The Holy Trinity Part 2: Free Will
Animism tells us that all things have a ’spirit’ or a ’soul’. This is because all things exist on more than one level. But what of Consciousness, Free Will and Action?
They say every one is psychic, and this is true: we all have a psychic body working to mediate between our physical selves and our spiritual selves. It is merely the degree to which you acknowledge and utilise this which determines the level of apparent ‘psychic ability’ possessed. They also say that Free Will is a delusion. This is also true….and it isnt.
Ok so how does this work? Let’s start with a little more information on the nature of the Holy Trinity of existance. As we’ve already discussed in part one, we’re dealing with three bodies, or levels of existance, here: the Spiritual body, the Psychic body and the Corporeal (physical) body.
The spiritual body resides outside of Time, which is a byproduct of Creation (the physical plane), and experiences individual consciousness on the physical plane via the psychic body’s link to the physical body. This does not mean that the Spiritual Self – nor even the Psychic Self, for that matter – plays such a passive role as mere ‘voyeur’, without influence or intent. In fact, quite the opposite would appear to be true; for here, within the Spiritual Self, is from where true ‘Free Will’ is exercised.
From the perspective of the Physical Self, this idea can be confronting. Droves of Christian Creationists and Pagans alike got their knickers in a knot when, in recent years, science showed that ‘Free Will’ – at least as most understand it – is a delusion. The idea that switches were being thrown in our brains, decisions being made, before we were even consciously aware that there was a decision to be made was just too appalling.
There are two points which, taken into consideration, may soothe any sore nerves a little. The first of these is the fact that, as discussed in part one of this article, these bodies of existance are expressions of a single being, operating on several levels. The urge to view our physical bodies as a vessel for our psyche and our spirit – in control and self-important – is a result of being present (and oh-so-conscious of that presence) in the physical plane. In short, we are self-aware, therefore, we are self-absorbed. (remembering that even the spiritual body experiences individual consciousnesss only through the physical plane via the psychic body’s link.) The second point is that the physical body (like it’s other-worldly counterparts) is not entirely passive in the outcome of any given decision either, as decisions made by the Spiritual Self, sent via the Psychic Self to the Corporeal Self to take a particular course of action may still be modified at the point when conscious awareness of said decision kicks in.
The Psychic Self, unique among the Bodies in it’s ability to move freely between the Spiritual and Corporeal planes (always returning, though, to the psychic plane – that space between spaces), acts as both axis and mediator to the Spiritual and Physical bodies. The Psychic plane is a landscape shaped by deeds, by dreams, by pooling consciousness and by all that is reflected therein. The spiritual body is a kind of spinal cord – ferrying information from the Will (the Spirit) to the Limbs (the physical body) and back again.
We often refer to our Spirit (our spiritual body) as our ‘Higher Self’. Some take this to imply some kind of moral superiority, but morality is of course subjective at best. My own sense of the Spirit as the ‘Higher Self ‘ is that the perspective of the Spiritual Self is like that of a bird or other third party, seeing not only the immediate situation but also the influences surrounding and approaching the situation. Thus the Spirit is able to make decisions and to set into motion the neccessary course of action accordingly. The details are relayed via the psychic self to the physical self. This is the throwing of switches within the brain of which the scientists speak.
Any who would much prefer to wipe their hands of all responsibility for their actions, saying – “I didnt mean it – my brain made me do it” beware. To deny your Will is to deny the macrocosm of your Greater Being: That which is more than the sum of it’s parts (the spiritual, psychic and corporeal bodies), more than the sum of your past – you deny your eternity, your divinity.
The Holy Trinity
In the ancient world our ancestors acknowledged and maintained three (or more) bodies, or ‘levels’ of existance: the corporeal, the psychic and the spiritual bodies. This is, of course, is where we get the old saying: ‘body, mind and soul’. In more modern times the psychic has been largely consigned to the corpporeal (as little more than a physical bodily function), and the spiritual is all to often percieved as merely conceptual. It is from here that we get the the far less inspiring saying: ‘body and soul’.
