How Much Separation of Church and State is there Really?

This was a response to a friend who stated that she felt there really isn't as much separation of church and state in the United States as people tend to claim.
I hear you. The United States is very puritanical in many ways in spite of the blatant in-your-face displays of sex in films/TV/advertising. I don't want people trying to tell me what to believe either. I think spirituality is too personal.
The "Satanic Panics" about hard rock music did not happen in other countries. Only in the United States. Where people feel that its ok to force certain religious values on everyone else and people also don't understand theatrics. I'm not saying the US is as bad as for instance some Muslim countries in enforcing a certain religion but I fear some fundamentalist types would be happy to be that hardcore if they could get away with it.

Spiritual Disconnection

This was a response to a friend's post on his blog.
Forgive any inane blather as I was unable to sleep all night (as I usually work nights) and now have to be somewhere at 8 AM. May I just say *&%$!
I like the term Attention Connection specialist. And I'm interested in the spiritual connection question. I find it easier to be connected to the higher power and to my own spiritual/psychic power when I don't have too much mental chatter going on. For some, meditation helps and for some its prayer, and I don't really think it matters much. Larry Dossey postulated a similar thing in his books about the healing power of prayer.
This world is very full of mental static and I think more and more people are becoming disconnected, not only from a higher power but from their own spirit. So there are a lot of people who are essentially zombies buzzing about like so many bees. Though I think bees are probably much more at peace than these folks. At some level we all need to be in touch with our spiritual nature. I know it distresses me when I start feeling like a hamster on a wheel. We have a world of harried, unhappy people due to this constant buzzing.
I hope that made some semblance of sense. Shoot...I hope I can pass the test I have to take this morning if I'm able to ramble on that incoherently!
I'm always impressed with the questions that you pose about these sort of things. They're really worth taking the time to ponder.

Righteous!

Make your own Zing!

In case you were wondering how Jerry Falwell was doing in the afterlife, here's a picture update!

Repeat after me: Organized Religion sucks!

This includes Wicca.

Because most Wiccans are just puritans who are fed up with Christianity. But they try to apply the same puritanical ideas to witchcraft.
I stumbled upon this Wiccan forum and I thought I'd just entered the Vatican with all the intolerance that assailed my brain! Plus the number of know-it-alls boggled the mind.
This is why if someone were invite me to join them for their Beltane or Christmas or Hannukah or whatever celebration, I just might, and I might even have a good time, but I ain't never joining your club.
This is why I'm a solitary mystic or Pagan who studies all religions and philosophies and incorporates what fits. I may never be able to be considered an adept, but at least I'm not constrained by any rules except the one we should all be follow. Treat each other with decency and courtesy, and don't be an asshole.
If someone who is interested in your particular philosophy approaches you with questions, it does NOT behoove you to act like a snob, mmmmkay?
If it's your way or the highway, I'm hitting the highway--to hell or wherever it may lead.
The one common threat I've found in all organized religion is intolerance. Which is why I despise organized religion.

Transcript from Haunted Outhouse session

*The chat begins at the end of the document*



“Now I just reckon nobody will come to tea, so to speak, and I use it as an hour to brainstorm.”

13 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“But then I would be terribly disappointed if it didn't happen.”

13 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“Before getting on Lithium I often used to imagine the most magical of alliances happening. For instance I would imagine



someone wonderful coming in on a chat such as this one and some miraculous thing coming of the alliance.”

14 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“That is very important to me, more than I can convey.”

16 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“Its always hard to interpret a reading for oneself due to the inability to be objective. However my sense is that while



monetarily I may not be any better off I will get some satisfaction creatively.”

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“Summary: Strength sustaining the will and supporting the resolve, conveying the intention successfully to its destination



with joy replenishing the wellspring of creative abundance.”

17 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“The third card is the ace of cups. Joy replenishing the wellspring of creative abundance.”

18 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“The second card is the eight of clubs. Conveying the intention successfully to its destination.”

19 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“This is a basic three-card reading. The first card is the nine of clubs.Strength sustaining the will and supporting the



resolve.”

20 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“Always pay attention to jumping cards.”

21 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“The reading that I'm going to do comes right to the point. I'm going to ask a very basic question which is, will my finances



improve during this coming year.”

