Feb 28, 2014

Rewriting Jesus

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



This was my comment to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer when I signed the petition asking her to veto SB1062:

Whom would Jesus refuse to serve? This bill isn't just un-Constitutional. It's un-Christian.

I'd love to think that her decision to veto the bill was because of people like myself who petitioned and protested this legislative abomination. I'm not naive. I'm quite sure it had much more to do with the business leaders who brought their cumulative corporate weight to bear. Arizona doesn't want the opinions of the little people so much as it wants their tourism dollars.

Either way, that particular crisis was averted. But hate is a hydra. A similar bill is gathering momentum in Georgia.

Georgia -- with its tumultuous past of discrimination -- is following Arizona's recently failed attempt to pass what amounts to anti-gay legislation with the Preservation of Religious Freedom Act.

The state may shift from the cradle of the civil rights movement to the vanguard of legalized 21st-century bigotry with the consideration of this legislation, modeled on Arizona's, that would allow businesses to refuse service to gay and lesbian customers on the basis of alleged religious conviction.

Feb 25, 2014

Cafe



Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Awakening the Courageous Heart – Part Two

Why are we afraid to feel? Why do we fear the emotional intelligence of the heart? The heart affects mental clarity, creativity, emotional balance, and personal effectiveness. It is no more a simple physical pump than it is simply the source of tepid pop songs and foolish dreams. The Chinese have known for centuries that the heart orchestrates the harmonious interaction of all of the body’s organs maintaining good health. Modern science has known since 1991 that the heart has a functional brain of elaborate circuitry that enables it to learn, remember, feel and sense independently of the cranial brain. And shamans who work in intimate relationship with the invisible world have always known that all true power is mediated through the heart. Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, as she continues to explore the secret terrain of the heart and what is necessary for contemporary people—with our wounds of isolation, anxiety, alienation, and broken-heartedness—to awaken our courageous hearts.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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Feb 19, 2014

Graham Hancock: Exploring Consciousness

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



Graham Hancock here offers an excellent synthesis of some of his more recent work. The "hard problem of consciousness" is turning out to be one of the most divisive issues in the sciences, as the TED fiasco made abundantly clear. Here Hancock discusses why TED was so challenged by his short talk and goes into a lot of depth on his own personal and professional processing of that question. The talk primarily focuses on three of his recent books. I've read them all and I've loved them all. Supernatural, in particular is on the short list of my very favorite books of all time. Enjoy!



Feb 18, 2014

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"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Awakening the Courageous Heart

The choice to love again precedes the healing. This is the confusion most share. The heart doesn't heal so that it can love again. The heart chooses to love again and in that choice the heart can begin to heal. This choice to risk without safety or guarantees can only be made by the courageous. Whether you want to heal yourself, heal your clients or heal the world, healing requires courage. Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, as she explores the terrain of the heart and what is necessary to awaken the latent courage that resides there. Most people operate in the chamber of the heart that they feel most comfortable in. But in truth the heart has four chambers, which together nourish and sustain each other. When in balance each chamber gives us access to one of the four powers of the heart. Awakening the Courageous Heart is a shamanic process of transformation that is available to anyone with the ability to journey and a weekend to give to their heart.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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Feb 17, 2014

Breaking the TEAL SPELL -- UPDATE: The Noncasts

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.

Flower of Life photo floweroflife_1_zpsd7651ce1.jpg


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Update: The Noncasts (See Below)

Further Update: Blake Addresses Jason Freedman Mystery (See Below)

Yet Another Update: Kicking "Tealers" Down the Memory Hole (See Below)


Some years ago, when I was doing the Flower of Life teacher training with Drunvalo Melchizedek, one of my fellow travelers shared with me that he was troubled by what he called the "Drunvalettes." The term was his own invention but there was no mistaking his meaning. He even pegged a few of our classmates with that term. He liked Drunvalo quite a bit but that there was this kind of adulation by some Flower of Life folks made him uncomfortable. He had some concern that Drunvalo might have been fostering this unquestioning sycophancy. So one day when we were enjoying a break, he asked Drunvalo very directly how he felt about his Drunvalettes.

Dru shook his head and sighed. "I just try to stay out of it," he said.

That's one approach. There's a conversation to be had, for sure, about whether ignoring the phenomenon and trying to distance oneself from it is enough. Is it necessary to more actively discourage such behavior? But I think the one thing we were all in agreement on -- Drunvalo, myself, and the gentleman who raised the concern -- was that such hero worship was not a good or healthy thing.

The term "tealer" has similarly been thrown around to describe those who've drunk the "teal-aid." Some of her more passionate and angry defenders who've posted on my blog have been quite pejoratively labeled "tealers" by other commenters. So imagine my horror when I read this in a recent TEAL post about her seminar in Atlanta.

I am struck by how much the imprint of the days of slavery still remains on some of the older buildings and railways here in town. It has soaked its way especially into the old wood that dots the brick walls. The venue for yesterday’s workshop was one such a building. It was a fitting energy, seeing as how the theme of the entire workshop was self-liberation.

