Aug 29, 2017

Cafe



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"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Should I Learn Shamanic Journeying?

Shamanic journeying is a practice, like other meditative practices, that allows the practitioner to access a non-ordinary experience of sight, sound, sensation, and self…in other words, you train to access your own mind differently. In this practice, the practitioner remains simultaneously self-aware and aware of compassionate and helpful beings who are also present, much like encountering dream figures in dreams. Meeting these compassionate, helping spirits and gaining their assistance and perspective is the primary reason to engage in the practice of shamanic journeying. This week host and shaman, Christina Pratt, addresses some of the most toxic nonsense being shared in social media about shamanic journeying. Join us as we explore the good reasons to learn to journey, what you can ignore entirely, and what you should actually be concerned about in your own journey practice.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Aug 26, 2017

Esoterica



Secret life of the dodo revealed

Scientists are piecing together clues about the life of the dodo, hundreds of years after the flightless bird was driven to extinction.

Few scientific facts are known about the hapless bird, which was last sighted in 1662.

. . .

The research could also shed light on the dodo's extinction about 350 years ago, less than 100 years after humans arrived on the island.

Hunting was a factor in the dodo's demise, but monkeys, deer, pigs and rats released on the island from ships probably sealed their fate.

. . .

Dr Angst said the dodo is considered "a very big icon of animal-human induced extinction", although the full facts are unknown.

Aug 22, 2017

Cafe



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"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

What is a Wounded Healer?

Today being "the wounded healer" has become the excuse for poor discernment in contemporary practitioners around boundaries, responsibility, and personal healing. In western thought the concept of the wounded healer began with Karl Jung who used the phrase to refer psychologically to the capacity "to be at home in the darkness of suffering and there to find germs of light and recovery with which, as though by enchantment, to bring forth Asclepius, the sun-like healer" and to assist healing. However before Jung, before Asclepius, and even before western thought there were shamans, the first wounded healers. Shamanically speaking the wounded healer is the initiated shaman, the person who has entered her own death, illness, or madness and found the path through it with the help of Spirit. And in that journey the wound is healed for the shaman and because of that journey the shaman is able to work with the spirits to assist the healing of others. Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, as we explore the concept of the wounded healer, bust some myths, and consider the reality through the eyes of spiritual maturity.

**This show originally aired May 31, 2011**

Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Aug 20, 2017

The Great American Eclipse

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.




The last total eclipse of the sun to be visible in the United States was in 1979. Above is a little nostalgia viewing on the eclipse that was. Walter Cronkite's reassuring voice is sorely missed. But it was a calmer time, a time when all we had to worry about was the Cold War and the looming threat of a nuclear holocaust. They seem like halcyon days to me now.

For Americans, this eclipse may be more relevant than any we've seen in nearly a hundred years, because this one will cross the entire continental United States. Astrologers are predicting massive change and upheaval. In particular, there are warning signs for the Trump presidency and for the man himself. In the interest of full disclosure, I am not an astrologer, so I cannot vouch for their accuracy.

According to astrologer Donna Woodwell, in the most comprehensive analysis I've seen, the eclipse means "massive changes for the U.S."

First, the location from which an eclipse is visible indicates the areas of the world ripe for changes in society, cultures or leadership.

. . .

Of course, the “Great American Eclipse” puts the U.S. in the crosshairs of change.

It’s the first total solar eclipse to be visible coast-to-coast across the U.S. in nearly 100 years; the last time was in June 1918. Another pivotal year in U.S. history, 1918 saw a dramatic increase in the size of the U.S. government and armed forces, as the nation sent the first major deployment of troops overseas in the nation’s history.

The Aug. 21 eclipse is also the first total solar eclipse to be visible in totality only from the U.S. since the nation was founded in 1776.

Aug 19, 2017

Esoterica




Leonardo da Vinci’s Visionary Notebooks Now Online: Browse 570 Digitized Pages


The notebook, writes Jonathan Jones at The Guardian, represents “the living record of a universal mind.” And yet, though a “technophile” himself, “when it came to publication, Leonardo was a luddite…. He made no effort to get his notes published.”