22 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“Let's see--I'm going to do a brief reading for myself to give an idea of the sort of thing I can do. I really have to revamp



my readings page at http://www.mysticvision.org/ because I want to offer a variety of services.”

24 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“It sucks that I probably will never get any co-conversants in my chat rooms. But on the plus side, knowing that no-one is



listening tends to make me very honest.”

25 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

25 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“Now here is a haunting that no-one wants. The falafel and hummus wrap that I ate for lunch around 4:00 this afternoon has



given me one heinous case of indigestion. Its sitting in my stomach like a rock, refusing to digest.”

26 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“Myself, I'd kind of like to feel the love while I'm alive. Or at least the evil glee of having a bunch of Bible thumpers



burning my books.”

27 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“My co-author says that posthumous fame is fine by him. But he can't exactly have any other kind! Smart ass ghost!”

28 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“I have this fear/hope that one day in the future the books will be discovered and get something of a cult following. That's



what happened to Lovecraft. Posthumous fame.”

29 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“both he and I had to deal with the disappointment that the story we created was not at all well received. But we are



creating a second one anyway because we're both assholes like that.”

30 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“He states that "they are now worshiping an image of someone who never was. Even when I, in all my various selfs, did live,



this thing that they imagine was a character. To worship this or any image is folly."”

32 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“He rolls his eyes when considering those who may have only just been born at the point when his life ended but who are just



discovering the phenomenon that was created in the music scene by himself and his contemporaries.”

33 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“Anyone with mediumistic abilities who chose to talk to my co-author at this point would likely be struck by how rational he



seems at this point. He has, in fact, healed a great deal.”

34 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“A place with such a negative energy would have a bad effect on someone who was psychically sensitive and also



psychologically troubled, such as my co-author.”

36 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“I have never been to this place and I do not know if that building still exists. However, as I sense energies from



photographs and film, I sensed an energy from that area. It was a negative energy.”

36 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“It doesn't matter if the building in which the incident took place exists any longer or not. The energy remains in that



spot.”

37 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“He in fact said that after about five days, he departed that place and has not been back since. However, this was such a



psychically powerful occurrence that it is likely a haunted place at this point. This energy will remain until dispelled.”

38 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More





“My spectral friend who wrote the book with me put it this way. "Why would I hang around the place where I ended my life and



relive that moment each day? That would be stupid! This is not something that I would ever do."”

30 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“A spirit is best described as the personality. Human spirits can be reasoned with about as well as they could have in life.



The basic personality doesn't change. Human spirits may hang about a place but contrary to popular belief, they are not



imprisoned there.”

32 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“The difference between a haunting and an autonomous ghost or spirit is most easily qualified thusly. A haunting is an



expenditure of emotional energy that was so powerful that it disrupted the atmosphere of the place where it happened. There



is no intelligent presence.”

34 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

“The Scary but True program is on the Chiller network. They are investigating an old prison, Seacoast Theatre where a lot of



people died of illnesses such as tuberculosis.”

36 minutes ago - Comment - Like - Hide - More

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The Gnutty Gnostic

http://ping.fm/i5mrU

I will be in the Haunted Outhouse for the next hour if anyone cares to join me.

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The Gnutty Gnostic

http://ping.fm/i5mrU Chat room for open minded types interested in the paranormal. Open 1hr tomorrow 6 PM MST.

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The Gnutty Gnostic

Please read this article! It makes too much sense! http://ping.fm/NhJuB

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blue star, green comet

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The Gnutty Gnostic

http://ping.fm/wJ3Si Recent blog post. Strong language and opinions.

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The Gnutty Gnostic

I think its pretty hilarious that Adsense is putting all these Catholic oriented ads on my blogs which are decidedly mystic/metaphysical.

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The Gnutty Gnostic

http://ping.fm/XxpS1 Latest Care2 Share describes my mission and gives links to ways you can help make it a reality

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I keep an open mind about stuff. Its possible we could someday find a "lost continent" under the sea. Why not consider all possibilities?

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The Gnutty Gnostic

http://ping.fm/VlJk7 Just created this page so there is only one entry thus far. Just Pandora, all by her lonesome.

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The Gnutty Gnostic

http://ad.vu/48km Psychic readings by donation.

http://ad.vu/c6h2 Free reading if you agree to allow your reading to be featured on blog.

