Televangelist Pat Robertson suggested that the horrendous earthquake in Haiti is God’s punishment on Haiti due to a pact with the devil.
Here is what Robertson said:
“You know … something happened a long time ago in Haiti. They got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you get us free from the French.’ True story. And so, the Devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal.’ And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It’s cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti; on the other side is the Dominican Republican. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island.”
Supposedly this has something do to with Voodoo in Haiti and legends about Voodoo’s involvement in their revolution against the French. Did thousands of children die in a God willed earthquake because of Voodoo??
Voodoo was introduced to the New World from African slaves. When Haiti was discovered, colonists built sugar and coffee plantations. To work these plantations the colonists used many slaves. Voodoo was a slave’s religion, brought from Africa and practiced in secret after they were forced to convert to Christianity. God-fearing, Bible-believing Christian slave owners were responsible for bringing Voodoo to Haiti with their slave trade, not the Haitians.
Is a Christian legacy of slavery not as serious in God’s eyes as a legacy of Voodoo? Who really deserved that earthquake?
If we look at the behavior of some televangelists, it sure looks like they are practicing the occult to me. Is there much difference between a Vodou hougan and a Holy Spirit preacher? They both have Words Of Knowledge predicting the future. They channel God directly, speaking with Him and revealing His word. They claim to heal the sick. Is that really far removed from Voodoo? Is there a difference between channeling Voodoo’s Loa or the Holy Spirit to perform “miracles”?
The past decade of 2000 to 2009 was truly dreadful for America. We had the 911 attacks, a war in Iraq, hurricane Katrina, a stock market crash and a financial/economic collapse unlike anything since the Great Depression.
However, this perception of an awful decade is from an American perspective. In China the decade was different. China experienced unparalleled economic growth during the past decade. Hundreds of millions of Chinese saw their standard of living rise dramatically while at the same time the American standard of living declined.
This was not supposed to happen to America. During the past decade we had a conservative, evangelical Christian in President Bush and conservatives in firm control of Congress and the Supreme Court. Ideally, God should have blessed our nation because our leadership reflected God’s will. As the Bible says:
Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
It is believed by many Christians that God will judge a nation for its sins, and disasters are God’s retribution. An example evangelists often use is the view that AIDS is God’s punishment on homosexuality.
So what went wrong? Why all these terrible events during the decade of the Bush presidency, one of the most conservative and godly presidents we ever had? Why did a non-Christian nation like China prosper at the same time? Has God withdrawn His protection and abandoned America?
Here is a thought. Perhaps conservative values are not automatically God’s values. Yes, this is a startling concept. But how else to explain the worst of times coinciding with the most conservative of times?
Invading Iraq seemed mostly like a political stunt to increase politicians’ popularity after 911. The Bible talks about good stewards but nobody bothered to do much when Katrina hit New Orleans. Our economic collapse was founded on conservative laissez-faire principles. Conservatism seemed to relish venomous partisanship dividing Americans into “us” and “them”, happy to rule with 50.1% of the vote. Much of what has happened this past decade was the path we chose.
The law of attraction suggests what we think is what we’ll attract into our lives. Positive thoughts attract positive results and a negative attitude will attract negative consequences. And so it does.
I’d suggest it is possible to have the law of attraction work on a national scale too. When a society embraces negativity, rancor, acrimony and disharmony, what are we to expect of the results? The consequences won’t appear immediately, but in time all the collective bad karma will result in blowback. Like an economic collapse.
I sure hope it is not religious intolerance at work.When I read the story, my first thought was this was vandalism.Who would toss a statue in a river?But I don’t know much about the Hinduism.Does anybody know anything about such a tradition where an icon would be discarded in such a way? What would be the meaning involved with practice?
There was a story in the news about the oldest human figurine yet discovered. It is a 35,000-year-old image of a “Venus”. This figurine is of a woman with exaggerated sexual features. What was the carver thinking? Shame on him! Men haven’t changed a bit in 35,000 years!
This is a fascinating story on many levels. What does this figurine, along with the beautiful cave paintings, say about early man? Human beings are artists, from cave man to Leonardo da Vinci. Other humanoids did not share this ability, such as the Neanderthals who never created artwork. Imagination seemed beyond the Neanderthals. But early mankind had an abundance of imagination. Perhaps imagination is one of the key defining qualities of humanity, along with the ability to think symbolically.
