Reddit mentions: The best new thought books

Fun, thanks for hosting the scavenger hunt!

1. Something Blue: These journals are so beautiful, and I just thought I would start the scavenger hunt out with something simple and beautiful. Is that too corny of a reason to put them on here?
   
2. Summer: Summer reminds me that I will soon be in a place with sun constantly radiating down and burning my retinas. We're all gonna need some sunglasses.
   
3. Unusual Food-Related Item: Kawaii Squishies are super cute, smell like freshly baked bread (or cream soda), and are shaped like foods! I had a lot of wiggle room with this category, and while I have tons of things about food in my WLs, I just think these are great to pass out to stressed friends, as well.
   
4. Gift Someone Else: A Bidet for the Fiancé Kind of a silly one, but my fiancé loves bidets. I've always wanted to get him one, and so this is my ultimate "I love you" gift for him. I actually thought about getting it for him and calling it his engagement ring, in response to the one he just got me. Do you think it would make him laugh?
   
5. Book!: The book Lab Girl by Hope Jahren has gotten a lot of great press, and it seems very relevant to any woman in a demanding science-related field. I think it would be an interesting, and hopefully inspiring, read.
   
6. Less Than a 1$: Somehow this shampoo brush is only $.01? Is that real?
   
7. Related to Dogs: I haven't owned a dog since my family's golden retriever, Max. He was such a wonderful light in our house, and I think about him a lot. I know that GSD are really smart, so I figured I'd put something a smart-alecky GSD owner might have on here. ;)
   
8. Not Useful, But Awesome: I really love oracle cards. I find that they sort of get me past challenges that maybe I'm too stubborn to see for myself. I think they are a good psychological tool, but I also know most people would find them less than useful. Therefore, they are mostly just awesome, and I want them.
   
9. Great Movie: I get some flak for it, but my favorite movie of all time is Coraline. I think it is just so thought-provoking and the animation is beautiful. It really has a special place in my heart.
   
10. Zombies Attack!: Weirdly enough, I am in the process of creating an emergency plan and some bugout bags for my fiancé and I. It's more of a hobby than worry, but I always thought a couple of these matches would come in handy when the hammer drops.
    
11. Life Goals: This one might require a little explanation. So, I just quit my career as an archaeologist to become a creative writer, and my fiancé just quit his archaeology career to become an illustrator. Together we are writing some children's books, creating a comic book series, and hosting a podcast. It has come to our attention that these endeavors require social media presence (something neither of us are very good at). Through our bumbling around, we've found that our pictures are turning out less-than-great for social media, and the problem is lighting. I think this lightbox really neat for anyone who wants to make their pictures look professional on social media.
    
12. Add-Ons: Makeup Remover Cloths These are so useful, I thought about even adding them to the Zombie Apocalypse part of the Scavenger Hunt! I sometimes forget to take care of my skin. So I started leaving one of these by my nightstand just for those times when I'm too lazy (or drunk) to take my makeup off. They are lifesavers!
    
13. Fandom Related: Adventure Time, come on grab your friends.... No explanation needed really. AT is amazing, and I'm sad the series is ending, but we will always have the comics!
    
14. Ridiculously Priced: Okay, let's chat. This watch is over $200,000 and has 4 reveiws? 4 people bought this? Why?! If I was that rich, I'd hole up in my cool-ass movie theater and eat caviar all day. Who needs a watch for that?
    
15. Shark or Unicorn: This unicorn color-changing light is on my wishlist. I want it so badly, but have no idea where I would put it. The bathroom maybe? It has to be somewhere that won't get in the way of all my other unicorn stuff. I like when people just happily stop upon a unicorn in the apartment. When they're peeing is a good time, right?
    
16. Smells Great: These candles are the scents of a coffee shop and so I know everyone in my house would feel warm and welcome right when they walk in once they are lit. These are actually three of my favorite scents, so you can probably tell that I have a slight coffee-related addiction.
    
17. Toy: Dixit is an amazing game. Like...I don't know how to describe it. A bunch of cards with illustrations on them need to be described by the players, and then everyone votes on which description they like the best (blindly vote). It's just a wonderful game for inspiration, and you can make it as complicated or as simple as you'd like. I really enjoy playing it with both my friends and family.
    
18. Helpful for Writers: An Imaginative Workbook! I think one of the biggest things writers forget how to do is play! We spend so much time in our universe, trying to make it perfect, that sometimes we forget to just let go and have our imaginations run wild. I think workbooks like the one I just linked are perfect for when writer's block hits, or when we need a pick-me-up to remember why we started writing in the first place.
    
19. Current Obsession: My current obsession has become learning how to play the ukulele. I heard on a couple of podcasts that it really boosted some people's happiness, especially if they loved music, but didn't feel like they had the time to learn to play a new instrument. I have been borrowing my neighbor's, but since I am moving soon, I've decided to purchase one from Amazon. They have tons of ukuleles on there, weirdly.
    
20. Makes You Laugh: As a person who loves Wes Anderson films this coffee table book always makes me laugh.
    
    Edit: Finished! I love scavenger hunts; it always reminds me what a weirdo I am.

Mathematicians and physicists routinely work with much higher dimensions than the four dimensions of space-time. String theorists are undecided as to how many dimensions there are to reality, some believe there are 10 or 11, but some believe there are as many as 26.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory#Number_of_dimensions
http://superstringtheory.com/basics/basic5.html

wiki:
An intriguing feature of string theory is that it predicts extra dimensions. In classical string theory the number of dimensions is not fixed by any consistency criterion. However, in order to make a consistent quantum theory, string theory is required to live in a spacetime of the so-called "critical dimension": we must have 26 spacetime dimensions for the bosonic string and 10 for the superstring. This is necessary to ensure the vanishing of the conformal anomaly of the worldsheet conformal field theory. Modern understanding indicates that there exist less-trivial ways of satisfying this criterion. Cosmological solutions exist in a wider variety of dimensionalities, and these different dimensions are related by dynamical transitions. The dimensions are more precisely different values of the "effective central charge", a count of degrees of freedom that reduces to dimensionality in weakly curved regimes.

wiki:
One such theory is the 11-dimensional M-theory, which requires spacetime to have eleven dimensions, as opposed to the usual three spatial dimensions and the fourth dimension of time. The original string theories from the 1980s describe special cases of M-theory where the eleventh dimension is a very small circle or a line, and if these formulations are considered as fundamental, then string theory requires ten dimensions. But the theory also describes universes like ours, with four observable spacetime dimensions, as well as universes with up to 10 flat space dimensions, and also cases where the position in some of the dimensions is not described by a real number, but by a completely different type of mathematical quantity. So the notion of spacetime dimension is not fixed in string theory: it is best thought of as different in different circumstances.

I will try to explain why entities of higher dimensions are likely to exist, logically.

To a 10th or 26th dimensional being, our simplistic concept of time and our whole material reality, would be fantastically insignificant.

In nature, there exist various spectra of energies which can be described on a continuum between positive and negative. It would seem logical that these spectrum of energies exist in higher dimensions.

"God" represents the supreme, infinite source of positive energy in the universe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum

http://www.debate.org/debates/Philosophy-Determinism-Accurately-Describes-Reality/1/

If humans are able to have consciousness as a result of being physical beings then it would seem logical that there would be higher forms of consciousness that exist within the universe on the macro level.

The human experience is simply the viewport of a 5th dimensional being/entity into the 4th dimensional realm of spacetime...

God exists consciously at every dimension. God is a manefestation of consciousness which exists in higher dimensions.

Humans today are now aware of aspects of reality that were once unknowable prior to the development of sufficiently advanced technology which enables us to detect things that we are not able to sense using our 5 senses. Some examples are various energies that exist outside of the range of our vision, such as UV light, infrared light, radio waves, magnetism, neutrinos, etc.

Humans have been historically ignorant regarding so many things that exist in nature simply because they lacked the technology to be aware of their existence. It is therefore illogical to refuse to believe that something exists, even though the majority of people on our planet claim to be able to detect or sense the presence of a higher plane of reality, which is known as the spiritual realm. It is simply willful ignorance to refuse to acknowledge as truth, what the vast majority of people claim to believe very strongly in, which is that their own natural senses are informing them that there is more to reality than "meets the eye". Materialists therefore are like blind people who refuse to accept that sighted people are able to actually see colors. It is impossible for a sighted person to describe a rainbow to a person who has been blind since birth. A blind person who refuses to accept that sighted people are able to actually "see" colors, is simply being stubbornly ignorant. In the same sense as spiritual people are able to sense the spiritual realm, while materialists refuse to accept it's existence. It seems logical that there remain many aspects of reality that we are still unaware of and unable to detect using our existing level of technology, but that we may be able to sense using hidden capabilities within our brains.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_spiritual_realms

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality

(I Corinthians 2:12-16) "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 'For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ."

So you see, I now understand that not everybody has the capacity to understand the spiritual aspect of reality. Perhaps eventually we'll have the technology to prove its existence. Just as we weren't able to detect neutrinos until very recently. We knew that they should exist, but we couldn't detect them with scientific instrumentation due to the fact that they are almost not even a part of our physical reality. I believe that there are higher dimensions to reality that are detectable only by the human brain. Hidden deep within our neurophysiology lies advanced technology that humans have thus far found elusive and unable to replicate. By the way, as a theistic evolutionist, I believe in evolution. So if it's possible that the only possible means of detecting this spiritual realm is through the human experience or qualia, then it is not reasonable to expect to be able to detect any scientific proof of such a realm, until such time that we have achieved the necessary level of technology. I believe that with the advent of quantum computers we will obtain the understanding to tap into this spiritual realm. Please read the following document for more information:

AWAKENING TO THE FIELD OF CONSCIOUSNESS (PDF)

Also see: http://www.amazon.com/Science-Akashic-Field-Integral-Everything/dp/1594770425

Humans are rapidly approaching the technological singularity. I believe that we will soon have the technology to comprehend, scientifically, the experience of being fully conscious in higher dimensions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

A 26th dimensional being, such as God, could have created all of the known universe and made the only way we could possibly sense his presence through our own human brain, our own inner voice, that is where I believe God exists, right there along with our own consciousness, in our mind. And if God wanted to make reality in such a way that scientific instruments could not detect him or the spiritual realm, then that would have been trivial, just like when he set the speed of light constant, or any of the other fundamental constants in nature, even the dimension of time itself, which we don't even know if it's really a constant velocity or not. Time could be speeding up in another dimension and we would never be able to know it scientifically except for having a feeling in our mind.

The "reason to believe in" God, is because all you have to do is close your eyes and try to sense another presence, in your mind, along with yours. Anything that is positive and wonderful, such as Love, joy, beauty, etc, all of that is God. All of the positive energy in the universe is attributable to some aspect of God, "the light".

Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

So if you focus your mind on the supreme source of positive energy in the universe, then your whole life will be transformed and no matter what happens in your life, you will be able to find peace and happiness. That is the whole reason why people believe in God and the Holy Spirit. Because it's all positive, there is nothing bad about it. Even if you don't believe in it at first, having such a positive continual thought process about life will become a mode of thinking that you won't ever want to let go of.

You need to sever energy links, banish, cleanse, and set up shielding so they can't put them back in and drain you. Try this:

Learn and practice the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram morning and especially every evening before bed. There are many examples and instructions for that ritual online. Make the LRP a part of your everyday life - at least every night before bed. (I've performed the LRP every night before bed for almost 20 years now. I never miss a night.)