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Great Radionics Software

http://TwitPWR.com/…nchanterx/

Fellow mystics, check it out. I am! I've had an interest in radionics for many years, so this software piqued my interest. I can see the benefits of using radionics for mystic work. If you're like me and were raised in a religion that tells you that if you wish for something "selfish" such as prosperity you will be punished, it sticks with you even if you no longer believe this sort of thing in your logical mind. Your subconscious is very important in spell work, however, and a negative subconscious message can torpedo the most carefully executed spell. Using radionics bypasses your own subconscious sabotage. Plus it has that scientific edge that we modern people treasure.

Energy is energy, pure and simple. Radionics has been around for many years, but now our modern technology has allowed those knowledgeable in computer programming to greatly improve its execution.

Science meets mysticism with radionics. Take a look at the link above to find out more.

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Prologue

http://www.lilystrange.com/

Prologue

Bringers of Decay and Fallen Angels:

A Genesis of Evil

Before the dawn of the world as we know it, the great Gods and Goddesses, angelic beings, devas, genii and nature spirits were born whole from the Wellspring of All, which is called Kether. They were created out of love to always tend and care for the beings who would be born on the developing worlds in the material universe. Yet while the Heavens were still taking shape, a group of these spirits began to believe that they knew more than the power that had created them. And some among the Gods and Goddesses came to care more about power than about the developing Universe over which they had been given stewardship. These wicked deities were cast out of the Heavens and the evil angels who followed them were also exiled. Swearing revenge on those who had spurned them, they began to seduce the minds of the developing children of the Universe that had been created out of love by the Lord and Lady of Kether.

On the developing worlds in the material universe which is called Assiah, many of the children began to assume a crude imitation of the higher beings who watched over them. Most followed the path of the Benevolent Ones who had created and guided them. But some followed the blighted path of those who promised power over others. These were filled with an unholy passion. Seeing the intensity of their emotions, the evil angels were intrigued. Some of them entered the bodies of these young beings, possessing them, controlling them. And over time, many of the fallen angels forgot that they had once been celestial beings, but subconsciously remembered the power they once held and their former immortality. Desperate to re-achieve that once immortal status and break free from the cycle of reincarnation, they heeded the voices of their former companions, the unholy deities of corruption and decay. The Fallen committed horrific acts under the direction of their immortal, unholy masters, giving rise to a race of Undead, a perverted offspring of incarnate mortals and fallen angels and a mockery of the Divine. Thus have vampires existed since the dawn of humanity. The first are rumored to have come from the lost continent of Lemuria, which formed a land bridge between the Malay Archepelago and Asia some 55 million years ago. The late medium Madame Helena Blavatsky spoke of a race of highly intelligent apelike humanoids who were capable of mind control and telepathy. Most people laugh at Blavatsky’s assertions; but there are those who know better.

In the time of Lemuria, a group of these beings sought to dominate the other early humanoids, believing themselves to be superior. They saw the other humans as lower than herd animals and treated them with a contempt and brutality. Inspired by the telepathic communications from hideous ancient gods mercifully forgotten in this modern age, the Superior Race enslaved and experimented on the lesser beings, sacrificed them, and consumed their flesh at ritual celebrations. They were especially fond of eating the brain and heart and drinking the blood, as they believed consuming the brain would enhance their own telepathic abilities, the heart would bring them strength, and the blood would lengthen their lives. As the dreaded ancient Gods, horrible beings far older than the earth itself promised, the Superior Race changed swiftly. From consuming the brains of the other humanoids and ancient dolphin-like sea mammals, their telepathic abilities increased tenfold. From consuming animals such as the wolflike creatures that walked the night they experienced improvement in their night vision so drastic that daylight began to hurt their eyes and they preferred to be out after dusk. And from consuming these wolf-kind and other strong animals, their strength multiplied to ten times that of the lesser hominids. For their obedience to the terrible Great Old Ones, their lifespan increased to the point of virtual immortality. Thus were the Vampires born.