For hundreds of years, the huge, secretive collection of manuscripts remained mostly unseen by all but the most rarified of collectors. After Leonardo's death in France, writes the British Library, his student Francesco Melzi “brought many of his manuscripts and drawings back to Italy. Melzi’s heirs, who had no idea of the importance of the manuscripts, gradually disposed of them.” Nonetheless, over 5,000 pages of notes “still exist in Leonardo’s ‘mirror writing’, from right to left.” In the notebooks, da Vinci drew “visions of the aeroplane, the helicopter, the parachute, the submarine and the car. It was more than 300 years before many of his ideas were improved upon.”

The digitized notebooks debuted in 2007 as a joint project of the British Library and Microsoft called “Turning the Pages 2.0,” an interactive feature that allows viewers to “turn” the pages of the notebooks with animations. Onscreen glosses explain the content of the cryptic notes surrounding the many technical drawings, diagrams, and schematics (see a selection of the notebooks in this animated format here). For an overwhelming amount of Leonardo, you can look through 570 digitized pages of Codex Arundel here. For a slightly more digestible, and readable, amount of Leonardo, see the British Library’s brief series on his life and work, including explanations of his diving apparatus, parachute, and glider.

Aug 15, 2017

Cafe



Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Energy Velcro and the Hollow Bone

The shamanic altered state of consciousness and being a "hollow bone" are not necessarily the same thing. All over the Internet contemporary practitioners are claiming that the altered state they enter to work with Spirit is, by definition, being a "hollow bone." Becoming the Hollow Bone is an ancient practice in Zen Buddhism, shamanism, and many native peoples of North America. It takes years of dedicated and disciplined practice to create this inner state of consciousness and freedom. In contrast, entering a shamanic trance state, or journeying, is relatively simple to learn, usually allows immediate and useful access to one's helping spirits, and is basically every human being's birthright now.

In our efforts to explain to a contemporary world what shamanism is and how it can help with pretty much all that ails us, let's not get carried way. To become the Hollow Bone is to dedicate oneself to the tireless discipline of clearing your inner energy Velcro. This requires first noticing that you have been hooked by something in life. Then looking within at what Velcro loop within you has just been snagged. Then to move deeper within, for the process has only just begun. Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, as she explores the deeper truth of becoming the Hollow Bone and the freedom that arises from this ancient and worthy discipline.

**This show originally aired June 7, 2011**

Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Aug 9, 2017

That Time Blake Tried Blogging

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.



It did not go well.

Blake Dyer is Teal Bosworth Scott Swan's long-time friend, roommate, ex-boyfriend, and business partner. You may remember Blake from such hits as Jason Freedman: Freelance Reporter, Blake and the Unanswered Questions, and Stop Destroying Teal With Your Worsening Depression. Now he brings you... a very thorough scolding. There is trouble in Teal Tribe and it's all because of "haters." People just seem to turn on teal, but it's never her fault. As she explained it, in one of her blog posts:

Again and again, I experience “haters”.  I especially experience people turning on me.  I guess you could call it a form of betrayal.  They go from being very close to me and “loving” me to “hating” me with verve and passion.  They go out of their way to try to injure my credibility or my success.

What can a very, very famous spiritual luminary do but respond in kind? Of course she doesn't do that dirty work herself, not publicly. She has people for that. For instance, her current and fourth husband Ale Gicqueu took on husband number three in a biting, personal attack on his blog, which has since been taken private. Now it falls to Blake, her all around guy Friday, to devote a very long post to taking on her growing list of "betrayers."

Blake explains that this pattern of betrayal stems from deep, unhealed wounds in the collective psyche, including his own. He further explains that the people who've turned on teal did so because of their own unwillingness to self-reflect.

Blake's claim that no one else takes personal responsibility is ironic (note the correct use of the term), given that the entire blog post is devoted to blaming everyone but himself and teal for everything. Nowhere in the entire post does he describe a single action that they took that just might account for these people breaking from teal. It's all blame throwing. The only thing Blake takes partial responsibility for is his own "personality disorder," for which he blames his parents. He's learned his tealisms well.


The Taofighter Interview

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.

As discussed in my post about Blake Dyer's foray into blogging, there is an unpublished interview with Cameron Clark, which addresses her break with Guru Ethics. She was approached by a teal follower who calls himself taofighter. She agreed to respond to his questions, provided they both had publishing rights to the interview.