What do these continuing discoveries have to say about religion? Some think these carvings were shamanistic. There are theories that cave paintings represented a form of magic in their imagery of game animals. There is a more sophisticated theory that the cave setting for the cave paintings actually represented a physical depiction of what a shaman experienced in his spiritual journey into the underworld/spirit realm.
The shaman would enter the pitch-black cave with only his torch for illumination. As he descended into the cave, animals would appear as if out of nowhere as his torchlight fell on the painted imagery. One “spirit” image of an animal would appear, fades away and then another image would appear in the light. If combined with hallucinogens it would really feel as if he had entered the spirit world. These painted caves were not meant for the masses, but represented the shaman’s experience and journey
If this was the actual reason for the cave paintings, then it reveals an advanced spirituality…and imagination. It seems imagination and spirituality co-exist like brothers. As far as we know the Neanderthals lacked a similar sense of spirituality.
How did human imagination mysteriously appear? Long ago something very strange happened in human evolution. We may never know how or why. But somehow imagination came into the world.
Prometheus
In Greek myth the Titan Prometheus molded mankind out of clay and then stole fire from Zeus, giving it to mankind to better their lives. In the Prometheus myth fire seems to be a metaphor for intelligence and mastery over matter. Zeus punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock to have his liver eaten by vultures. Why was Prometheus punished for giving mankind knowledge? Perhaps the ancients recognized that human nature itself is a double-edged sword…capable of both good and evil.
In the Bible God also made Adam from clay. Eventually Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge and were transformed from innocent animal-like creatures into self-aware humanity. Once more, as punishment for gaining knowledge, they were cast out from the Garden of Eden. The ancient authors recognized a state of existence before “human” and that it was different from we are now. Also, there is a dear price necessarily associated with self-awareness.
Here is the news story about the 35,000 year old Venus:
In my previous post I discussed the esoteric idea about different levels to existence. At the very top of these levels is the Spirit Plane. This is something we are all familiar with. Most religions divide existence into the physical world and the world of Spirit. Spirit exists outside of the laws of time/space wherein God, the angels, heaven and the dead exist.
Can we possibility have any knowledge of this spirit world? We seemingly don’t have any direct connection to this realm, so all appears to be conjecture. Religious scriptures have something to say about this spirit dimension. Christian scripture tends to be a bit vague when it comes to the world of spirit. At the opposite side, the ancient Egyptians had an elaborate map/guesswork of what they thought happened after death.
Guardian Angel
Ceremonial magicians have long thought of the spirit dimension as the source of power for their craft. They would invoke the name of God for just about anything including the most nonsensical objectives. What is up with medieval mages trying to summon angelic powers to find hidden treasure or curse a neighbor? I don’t get that at all.
It is suggested that a part of our being also exists in this Spirit Plane but is inaccessible to our daily consciousness. This part of our being has been called our Higher Genius, or Higher Self. In the grimorie “Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage” there is a technique given called the Abramelin operation which is supposed to bring the mage into direct contact their “Holy Guardian Angel” (another name for our Higher Self) who will reveal great magical secrets to the mage. The occultist Aleister Crowley famously used this method. I never heard of anyone actually achieving the stated results.
Outside of religious and occult doctrines, we have the personal experiences of people who had near-death out-of-body experiences. Very often they encounter a tunnel of light, and after passing through it they encounter the spirit world. They report encounters with their departed loved ones, a feeling a transcendent joy, of understanding the meaning for everything, and have a life-review where in an instant they relive all the good or bad they ever did in their lives.
Is it possible for the living to have contact with this spiritual dimension? What is the essence of spirit? How does spirit reflect itself in our lives? We don’t need any hocus pocus for the answers.
My personal answer is that the nature of the spiritual dimension is Love. Love is a part of our everyday, mundane lives. The love for one’s spouse, the love for your children, loving your friends and neighbors…the love of all humanity is our connection with the deepest level of existence. When a parent is toiling at working two jobs to support their family, they may not realize it but they in harmony with the purpose for our existence.