Prepare a purifying bath and floor wash and spiritually cleanse yourself and everything in your house. You can borrow ideas and recipes from Hoodoo practices - they're very practical and physical results focused. I find mixtures and oils with lemongrass very effective against negative energies. In fact, a tea-light oil diffuser with some water and a few drops of lemongrass oil floating in it works very well to cleanse a room.

Salt is also VERY good in baths (and pretty much everywhere else), but make sure you drink plenty of water before and after soaking in a salt bath.

Note: I've scattered salt all over the floors of an apartment before to eliminate heavy negative manifestations. It was messy to vacuum up the next day, but it worked! Leaving half an onion on a plate in a room to soak up negative energies is also helpful - throw it away outside of your house after it has sat in place for a few hours.

Also note: a hoodoo-style 'uncrossing' ritual can be very helpful for removing energy links and unwanted influences in your life. Brother Moloch has some examples and info on that.

Create energy shields for yourself and your dwelling. You will have to reinforce them every day for a few weeks to get the most out of them. Someone else posted this helpful link to get you started.

Other things that can help:

I've found the 'Hammer Rite' by Edred Thorsson to be stronger than the LBRP as far as blocking out all psychic activity goes. It seals off a room really well, but you need to be familiar with the runes to use it.

This is one of the best books you can get on the topic of psychic self defense. I've been practicing magick for over 20 years, and in my opinion, his techniques (minus the new age bits) are very effective, and the experiences he writes about are similar enough to many of my own for me to conclude that he's really road-tested his material.

When removing energy links to people or while defending yourself, imagine strongly that you're burning them away - put your force/oomph into it! You can also pretend you're holding a chainsaw or grinding device and ripping the shit out of the links. Burn and cleanse the area (in your mind) afterward, and then spackle over the hole in your aura where they came in. (Use Bruce's 'energy brushing' technique to feel yourself smoothing over the energy hole in your aura etc. See below.)

To help you get good at energy work, Robert Bruce has a document called New Energy Ways. Again, ignore the parts that sound like a new age infomercial. This shit really works!

Flower Essences: Don't go out of your way to find them, but I've found over the years that Australian Bush Flower Essences are surprisingly effective against certain types of issues. Fringed Violet (a few drops under the tongue) can help with healing/sealing the aura, Boab is said to help remove harmful links, and Macrocarpa is good for making you feel more energetic. They're great to add to a room spray for clearing/protecting a room, and can even be purchased for that purpose in a ready made spray. Again, don't go out of your way to obtain them at great expense. They're helpful in some situations, but it's not going to be a mind-blowingly powerful aid with amazing results (although I did have a surprisingly strong effect the first time I tried fringed violet). More like a helpful component as part of your overall effort.

Banishing Room Spray: you can make a 'banishing/cleansing' room spray pretty easily. Make a strong tea with (dried) Hyssop, Rue, and Agrimony, and chant the psalms over it. Psalms 10 and 23 are good to use if you aren't sure. (You don't have to be Christian to use the Bible as an effective book of power.) Chant or sing/intone the names of Archangels (especially Michael - pronounced Mee-Kigh-el etc.) over the tea until you can feel their force flowing into the liquid - try to make the liquid vibrate with the note you sing while chanting their names. When you feel like the liquid is fully charged, put it into a spray/mist bottle and spray yourself and the air in your room to set up a barrier and clean/clear the place.

If you feel a tingling on your back or stomach in a specific area which you intuitively suspect is the result of a negative energy link, you can use a pen to draw protective sigils or crosses / pentagrams over that spot before sleep. (Don't sleep in a white shirt - the design will transfer when you sweat!) It can help while you're weathering the storm. Try not to overreact to every little tingling sensation or you'll drive yourself nuts!

Watch as many comedies as you can. Laughter really is helpful. Music is helpful for charging a place and changing the atmosphere. I often play religious choral music for that purpose.

Here's a list of books I've read that have had a big impact on my journey.

First and foremost tho, you should learn to meditate. That's the most instrumental part of any spiritual path.

 Ram Dass – “Be Here Now” - https://www.amazon.com/Be-Here-Now-Ram-Dass/dp/0517543052 - Possibly the most important book in the list – was the biggest impact in my life.  Fuses Western and Eastern religions/ideas. Kinda whacky to read, but definitely #1

Ram Dass - “Journey Of Awakening” - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006L7R2EI - Another Ram Dass book - once I got more into Transcendental Meditation and wanted to learn other ways/types of meditation, this helped out.

 Clifford Pickover – “Sex, Drugs, Einstein & Elves…” - https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Drugs-Einstein-Elves-Transcendence/dp/1890572179/ - Somewhat random, frantic book – explores lots of ideas – planted a lot of seeds in my head that I followed up on in most of the books below

 Daniel Pinchbeck – “Breaking Open the Head” - https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Open-Head-Psychedelic-Contemporary/dp/0767907434 - First book I read to explore impact of psychedelics on our brains

 Jeremy Narby – “Cosmic Serpent” - https://www.amazon.com/Cosmic-Serpent-DNA-Origins-Knowledge/dp/0874779642/ - Got into this book from the above, explores Ayahuasca deeper and relevancy of serpent symbolism in our society and DNA

 Robert Forte – “Entheogens and the Future of Religion” - https://www.amazon.com/Entheogens-Future-Religion-Robert-Forte/dp/1594774382 - Collection of essays and speeches from scientists, religious leaders, etc., about the use of psychedelics (referred to as Entheogens) as the catalyst for religion/spirituality

 Clark Strand – “Waking up to the Dark” - https://www.amazon.com/Waking-Up-Dark-Ancient-Sleepless/dp/0812997727 - Explores human’s addiction to artificial light, also gets into femininity of religion as balance to masculine ideas in our society

 Lee Bolman – “Leading with Soul” - https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Soul-Uncommon-Journey-Spirit/dp/0470619007 - Discusses using spirituality to foster a better, more supportive and creative workplace – pivotal in my honesty/openness approach when chatting about life with coworkers

 Eben Alexander – “Proof of Heaven” - https://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Afterlife/dp/1451695195 - A neurophysicist discusses his near death experience and his transformation from non-believer to believer (title is a little click-baity, but very insightful book.  His descriptions of his experience align very similarly to deep meditations I’ve had)

 Indries Shah – “Thinkers of the East” - https://www.amazon.com/Thinkers-East-Idries-Shah/dp/178479063X/ - A collection of parables and stories from Islamic scholars.  Got turned onto Islamic writings after my trip through Pakistan, this book is great for structure around our whole spiritual “journey”

 Whitley Strieber – “The Key: A True Encounter” - https://www.amazon.com/Key-True-Encounter-Whitley-Strieber/dp/1585428698 - A man’s recollection of a conversation with a spiritual creature visiting him in a hotel room.  Sort of out there, easy to dismiss, but the topics are pretty solid

 Mary Scott – “Kundalini in the Physical World” - https://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-Physical-World-Mary-Scott/dp/0710094175/ - Very dense, very difficult scientific book exploring Hinduism and metaphysics (wouldn’t recommend this for light reading, definitely something you’d want to save for later in your “journey”)

 Hermann Hesse – “Siddartha” - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/siddhartha-hermann-hesse/1116718450? – Short novel about a spiritual journey, coming of age type book.  Beautifully written, very enjoyable.

Reza Aslan - “Zealot” - https://www.amazon.com/ZEALOT-Life-Times-Jesus-Nazareth/dp/140006922X - Talks about the historical Jesus - helped me reconnect with Christianity in a way I didn’t have before

Reza Aslan - “No god but God” - https://www.amazon.com/god-but-God-Updated-Evolution/dp/0812982444 - Same as above, but in terms of Mohammad and Islam.  I’m starting to try to integrate the “truths” of our religions to try and form my own understanding

Thich Nhat Hanh - “Silence” - https://www.amazon.com/Silence-Power-Quiet-World-Noise-ebook/dp/B00MEIMCVG - Hanh’s a Vietnamese Buddhist monk - in this book he writes a lot about finding the beauty in silence, turning off the voice in our heads and lives, and living in peace.

Paulo Coelho - “The Alchemist” - https://www.amazon.com/Alchemist-Paulo-Coelho/dp/0062315005/ - Sort of a modern day exploration of “the path” similar to “Siddhartha.”  Very easy and a joy to read, good concepts of what it means to be on a “path”

Carlos Castaneda - "The Teachings of Don Juan" - The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671600419 - Started exploring more into shamanism and indigenous spiritual work; this book was a great intro and written in an entertaining and accessible way. 

Jean-Yves Leloup - “The Gospel of Mary” - https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Mary-Magdalene-Jean-Yves-Leloup/dp/0892819111/ - The book that finally opened my eyes to the potentiality of the teachings of Christ.  This book, combined with the one below, have been truly transformative in my belief system and accepting humanity and the power of love beyond what I’ve found so far in my journey.

Jean-Yves Leloup - “The Gospel of Philip” - https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Philip-Magdalene-Gnosis-Sacred/dp/1594770220 - Really begins to dissect and dive into the metaphysical teachings of Christ, exploring the concept of marriage, human union and sexuality, and the power contained within.  This book, combined with the one above, have radically changed my perception of The Church as dissimilar and antithetical to what Christ actually taught.

Ram Dass - “Be Love Now” - https://www.amazon.com/Be-Love-Now-Path-Heart/dp/0061961388 - A follow-up to “Be Here Now” - gets more into the esoteric side of things, his relationship with his Guru, enlightenment, enlightened beings, etc.

Riane Eisler - “The Chalice and the Blade” - https://www.amazon.com/Chalice-Blade-Our-History-Future/dp/0062502891 - An anthropoligical book analyzing the dominative vs cooperative models in the history and pre-history of society and how our roots have been co-opted and rewritten by the dominative model to entrap society into accepting a false truth of violence and dominance as “the way it is”

You're in the age range for Indigos. Most were born during the 80s. I'm 28, too. The ones being born now are called Crystal Children and are somewhat different, diagnostically. And then supposedly there will be the Rainbow Children, however most famous psychics that travel say they've never seen one yet anywhere - although there are plenty of parents that will tell you their child is Rainbow - or Indigo - or Crystal. I really don't agree with parents giving a spiritual identity to their young children. Only they can know if they're Indigo or psychic and if they are, they will struggle harder than other kids growing up, and they won't find many other kids they can relate to. Until I started doing spiritual work for the benefit of OTHERS, it was a complete curse.

Anyway, you should check out the material that Nancy Ann Tappe collected. She's dead now, but she was the person that invented the theory and her followers have maintained her website. Also, I would get a copy of The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children by Doreen Virtue, and do Charles Virtue's Indigo Studies course. It's only about $50 bucks, all you have to do is listen to four two hour long .mp3s in order to get the certification, however in my opinion, the information in that course is invaluable and worth WAY more than earning a certificate. And then I would also get a deck of oracle cards.

That's the main way I connect with my angels these days. They're safe, accurate, don't pose any dangers like the ouija, pendulums or mediumship, and you'll truly be connecting with your angel guides. Charles has a deck of oracle cards for Indigos, which I really like, but it can sometimes be a little vague when being used for divination. Honestly, I'd recommend getting four decks - Angel Answers Oracle Cards, Past Life Oracle Cards, and Angel Dreams Oracle Cards, and Indigo Angel Oracle Cards.