I have selected excerpts which address the claims Debra appears to have made to Blake, the reasons for the dispute and how that led to legal action. I am not publishing the entirety of the interview. It was never previously edited or published. It is repetitive and and bit confusing. It spanned over a month of emails back and forth. Cameron copied and pasted those emails into a document to which she has given me access. I apologize for any typographical errors which may have occurred in the cutting and pasting process, transitioning from one format to another. I have slightly edited some of these to improve readability. I have not addressed spelling or grammatical errors. I don't believe English is taofighter's first language. A pdf of the raw document is available upon request.


********
 

November 17, 2015

TAOFIGHTER: Hi Cameron,

I wanted to inform you that I am working on an infovideo about you.

I expect this to have quite some impact, as it will provide people with a new way to look at things. A lot of people will probably see it. Although I am afraid my perspective of your actions against Teal Swan will not be very favourable for you I still want to do it fair.

You don't need to be afraid that I will look in your private letters and I will back up what I say. This is about arguments. I will work with what you have published and how you have worked. So no unfair tactics but there is a lot to say.

If you want you can share your point of view and I will take it into consideration and feature it as I strongly believe that people really should make up their minds for themselves after looking at different perspectives. I also might not see everything in the right light. If you don't answer to my email, you will have to live with the result.

. . .


Aug 8, 2017

Cafe



Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Shamanism and the Spiritual Warrior

Spiritual Warriorship is more than a metaphor that your therapist drags out every time you are challenged to take the actions necessary to change. Our attitudes and behaviors of self-denial and self-aggrandizement are challenging to change precisely because they have become habits of thought, feeling and memory. It is the internal realm of these habits within each of us that is the perpetual battleground of the spirit warrior and the insidious, enemy-within. Our everyday actions in the outer world are also potentially actions of the spirit warrior, but they are a direct reflection of our actions in this inner world. Without change in here, we can't change out there. Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, as she explores how the basic shamanic relationship between human and helping spirit brings precisely the support your spirit warrior needs today. Humanity has offered many paths to support the conscientious dedication and skills need by the spirit warrior, but most of these paths are unreachable by the ordinary contemporary individual. Your helping spirits-if engaged regularly and skillfully-offer the flexibility, creativity, and clever persistence to bring the path to you.

**This show originally aired May 11, 2011**

Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Aug 6, 2017

Esoterica



Facebook Shut Down AI After It Invented Its Own Language

Researches at Facebook shut down an artificial intelligence (AI) program after it created its own language, Digital Journal reports.

The system developed code words to make communication more efficient and researchers took it offline when they realized it was no longer using English.

The incident, after it was revealed in early July, puts in perspective Elon Musk’s warnings about AI.

“AI is the rare case where I think we need to be proactive in regulation instead of reactive,” Musk said at the meet of US National Governors Association. “Because I think by the time we are reactive in AI regulation, it’ll be too late.”

When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Musk’s warnings are “pretty irresponsible,” Musk responded that Zuckerberg’s “understanding of the subject is limited.”

Aug 1, 2017

Cafe



Around the Web, Around the World


"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Rituals for Personal and Family Healing with Daniel Foor: Part Two

The blood lineage ancestors, who carry the unresolved issues of the family line, can change when met by a skillful person. The dead can finally rest in peace and the living can heal personally, within the family, and in the larger collective. The deep wound of separation at the root of our cultural despair and dissonance can be transformed by those with the compassion to attend to the healing of their own lineage. This week author, psychologist, and ceremonialist, Daniel Foor, and host, Christina Pratt, continue their discussion of his new book, "Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing." Daniel shares how by reconciling with our ancestors "we make repairs in our personal psyches and family histories that, in turn, mend cracks in the larger spirit of humanity."

This week's guest:
Daniel Foor, PhD


Daniel Foor, PhD, is a licensed psychotherapist and a doctor of psychology. He has led ancestral and family healing intensives throughout the United States since 2005. He is an initiate in the Ifa/Orisha tradition of Yoruba-speaking West Africa and has trained with teachers of Mahayana Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, and different indigenous paths, including the older ways of his European ancestors. He's the author of Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing and lives in Asheville, NC. http://ancestralmedicine.org/


Tuesday, August 1, 2017 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

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