For me, the clearest statement on the nature of spirit and love is the famous bible quote about love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, which ends:
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
To achieve harmony with the cosmos is as simple as embracing love for all humanity. Easier said then done! Religion is often in disharmony with the spirit of love. Look at Islamic radicals killing people in the name of God. That is not only disharmony but complete blindness.
Another example, only a few short decades ago in the U.S., it was illegal for people of different races to marry. People actually got arrested for it! Why? Because it was considered immoral and ungodly for the races to mix. How could supposedly godly people believe in such things? Maybe they were not in harmony with the spirit of love? If people view other races as human beings like themselves, with love, they would not have had such views.
Today we have the controversy about gay marriage. Again, religious people look at gays as abominations and gay marriage as an abomination multiplied. I can appreciate people have cultural reasons for being against gay marriage, but decades from now people will look back and say, “What were those people THINKING back then??” when gay marriage is commonplace. Just like we do today looking back at interracial marriage.
Being in harmony with love and the spiritual dimension is not a religious matter but a personal one. In my next post I will consider the next level of existence…the abstract level, or what might also be the anthropic principle.
Are women more spiritual then men? On the surface, it would seem to be. Think of all the people you know. It seems women, regardless of their faith, are more into daily spirituality then men. But it is really so? Women pray more, are usually the ones who have to gather the family for church or handle the religious chores. Guys would rather play golf on Sunday.
I think men are not more or less spiritual, but are spiritual in a different way. It comes down to the basic difference in the way men and women think. Men are mostly left brain types, thinking more logically and that everything has to have a purpose. Women tend to be more right brain, thinking more emotionally and with intuition. It seems that spiritually of any stripe would be primarily a right-brain inspired function. Men mostly approach spirituality with their left-brain logic, which can lead to problems. The masculine left-brain approach to spirituality focuses on dogma, theology, and power.
Hierophant
If women are generally more spiritually oriented then men, why do men call all the shots and make all the rules with religion? It’s not even close to 50/50 where half of the religious leadership is male, half female. Religion is a male dominated arena. Pastors, priests, patriarchs, evangelists, popes, preachers, rabbis and mullahs are virtually all male. Men are in charge because our testosterone makes us more aggressive then women, and that is the bottom line. In life victory goes to the most aggressive, not the most gentle, and that includes matters of religion. With the male left-brain approach to spirit we focus on theology over love.
An example of masculine spirituality was in the news recently: Pakistan has approved Islamic law in Pakistan’s Swat Valley in a peace accord with the Taliban. I watched the news footage showing bearded Taliban dudes practicing their version of Islamic law by whipping a guy accused of homosexuality and a woman of adultery. I thought to myself, if women were in charge it would be a different world.
There are new frontiers of spirituality that place power with women in equal measure with men. These frontiers are our pagan and Wiccan communities. Paganism is unique with their idea of the Goddess. Their beliefs focus more on personal experience and interaction then adhering to some rigid dogmas. So far I have not heard of any fundamentalist pagans, but if guys ever take over paganism, for sure that would happen next!
Papess
Looking at the oldest versions of the Tarot cards, there is a strange card, number 2, the Papess, the female Pope. Later it was redesigned to be the High Priestess. There is the legend of Pope Joan who was supposed to rule as Pope for three years in the 800’s. Disguised as a man she became pope until she got pregnant. There is no proof of a female pope but what is important was that it was widely believed long ago. What makes the story and card remarkable is how out of place she was. What is this card saying? Maybe that spirituality should not be male dominated. Tarot cards are wonderful in putting equal emphasis on both the male and female duality.
The High Priestess card is a call to equality in Spirit.
Easter has arrived and it is a time for religious contemplation. Is the religion we were born into, and which we were raised in, sufficient for all our spiritual needs? Why should anyone pursue alternative spirituality? What is the relationship between formal religions and “occult” practices like tarot reading, ghost hunting, meditation, and new age practices?
I can only speak for myself. I was sort of raised Catholic, and sort of remain Catholic. By “sort of”, I refer to the nature of my religious upbringing, which was not considered too important in my family. As a child, I was bored with Sunday school; it was a chore. It was such a hassle for Catholic confirmation. After I grew up, I became more fascinated with religion. Maybe since I was not overly indoctrinated as a child I ended up with an open-minded attitude.