There's another thing you might consider though - you might be an Earth Angel as opposed to an Indigo... You can both, neither or just one or the other. But if you're interesting in determining celestial origin, psychic ability, connecting with the angels, etc., you should probably find out what your specific "type," is. I'm gonna link you to another post where I answered someone's question in detail that was asking what Earth Angels and Realms are. I can do a reading for you if you want though, too.

Here are the links to everything:


Nancy Ann Tappe's Main Website: http://www.nancyanntappe.com


Nancy Ann Tappe's Site Section on Indigos: http://www.allaboutindigos.com


The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children by Doreen Virtue Amazon.com Link: http://www.amazon.com/Care-Feeding-Indigo-Children/dp/1561708461/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417700906&sr=8-1&keywords=care+and+feeding+of+indigo


Charles Virtue's Indigo Studies Course: http://www.charlesvirtue.com


Angel Answers Oracle Cards by Doreen Virtue & Radleigh Valentine Amazon.com Link: http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Answers-Oracle-Cards-Guidebook/dp/1401945902/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417701117&sr=8-1&keywords=angel+answers


Past Life Oracle Cards by Doreen Virtue and Brian Weiss Amazon.com Link: http://www.amazon.com/Past-Life-Oracle-Cards-Guidebook/dp/1401943675/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417701172&sr=8-1&keywords=past+life+oracle+cards


Indigo Angel Oracle Cards by Doreen Virtue and Charles Virtue Amazon.com Link: http://www.amazon.com/Indigo-Angel-Oracle-Doreen-Virtue/dp/1401934986/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417701232&sr=8-1&keywords=indigo+oracle+cards


Angel Dreams Oracle Cards by Doreen Virtue and Melissa Virtue Amazon.com Link: http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Dreams-Oracle-Doreen-Virtue/dp/1401940439/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417701271&sr=8-1&keywords=angel+dreams+oracle+cards


I should mention, a lot of these can be bought significantly discounted if you order from the publisher instead, which is HayHouse.com - just type the titles into the search bar at Hay House and you might be able to get some stuff way cheaper. Also, all the books I've mentioned so far are available for Kindle or Macintosh iBooks, and all of the decks I just mentioned can be purchased as apps for iPhone an Android. It sounds like a strange concept, but yes, they have made most all tarot and oracle cards into app versions now (from lots of different publishers), and they actually do work. In fact, sometimes it seems like some of the readings I do by app are more accurate! Lol.

I think it just proves that if you reach out to Spirit sincerely, you will get an answer and/or help, regardless of the medium you choose to work with. As for the decks, I'd get Angel Dreams for divination, Past Life for so many reasons I can't even list them all (most people's present day difficulties can be traced back to traumas that occurred in past lives and processing the regressed memories can cause illnesses to heal, phobias to go away, and can explain some of the patterns of behavior in a person's life that seem inexplicable). The Indigo cards I would get in order to work with in communicating with Metatron, and Angel Answers is a deck that just gives you straight up blunt answers and will do yes/no and when/where questions.

Lastly, here are some other books I didn't mention earlier... I haven't read them all yet but they're in my iBooks:


The Indigo Children: The New Kids Have Arrived by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober


Indigo Celebration: More Messages, Stories, and Insights from the Indigo Children by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober


Indigo Adults: Understanding Who You Are and What You Can Become by Kabir Jaffe (Author), Ritama Davidson


The Indigo Children Ten Years Later: What's Happening with the Indigo Teenagers! by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober


The Children of Now: Crystalline Children, Indigo Children, Star Kids, Angels on Earth, and the Phenomenon of Transitional Children by Meg Blackburn Losey Ph.D.


Becoming Indigo by Tara Taylor and Lorna Schultz Nicholson


Through Indigo's Eyes by Lorna Schultz Nicholson and Tara Taylor


Oh, and here's the link where I posted about what Earth Angels and Earth Angel Realms are: http://www.reddit.com/r/angelrealm/comments/2netg6/what_is_your_earth_angel_realmcelestial_origin_if/


I hope that helps!

Wow, I didn't think this particular facet of my knowledge base would be used here, but here we go. Please keep in mind that I am not an expert or a professional occultist but I have been involved in personal study for several years.

First of all, identify what you are most interested in and stick to it. There are so many different facets to the occult that it is easy to get overwhelmed and spread too far along the many subjects. Luckily, you can easily learn a lot about one subject by learning a lot about another.

For instance, you can learn about numerology, cabala, astrology, elemental magic and much more by learning all you can about the tarot. If you become an expert on one field, you can easily comprehend new information in different field.

That said, I highly recommend that you get a tarot deck. Even if you are not extremely interested in tarot, it's a good idea to have one around for reference. For beginners I recommend getting a basic Rider-Waite deck, which most contemporary decks are based on. If you are highly interested in ritual magic, Thelema or Aleister Crowley, you will want to get a Thoth deck, but definitely get a book on the deck and master it as soon as you can. Otherwise, fight the urge to get an theme deck as very few of them are consistent with symbolism and will be confusing for a beginner.

Get a good basic book. There are a lot of good basic books out there and you should be able to find something at is relevant to your interests.

I am a chaos magician with a fondness for Hermetic philosophy, so my suggestions will lean towards that realm.

New Hermetics by Jason Augustus Newcomb: A very good primer on the elements of magic. Basic on Hermetic magic with plenty of other traditions and schools of thought mixed in. Good for learning meditation and filled with exercises you can perform mentally.

Postmodern Magic by Patrick Dunn: A good primer for people interested in "new" magic. Not officially chaos magic but definitely in the same vein.

There are a lot of basic magic books out there. Don't get stuck reading books for beginners. Once you have the basics, you should move onto something more advanced.

Meditate regularly. Even if you don't want to do astral travel or deep buddhist meditation, make time as much as possible to do at least 15 minutes of some sort of meditation. Almost every tradition uses mediation for a reason.

Keep a journal. Record anything occult or magical that you do or learn. You may also want to journal your dreams, which will be beneficial to mediation and lucid dreaming.

Although very few occult teachers and books will suggest it, it is very, very important to maintain a healthy level of skepticism. You are going to be reading and learning about a lot a pretty crazy stuff and you should be able to discern the good stuff from the bullshit. As a good rule of thumb, bullshit is expensive.

Also, use your skepticism to integrate science and magic. A healthy understanding of the body, psychology, chemistry and physics will enrich your understanding of the occult.

If you have any other questions about learning about the occult, don't hesitate to ask.

Oh yeah, and check out /r/occult.

It's more or less a waiting game but does require upwards of 45-60 mins to reach the vibrations stage (your experiences may vary). Depending on how you meditate could also affect this. Since you were meditating in bed, here are some other tips to help you move past just simply meditating and progress on.

• Make yourself slightly uncomfortable, be it laying in a different position, or even placing a board under your heels. You'll need to be in a slight discomfort to help keep your mind active enough not to fall asleep and to continue past just meditating.
  
  
• Counting out breaths, mantras, or even focusing on belly breathing or your breath, in general, are great ways to keep your brain active enough.
  
  
• Wear loose clothing, undo belts, and don't completely cover your self with heavy blankets. Light blankets are okay but you don't want to trick your brain into thinking its bed time.
  
  
• Propping yourself up to a 45° in bed is a good idea as well.
  
  
• Also tensing muscle groups then releasing, over the entire body, before meditation, trance work, or an AP session are great to do as well.
  
  What you should notice as you progress along to an astral projection:
  
  

1. Eventual loss of sensation to hands, feet, and limbs. The chest and head are usually last to "go." This tends to feel like a metal blanket being pulled over you.
   
   
2. Vibrations or Sleep Paralysis come next. Generally, limbs are unable to be moved and it might be difficult to breathe deeply (don't panic, you'll be fine, shallow breathing is expected). Vibrations feel like low (or sometimes high) intensity energy surging through parts or all of your body†.
   
   
3. From this point, wait for vibrations to pass, you may then either experience 3D darkness (where all senses shut off) or you could move into astral sight††.
   
   
4. In either event, once you've reached step three, exit techniques can now be applied to "leave" your body. There are many different techniques but the best ones deal with motion, climbing ropes or ladders, thinking of roller coasters, etc.
   
   These are the basic steps of reaching an astral projection. I haven't completed one yet but I've been studying, practicing, and meditating on a regular basis. I've linked a book below that has been a huge help in understanding what to expect and how to go about completing an AP, I highly recommend it. This link here will also link to other comments I've made on other posts with other tips, suggestions, and even YouTubers that can help explain. Good Luck!
   
   † - Author Robert Bruce describes the vibrations stage as your energy double being created from the physical double as it takes a lot of energy to get this energy double ready to astral project.
   
   †† - Recently, I tried some light trance work from Robert Bruce's book, "Astral Dynamics." I set myself up in a seated position, as suggested, and focused on belly breathing, with a 22 min timer (as I had other things to do). I went through the motions taught in the book and began noticing sensations of my previous astral sessions, heavy warm body, vibrations forming in my arms & legs. Eventually, the darkness behind my eyes started to go away and was replaced by bright white. This was odd to me because I had made the room relatively dark for 11:30 am. I could have sworn I started to see objects out in the distance in this new white light behind my closed eye lids. Eventually, my meditation music kicked off due to WiFi issues and I had thought my alarm went off. I then ended my session and was surprised to see my room wasn't any brighter. From the looks of it, I may have been on the verge of astral sight and possibly an exit.
   

It is true that the subconscious and unconscious are much, much more of the mind than what we experience in the conscious state. Many people believe that intuition is nothing more than complex pattern analysis and prediction that takes place in the subconscious and is then passed on up to the conscious mind when it is needed. I do believe that this is very much part of it, but I believe there is much more to it than this. I think the big area of contention is whether the mind is contained within and limited to the physical brain, or if the mind is related to, but not limited to the physical brain.

It is difficult to prove whether the mind is the brain or if the mind is just influencing the brain. The reason being that you cannot directly observe the mind. You can only indirectly measure or observe its influences. There is some very compelling evidence to suggest that the mind and brain are indeed separate though. One of my favorite phenomenon to reference in this regard is the military's Remote Viewing program, formerly Project Star Gate at Ft. Meade in Maryland. The program lasted for over 20 years and changed names and locations like a hot potato because it was so controversial. They got results though and this is why the funding was continued for so long.

When you take the whole thing seriously and go back and look at it's history and the science that went into it the whole thing really is quite impressive. If you want a good link with a whole ton of peer reviewed publications of articles and papers you can visit the International Remote Viewing Association's website library here. The great thing about Remote Viewing is that there are all kinds of options to actually learn how to do it yourself. There are cheap books that teach it like this one or even free youtube courses that teach it like this one. You can take a class in person through some of the former military Remote Viewers themselves, but many are retiring. This is more costly as it requires travel and personal instruction time, but it is probably the best way.

In Remote Viewing you are completely blind to what the target is. Random coordinates are assigned to the target like 6T7G-4657 for example. Means nothing right? If you were to go and do a Remote Viewing session you would be given that number and then you would sit down with a pen and paper and just start recording your impressions of what come to you. Maybe you feel like the target is tall, prominent, metal, man made, revered. You might feel a sense of tourism with the target site. You just describe without defining, over the course of the session and when you are done you can be finally told what the target site was. The more you practice the better you get. The researchers at The Stanford Research Institute discovered that all human beings have some ability to Remote View. Most are incredibly unaware of it. We might think of someone before they call, get a bad feeling when a loved one is in trouble miles away, or recognize the feeling of being stared at from across a crowded room, but we always brush these off as coincidences.