Some of us would say that we exist on a good many more levels but that the physical, psychic and spiritual bodies are those which any ‘ordinary’ person might reasonably expect to master. Whatever view you happen to take on this, let’s assume for the sake of fluidity from here in that we are dealing with the three levels of the corporeal, the psychic and the spiritual.
The issue at the heart of this post is the interactions between these levels of our own existance. How our actions, condition and attitudes on any one level effects us on the others. There are many schools of thinking on this topic and these can generally be split up into a few groups.
The first of these groups might best be called ‘mirrorists’. Among the ‘mirrorists’ there are those who would say that a person’s physical condition (health, countenance etc.) is a direct result of their actions, condition and attitudes on the other levels. Some would go as far as to say that it is also a direct measure of a person’s psychic ability, spiritual morality and strength of character.
In my opinion the mirrorists have something of a dudd in this ‘mirror theory’. As soon as one takes into account congenital disease and the ambiguous nature of beauty and morality one must either accept something akin to the concept of karma and sustain static perception or abandon the theory all together.
The next group of thinkers on this issue might be called ’seperatists’. Seperatists would say that the physical, psychic and spritual bodies act independantly of each other and without effecting greatly any other. These aparent triplets claim that the actions, condition and attitudes of one ‘body of existance’ needs and imparts no prompting, effects or manifestation on any other body or level of that same person’s existance.
Again the reality of experience and observation would appear to quickly undo the theory of the seperatists. Far from representing some kind of existential dissociative identity disorder (as suggested by the seperatists), the holy trinity of human existance – the physical, psychic and spiritual bodies – represent three expressions of the same entity.
A more likely explaination, I believe, would be described as ‘existential holism’, and explained something as follows:
As we all know, there is a finite amount of energy in the universe. Similarly, each entity exists through the vehicle of a finite amount of energy distributed accross the planes of existance which it inhabits.
(This is not to say either that energy may not be transferred from one entity to another or that depleted energy may not be restored, but we’ll get to those issues.)
Just as the microcosm of the human body must draw on reserves of energy in order to fuel activity, so must the macrocosm of the entire entity draw from reserves within it’s being in order to act. This is why activity on the psychic and/or spiritual levels leads to a depletion of energy within the physical body.
A prime example of this transfer of energy in the extreme can be found in instances where ordinary individuals accomplish feats of ’superhuman’ strength in dire emergencies, supporting the physical body through it’s fight or flight sequence. Always, after such incidents, the person having acted with superhuman strength explains later that they dont know what happened, really, they just ‘willed it so with every fibre of their being’, or words to this effect, often adding that it was almost a religious or spiritual experience. This most common of descriptions – this ‘willing it so with every fibre of their being’ – is an excellent way of expressing what is essentially the entire entity acting through a single level toward a single purpose.
The physical body is that which requires the most amount of energy to sustain. Thankfully out-side sources are readily availably to us via food, sunlight etc., and this also makes the physical body a reliable source of potential energy for the psychic and spiritual bodies to draw on.
(This is not to say that the physical body, as the most condensed form given to the entity, is neccessarily the strongest. Alone, the physical body is a fragile, wretched thing for the most part – susceptible to all manner of corruption and malfunction and prone to injury.)
When the physical body is depleted by fatigue, disease, injury or other malady, our ability to function in our physical body normally is hindered because the body is expending large portions of energy in it’s bid to heal itself and to counteract resultant symptoms and imbalances of the system in the meantime.
The same effect is manifest in the psychic and spiritual bodies in that while the physical body is dealing with the fatigue, disease, injury or other factors – and drawing more heavily on the energy pool of the entire being in the process – the amount of energy available in reserve to the psychic and spiritual bodies and our ability to cope and function normally on these levels is depleted to some degree. In some instances, such as congenital or other long term ailment exists, the person is more capable to function at a high level on the psychic and spiritual planes, perhaps because the way we function with congenital disease and long term disability is functioning normally on the physical: for us. Conversely, fatigue, injury or other blow sustained to the psychic or spiritual bodies may result in the manifestation of fatigue, low immuno-function, and / or – by way of psychological trauma – depression while the damaged body is healed.
