of individual power
and excellence via the pursuit of cult practices; and they often stress
the necessity of harmony between humankind and other aspects of nature.
As such, contemporary cults reinforce many traditional American values,
such as independence, achievement, self mastery, and conservation
or ecology, that have lost ground in the face of affluence and self
seeking. Just as the Protestant Ethic supported early capitalism,
the general ethic of the cults may be the stabilizing element in future
society. If so, cult members may well be the leaders of that new age.
Clearly, however, an historical verdict must be awaited.
Having experienced cult life and read the histories of several contemporary
religious cults, it would seem they evolve in a similar way. Listed
below are the 16 stages of cult evolution. Not all religious cults
will pass through each stage and stages will overlap: 1. People encounter
an attractive, small group within which a leader has emerged or is
self-appointed
2. The leader is charismatic and people focus around him or her
3. The followers gradually isolate the leader by elevating him or
her
4. The group enlarges and members form emotional bonds, united by
common aims and activities
5. The leader begins to change, flattered by the attention of the
followers. Drained by the constant demands of the followers, she or
he develops a distorted view of her or himself. The leader lacks peers
with which to measure herself or himself against. The leader considers
there is no earthly authority to which she or he is answerable
6. The group continues to grow to the point where formal organization
becomes necessary
7. The group applies for charitable status. It runs businesses. By
now, the annual financial turnover of the group is substantial
8. The group is highly structured with several people in positions
of power over others
9. The leader begins to live away from the main body of the group
10. People desiring power and control gravitate to the leader and
form a clique around him or her
11. The clique protects the leader in order to protect its own interests.
The leader is now out of control - testing her/his autocratic powers
to their limits. The power clique attempts to prevent followers from
recognizing the deterioration in the leader. People on the fringes
of the organization are mostly unaware of what is happening at the
centre.
12. News begins to leak out to the membership. The leadership comes
under attack both from outside and within the group
13. Law suits are served by the organization against those publicly
expressing criticism of the group. Former members challenge the group
with counter suits.
14. The leader and power clique resort to increasingly extreme and
desperate measures in order to maintain their position and silence
opposition.
15. The catastrophic denouément - public scandal, imprisonment,
attempted murder, murder, suicide.
16. The emergence of the re-formed group in a more repressive form
than the original.
All along this evolutionary line people are joining and leaving the
organization.
Some established religions on the other hand, impose behaviour and
expect belief without understanding, place boundaries on a person's
thinking, demand the observance of ritual, and gain obedience by generating
fear. Potential followers are invited to a life of constriction and
limitation rather than exploration and discovery. They must love because
they are told to rather than because they have journeyed within to
love's source.
Regrettably, most New Religious Groups, which in their early stages
promise so much, ultimately become indistinguishable from the established
religions.
One in 20 people
will have a seizure during their lifetime. But around one in 133 people
in the UK suffer from regular seizures and have been diagnosed with
epilepsy.
Once upon a time, epilepsy was shrouded in disgrace and secrecy, and
people with the condition were stigmatised.
Nowadays, epilepsy is recognised as the most common serious condition
affecting the nervous system.
Why me?
Anyone can develop epilepsy – it can be hereditary, or triggered
by events such as brain injury and infection.
For many, seizures start in infancy. But the likelihood of developing
epilepsy increases again after 65.
Women and epilepsy
Recent research suggests a link between female hormone levels and
epileptic attacks. The Women and Epilepsy campaign, launched this
week, highlights specific concerns for women about contraception,
pregnancy and the menopause.
How do you modify your lifestyle to cope with the onset of epilepsy?
What should you do if someone starts having a seizure? What triggers
them?
If you have seen a picture of the brain before, it probably looked
like this one, which illustrates the outer surface of the upper brain.
This outer surface contains numerous folds that increase the surface
area and allow more cerebral cortex to be packed into the skull, giving
us more "brain power."
The brain is an extraordinarily complex organ. When it comes to understanding
epilepsy, there are several concepts about the brain you'll need to
learn.
The first is that the brain works on electricity. Normally, the brain
continuously generates tiny electrical impulses in an orderly pattern.
