I DON'T BELIEVE ANY OF THIS STUFF

Before I begin, just a reminder that Mercury goes "retrograde" on Monday. (It does not actually travel backward, our rotation passes it up and it appears to be going backward.) During Mercury retrogrades everything Mercury rules- travel, communication, messages, and thieves-- are susceptible to snafus. This Mercury retro takes place when the sun is in Mercury's home sign of Gemini. (Either or worse or better, I cannot say.)

Prepare for delays and lost luggage, double check that everything is signed on the double line, don't get too frustrated if your server goes down. And be very careful driving on Monday. The days of the "flip" usually have a higher than average number of fender benders. More so because this is a holiday weekend. Stay safe.

If you want to invoke another Goddess for the retrograde, I recommend Iris, the Other Messenger God.

I thought I'd take on the sceptics, something I don't normally do. It is my goal to not let other people's beliefs affect the way I interact with them. Attraction works in two ways: what you are- and what you are thinking about, doing, etc- and how much you cling to those beliefs, or feel threatened that they are going to be taken away, or proven "wrong." (And also what you are rejecting in yourself, which counts as the things you think are "wrong.")

To quote Chris Rock's character in the movie DOGMA, it's better to have ideas than beliefs. I have a good idea about God/dess, the afterlife, witchcraft, etc. I try to always be ready to give up any belief I hold, if something that "fits" better comes along. Rigid thinking comes from fear. If you don't have fear that something can be taken away from you, you have no reason to feel threatened. Ironically, the people who are the most relaxed and tolerant are the most certain.

So, with that in mind- because I don't want to argue, just present- what about all this kooky stuff I believe? And I am mostly going to debate the scientific view of my beliefs. I.e., astronomy versus astrology, etc.

Science is a kind of religion. A set of beliefs that says that humans can know, name, and understand everything empirical in the world. If the majority of us see a dandelion as "yellow" it is yellow. People who see orange have something wrong with them. They are colour-blind.

Science is mortal magick. It has to work the same way every time, for every person. If a variation cannot be addressed and agreed upon by a majority, then it must be discounted. It is for this reason that science and extreme forms of religion clash. The foundation of both is that what is "right" or "true" must be right and true for everyone.

In my opinion there is no reason for religion and science to be in contradiction. Both are valid. Humans inhabit both worlds. We contain a private, subjective universe and share a public, objective one. Most humans need both worlds. The material world is the "meeting" place. We need to have one version of it so that we have a point of agreement.

However, there is no proof that the collective of private universes does not alter the public one. Many of the sciences are witchcraft. There is a saying among electronics geeks: "Electricity is magick, but electronics are sorcery" (or black magick, or wizardry). Science is mortal magick. (And probably the magick that most can master. The LCD of witchcraft.) We are coming to a point in human development where I believe the human mind will be shown, scientifically, to effect the material world. (And I believe we are not far from scientific "evidence" of the afterlife.)

I must qualify though, by explaining that it will the collective human mind. The recent surge in psychic abilities among the population is just the beginning of this. The search for proof of the afterlife (oh and do I love talking to spirits who did not believe and religious zealots after they have died!), accurate superbowl score predictions ;o), high-level psychics like Alison Dubois solving crimes are in many ways the breakthroughs of the collective conscious mind. Enough of us believe. Enough of us want to believe. Enough of us think it is possible.

Even science cannot completely rule out the possibility that we have created our "reality" through a series of conscious and unconscious, collective and subjective, decisions.

But what if "when you die you just die"? And "all of these things can be explained by rational explanation and coincidence"? Okay. Well, now it just gets down to what kind of world do you want to live in?

Let's all keep agreeing to agree on gravity, the necessity for humans to breath air and drink water and eat food; let's make all of our decisions based on what we say to each other, empirical and judicial "truth".

But if some of us want to believe that there is an Angel at our shoulder, whispering words of growth and encouragement and Love; if some of us want to believe that an invisible, unscientifically measurable entity called "Karma" rules every interaction we engage in, what is wrong with that?** And why, if science is an unalterable law, and there is no afterlife, does it matter if everyone doesn't agree?

I am not siding here with zealots who insist that we all pray to one God (or even one Goddess), and do it publicly. But I think we must respect the views of even the zealots. (I said "respect." Not capitulate to. But their insistence that they are right is every bit as tiresome as the defenders of science. Maybe a little more, though, because there is always a hell to shake in people's faces with the religious zealots.)

I do think some sort of spiritual training would be beneficial in schools. Although I feel it should be a comparative religion and spiritual study- leaving the student knowledgeable enough to choose an appropriate, individual path. Or a scientific one.

The really ironic thing about science for me, especially the new physics, is that it will one day "prove" many of the things I know to be true in my subjective reality. And even some of the things the Bible-thumping-creationism in schools-zealots believe.

Four hundred years ago astronomy and astrology were the same "science." I believe one day they will be again.

PRAISES, THANKS, & BLESSINGS!!!

** This post would be far too lengthy if I took on Jim Jones and suicide/murder cults. Or to take on how easily human evil seems to be able to inhabit the offices of religion-- sexual molestation, theft, corruption, etc. Each of these need a whole post, at least. But suffice to say, this has less to do with the ethics and morals that come from beliefs-- although that is what it can appear to look like on the surface-- and more to do with the human psyche and capacity for evil when there is not enough self-Love.