In all of these instances a period of rest and regeneration is required to restore energy levels and balance first to the ailing body and by extention to the entire entity. It is when this period of recuperation is unavailable to us or simply not an option that we must look to sources outside ourselves to suppliment our own energy levels.
- SoulSong
Something to think about…
Imagine a magical book: a great round tome commissioned by the King and Queen of the Creator Gods in which is recorded all that ever was, is and will be in all the worlds on all the planes of their creation. Each of it’s pages contains a dimension, it’s chapters comprise the dimension of time and are shared by all it’s pages. These chapters are not linear, but grow in concentric circles in the manner of the trees: stretching the pages ever thinner, ever outward and facilitating the continuation of stories that began at their centers. Each new chapter brings about a degree of disruption and distortion of the chapters before it as it stretches out the page. As the chapters wear on and the pages continue to thin and to stretch near to their limit, the stories therein begin to bleed through onto the pages above and below them, and soon the integrity of the pages themselves is compromised by the weight of those pages, and they begin to crumble. Pages have crumbled before – and worlds with them – but those worlds and the stories therein were not lost: they were reblended in the primordial soup of consciousness in-situ and remade from the peices of the old.
Imagine, too, that it is at first with curiosity that those responsible for overseeing this process (and even those who are merely spectators) may have noted how, once reblended and reformed into a more solid state, there could be read upon the new pages ’snippets’ of the old stories, the old worlds. These snippets would form the basis for the new stories. Before long there are those for whom these snippets become more than a curiosity: they become an opportunity. For if one could control, next time, which parts of the old stories make it into the new ones, then a great feast of control and power could be had…
Like I said, just something to think about…
- SoulSong
Maya Road to Hell Found?
The Maya believed the road to the afterlife ran through the underworld. Now an archaeologist says he’s found the real-life version of that road in a Mexican cave. Video: Maya Road To Hell Found?
An Eye For An Eye
‘An eye for an eye’ they call, a cry for so-called Justice, in truth, thinly veiled revenge. ‘An eye for an eye’ they cry, and the eyes of thousands are now put out, becoming blind to the truth. Revenge, retalliation, retribution – all of these are just other words for perpetuation; and when all the world is blind, when none have eyes to see the carnage wrought on the body and soul of all humanity, and upon our beloved, long-suffering world – where, then, is your Justice?
“The Flash”
Over the years I have read many very interesting stories pertaining to various “strange lights”. There is, however, another kind of “strange light” which my family and I have expereienced in recent years with increasing frequency, and I would very much like to know if anyone else might have experienced the same light, or have some idea as to it’s origin. (mundane? paranormal? And simply “what is it?”)
The closest any of us has come to describing this light is to say that it very much resembles that of a camera-flash, both in the speed with which it appears and then disappears, and in it’s colour – though the intensity seems to be far brighter than any camera-flash. The light appears most often indoors, but also in the gardens occassionally. Wherever it does occur, though, it leaves those who witness it feeling bitterly cold and (bizarre as it may seem) a little bit threatened – though nothing else seems to come of it.
By the time we loaded the kids into the car several weeks later for a long-planned trip to visit their Grandfather’s farm, we had seen this strange light more than a dozen times and were very perplexed as to it’s origin and meaning and by the decidedly uneasy feeling it always left us with. Later that night, having arrived at the farm and settled the boys in bed for the night, we sat around the kitchen table with Les and Helen and eventually fumbled through the tale of the strange cold light which seemed to have moved into our home.
Astonishingly, after having listened to our story with odd looks on their faces, Les and Helen then related their own tale of how Les had been awoken by a strange flash of light only weeks before, and having been drawn outside as the light appeared again and again, like a camera-flash suspended in the air, which moved away from his window, and up the dark dirt road. Les woke his wife and the pair followed the light up the road to an empty farm property near-by where it seemed to circle the house flashing again and again and then suddenly it stopped.
That was their only encounter with the light, but it was certainly either the same light or one which was exactly like the one we had experienced. We live about 4 hours drive from their town.
