Category Archives: Spirituality

“How people treat other people is a direct reflection how they feel about themselves” – Paulo Coehlo

Every relationship we have, can be viewed as a reflection of the relationship we have with ourselves and setting the tone for the right relationships, lies heavily upon us.

By trusting ourselves, listening to our own thoughts, feelings and emotions, we become more authentic and this gives us the wonderful opportunity to become comfortable in our own skin. Yet, when we are not comfortable with who we are, we project onto others, what we cannot accept of ourselves.

12. You are “judgy”.

“Life is a mirror and will reflect back to thinker what he thinks into it” – Ernest Holmes

Remember that each time you lash out against someone, whether it is behind their back or to their face, you are meeting an aspect of your own shadow. So turn those words back around, because what you just said, is exactly what you need to heal, accept and alchemize within you.

Tongue lashing someone with crude remarks is a sure sign that you’re not comfortable in your own skin; you’re too hard on yourself and you lack self-acceptance.

When we judge others, not only are we bringing forward an aspect of ourselves, we are unknowingly hurting someone else, based on our own perception of the world in how we see others.

11. You seek validation from others.

We seek attention and validation from others when there is something missing. A void that needs to be filled, and without the proper tools and the introspection to understand and alleviate the cause, we search for an external reaction.

You are the cause and the reaction. What you seek in the world is already within you, you already know the answer because you asked the question. Measure yourself by your own standards and set the bar high because you’re worth it.

10. You put yourself last.

Doing things for others can bring us joy and satisfaction, but there is a sacred selfishness that we can’t afford to ignore. When we over-indulge in giving our time, our energy and our good nature, we may think that there’s no harm but be warned, like a car we can’t run on empty and we all need a refill. Continue reading →

Inspirational, News, Spirituality

9 Interesting & Unexpected Ways Ancient People Got High

March 10, 2016 Submitted By You Leave a comment

People have always enjoyed getting intoxicated. A chemically induced euphoria, guaranteed to provide a good mood? Or the ability to temporarily experience a different version of reality?

Drugs are not only simply fun and enjoyable, they can provide deep insight and understanding to our lives ad problems. Modern social and judicial trends point an ill deserved finger at many intoxicants, the general understanding is that in recreational drug use is unnecessarily vilified.

Our ancestors did not share our hang ups with drug use. In fact they had some crazily unique ways to get high. They did it for many of the same reasons we do now: it’s fun, helps you grow and think differently and specifically triggers spiritual growth. They alos did it for religious, prophetic and social ceremonies, like the coming of age.

Anadenanthera: The DMT Bean

This bean is found in the grasslands of Latin America. When dried and crushed into into a powder it is snorted through the nose. It has properties similar to that of of Ayahuasca.

Henbane

Known as ‘Black Henbane’, this plant can grow just about anywhere through out Asia, Europe, North Africa and has migrated to North America. Considered to be poisonous to humans and animals, the plant is part of the nightshade family. A strong sedative that was primarily served orally as a drink, it can be absorbed through just about any membrane.

It is easily spotted and grows in many terrains. If you find some, be careful as the plant is poisonous and can lead to death. There is a theory that henbane was the poison that was poured into Hamlet’s father’s ear, killing him.

Belladonna

A witch’s ointment, it got it’s name from one of the main ingredients: the plant belladonna or ‘deadly nightshade’. It is poisonous in high doses but in moderation and topically applied it was a very effective localized painkiller.

LSA & The Eleusinian Mysteries

Every year a cult of the Gods Demeter and Persephone held secretive initiations wee call the Eleusinian Mysteries. One of the more historically famous cults, its roots can be traced to the Mycenean Period (1600-1100BC). The ceremony represented Persephone being kidnapped by Hades in a particular cycle, the descent (loss), the search (trails), and the ascent (enlightenment).

The ‘secret initiations’ were kept a well guarded secret. It is believed that the initiated believed they would be rewarded in the afterlife. They would drink an elixer that contained a powerfully hallucinogenic fungus. The active ingredient, D-lysergic acid amide (LSA) is very similar to LSD.