The benevolent deities were horrified by what was happening on the young Earth. They smote the evil race, destroying the continent of Lemuria to stop their spread. But some Night Stalkers managed to escape. They slowly spread their taint wherever they settled, though their race no longer held the mastery it had in Lemuria. The survivors vowed to regain mastery of the Earth even if it should take an eternity. This is the story of a pair of these immortals and those whose lives they touched. They were brothers, princes and heirs to the throne of a long and unjustly forgotten kingdom, a province in what is now Romania at the time of the reign of the family Dracul in Wallachia. Called Stracha, it sat by the sea near Moldavia and Wallachia and was a place hailed for its beauty, prosperity and the benevolence of its rulers. It is also the tale of an ancient and fearsome being who brought the plague of immortality to these princes, casting fair Stracha into undeserved oblivion. Long-lived though this being was, he was a mere babe compared to those who had bestowed upon him the curse of immortality, and they were but infants compared to the ancient undying evil that had spurred their creation.

The vampire race was perfected as the human race evolved and new civilizations arose. Beloved were they of the powerful but lesser-known malevolent deities warned of by Howard Phillips Lovecraft and others in tales thought to be fiction. Kali, merciless Indian goddess of death, helped increase the power of those who made sacrifices to her. In Egypt, the cunning and manipulative Set took up their cause. In Mesopotamia the cult rose to power again when Lamashtu gave them newfound glory through blood sacrifice. But this rise to greatness truly began anew in lost Atlantis where the race almost achieved world domination. This is why the benevolent Gods had to destroy Atlantis as they had Lemuria. Many lives were lost on that fateful day, many who loved one another were separated.

But the wheel of reincarnation shall ever turn. None of those souls that lived in lost Atlantis were destroyed in that calamity. With successive incarnations the calamity that ended their physical existence in that lifetime was consciously forgotten. But late at night many lifetimes later the more enlightened of them would dream of that fearsome event and would wake in a cold sweat.

This book occurs near the end of a story of a great battle for the souls of this world. This is a story of love and loss, of triumph and destruction, and of the knowledge that nothing in this world will last forever. It is a story of the fear of death, the pain of betrayal and the triumph of the eternal soul. It is a story of ties that cannot be severed, kindnesses that cannot be forgotten, longing that cannot die. But souls are not of this world. They shall never die. Within each soul is a limitless capacity for love. Each being was created with love by a benevolent source. The love within us can never die. The soul is eternal and love is eternal.

This is, if you will, a love story.

Thoth, Scribe of the Holy

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Chronological Sentence from prologue

And over time, many of the fallen angels forgot that they had once been celestial beings, but subconsciously remembered the power they once held and their former immortality.

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A tragedy

One life was lost and one probably destroyed by this sad event. In the town where I live there was a man who was something of a picture. He rode around town on his bicycle collecting cans and picking up trash. He opened doors for people and always had a kind word. He left flowers and little gifts for those who came to know him well. His name was John. He suffered from schizophrenia but chose not to take medication because he didn't like the way it made him feel. He lived with his brother and sister-in-law and their two daughters. He was a good person, the kind of person we should all try to be more like. Everyone in town will miss John, but for his family this is an especially tragic loss.

The woman who struck and killed him with her car this Friday was not an evil person. She didn't do it on purpose. She made the ill-informed decision to drive while on a prescription medication that made her tired. She fell asleep at the wheel. She will probably be charged with vehicular homicide. Her life is ruined. I saw her photo in the paper. She is a tired-looking person who looks as if she's had a rough life. Perhaps she didn't have anyone that she could turn to who could take her places. Perhaps she didn't know that the medication would affect her as badly as it did. Whatever the case, her bad decision will remain with her as long as she lives.

I also remember a man named Billy who was John's friend. Billy was not a bad guy but he got involved with cooking and selling meth, probably out of desperation for money. Another bad decision that ruined a life. Billy still has a chance to turn things around, though, and make better decisions when he gets out of jail. I hope he'll do so, in memory of his friend who didn't judge others.

Maybe the rest of us can learn something from John too. Don't judge others based on their disability, including a mental disability. Don't judge others based on the mistakes they make. I know that John forgives the woman who struck him with her car. I would have a hard time forgiving someone who made that kind of mistake and killed someone I loved.

People like John should be remembered. He was what the rest of us should aspire to be. Of all people I have known, I am sure that he is blessed and at peace and in one of the good places that the souls of someone like him belong. He was loved by all whose lives he touched. We who knew him even a little were blessed.

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