These impulses travel along the network of nerve cells, called neurons,
in the brain and throughout the whole body via chemical messengers
called neurotransmitters. A seizure occurs when the brain's nerve
cells misfire and generate a sudden, uncontrolled surge of electrical
activity in the brain.
Another concept important to epilepsy is that different areas of the
brain control different functions.
If seizures arise from a specific area of the brain, then the initial
symptoms of the seizure often reflect the functions of that area.
The right half of the brain controls the left side of the body, and
the left half of the brain controls the right side of the body. So
if a seizure starts from the right side of the brain, in the area
that controls movement in the thumb, then the seizure may begin with
jerking of the left thumb or hand.
Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care
About Has
Borderline Personality Disorder
By Randi Kreger and Paul Mason
Do you feel that anything you do or say will be twisted
against you?
Are you being accused of things you never did or said?
Do you try to avoid horrible, confusing arguments by concealing your
thoughts and feelings? Are you at the end of your rope?
We promise that our book, “Stop Walking On Eggshells: Taking
Your Life Back When Someone You Care About Has Borderline Personality
Disorder,” will help.
Those who have read it usually have two comments: “I wish I
had read this book years ago,” and “This book is the only
thing that has really helped my relationship with this person.”
Table of Contents
SECTION ONE:
UNDERSTANDING
Chapter 1:
Walking on Eggshells: Does Someone You Care About Have BPD? Thoughts,
feelings, behaviors that indicate BPD To tell or not to tell?
Know there is hope.
Chapter 2:
The Inner World of the Borderline: Defining BPD
Understanding personality disorders; the DSM for BPD Additional
traits common to BPD Manipulation or desperation? Myths
and realities about BPD.
Chapter 3:
Making Sense Out of Chaos: Understanding BPD
The geography of the “BPD world” Why BPs act the
way they do How to spot and understand certain BPD behavior patterns
Common BPD thinking.
Chapter 4:
Living In a Pressure Cooker: How BPD Behavior Affects Non-BPs
Stages of non-BP grief Common reactions to BPD behavior Effects
on the relationship Figuring out what’s normal
SECTION TWO:
TAKING BACK CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE
Chapter 5:
Making Changes Within Yourself
What you can and can’t do for the BP
Seeking support and validation
Taking care of yourself
Taking responsibility for your own behavior
Chapter 6:
Understanding Your Situation, Setting Boundaries, and Developing Skills
Tracking BP and non-BP triggers
Understanding personal limits
Determining your limits
BPD-specific communication skills
Chapter 7:
Asserting Your Needs with Confidence and Clarity
Stop absorbing and start deflecting (be a mirror, not a sponge)
Learning more BPD-specific communication skills
Discussing your personal limits with the BP
Preparing for countermoves.
Asking and persisting for change
Chapter 8:
Developing a Safety Plan
What to do about out-of-control rages, physical abuse, self-mutilation,
and
suicide threats
If you are suicidal
Out-of-control children
Chapter 9:
Protecting Children from BPD Behavior
Borderlines as parents
Consequences of BPD behavior on children
Nine practical suggestions for protecting children
Divorce and parental alienation
SECTION THREE:
RESOLVING SPECIAL NEEDS
Chapter 10:
Waiting for the Next Shoe to Drop: Your Borderline Child
Can kids have BPD?
Effects on siblings
The four main tasks of parents
Chapter 11:
Lies, Rumors, and Accusations: Combating Distortion Campaigns
Why BPs may do this
Assessing your risk
Five practical ways to combat distortion campaign
Chapter 12:
What Now? Making Decisions About the Relationship
Predictable stages you will go through
What to do when children are involved
Guidelines to decision making
APPENDICES
A: Causes and Treatment of BPD
B: Tips for Non-BPs Who Have BPD
C: Coping Suggestions for Clinicians
D: Resources
tel: 1-888-357-4355 or 1-800-431-1579
Moore's message delivered, big-time
By Denis Hamill / New York Daily News
Tuesday, June 29th, 2004
You could have heard a tear fall.