The mind is an incredible thing. Through Remote Viewing we know that we can access any point in time and space. People even use Remote Viewing to play the stock market and win the lottery. They use a technique called Associative Remote Viewing because numbers are so incredibly difficult to Remote View. Here is a white paper by some college students at the University of Colorado that used ARV to make $16,000 in the stock market over just a few weeks.

It makes it really difficult to see how the mind is nothing more than a brain locked between our ears in our physical skulls when things like this are possible and repeatable. Again, it cannot directly be observed though, so we just don't know for sure. I'm open to hearing other theories. I think it is much more fun to learn and use Remote Viewing though. Anyway, I just wanted to share all of this in case you were not aware. I always enjoy talking about this stuff. :)

I would like to add that I have invoked the goddess Isis (using the phrase loosely because she tends to do whatever she wants) on more than one occasion (all of them potent and overwhelming) and have had interactions with her since the 90s, and at no time have I ever experienced anything terrifying or suggestive that she was malevolent in any way. She has her own personality, can be brutally honest, and can even sometimes display a bit of attitude and a royal air (being the Queen of Heaven as she has been known). Your experience here does not have any signs of being from or influenced by that goddess. It sounds more like you were ambushed by an opportunistic (and very malevolent) entity. Read this book to learn some very effective and practical methods for protection against such things. It's the best I've found in print.

If you're truly interested in learning about the goddess Isis, the REAL history and useable practices for furthering your relationship with her, this book is the best you will find.

What others have said regarding protection and staying away from that environment is fairly good. I don't think it would be a safe plan to try to clear the house by yourself. A couple friends (with energy/magick skill) would be ideal. Also, some salt baths would probably be helpful i.e. pour half a bag of salt into a bath and soak in it. Drink plenty of water before and after. You can bless the water and call on divine names to make it into a potent cleansing tool to kick things up a notch before you get in.

If you can find a decent Reiki master in your area, you might want to get a couple healing sessions to help close up holes in your aura and help return yourself to a state of emotional balance. Good practitioners capable of channeling large quantities of energy can be difficult to find - check their credentials and avoid self-taught healers.

Other things that I've used successfully in the past to help overcome severe negative spiritual events include Fringed Violet (fixes holes/trauma), Grey Spider flower (helps with fear), and Boab (removes neg. links) Australian Bush Flower Essences. Look those up. Their effects (as an energetic medicine - a few drops under the tongue) can be subtle or intense depending on your need. Sometimes I put several drops of essences into a spray/mist bottle, and I use that to help quickly clear a room! A little Florida Water in the bottle also helps (because of the herbal content) and smells nice.

There is good old John Chang, in the Magus of Java books. While John Chang is an interesting dude, don't expect anything practical from the books.

Chronicles of Tao is fiction, but an entertaining story. His writing is esoterically accurate in that he draws from other teachers. For example, the different planes described in Astral Dynamics are things he sees while in deep meditation. This absolutely blew my mind at the time until I read a little more about the guy who the books is about. Now I've come to the conclusion that he draws from other authors and teachers.

The author Hua Ching Ni writes a lot of books. He has an acupuncture school in Los Angeles called Yo San University. Some of his stuff is pretty esoteric, but not much practical instruction.

It's definitely worth it to learn some TCM theory.

I honestly haven't come across any good qigong books. I took a class with one of this guy's students, it had a good breadth of standard stances. The book would probably make a good introduction. I'm pretty sure that book is available online somewhere if you are willing to violate copyright laws.

I read a pdf of this book on Taoist Sorcery. It gave some insight to some of the esoteric spirit petitioning crazyness. A lot of ritual and burning of yellow paper.

Other than that it is a lot of meeting different teachers, learning their practices, then going home and working on that stuff. You shouldn't need to keep paying someone in order to keep practicing.

The Following list is taken from the Witches & Warlocks FB page. (This is Christian Day's group)

Witches and Warlocks Recommended Reading List
This is a collection of books recommended by our admins and participants in the group. Books must be approved by the admins so if you'd like to see one added to the last, please post it in the comments at the bottom of this list and, if it's something we think is appropriate, we'll add it! We provide links to Amazon so folks can read more about the book but we encourage you to shop at your local occult shop whenever possible! :)


BEGINNER'S WITCHCRAFT BOOKS

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft
by Raymond Buckland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0875420508

Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America
by Margot Adler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0143038192

Grimoire of the Thorn-Blooded Witch: Mastering the Five Arts of Old World Witchery
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635500

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738702765

The Kybalion: The Definitive Edition
by William Walker Atkinson (Three Initiates)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1585428744

Lid Off the Cauldron: A Wicca Handbook
by Patricia Crowther
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861630328

Mastering Witchcraft
by Paul Huson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0595420060

Natural Magic
by Doreen Valiente
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0919345808

Natural Witchery: Intuitive, Personal & Practical Magick
by Ellen Dugan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738709220

Old World Witchcraft: Ancient Ways for Modern Days
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635055

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738705314

Power of the Witch: The Earth, the Moon, and the Magical Path to Enlightenment
by Laurie Cabot
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385301898

Solitary Witch: The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation
by Silver RavenWolf
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703192

Spirit of the Witch: Religion & Spirituality in Contemporary Witchcraft
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703389

Witch: A Magickal Journey
by Fiona Horne
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0007121326

Witchcraft for Tomorrow
by Doreen Valiente
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0709052448

Witchcraft Today
by Gerald Gardner
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806525932
The Witches' Craft: The Roots of Witchcraft & Magical Transformation
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/073870265X
The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill
by Robin Artisson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982031882

WITCHCRAFT HISTORY AND RESOURCE BOOKS

Aradia or The Gospel of the Witches
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982432356

Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints & Sages: A Guide to Asking for Protection, Wealth, Happiness, and Everything Else!
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062009575

The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca
by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0816071047

Etruscan Roman Remains
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1494302519

The God of the Witches
by Margaret Murray
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195012704

The Weiser Field Guide to Witches, The: From Hexes to Hermione Granger, From Salem to the Land of Oz
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634792

ADVANCED BOOKS ON WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

Blood Sorcery Bible Volume 1: Rituals in Necromancy
by Sorceress Cagliastro
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1935150812

The Deep Heart of Witchcraft: Expanding the Core of Magickal Practice
by David Salisbury
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1780999208

Teen Spirit Wicca
by David Salisbury
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1782790594

Enchantment: The Witch's Art of Manipulation by Gesture, Gaze and Glamour
by Peter Paddon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936922517

Initiation into Hermetics
by Franz Bardon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1885928122

Letters from the Devil's Forest: An Anthology of Writings on Traditional Witchcraft, Spiritual Ecology and Provenance Traditionalism
by Robin Artisson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500796360

Magical Use of Thought Forms: A Proven System of Mental & Spiritual Empowerment
by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowick and J.H. Brennan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567180841

Magick in Theory and Practice
by Aleister Crowley
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500380679

The Plant Spirit Familiar
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982774311

Protection and Reversal Magick
by Jason Miller
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1564148793
Psychic Self-Defense
by Dion Fortune
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635098
The Ritual Magic Workbook: A Practical Course of Self-Initiation
by Dolores Ashcroft-Norwicki
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578630452
The Roebuck in the Thicket: An Anthology of the Robert Cochrane Witchcraft Tradition
by Evan John Jones, Robert Cochrane and Michael Howard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861631553

The Satanic Witch
by Anton Szandor LaVey
http://www.amazon.com/Satanic-Witch-Anton-Szandor-LaVey/dp/0922915849
Shadow Magick Compendium: Exploring Darker Aspects of Magickal Spirituality
by Raven Digitalis
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VS0N5K
The Tree of Enchantment: Ancient Wisdom and Magic Practices of the Faery Tradition
by Orion Foxwood
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634075
The Underworld Initiation: A journey towards psychic transformation
by R.J. Stewart
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1892137038

HERBALISM, CANDLES, INCENSE, OILS, FORMULARIES, AND STONES

A Compendium of Herbal Magic
by Paul Beyerl
http://www.amazon.com/dp/091934545X

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
by Scott Cunningham
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0875421229

The Enchanted Candle: Crafting and Casting Magickal Light
by Lady Rhea
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806525789

The Enchanted Formulary: Blending Magickal Oils for Love, Prosperity, and Healing
by Lady Maeve Rhea
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806527048

Incense: Crafting and Use of Magickal Scents
by Carl F. Neal
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703362

Magickal Formulary Spellbook Book 1
by Herman Slater
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0939708000

Magickal Formulary Spellbook: Book II
by Herman Slater
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0939708108


SPELLCASTING AND SPELLBOOKS
Crone's Book of Charms & Spells
by Valerie Worth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567188117

Crone's Book of Magical Words
by Valerie Worth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567188257

Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061711233

Everyday Magic: Spells & Rituals for Modern Living
by Dorothy Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567184693

Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578633915
Utterly Wicked: Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions
by Dorothy Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979453313
The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook
by Denise Alvarado
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635136

The Voodoo Doll Spellbook: A Compendium of Ancient and Contemporary Spells and Rituals
by Denise Alvarado
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578635543


THE ANCESTORS AND WORKING WITH THE DEAD
The Cauldron of Memory: Retrieving Ancestral Knowledge & Wisdom
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738715751

The Mighty Dead
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982774370

Speak with the Dead: Seven Methods for Spirit Communication
by Konstantinos
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738705225
The Witches' Book of the Dead
by Christian Day
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635063
_____
TAROT

78 Degrees of Wisdom
by Rachel Pollack
http://www.amazon.com/dp/157863408

It varies--I did it to get my income up to a certain place, and started seeing small changes toward that overall goal within a month, though it'll likely take much longer (and more focused practice) for me to reach that ultimate goal. I did it to get the right apartment, and ended up (through a serious of serendipitous-seeming "coincidences") getting a great deal on a place that is FAR better than what I should be able to afford within a couple of weeks. I've seen results for some smaller things within days or even hours. And sometimes, to be perfectly honest, it just doesn't work. The subconscious is powerful, and sometimes what you think you want isn't what you actually want, your goal is too big or small for your current "vibration" (or whatever you want to call it), or...some other reason. I don't claim to fully understand any of it. I just know that it's worked consistently and, at times, improbably enough for me to believe it.

If you have a few bucks to spend on a book, I highly recommend this one, which quite honestly changed my life. It's got tons of practical, concrete exercises to help with jumping, and makes a lot of the underlying principles much clearer than anything I've found while wandering the interwebs: https://www.amazon.com/Parallel-Universes-Self-Frederick-Dodson/dp/1546841431/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8F6HFZJKRQZZ8YRYRXX5

>I didn't even imply that, speaking of intellectual shortcomings. Furthermore, I could just snipe back and say your intellectual shortcomings are quite obvious if you don't recognize pragmatism as bullshit. Can we not do this?

>I'd have much more respect for you if you bothered tackling what I actually said.

>So instead of wasting our time pointlessly going back and forth like that, I'll just repeat what I said and see if you deal with it this time.

>1) I said that most everyone understands "truth" to have a particular meaning, and if you use "true" to mean something else, you're going to mislead and confuse people. That is entirely independent of whether or not pragmatism has any merit.

Everyone once thought the Earth was flat. Just because something is widely accepted doesn't mean it's right (or true)

>2) I said there are other words you could use that mean the same thing you're trying to say, but are not going to needlessly confuse people.