Betel Nut

Also known as areca seeds, people can be seen chewing on them through out Asia. The nut is used similarly to chewing tobacco. Tucked in a lip, it acts like a low grade stimulant. A very popular recreational drug it is the cause for the region’s unusually high rate of oral cancer.

Khat

Found in the Horn of Africa, the leaves are harvested and chewed. The active ingredient is Cathinone, is a stimulant and provides the user energy and feelings of euphoria. Cathonine is used as an ingredient for bath salts. Khat is publicly used and there is no strong stigma attached. The British tried to ban khat in the 20’s but Somalian immigrants brought is back into use.

Ibogaine

This drug is found in a shrub, Tabernanthe Iboga, indigenous to West Africa. It is a stimulant similar to khat but much stronger. It has been used for centuries as a spiritual tool in many rituals and practices. It is referred to as ‘Africa’s Ayahuasca’.

Peyote

Found in North America, this bitter cactus was eaten and served as a drink by many native people. It has been used in spiritual practices for at least 5,500 years. Used for medicinal and spiritual reasons the powerful hallucination is now more commonly used in recreation, though it still has a place in certain rituals.

Inspirational, Spirituality

9 Subjects Our Teachers Should Teach In Schools

March 7, 2016 Jeff Wilson Leave a comment

The amount of information and general news of the ongoing activities of humanity are growing exponentially. Schools are under more and more pressure to keep up with the intellectual volume. As we focus on teaching our children facts and statistics, we neglect methodologies that encourage common sense. While wisdom can’t be taught, it can be encouraged. There are general facts that every student should learn about the value of time and interpersonal connections. Here are some suggestions for new lines of study.

The 80/20 Rule

This rule states that eighty percent of the ‘value’ you get out of life will come from a mere twenty percent of your activities. This is known as the Pareto Principle. This makes sense, as most of the day to day activities we preform are mundane and fulfilling.

If you start to dissect your time and diagnose what is the twenty percent that gives you happiness and fulfillment, you can start to re arrange how you spend your time. Re prioritizing the activities of your life will help you get more fulfillment out of your day to day.

Parkinson’s Law

This law talks about how the difficulty of your tasks increases depending on how long we have to find a solution. So if you are made aware of a problem and give yourself to find a week to find a solution, it will be harder to find an answer than if you gave yourself a day. So cut down the amount of time you give yourself to make a decision. this will also give you more time to implement the answer.

First Give Value, And You’ll Get Value

Today many want something for nothing. This isn’t how life works. You more you put into a relationship, your job, or your workout routine, the more gratifying the results of your labors. With this in mind your should always try to do your best in every situation and be genuine in your actions. This will provide the maximum yield of ‘results’.

Be Proactive, Not Reactive

If you spend your life reacting to life’s baseballs and obstacles you will never ‘move forward’ in your life. Simply reacting to life ensures that you will never progress with your growth. You will never learn to keep an eye on the events in your life. Because you are waiting for life to prompt responses, you will be waiting around a lot.

A reactive life style also means that you will be continually dependent on external forces for everything. Life is about cultivating internal resources. While it is wise to take advantage of events as they unfold, you should not rely on them.

Mistakes and Failures Are A Good Thing

If you never make mistakes this means that you are not trying anything new or pushing the limits. Mistakes are only mistakes because we frame the scenario’s success in with our intended goals. While we weren’t able to achieve that specific end, we did successfully reach many unintended goals that we weren’t aware of.

We choose to focus on what wasn’t attained. Even in this perspective, our failures reveal more about us and our abilities than success will. When we ‘fail’ at something we are more inclined to look at the scenario as a whole. We can use this experience this learn much about ourselves and grow for the better.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

We not only choose the baggage we carry with us but we are the only ones who can torment ourselves. We frequently project onto institutions and people around us. We say that this person makes us feel bad, but in reality we hand people the power to influence us in this way.

You deserve forgiveness and love, no matter what. If a choice or scenario is or has caused you discomfort and pain, how is you prostrating yourself helping your current happiness? Forgive yourself, learn and move forward. It’s one of the two choices you have in dealing with the past. This is the only productive one.