As an American mother named Lila Lipscomb drowned in anguish over
the death of her son in Iraq, the packed Loews Bay Terrace theater
in Queens was so silent at the 11 a.m. show of "Fahrenheit 9/11"
on Friday that all you could hear was the rustle of tissues.
I sat in the back of the theater, with an unemployed construction
worker from Brooklyn, and as the movie played, I watched men and women,
young and old, wiping their eyes in silhouette.
They were the tears of the nation this weekend as "Fahrenheit
9/11" blazed from sea to shining sea as the No.1 movie in America.
This was a brand-new moviegoing experience.
Since I started going to the movies at age 4 at the RKO Prospect in
Brooklyn, I don't think I've ever sat with an audience so personally
involved with the story being told on screen. This was not, after
all, some exploding-fireball blockbuster.
No, the exploding fireballs in this film are real. The dead people
in this film are real. The dialogue is real. Real soldiers, real victims,
real mothers, real dead kids. The bad guys, as portrayed by filmmaker
Michael Moore, are all too real.
The only thing fake is this administration's reasons for going to
war, exploiting the nearly 3,000 deaths of Sept. 11 so that a rich
kid who went AWOL from the National Guard during the Vietnam War could
send American troops to die in Iraq and call himself a "war prez'dint."
And the reason the people in the audience, the American people, get
so involved in this movie is because we are all extras in the story.
The film - as sidesplitting as it is heartbreaking - is a soaring
display of American patriotism, one that defies classification because
it is a personal statement, the way Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"
was something brand new in its bloody day. As Paine wrote, "Government,
even in its best state, is a necessary evil; in its worst state, an
intolerable one."
Moore doesn't tolerate Bush's government. Sometimes we need a smart,
funny, common Joe to make some common sense out of what's happening
in his country. If there had been cameras around back in the day,
Tom Paine might have made a documentary instead of writing a pamphlet
urging independence from England.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" oozes with patriotism because it is a
loud celebration of our great Bill of Rights, telling our commander
in chief that we think his war stinks in an election year.
Look, the Bush campaign spent $85 million in three months trying to
convince the electorate that John Kerry is a flip-flopping left-wing
threat to national security. Moore spent $6million to make his documentary
showing that Bush is an arrogant, self-serving, dangerous buffoon
who is a threat to national security.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" is also a corrective to the daily drumbeat
of right-wing talk radio, which slants the news to fit a radical agenda.
Yet the Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys scorn Michael Moore for daring
to express his point of view with pictures. But Americans don't like
hypocrites. And so they are forking over $10 a head to say so, in
places like Queens and Brooklyn and small working-class towns and
neighborhoods across the fruited plain from which come the kids who
do the dying in America's good and bad wars.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" also has been picked apart by the legitimate
press. But this is because Moore spanks the American news media for
being swept up in the myopic post-9/11 patriotic hysteria, allowing
themselves to be "embedded" by the administration and spoon-fed
jingoistic Iraqi war news.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" is also a testament to American capitalism,
because nowhere else on the planet could a working-class guy from
a place like Flint, Mich., grow up to skewer the President of the
United States with his own words and actions and turn it into the
biggest-grossing documentary in history, taking in $21.8 million in
its opening weekend.
This is a great American Horatio Alger story, one that every American
should applaud.
Which is exactly what the audience in Queens did last week after George
W. Bush mangled his final sentence and the end credits rolled. I was
as emotionally moved by the applause as I was by the film, because
that was the powerful sound of "Joe Public," as Bush refers
to We the People.
Out here in the opinionated boroughs, I expected some boos. I didn't
hear one. Instead, I left with a deeply moved crowd, passing a long
line for the next show.
Back in Brooklyn, the unemployed construction worker bought a bootleg
copy of "Fahrenheit 9/11," shot with a camcorder in a movie
house.
He called to say, "Even the audience in the bootleg film applauds
at the end."
YESTERDAY
IS HISTORY
TOMORROW WILL BE A SURPRISE
TODAY
IS A GIFT
____________________________________________________
philosophy section 1 -
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