I agree that saying knowledge is much easier to understand. Jordan is just using the lingo that pragmatic philosophers use

>3) Peterson should have acknowledged that and used another word. "When I say "true" I mean X, but I realize that's confusing, so instead I'll say it like this."

See question #2

>4) Peterson's refusal to do so shows he has an ulterior motive. This is, I believe, being able to say some religious belief that has no evidence is true.

Again he is going off of a previously formed philosophy. He never once every says Religion is historical fact, or true. Only that it is useful. I explain it more below.

>4a) This is a bastardization of pragmatism.

No it isn't. You guys keep getng stuck on this one word and not the actual views Jordan is presenting.

If you expand your understanding to something other than Material Realism, we could actually have a decent conversation. His argument is that you can't form an ought to be from an is. Science cannot answer it all, and Mythology is just as important to forming a usable truth (I would call it something like "necassary knowledge" but I understand why JP uses truth, as in science sometimes provides, or could provide, insufficient truths)
Biocentrism and Beyond Biocentrism, both by Dr. Robert Lanza, are good books if you're looking for an opposing view from Material Realism.

So interesting! I had exactly the same thought the other day and meditated on it. My interpretation is that our physical senses help us perceive what is inside us (the physical world). It is the past, the distillation of causality through our bodies, and that our intellectual, emotional and spiritual senses (brain, heart and soul) help us perceive what is outside of us, it is the future and the space of "free form causality". Almost as if the role of our selves (body + soul) was to convert free-form causality into reality like plants convert mud, energy and CO2 into physical structures (the plants themselves).

There is an interesting book on the topic by the guy who cloned the first embryos http://www.amazon.com/Biocentrism-Consciousness-Understanding-Nature-Universe/dp/1935251740/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415340655&sr=8-1&keywords=biocentrism and a section on this in Pickover's book here: http://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Wonderland-Visual-Adventures-Fractal/dp/031212774X

You have a tiny fraction of the bases covered, but you're better off than many people. Some people only read Scott Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide and call it a day.

You really ought to learn of the history of religious witchcraft in the 20th century, the many layers of symbolism and tradition in Gardnerian and Alexandrian witchcraft of the 50s and 60s, then the spread and change of the newly arrived Pagan and witchcraft scene of the 70s and 80s in America, which leads to Dianic Wicca, Eclectic Wicca, and finally the form presented in Scott Cunningham's books and most, if not all books published in the past ten years (and continuously) by Llewellyn.

Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler: https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Down-Moon-Witches-Goddess-Worshippers/dp/0143038192/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469827845&sr=8-1&keywords=drawing+down+the+moon

Then eventually learn of the history not of the religious traditions of witchcraft which have caught on by many, but the figure of the witch as a religious follower (as opposed to an evil baby-killer, a Halloween decoration, or something dreamed up in the minds of the Catholic church with no foundation in actual religion).

Aradia: Gospel of the Witches by Charles Leland: https://www.amazon.com/Aradia-Gospel-Witches-Charles-Godfrey/dp/0982432356/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828055&sr=8-1&keywords=aradia

Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath by Carlo Ginzburg: https://www.amazon.com/Ecstasies-Deciphering-Witches-Carlo-Ginzburg/dp/0226296938/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828085&sr=8-4&keywords=carlo+ginzburg

The Witch Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray: https://www.amazon.com/Witch-Cult-Western-Europe/dp/1515244024/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828141&sr=8-2&keywords=witch+cult+western+europe

and then, in a timeline-fashion,

Witchcraft Today by Gerald Gardner: https://www.amazon.com/Witchcraft-Today-Gerald-Gardner/dp/0806525932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828213&sr=8-1&keywords=witchcraft+today

Then learn how religious witchcraft, as presented by Gerald Gardner and his covens, was and is practiced, the meaning behind the practices, and why the meanings matter.

A Witches Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar: https://www.amazon.com/Witches-Bible-Complete-Handbook/dp/0919345921/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828310&sr=8-1&keywords=witches+bible

Also inserted in this section might easily be Buckland's Book of Witchcraft, but I don't personally recommend that book as it does stray from Gardnerian tradition in many respects, sometimes changing whole chunks of traditional texts to a more Pagan or celtic format, and conveniently brushes over the use and symbolism of an important tool, the scourge, in witchcraft. But there are many good pieces of knowledge in that book.

Its also important to read up on influential figures in the Craft movement, and their thoughts, opinions, and reasonings behind their beliefs.

Firechild by Maxine Sanders: https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Child-Magic-Maxine-Sanders/dp/1869928784/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828518&sr=8-1&keywords=maxine+sanders

King of the Witches by June Johns: https://www.amazon.com/King-Witches-World-Alex-Sanders/dp/B000NT7OYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469828547&sr=8-1&keywords=king+witches+june

And there's so much more, probably more books than anyone could ever read and find all of.

And one of the best sources of knowledge of the Craft is an experienced High Priest(ess) within a coven that knows their stuff. Much of witchcraft's knowledge comes from its mysteries, which must be experienced to understand.

Good luck on your journey.

Patrick Dunn wrote the clearest, most no-nonsense explanation of the relationship between science and magic that I've read. Note that when he says "the scientist" and "the mage," he is aware he's making broad generalizations. As a linguistics professor, he wears both hats.

>For the past few centuries, Western culture has learned to perceive reality empirically - that is, fundamental beliefs rely on conclusions solely derived from observation. This approach is known as the scientific method. This systematic method is something of an anomaly in human history, though it has allowed us to make advancements far beyond the dreams of our ancestors. In the past hundred years alone we've split an atom, traveled to the moon, turned gold into lead, found treatments for countless diseases, and cracked the human genome. The scientific method is useful for understanding reality, and the mage would do well to understand and be able to employ it as necessary.

>The scientific method assumes the laws of reality are more or less constant. The mage, on the other hand, follows Heraclitus' maxim: "One cannot step in the same river twice." Scientists often recognize some truth in this maxim. But if reality is not more or less constant, the scientific method is a moot practice. Obviously, the world in many ways does remain constant over a period of time - the sun will probably come up tomorrow and we can safely assume that all the oxygen atoms in the atmosphere won't suddenly condense over London, causing the rest of the world to suffocate. The assumption of constancy is what leads scientists to expect they can make future predictions based on repetitive results. And for the most part they can.

>Even science recognizes, however, that some things are not subject to this method. One cannot, for example, repeat a work of art in the same way one can repeat an experiment. The repetition of an experiment results in the accumulation of evidence, which either proves or disproves the validity of a hypothesis. The repetition of a work of art does not prove anything about the art - it's just a copy. Like art, magic is not subject to scientifically controlled repetition, because it deals with the subtle states of self, mind, and holistic reality at the moment of the act of magic. Sorcery is utterly untestable, which is fine. It doesn't have to be.

>Unlike scientists, mages approach reality intuitively rather than empirically. A scientist observes a phenomenon, makes a hypothesis about it, and then gathers data to support or disprove that hypothesis. A mage, on the other hand, observes the symbol systems interacting to make up our world. A mage may have many hypotheses, and feel no need to gather data to prove any of them. A mage perceives the world not as a constant interaction of immutable laws - although often and in many ways it is - but as an ever-changing interaction of arbitrary and constantly shifting symbols. Each symbol, each fundamental building block of reality, connects to some other symbol - or more likely a series of symbols - themselves connecting to others, and so on. The scientist tries to understand and systemize the world; the mage simply tries to experience it.

>An astute and well-educated reader might insist that atoms, or perhaps energy - not symbols - are the fundamental substance of existence. I will discuss symbols more fully in the next chapter, but let me further clarify here. Energy makes up all the matter we perceive in the universe, but our reality does not merely consist of matter. In fact, if you list the things that most impact your reality, I suspect immaterial, even abstract, symbols - love, money, health - appear most frequently. Even the significance of matter itself is often more symbolic than material. The little pewter wizard on top of my computer does not simply remind me of lead and tin; to me, it is a gift from a family member, a little joke on myself, and an object that manages to fall and bruise my toe every time I move my computer.

--Postmodern Magic

Glad you asked. Listed below are what I consider to be the classics which follow closely with Neville's teachings.

​

1. Parallel Universes of Self by Fredrick Dodson (modern author but quite good. Has many videos on Youtube)
   
2. Reality Creation and Manifestation by Fredrick Dodson
   
3. The Complete Works of Florence Scovel Shinn
   
4. The Magic of the Mind: How To Do What You Want With Your Life by Louise Berlay (one of Neville's students)
   
5. The Power in You: The Definitive Thomas Troward (my personal favorite)
   
6. The Wisdom of Genevieve Behrend: Your Invisible Power; Attaining Your Desires; How To Live Life And Love It (student of Troward)
   
7. Golden Keys to a Lifetime of Living by Venice Bloodworth
   
8. Reality transurfing by Vadim Zeland
   
9. The Abundance Book by John Randolph Price (he has many other books that are equally good)
   
   ​

I think most people here are confusing alternate reality/ethereal/astral entities with physical aliens from other planets. The difference being that humans can relatively easily contact alternate reality entities as we can enter their realms where space/time are not limiting. We've been doing this since the time of the earliest humans have walked on Earth. Wherein, physical aliens from other planets, we can't visit them as we lack the technology (faster than light physical travel and/or teleportation machines). That said, some advanced techniques of Astral travel allow objective human consciousness (but not physical body) to travel infinite distances and witness physical realities without needing to be physically present... Well I should mention there's claims of spiritual masters able to physically materialize anywhere but I digress...

If you want to contact alternate reality type entities, then you may want to pickup some books on "magick" and specifically magical evocation. One of the better books might be "The practice of magical evocation" by Franz Bardon. Warning though, this is not for neophytes, and you're playing with fire if you start playing with this stuff. Much like people to play with Weegee boards, then endup having their houses and lives haunted. Read a lot and understand WTF you are getting into before actually doing anything. You can fulfil your curiosity by learning. Don't jump into the car and drive down the highway before you take lessons from experts in a parking lot.

A safer way to contact and interact with ethereal entities is through Astral Projection. I suggest reading "Astral Dynamics" by Robert Bruce

Lastly, if you want to contact real live physical aliens, (and why in the world would you want to do this since many seem to have a habit of doing ungodly things with humans), then you may want to start by visiting the UFO hotspots of the world. You can google around for that. There's definitely some. Then after that perhaps consider Greer's CS5 protocols to make contact in those hotspots - though I have a feeling he's mostly making contact with Ethereal entities not physical aliens.

Good luck, and stay safe!

PS. Stay away from all drugs, unless you really know what you are doing. Staying sane is the only way to have objective experiences. Taking drugs leads to easy experiences but most are going to be highly subjective like a dream where everything is made up by your mind, not an actual reality - though your brain will interpret it as such - then you become insane, or at minimum start believing in things that your own mind created. You'd be losing your mind as you let the crazy out ;-)

Yes, but it's because you believe in them that they work. You could use anything you can think of in the moment to help boost your confidence and your energy if you needed to. Whatever you choose, practice it regularly throughout the day so it's there clearly in your mind when you need it. Just like practicing with a sword to prepare for combat.

Don't practice in the bad vibes room until you have had time to purify it. There are many ways to do this and you will feel safe and comfortable. But until then, use your regular room. If you have any doubt, it will come back to you in the form of fear. Remember in vampire movies when a vampire will take the cross out of the hand of someone trying to use it to protect themselves and crush it because their faith is weak? Same thing.