Assume Rapport

Meeting new people can be difficult and awkward, but only if you make it so. Don’t let your fears or insecurities project onto this new character in your life. While using common sense, treat everyone the same as you would an old friend.

There is common ground between everyone, and every one wants genuine encounters with others. Small talk can be stressful so avoid it, talk about real elements in one another’s lives. Assume this desire to enjoy new and sincere personalities in everyone you meet. This will speed up the ‘getting to know you’ phase and avoid embarrassing and awkward moments.

Comparative Thought Is A Trap

Comparative thought is a natural line of thought. How ever there are different ways to understand and appreciate differences in ideas and people with out comparing. If you use comparative thought to bring you happiness then you will always depend on external forces to dictate your mood. Most ‘understandings’ of other people are projections on our parts or lies that person is using to hide aspects of themselves.

While a person may explain their feelings and desires, but no matter how thorough the dissection of personal formations, it will always be incomplete.

Expectations Are Never Helpful

Expectations can provide feelings of security against the chilling unknown. These feelings are always followed by that of disappointment and sadness. Events never unfold exactly as we plan or hope. Even if you try to create expectations that are entirely objective, you create form these formations off limited information. We can only comprehend a limited slice of the infinite possibilities.

The inherent limitations of our imaginations and knowledge make it so we can (thankfully) not predict the future. In fact the attempt to do so closes our minds and spirits to the wild inclinations of the known. Often the path we walk is limited only by our own perceptions. Don’t give you ego or insecurities the power of limiting the potential of your future.

Spirituality

Before Religion, This Is How People Connected With Their Spirituality:

March 6, 2016 Kasim Khan Leave a comment

“The shaman is not merely a sick man, or a madman; he is a sick man who has healed himself.” – Terence McKenna

Terence Kemp McKenna (November 16, 1946 – April 3, 2000) was an American ethnobotanist, mystic, psychonaut, lecturer, and author who spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including psychedelic drugs, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, philosophy, culture, technology, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness. He was called the “Timothy Leary of the ’90s”, “one of the leading authorities on the ontological foundations of shamanism”, and the “intellectual voice of rave culture”.

Shamanism is a spiritual practice found in cultures around the world from ancient times up to the present day. First and foremost, shamans’ practices are practical and adaptable. These practices coexist over millennia with varying cultures, systems of government, and organized religious practices.

Many formalized religions, from Buddhism to Christianity, came from ancient shamanic roots and still bear the shamanic threads of deep connection to the divine in all things. But shamanism itself is not a formalized system of beliefs or an ideology. Rather, it is a group of activities and experiences shared by shamans in cultures around the world. These practices are adaptable and coexist with different cultures, systems of government, and organized religious practices.

In this gem of a video Terence Mckenna spends 15 minutes talking about ‘The Spirit Of Shamanism’.

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“Because it is not an organized religion as such, but rather a spiritual practice, shamanism cuts across all faiths and creeds, reaching deep levels of ancestral memory. As a primal belief system, which precedes established religion, it has its own symbolism and cosmology, inhabited by beings, gods, and totems, who display similar characteristics although they appear in various forms, depending upon their places of origin.” ~John Matthews, The Celtic Shaman.

Inspirational, Spirituality

6 Signs Your Guides Are Trying To Communicate With You

March 6, 2016 Submitted By You Leave a comment

When a person dies, many things can happen to them. I choose to believe that a deceased person has the ability to come back to Earth without taking a physical form. They do this for a lot of reasons but the basic idea behind most of these ideas is that they are attempting to pass along a message.

As they have not taken a physical forms they can only communicate through no direct means. The fact that you are reading this articles says a lot about your willingness to stay open and listen.

Here are some of the common ways that spirits try to talk to us. If any of these are happening you try to look past your fear of the unknown and listen to your gut.

There are many tricksters out there and only your intuition can guide you effectively.

You Vivid Dreams or Visions During Meditation

Spirits are best known for trying to reach us through dreams and meditation. This is when our minds are quiet and we are more open to the possibilities. They will create scenarios or characters that grab at our attention.

When you are dreaming especially, you are aligned with other realms o it is easier for spirits to speak to you. Before you meditate or sleep is ask for guidance with sincerity and deliberation.