This group which is being called the “Tealers” is the most open minded, eccentrically intellectual group I have ever beheld.  I think it is now my favorite part of holding these workshops.  Long-term friendships are formed.  People find their place to belong. And I get to witness the fact that this world is in good hands.  All across the globe, they form a supportive web of awakening.  They touch the lives of the people in the cities they live in.  It is like a little legion of enlightened spirits, whose practice is that of non-resistance and expansion.

You're Freeeee! Wait. Not so fast.


Feb 11, 2014

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"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Shamanic Gathering in BC with John-Luke Edwards

Shamanic people believe that life emerges from a dream that the All-That-Is began dreaming in a time before time. Shamanic people speak of living in Oneness with all things and as contemporary people we are challenged to imagine that dream. But what if we were already living that dream? How would we act? How would we treat each other? How would we treat the earth? This week host and shaman, Christina Pratt, explores the topic of the upcoming Residential BC Shamanic Conference and Gathering this May with Rev. shaman John-Luke Edwards of the Wolven Path Tradition, a shamanic tradition rebirthed from nomadic shamanic traditions of northern Europe. Join us as we explore how we can return to our roots, live our everyday lives in a good way with all living things and allow the possibility of defining our dreams by the way that we live our lives.

This week's guest:
John-Luke Edwards

John-Luke Edwards Fire Ceremony Reverend Shaman John-Luke Edwards, MA, PhD is an ordained shaman of The Wolven Path, which is a rebirth of an ancient Celtic/Druidic form of shamanism. Developing his Shamanic practice and approach to life, John-Luke instigated a 3 year Shamanic Apprenticeship in BC Canada and founded the Sacred Circle of The Great Mystery Shamanic Society in the same province. The Shamanic Society is founded to create, maintain and encourage a Shamanic Community and Network of many Shamanic traditions and families, focusing the work of Shaman & Shamanic Practitioners to the support of the Earth.

John-Luke believes that the issues in our lives that betray our destiny fall out of our fear of Divine loneliness that manifests in a dysfunctional relationship with ourselves and our soul song. This relationship yearns for 'completion'. This yearning and dysfunction become reflected in all our external relationships. John-Luke's approach is to be a catalyst in the transformation and emergence of truth in his Lamenters relationships with themselves and their souls; by this to return to that first harmonic intention we are born to and for.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 11:00 AM Pacific

Log on to Listen
Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
Questions? Comments? Call: 1-512-772-1938

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Feb 6, 2014

UN Finds That Catholic Church is Bad for Children

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



The report is scathing.

The Vatican "has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by, and the impunity of, the perpetrators," a U.N. human rights committee charged Wednesday.

The Vatican is stunned, a little defensive, but standing firm in its homophobia.

The stinging language surprised the Vatican and put it in damage-control mode, with officials strongly defending the church and accusing the committee of allowing itself to be swayed by pro-gay ideologues. The Vatican, which defended itself at a U.N. committee hearing last month, said the panel ignored the measures the Holy See has already taken to protect children.

"I'm tempted to say that the text was probably written ahead of time," said the Vatican's U.N. ambassador, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi.

Feb 4, 2014

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"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Chronic Illness and Shamanism

Chronic illness in America is "managed" in our allopathic medical system, not "cured." Today 75% of our health care dollars go to the management of chronic diseases, which are the nation's leading causes of death and disability. Given that chronic illness is the root cause of deaths that could have been prevented, lifelong disability, compromised quality of life, and burgeoning health care costs, why do we continue to ignore the efficacy of shamanic healing in the treatment and, sometimes the cure, of chronic illnesses? Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, as she explores the application of shamanic healing practices to chronic illness of the physical body and the energy body. A shamanic approach to healing begins by viewing health and well-being through a different lens. Health is seen as the result of the quality of the relationship cultivated between the body/mind and the soul and, through that lens, both root cause of chronic illness and the remedies available are transformed.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014 at 11:00 AM Pacific

Log on to Listen
Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
Questions? Comments? Call: 1-512-772-1938

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Feb 2, 2014

The Beautiful Unfoldment of an Episcopal Diocese

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



"I just stopped believing God was a mystery you could nail down with one book." ~ Keanu Reeves in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee


I was contemplating last evening, apropos of nothing, just why I did not become an Episcopal priest. I strongly considered it in my youth and even well into my college years. I knew I was "called" to religious service. But I outgrew the Church. What it came down to, I finally realized, was that as open and forward leaning as the Episcopal Church is, it's dogmatic enough to make me uncomfortable. I still felt too limited by doctrine. I couldn't be comfortable devoting my life to it, and worse, teaching things I really couldn't endorse.

I drifted in and out of the Church for some years. There were so many things about it that I loved but other things that were quite jarring. I vividly remember being at a funeral, after not having been at a service for a year or two, and hearing the "Prayer of Humble Access" as if for the first time.

We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table...

I'd heard it hundreds of times before but suddenly it was like nails on a chalkboard. So shame-based. What possible good could come from such self-denigration? That moment crystalized in my thinking the reason that Christian orthodoxy was just never going to work for me. It probably didn't help that I've always had an inherently mystical orientation. How could we be so much less than God when we we are God, I thought. I began to realize that, in fact, that central belief of mine wasn't actually endorsed by the Church. As egalitarian as the Episcopal Church was, it was also hierarchical. God was "up there" and outside of us. It didn't really make sense to me. So I went another way.

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