Whatever you use, from whatever tradition or something you created yourself, it just needs to be something strong and positive. Think of Professor Lupin teaching Harry to use the Patronus charm (Read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl for inspiration.) It could be imagining a golden dragon but if you believe in it - it will work. There is nothing out there that can really harm you but you can become afraid which ruins the experience. Fear is what kills the experience so this is a means of working to alleviate your fear.

Saying "go away" does work. Robert Bruce has a whole book on Psychic Self Defense as it relates to AP.

Ophiel recommends practicing the Kabablistic cross not only for protection but to help energize your astral body in his book The Art and Practice of...

Also try this, as soon as you are in the astral, imagine a wave of energy at the top of your head and move it down to your feet and back up again. Do this slowly at first and then faster. Two or three seconds from top of the head to feet, then one second, then pulsing. It helps invigorate you and ward off negativity. It also helps remove any negative energy blocks from yourself that might be causing the fear or apprehension during your practice. You can do this any time actually. (Edits: fixed link and elaborated)

I thought this was a question for r/occult or r/alchemy, but I see you tied it into Druids. There hasn't been much activity there from the revivalists that I've seen, but if you're more intk the hkstory like me, the evidence shows that the Druids, like most ancient prjests, lracticed a kind of proto-alchemy, judging from all of the support that they were herbalists and Pliny's claim that they brewed mistletoe into a tincture. The wlrd "potion" as I've seen isn't really used in the alchemical literature. The drinks are tinctures (extracts, usually in alcohol), elixirs, and teas.

I've never thought much of it, but come to think of it, because the alchemical tradition is rooted in the Hermetically dominated western esoteric tradition, all of the symbols are limited tk such (4-5 classical elements, the planets, etc.), so making a Druidic alchemical tradition would hopefully do away with those in favor of Celtic ones. Could ogham be used that way? Then again, the proto-alchemy probably wasn't practiced with symbols in the same way.

As to what actually became chemistry, I don't know the full story, but to summarize, all or most of the practices of manipulating the physical substances (e.g. distillation techniques) were adapted into chemistry and metallurgy, while the meaning and theory attached to such were discarded.

If you're interested in taking this up as a hobby I highly reccomend
Robert Allen Bartlett's Real Alchemy. He gets into how to make the famous Philosopher's Stone towards the end, but IMO that's bogus as we would know about that discovery. It's best used in a practical sense for making offerings. I've only made one elixir, but maybe I should get back into it sometime.

For starters, I'd recommend the following to get a taste of the issues we have to wrestle with when thinking about resurrection:

Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes - here is an author who is almost immediately dismissed by the status quo of Christianity as being a crazy man. But in this book, he has been incredibly thorough in presenting evidence for his thesis. I know he writes other books where he speaks more generally, and I think that conservatives tend to seize this as an opportunity to attack without actually addressing the things he brings up in books like this one. Also by the same author, and related to this topic, you should check out:

The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic

Resurrection: Myth or Reality?

Related to Paul, you should read:

The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon

There are three books by this duo, and they are all fantastic - very thorough, meticulous, and yet easy to read and understand. Related to this topic, you'd want to read:

The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem

Another great book to understand where the debates lie in Jesus scholarship would be:

The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions

These are really "get your feet wet" books. But really, one of the biggest problems with theology these days, I feel, is that it is all too often done without even an attempt to connect with science. We think we can argue "the Bible says" and stop there - as if that implies "so therefore this is what we have to believe". This is generally how scholars like N.T. Wright operate - they spend all kinds of effort laying out what the language says, but never really get into the questions of whether these things are tenable with today's knowledge of science, whether or not Paul actually might not have been the author of such things, whether there are contradictions between the gospels (or some of the writings attributed to Paul), etc. With scholars like Wright, it's just assumed that everything which was said was reliable and came from the actual people we have long said it came from - we never have to think about problems like science and historical methodology.

But if you really want to understand the problems surrounding resurrection, I think you need to study what science has to say about consciousness. A few books that come to mind off the top of my head:

The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind

Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness

And if you're really up for some fun with science and the question of eternity:

Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe

The Self-Aware Universe

Please note: I don't think any of these books close the questions. They provide possibilities, for sure, and do so in a way that thoroughly wrestles with the evidence, logical problems, etc. But no one can prove or disprove afterlife, it seems. However, there are certainly many afterlife theories which simply do not work with modern science - literal bodily resurrection being one of them (if we're all going to be resurrected into physical bodies, how is our limited earth that is already stretched to the point of breaking going to support all those resurrected beings?).

This is a very detailed working out of a kind of stoicism/epicureanism. I appreciate the thought you've put into this. Some books I've enjoyed on stoicism and philosophy of life:

• A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
  
• Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions
  
• The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics
  
  Thought-provoking books that challenge naturalism from a secular perspective:
  
  
• Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century
  
• Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False
  
• Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe

The following is a quote form Patrick Dunn's excellent Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age:

> "Shielding is the most popular defensive maneuver. … A shield is a barrier you visualize surrounding yourself so nothing can pass it. You can embellish it however you like. Most people who use shields seem to rely on visual imagination in the construction of their shield, but I find incorporating other senses to be very effective. My shield, for example, smells like burned metal and sounds like steel knives sliding over each other. Many people have multiple shields, but I consider this overkill. One clearly imagined shield is quite sufficient for almost any situation.

> … I also advise a lack of fear. Most magical attacks are utterly ineffective. Last time I was magically attacked, I saw a good movie, ate a delicious meal, and spent the night making love. If I had spent my time worrying unduly about the so-called attack, I might have made myself sick-but I didn't. There is no reason to be afraid of magical attack because very few people are capable of doing it. Those few who have the skills probably wouldn't bother. In conclusion, although shields are a good technique because they teach you to build astral constructions, they're somewhat overused."

Dunn, Patrick. "Magic in the Street." Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 2005. 150-51. Print.

You can find it on Amazon here
https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Psychic-Self-Defense-Handbook/dp/1571746390

There's an affirmation that the author encourages to use frequently :

"I am loved and I am worthy. I am safe and I am free. I am powerfully protected. I am master of my body and ruler of my mind."

I've been attacked in every imaginable way through the years. I call on my higher self and stay grounded in my power. I've commanded entities to banish themselves from my presence and they obey. You have to take control of yourself and become the alpha and the master. Revoke any permission you may have given them. Stand in your power!

After some unique meditative experience and a couple rabbit holes thanks to r/conspiracy I've been practicing, so I am by no means a seasoned astralnaut. I'm reading the following right now and it's been very helpful. I've had some mediocre success but the symptoms I've experienced align with what I've been reading. /r/AstralProjection is a great place to start.

Astral Dynamics: The Complete Book of Out-of-Body Experiences by Robert Bruce

If you're interested, I recommend picking up a copy of Astral Dynamics. In it the author describes common phenomenon like your closed door being open when you were projecting, which he calls a "reality fluctuation".

I say to read this because it is in depth but it also has the great suggestion of how to objectively verify an experience. It's simple: just take a playing card and place it face up on a surface you can't look at normally such as the top of a book shelf or something similar. I did this (but using two cards as I still that the probability of 1 out of 52 was still too high for verification purposes) and was flabergasted when I flew back into my body, checked the cards and saw that they were the same as the ones I saw while I was projecting.

You might actually benefit by not having too much money to throw at books for now. I was working at a used book warehouse when I first got into the occult, which resulted in me buying way too many books than I have time to read. By only purchasing one book at a time, you will be able to focus your studies rather than split your attention.

Based on the reading list in the FAQ, I'd recommend getting something that is in the tradition you are most interested in. Of the paths I know about, I'd recommend Phil Hine's Condensed Chaos for chaos magic and Modern Magick by Don Michael Kraig for Hermetic magic.

Going off the list, Postmodern Magic by Patrick Dunn and The New Hermetics by Jason Newcomb are both excellent crash courses in general occultism with a contemporary twist.

And as others have suggested, get free resources from the internet.

As for the left/right-hand dichotomy, it all comes down to how you want to go about improving yourself though magic. The "right-hand path" leads to unity with divinity, while the "left-hand path" aims to become equal with divinity. Things like black clothing, horned gods or white crystals and angels are just window dressing.

It is important that you remember that you do not need to worry about following one path over the other. They are not roads that diverge in a wood and you must choose when one to take for the rest of your life. "Path" is actually a very poor choice of words for this idea. Think of them as modes, or focuses, for your magical life. You can shift from one mode to the other as needed. Just be sure that you are using symbols that make sense for your world view. Having a focus in Shito spiritualism and then suddenly flipping to goetic demon summoning for one night might not yield effective results.

Wicca is a form of occultism. As an established religion it does not foster the level of free-thinking that many contemporary occultists would like, but it still much more occult than most religions out there. As for mono- and polytheistic occultism, nearly every pantheon has it's own form of mysticism, including the Judeo-Christian religion.

there is one CRV book that is amazing: https://www.amazon.com/Remote-Viewing-Complete-Manual-Coordinate/dp/1604074361

This is the best manual for military style remote viewing.

​

However, if you already have psychic background, i would probably stay away from CRV. it may mess you up a bit. doesnt fit with every person. however, whatever you orientation, some basic guidelines like how to deal with AOL, emotional impact of the target, and use of descriptives will proably help everyone.

Sorry, the book of science is closed.

Sounds a bit like Friedman's book:

Bridging Science and Spirit: Common Elements in David Bohm's Physics, the Perennial Philosophy and Seth which helps explain The Seth Books

OR the recent work of Dr. Robert Lanza, whose credentials are much more impressive that Neil DeGrasse Tyson any day of the week.

Of course most would say he's speculating beyond his field, but I can guarantee, he's smarter than YOU, Mr. self-appointed-gaurdian-of-science-who-is also-a-fat-boring-virgin-gamer

Agreed! Even though the books are online for free, I do prefer reading paperbooks. I purchased this complete works and I've loved it! It's from the same people who put up the Neville lectures on YouTube.

I recently picked up Beyond Biocentrism after reading this article on Aeon. I discovered the book Biocentrism after purchasing Beyond, now I'm wondering if I need to read Biocentrism first. Good to hear that others here have read and enjoyed the material, seems like it's worth a read.

I never said God is a requirement. I do believe in a concept of God, and that's my choice. If you wish to find better arguments for the existence of some form of God than "these Scriptures say", I would suggest one of the following:

The Self-Aware Universe

Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe

From Science to God: A Physicist's Journey into the Mystery of Consciousness

By the way, none of those proselytize a particular form of religion. They simply argue from science to a panentheistic form of God.

Absolutely. He's my favorite AP researcher/author -- very pragmatic, non dogmatic approach based on empirical evidence. I've even paid to work with him during a weekend seminar.

He has a lot of great work, but the seminal piece in my opinion is Astral Dynamics. That's a link to the 10-year revised/updated version, but the original is just fine if you run across it.

You can get a taste of his style with 'Treatise on Astral Projection', an early online work from 1994.

I'd recommend checking out general "energy work" stuff. This book is one of the best I've ever found:

https://www.amazon.com/Astral-Dynamics-Out-Body-Experiences/dp/1571746161/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=astral+dynamics&qid=1572989589&sr=8-1

You really should read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Akashic-Field-Integral-Everything/dp/1594770425

I have experienced exactly what you described, so I know what you mean.