Your Sense Are Sharper, More Enhanced

Spirits have to communicate through indirect means so they will sharpen your senses so you may notice more.

You’ll see them on the edge of your vision, or smell a flower that reminds you of someone deceased.

Often at first you won’t know what you are seeing, but remain calm and open to the experience.

Electronics Randomly Act Up

We’ve all seen this in movies, but that doesn’t make it untrue. Electronics turning on and off, volumes going out of wack or televisions sets get static and change channels. This phenomena will continue until you directly address the situation.

You Know Things You Can’t Explain

Ever got the feeling you knew something that you had no memory of learning? This could be a spirit telepathically popping information to you.

You will need this information so stay open to its existence or you will shut it out.

Also spirits can lead our intuitions. So listen to your gut as it may lead you to unknown places. Have faith in your spirit guides.

You Get Frequent And Random Chills

If ever you are talking about the deceased, or a situation involving the dead, and you get a chilling sensation, that could be a clear indication of spirits. While this isn’t always the most pleasant of sensations remember they are on a different wavelength now. So don’t be afraid when this happens, the spirits are trying to guide you.

You Feel Like You’re Being Guided

Something is pulling you in a direction, and your intuition can’t make sense of it.

At the same time your gut isn’t fighting the sensation, the whole thing is off putting because it is unfamiliar.

This is one or more of your spirits trying to take you to a place you need to be or reveal something that is hidden to you. Relax and prepare for an adventure!

Inspirational, News, Spirituality

Carl Jung Said We Have Four Stages In Life; Which Stage Are You Experiencing?

March 6, 2016 Submitted By You Leave a comment

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, in the early to mid 1900’s, credited with the creation of analytical psychology. His Thought and theories paved the way for modern psychiatric practices. He was also credited with the creation of the archetypes: th complex, extroversion, introversion and the collective unconscious.

He was a prolific philosopher that directly influenced great minds like Joseph Campbell, Herman Hesse, Alan Watts, Erich Neumann and many others. He linked together human’s innate spirituality and linked it to the various sciences. A Review of General Psychology survey named Jung as the 23rd most cited psychologist of the 20th century. One of his theories on the developmental stages of humans, broke down the stages into four general archetypes. How he choose to prioritize life and its processes is fascinating.

The Athlete Stage

This stage is marked by a preoccupation with with physical appearances. We come to grips with how our bodies look. Here we identify our strengths and begin to develop insecurities.

We use the physical world to begin to ground ourselves in a version of reality. After understanding how people react to us and how that makes us feel, our feelings begin to take priority. This leads into the next stage.

The Warrior Stage

We have come to identify certain feelings with particular actions and patterns. We start comparative thought to maximize what we can get out of situations.

This leads us to want to conquer and impose our will, for the our own good. We strive to be what we consider to be the ‘best’ not for any other reason than to be better than others. We want nothing more than wealth, influence and control.

The Statement Stage

After chasing down goals to serve your ego, you begin to seek out more fulfilling actions and ways of life. The inherent undercutting that occurs in comparative thought has become apparent. You start to realize that physical aspects of reality are not the way to true happiness.

You realize that there is merit to the physical world but you no longer attribute the same level of importance as before.

Up until this point you have been strengthening your monkey mind and ego. You start to realize that you mind and your desires are the root of what is stopping you from spiritual balance and contentment.

This stage is well marked by a desire to be of service to others. You look for avenues of wisdom that can tame the ego that you have built up.

The Spirit Stage

This stage is the last stage of life, and Jung pointed out that not everyone will get to this point of personal development. In this stage you recognize that everything up till this point was part of the journey and you have not been ‘you’ this whole time. You have been testing the extremes of the human experience.

In the spiritual stage you begin to develop internally as a person. You stop being archetypes and begin to be yourself, knowing that ‘you’ are a constantly evolving concept. Impermanence is something you now recognize in your day to day life.

After experiencing the extremes of the human ability and life, you can use this experience to your advantage. You can step back from your self and recognize the aspects that make up the sum of what and who you are.

Spirit Science