So it seemed we were not the only ones to have seen this particular light, but were no closer to knowing what it was or where it came from. Two years later we are still seeing what we’ve come to call “the flash”. I supose nameing it makes it feel safer. But it still leaves us feeling bitterly cold. It terrifies the boys, though even they cannot say why. It still leaves me feeling threatened (thugh it has never caused any physical harm). And it comes now with such frequency that I sometimes wonder if we’re building up to something.
So there’s a very skimmed through version of our little tale of “the flash” and the bitterly cold paranoia that comes with it. I do know how silly it sounds to be threatened by a simple light. The thing is, it’s getting so that I can no longer just giggle nervously and joke about ghosts taking photographs. I’ve seen some wierd things in my time. Some very unpleasant things, too. But this. Of all the things I’ve seen, This one makes me feel the most uneasy. This one keeps me up nights trying to solve the mystery.
Has anyone had any experience with this light? Has anyone any ideas for it’s cause (mundane or otherwise, an answer is what I need) or it’s origin? I would very much like to hear whatever you have to share.
9
Gorgeous. Funny. Inventive. Playful. Loving. Bright…
… & 9 years old today.
Love You Lil’ Man.
Religion & Spirituality
Whether we are introduced to spiritual faith by our families as children or through our own personal journeys, most of us at some point ask ourselves the big questions – Who are we? Where did we (life) come from? Why are we here? Who, what and where are the gods and have they abandoned us? Why is there suffering, cruelty and poverty in the world? and so on.
These are questions which we, as humans, have sought to answer since time forgotten. Many believe they have found the answers and have joined or formed churches, groups and followings based around them. Increasingly more of us find these institutions, these religions, to be lacking. They are not providing satisfactory answers. The reason for this being that we cannot recconcile our faith with our knowledge. This I will go into in greater detail another time.
So when we study and we engrose ourselves in the spiritual path laid out before us and we find it lacking, when we realise that we wont find our answers here, we move on to the next faith, the next mentor or what have you, and the next, never quite feeling that we are getting what we need in order to flourish spiritually and to understand our place in the world.
This eventually wears many of us down until eventually the seed of disenchantment strikes roots and soon we suspect that all of the religious faiths have it wrong, and that perhaps it is because there is no meaning to it all.
This idea can leave us feeling less, somehow. It creates a hole which is all too often re-filled with cinicism, bitterness detatchement and sometimes can lead to a sense of intellectual superiority to those who we see as naive enough to fall for the folly of religious or spiritual faith, or weak enough to need it. The problem with this particular brand of superiority is that it leads to loneliness and is rarely fulfilling.
Though this is the extreme it is in no way rare or unusual. Even when the sense of lacking does not lead to this contemptuousness, it does often lead to believing that only cold hard science has any relevence. One comes to deal only in facts, abandoning faith to the wind. This too is very common. It is accepted by many that science and spiritulity cannot co-exist. They are seen as contradictory and as effectively cancelling each other out.
Even within the wider pagan and other spiritual communities there is a trend among some traditionalists to scoff at those who abandon certain aspects of thier faith system in favour of a more contemporary means to an end. Also there is still a notable murmmering against the blending of two or more traditions to meet the same ends.
Largely, these difficulties can be traced back not to Spirituality itself but to Organized Religion. Now, before anyone gets their smalls in a knot, I am NOT saying that religious people are bad people or even that the spiritual ideals behind most religions are to be faulted. What I AM saying is that in the process of forming official, structured, organized religious groups there is almost always the required renunciation of all other spiritual ideas, ideals and faiths. Added to this, often, free, rational thought & the questioning of one’s faith or the acceptance of people who are of another religion, are all looked upon wih varying degrees of disapproval. The irony of it all being that it seems even as an organized religion grows over time, and it’s following becomes greater and more widespread, it somehow grows more and more exclusive.
So to those who would say “Science and Religion cannot co-exist,” it saddens me to say “I have to agree”. But to any who say “Science and SPIRITUALITY are mutually exclusive, they cannot co-exist,” I say… “Stay Tuned!”
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