Also, lately a lot of people have been labeling me as crazy, insane, etc.. for other reasons. The problem is most people are living under so many complex layers upon layers of denial. Don't doubt yourself. You are not normal, you are special because you see reality more clearly than most (normal) other people do, but you are not crazy, I have to remind myself of this constantly because everyone around me wants me to believe that I am the crazy one, but I think that people are so ignorant in general and closed minded. I just lost a good friend today who I have known for over 15 years, since high school. He couldn't handle the truth, he would rather live in a state of denial and ignorance. It's sad, it's a shame, but it's his loss because I was always a far better friend to him than he was to me. I have been losing a lot of friends lately and people have been distancing themselves from me, but it's OK, I need to shed them from my consciousness because they can't possibly understand things the way that I do and they probably never will. I am meeting new people all the time though.. synchronicity is wonderful!

Check this out:
http://www.anandavala.info/TASTMOTNOR/The%20Akashic%20Field.html

I haven’t mediated regularly in a long time. I do it now for helping me calm myself when I need to. I think some of my experiences freaked me out a little bit. But buzzing in the ears (and ringing) is common and is said to be associated with exiting the body- this is very accurate in my experience, although ear ringing is also associated with passing out. I recommend you read this book for guidance on astral travel as it’s the best one I’ve found. It talks about the trance phase and gives excellent techniques. I only ever did once, maybe twice- but I had many lucid dreams around this time as well. I say maybe twice because one time it seemed to go wrong and one time it seemed to go right. I asked for guidance and protection the time it went right.

Personally, if you are interested in practicing magick, I have found Dr. Israel Regardie's The One Year Manual to be excellent.

However, the book's exercises come out of the Golden Dawn tradtion, while I am a Thelemite, or a practioner of the philosophy Thelema. In our tradition, Dr. David Shoemaker's Living Thelema has been recommended to me.

For more on Thelema, check this out

This is the only book I have on the subject. I just did the very first exercise and it worked wonders. You should start with a Saturnine herb first and work your way up the ladder of lights to the Moon for the best effect. The most expensive piece of equipment is a still; I got a miniature copper still off eBay for $120 I believe. Then you have herbs and alcohol but those are pretty cheap depending on how much of either you'd use.

So you mean this thing is still lingering around?

The Neurobiology of We is a great book about the neuroscience of human interaction and how it shapes our lives. Not addiction specific but I found it incredibly useful in understanding the basic science behind WHY people behave the way they do and how addiction arises.

Hum,this is strange,I'm pretty her favorite book is that .

These are not fast questions, haha.

>What do you think is on the other side of the black hole?

Theoretically, if the black hole is part of a pair that were created from entangled subatomic particles, then they would be connected by an Einstein-Rosen bridge, and (again, theoretically) if you were to allow yourself to be sucked into one of them you'd emerge wherever the other one happens to exist. This could be in another galaxy, or yeah, some people think it's possible you could end up in another universe.

>Is there a lot of universes?

Theoretical physicists (particularly those working in string theory) are starting to think that yes, there are. Brian Greene and Michio Kaku have written reasonably accessible books on this theory, if you're interested.

>what about aliens?

Of course. It is highly unlikely that in a universe filled with billions of galaxies, each of which contains hundreds of millions of stars, only one of them would have a planet in its orbit that is capable of sustaining life. Robert Lanza hypothesizes that, in fact, the universe is biocentric - that life and consciousness are not mere accidents, but what the structure of the universe is based around. This, too, would suggest that life cannot then be confined to one planet.

>What happens to the infj emotion after their death? Are you thinking of reincarnation?

Not reincarnation exactly, no. My beliefs are pantheistic in a way that isn't really compatible with reincarnation in the traditional sense. My concept of "God" is, essentially, "the combined energy of the universe". Part of this energy is used to power my body and mind; what some might call a soul. But my "soul" isn't a discrete entity; it is made of energy, which is fungible. So, when I die, that energy (and therefore, I) will return to "everything". Of course, it will then be used to power other things... perhaps another life form, perhaps a star, or wind, or electricity. But it won't be the "same" energy - just as, if you pour a cup of water into the ocean and then fill another cup from it, it won't be the "same" water. It comes from the same source, but the individual molecules are probably going to be different. But I do think our thoughts and memories remain, as a sort of... resonance, let's say. They become part of everything, too. When people talk about remembering past lives, most likely they are accessing these resonating memories. But, not because your soul has moved into their body - rather, because you, and they, are part of the same whole.

Which, I guess, might sound like quibbling - it's not that different from reincarnation, not really. It's just that one view sees every soul as separate, and the other does not.

You may be interested in this or not The Three Waves of Volunteers and the New Earth

Actually you may want to read her convoluted universe series. She does past life regressions and your story sounds very much like one of them.

Along with /u/FeelsGood2FeelGood's suggestion, I recommend Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza because it also explains some of the mechanics behind LOA in scientific and biological means which gives you a better picture of it all.

Also anything by Neville Goddard. The Complete Reader has most of his books in one.

I heard an interview with Dolores Cannon, several years ago about this subject. This book is an interesting read :)
Three Waves of Volunteers

You might be interested in surfing around Princeton's Consciousness-Related Physical Phenomena research. I'm about halfway through the book "Consciousness and the Source of Reality". I also just finished reading "Biocentrism" and now I'm working on "Beyond Biocentrism" as well. It is all related.

Then, if you're really brave, (because personally, I find it really difficult to process), you could check out The Fractal Holographic Universe.

Lots of goodies in all of this material.

Not sure if it's been posted here, but you might find Biocentrism by Robert Lanza interesting. There is a sequel to it as well but I have not had the chance to read it.

For those interested, here's the relevant book:

http://www.amazon.com/Biocentrism-Consciousness-Understanding-Nature-Universe/dp/1935251740/ref=la_B004NDEASI_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408994278&sr=1-1

It's also available on iTunes as an audiobook, which I found interesting for the most part. And I think you'll see more of what the article title implied was in the article.

Great book on the subject

Remote Viewing: The Complete User's Manual for Coordinate Remote Viewing https://www.amazon.com/dp/1604074361/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_y90QybYZ3249M

I plan on buying her book too. This must tie in with star children incarnating in waves to help planet earth restore to its pristine self that it once was.

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Waves-Volunteers-New-Earth/dp/1886940150

http://in5d.com/are-you-one-of-the-people-who-heard-the-call/

I don't have a link for download, I bought the book on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Psychic-Self-Defense-Handbook-Survival-ebook/dp/B00CUU6K9I/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8) for my Kindle and I'm thinking if I should return it.

I will try to be more specific editing my thread. Thanks!

Sounds consistent with my favorite book:

[Bridging Science and Spirit: Common Elements in David Bohm's Physics, the Perennial Philosophy and Seth] (http://www.amazon.com/Bridging-Science-Spirit-Perennial-Philosophy/dp/1889964077)

For an explanation for why Scientology "works," I urge you to read Postmodern Magic.

After which, I hope you'll see why it's important to audit yourself rather than be audited. This is a first step.

Robert Lanza's book Biocentrism is an excellent resource into this subject. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1935251740/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1395793718&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

I highly recommend you The Complete Reader from Amazon. It has 10 books

Neville Goddard: The Complete Reader https://www.amazon.com/dp/099109140X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_WM-lDbNQWKMR2

Robert Allen Bartlett, author of Real Alchemy and The way of the Crucible did an interview in which he discusses the history and basic teachings of alchemy that you may find useful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD3BkmTjvDU

Hey man, I read a really interesting book which talks about this whole conscious-centric where there exists no objective reality. We could very well be the centre of the universe. Do your research on the author before reading the book if you want. The book's called Biocentrism by Robert Lanza. Have an open mind and maybe, just maybe, your view of the world could be wrong. It's worth seeing an in-depth perspective of the other side, one which makes a lot of scientifically proven claims (it's not a pseudo-science-y kind of book). Anyways, yeah it's up to you. Just putting it out there.

I've read all of his too. :D

You can find most of his books online here, http://www.thepowerofawareness.org/, but you're better of buying "Neville Goddard: The Complete Reader" which is a hard copy, and I think it includes everything that's on the aforementioned site, https://www.amazon.com/Neville-Goddard-Complete-David-Allen/dp/099109140X/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1935251740/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

^_^

Summer reading my friend

@flyinglotus:
>2012-02-28 06:54:21 UTC

>If astral projecting is something you're curious about, this is something I suggest you read. amazon.com

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I personally am a big fan of Israel Regardie's One Year Manual. In part because it places some focus on body work, an area where many occult users neglect (aside from some who do yoga). Don't be afraid to combine techniques too. I think between this and the Magick of Aleister Crowley previously recommended you can develop a good training regimen. Just remember to make haste slowly and give yourself plenty of time to let the techniques to sink into your mind.

Biocentrism. It's a really interesting look at how the universe is shaped by consciousness and the scientific search for the meaning of life http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1935251740?pc_redir=1396332448&robot_redir=1

Robert Bruce has a good book on practical psychic self-defense. Dion Fortune's book on the subject is an old classic. Or you can trying getting an appointment with Simon Parkes.

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Psychic-Self-Defense-Handbook/dp/1571746390

https://www.simonparkes.org/jinndemonic-possession

with Regards to the Akashic Field I think this book is right up your alley.
A good read by an actual scientist too...

http://www.amazon.com/Science-Akashic-Field-Integral-Everything/dp/1594770425

Your physical body won't go in to the parallel dimension, just your consciousness, think of the movie freaky Friday where Lindsey lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis switch bodies, it would be like that with you and your counterpart, you are in your counterparts body resuming their life as them in the parallel dimension and they are in yours in this dimension resuming your life as you,

These books may help you

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1532814658?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

Reality Transurfing by vadim zeland

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0615872034

moving through Parallel worlds to achieve your dreams , by Kevin L michel

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1546841431

Parallel universes of self by Frederick dodson

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1533007012

Dissolve the problem by shifting physical reality, by Richard dotts

"The Practical Psychic Self-Defense Handbook"

He's clearly tried to make measurable what is difficult to measure and, when at an impasse, throw out old superstition advice and jargon, resetting perspective. He's seems to be one of the few that just tries to focus and relay what "just works", often going through retrospectives like "I tried this, it had this effect, so I then tried to approach it this way and it had these results."

That kind of meticulousness is vital in these field(s); it's so hard to make measurable with what seems to have a constant impasse to find (repeatable) measurements. The title of the book still makes me cringe a little, but I think that's my own cultural baggage more than anything and he's one of the few authors on these topic(s) that doesn't set off my "BS o' Meter".

His insights are invaluable and his thinking is sound, IMHO.

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Psychic-Self-Defense-Handbook/dp/1571746390

Relatedly, Dolores Cannon's "The Three Waves of Volunteers and the New Earth" (2011) is incredibly informative for this group. I believe her last book published before she passed. Highly recommended!

Sorry, I don't. A decent-ish library should be able to get them for you, at least in the US.

If you want academic and/or like brains, Allan Schore is your guy. Dan Siegel addresses a lot of the same stuff, but is way more accessible. The Neurobiolgy of We comes to mind for him, if you like audiobooks. He also did Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology which is kind of misleading @500+ pages. But you can just pick through whatever sections interest you & it will still make sense.

Hey /u/186394. Check out the logo at the top right of the Amazon page. I found him.

>For instance, fire brings change, water brings healing, you have probably heard of those connections before.

Have a look at the origins of the elemental theory, and their changing use in practical Alchemy from 600 C.E. to 1600 C.E. There are a couple good beginning books on the topic - this one, this one, and this one - will totally deepen your understanding of the principles.

Not my book. I do own it as well as the other 2 monotheistic books though so that I don't sound like an idiot when discussing them.

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I suggest you read https://www.amazon.com/Three-Waves-Volunteers-New-Earth/dp/1886940150 It's very interesting.

If you want to further your understanding of the universe you should read this and this. 2 of the most mind altering books I've read.

Check out Biocentrism by Dr. Robert Lanza. His entire life's work is a theory that amounts to this - that the physical world as we know it is derived from biological experience; in essence, we are all rendering our personal video game within a server that manages the bigger picture. It's really, really compelling.

His answer is that the tree in the forest doesn't exist in the first place, so there's nothing there to make a sound if no one is rendering it. He actually uses that example several times in the book.

How into energy manipulation are you? Your question about the weight of words made me want to mention models of magick based on information.

check out this book
http://www.amazon.com/Postmodern-Magic-Art-Information-Age/dp/0738706639

Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything by Ervin Laszlo

Why don't you just try this

your question sent me off on doing some research and I found this one which seems to be very highly regarded: http://www.amazon.com/Real-Alchemy-Primer-Practical/dp/0892541504/ref=cm_wl_cp_al_pt

This same man wrote a book on Biocentrism which will blow your mind.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biocentrism-Bob-Berman-Robert-Lanza/dp/1935251740/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462720932&sr=1-1&keywords=biocentrism

for your consideration

Everyone on this thread please concisder reading this book: The Three Waves of Volunteers and the New Earth https://www.amazon.com/dp/1886940150/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_--9MybS2S5K4M

I know of this book https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Psychic-Self-Defense-Handbook/dp/1571746390 which I have never read but will

https://www.amazon.com/Astral-Dynamics-Out-Body-Experiences/dp/1571746161

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Exploring-World-Dreams-Stephen-LaBerge/dp/034537410X

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Dreaming-Carlos-Castaneda/dp/006092554X

heres a way to experience other dimensions.

It describes a lot of different techniques you can use to induce your own out of body experience along with a lot of other things you can do with your astral body.

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https://www.amazon.com/Astral-Dynamics-Out-Body-Experiences/dp/1571746161/ref=sr_1_1/144-3013289-5983700?ie=UTF8&qid=1537768574&sr=8-1&keywords=astral+dynamics+robert+bruce&dpID=51rNaBMGpvL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

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There is actually a whole theory about this;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biocentrism-Consciousness-Understanding-Nature-Universe/dp/1935251740/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Neville-Goddard-Complete-Reader/dp/099109140X

When I was stationed at Fort Meade I had an interesting experience while standing in formation for an inspection. I saw a woman in another formation across the room from my formation and in my imagination I saw her take one step forward, sway back and forth a little bit then fall flat on her face on the concrete. I was struck by the vividness and violence of the vision and wondered why I would imagine such a horrible thing. Then, only a few seconds later I saw her take that step forward in real life. My reflexes kicked in and I sprinted across the room at full speed. I remember thinking that I hoped no one else got between us because at the speed I was traveling the collision would be brutal. Luckily no one did, I reached her as she began swaying and caught her as she started to fall. Me and a chief pulled her off to the side unharmed.

I think it is entirely possible that my subconscious picked up on some infinitely small clue from her body language and my imagination filled in the rest. But the similarity between what I saw in my mind and what actually happened a few seconds later was uncanny. It's the kind of thing that might lead some people to wonder if there could be some other unseen mechanisms of perception at work. Interestingly enough, Fort Meade is the base where they conducted the remote viewing experiments for 20 years where military men would sit in rooms and try to draw pictures of military installations on the other side of the planet. There is a pretty detailed book on the history of the remote viewing program. Remote Viewers by Jim Schnabel So... is that sort of thing really possible or just a silly waste of tax dollars? I'm not going to waste my breath trying to argue one side of that argument or the other because I think it is too easy for any of us to just believe what we want to believe. I say that if you find the idea curious or entertaining then you might want to do the research, conduct the experiments yourself and make up your own mind. That's what I call being a scientist.

Other books that provide more of a "how to do it" approach:
Remote Viewing Secrets by Joseph McMoneagle
Remote Viewing by David Morehouse
Learn Remote Viewing DVDs

Do skip church. I think I went back to church once when I got scared, and another time when a group of assholes shangahaid me through AA. Both times I had to start over from scratch. Your instincts about big box religion are correct, and you should listen to them.

Don't dismiss, well...alternatives to materialism, we'll say, out of hand. A lot of them are BS, sure. And a lot of them that look like BS on the surface have more to them than you'd imagine, if you can get past the scam artists pimping them off for profit.

I personally think, for those who become atheist, you have to push through to the ends of atheism to become a gnostic- and I don't mean Christian Gnostic, I mean that in the generic sense. I had to, there's no shame in it. Don't take things on faith, but do incorporate experience and introspection into your worldview.

Apart from that, if you want to test reality's edges out to see if it's actually the way they explain it to school children, try something like astral projection til it happens. Or some other type of magic. I'd stay away from "black" magic until you find your feet, though. You can certainly go that route if you want, but...I'd get a feel for things first.

Here's a book, Postmodern Magic. If you feel inclined to get it, do the exercises and keep a journal. It's not the only introductory book, but it's a nice one. A free intro to Chaos Magic can be found here, Oven-Ready Chaos by Phil Hine. Both of those are kinda in the Chaos vein of things, but look around, there's plenty of other systems to work in. Druidry, Wicca, Traditional Witchcraft, Shamanism, Hermeticism...blah blah, try stuff til something sticks.

>Again, it is not their historicity that is important - you said yourself that doctrine isn't any more true because it is older and I agreed.

Well, let's distinguish age from accuracy. By "historicity," I mean the degree of verifiable reliability of a text. Something can be old but still be reliable. However, the gospels do not appear to be a reliable record. Only an old one.

>The "proof" you seek will most likely never come to you if you are approaching it from this angle. This is not something you "think about" for a while and then "get". It is something you live, and then experience. I mean this in a very practical sense.

I look at it like this. Claims of miraculous events are made about a man. He walks on water, raises the dead, casts out evil spirits, converts water to wine, multiplies fish and bread enough to feed a small army. He's purported to have said that he's the son of God. And not in the colloquial way they used back then, that we were all "sons of God" or "children of God." And not even in the way that the regional kings used. He's purported to have said that he's the direct issue of the creator of the universe. Half man, half deity, and no one comes to his dad but through him.

If this person was standing in front of me right now, saying these things, I'd back away slowly and keep my hand on my wallet. If other people were saying these things for decades, in an oral tradition where facts get mixed up and the storytellers embellish, and it's getting translated from Aramaic to ancient Greek in the process, I think I'd have even less reason to believe their claims. I don't think it's a bad angle to say, "I'm not so sure about that" until shown otherwise. What I live and experience never crosses over into a realm where such claims become compelling.

And I do actively explore the possibility of the supernatural. I just don't do it from a theistic perspective. While theistic perspectives of this phenomenon do exist, they are decidedly outnumbered by non-theistic experiences of people who have no particular implulse towards challenging or doubting the claims of any religion. Of course, I readily admit that their claims are just as potentially suspect as those of a theist. But these are claims that I can actually test.

Uhmm, no, sorry but Psychic Phenomena has been proven in laboratory settings. Hell even Quantum Physics is starting to acknowledge the relationship between mind and matter, just look up the Observer Effect.

A close family member calling you out of the blue, somehow "sensing" or "knowing" that youre contemplating suicide isn't a "coincidence".

https://www.amazon.com/Entangled-Minds-Extrasensory-Experiences-Quantum/dp/1416516778

This is precisely what is wrong with this world. We are psychic beings by nature, but because of the selfishness of a handful of fear oriented "Elites" who've decided that they need to have more perceived material wealth than others and privilege and prestige have done everything within their power to chemically and culturally lobotomize this out of us (via Sodium Fluoride, Vaccines, and primary "education" and media enculturation, and now GMO foods).

http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=14949

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2014/08/22/fluoride-affects-consciousness-will-act/

To make matters worse (or to have a poster child to spread the fear oriented, hopeless gospel of the "Elites") we had the emergence of Mechanistic Reductionistic Science via Rene Decarte and this related nonsense that if a million monkeys typed on keyboards randomly for a million years eventually the entire works of Shakespeare will be produced.

No. Sorry. Divine Intelligence is a part of it. Reincarnation is real. ET's are real. Having to karmically deal with suicide, which I believe is the point of this life for me (to deal with the karma of suicide via a time out, possibly as a ghost) is a real potential consequence of said act.

https://www.amazon.com/Biocentrism-Consciousness-Understanding-Nature-Universe/dp/1935251740/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479113035&sr=1-1&keywords=biocentrism+by+robert+lanza

https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Truth-Forbidden-Steven-Greer/dp/0967323827

So yeah, this really irks me when I hear people chalk up psychic experience to random happenstance.

They then invariably go on to claim that consciousness is an epiphenomenon of interactions of bio-chemistry within our nervous system.

What a crock.

I personally prefer the idea that the human brain is a filter that allows us to function in this exquisitely compelling virtual reality experience (as both Albert Einstein and more recently where we incarnate ad infinitum to learn and grow as spiritual beings.

If we were to see the glory of all of existence without said filter we would be overwhelmed and incapable of functioning in this plane.

Back to psychic phenomena, I mean please explain away a few dreams I've had where weeks later I was doing exactly what I was in the dream I had a few weeks earlier, or all of those moments knowing that something specific was going to happen moments before it happened, or hey, how about this one, which most everyone has, knowing someone is going to call you, sometimes to the point where you look at your phone, think of that person, and then your phone rings. Or how about all of the dogs that know their owners are coming home (Rupert Sheldrake).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKHUaNAxsTg

https://www.amazon.com/Dogs-That-Their-Owners-Coming/dp/0609600923/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me=

Mainstream Science has become the new high priesthood tasked with perpetuating the current [failed] paradigm, the Status Quo, the current order (any coincidence here between the Elites poisoning and literally brainwashing you and paying people large sums of money to confirm the idea that youre just having this one finite life experience on this little lonely rock floating in space and then that's it? Sounds like a great way to bring out the worst in people, to create a world seething with conflict as everyone "has just this one life so I better fucking get mine, even if I have to step on your head to do so" all of which benefits the "Elites"), just as the Catholic Church was tasked with doing the same in the 16th century and locked away Galileo under house arrest for daring to suggest that our planet occupied a helio-centric orbit around the parent star and not the other way around. Now it's the same thing all over again with Quantum Physics and the dawning realization that mind and matter are related, that we can influence others through intent and prayer, and that we are likely eternal spiritual entities occupying temporary host bodies for: boredom, entertainment, lessons, pick one or all of the above. (our actual psychic potential is far more extensive, to include, yes, telekinesis via yogic lore etc. and astral projection, remote viewing, hell the CIA was paying remote viewers in the 1980's at Stanford Research Institute to spy on the Russian's and they wouldn't have paid millions of dollars without first ascertaining the effectiveness! I can't make this up, look up Project Stargate, I'm tired of posting links).

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/there-is-growing-evidence-that-our-universe-is-a-giant-hologram

https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Souls-Studies-Between-Lives/dp/1567184855

My $ .02. Sorry if I offended anyone here.

Hold the door open for me, I'm right behind you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq69-MI9TA0

"Reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one" - Albert Einstein