I briefly became interested in right-wing evangelical Christianity of the type promoted by televangelists. I would watch as these TV guys seemingly displayed “supernatural” powers. They acted like God was talking directly to them and relaying messages to their viewing audience via the anointed televangelist. Outside of the entertaining circus element, I quickly realized I had irreconcilable differences with their beliefs. I’d have to adopt a right-wing worldview to follow them, and that was not possible. It seems that belonging to a church is as much a political decision as it is theological.
However, watching the TV guys made me appreciate the Catholic Church more. The Catholic Church really is pretty moderate in its views compared to the fundamentalist crowd. They have a progressive approach to social justice. But they have their own problems. A lot of their dogma is petty silly, like their opposition to birth control. What is up with that? And because the Church won’t let their priests marry, it seems the Church has attracted a group of sexually repressed men, which exploded in the child abuse scandals.
And recently there has been a bit of a controversy with the Catholic University of Notre Dame having invited President Obama to deliver their May 17 commencement address and get an honorary degree. Suddenly a lot of Catholic cardinals and priests protested and urged the university to disinvite the president. Why? Become Obama does not subscribe to every single Catholic position. Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George urged Catholics to protest, saying the invite “brought extreme embarrassment to many, many people who are Catholic, including their own bishop.” Oh please…Obama is not a Catholic! How can any church demand people who are not members of their church follow their every teaching?
Since I was not properly trained/brainwashed in dogma during childhood, I still have an open mind. When it comes to spirituality, I find closed minds alarming. Spirituality is not science, and beliefs are not fact. Which is the reason I like to explore alternative spiritual ideas. I am intrigued by the possibility of making direct contact with the spiritual dimension. I have seen things that strongly suggest a higher reality. How to understand all of this? That is the trick. Religion offers some hints but is restricted by their dogma into exploring further. Actually, nearly all religions strongly condemn going outside their dogma to find answers. Only a few of us dare.
Finally, below is an amusing video with commentary concerning former politican Newt Gringrich’s comments on the Notre Dame controversy. It shows why politics and religion are NOT a comfortable fit!
I like gargoyles; they are cool. They make me wish I lived in Europe so I could check them out. Their great gothic cathedrals have so many of them. There are not many places in the U.S. where I can see monstrous beings carved in stone. I took the picture of the griffin above at the Yerkes Observatory. However, nothing is better then the real thing…a medieval cathedral gargoyle.
The term gargoyle refers to an actual waterspout, while the term grotesque refers to a gargoyle-like ornamentation without the waterspout functionality. Apparently, the reason for these carvings, their purpose and origin remain unknown. Why were these hideous and humorous waterspouts put on cathedrals of all places…God’s house of worship? Nobody knows for certain. Gargoyles are a mystery.
Grotesque
The gothic cathedrals of the middle ages were filled with symbolism. Since most people were mostly illiterate in medieval times, the cathedrals were like giant picture stories incorporated into stone and stained glass. The stained glass, the statuary, the iconography all conveyed clear messages. Inside the cathedral was an experience, as if one had entered heaven itself with God and his Saints and Angels watching over us.
What about gargoyles? If the cathedrals were filled with symbolism, what is the iconography of the gargoyle? They hover outside the cathedral, high above looking down on the churchgoers as they enter the church. There must be a purpose to them. I think the important clue is that they exist only outside the church, not within.
It has been suggested that the purpose of gargoyles were to scare away evil spirits. In other cultures, wearing scary masks while dancing and beating drums or the use of fireworks were used to scare away the evil spirits. Frightening ceremonial spirit masks and gargoyles look similar enough. Sort of like fighting fire with fire. Would a genuine evil spirit be afraid of a stone grotesque? I suppose people used to think spirits were dumb enough to be fooled.
Demons and gargoyles
Gargoyles seem to represent evil spirits. If you look at the woodcuts from the period that depicts the demon, they have a unique appearance that seems to match that of the gargoyle. Gargoyles cover the outside of the cathedral, but they don’t exist inside since symbolically evil spirits cannot enter the Holy. To the eyes of the medieval churchgoer, the cathedral might seem like the boundary between heaven and hell. Inside the Church were images of the saints and angels, outside waiting were gargoyles hanging from their perches. Inside the church’s structure heaven was symbolized, while outside the church the gargoyle symbolized the “outer darkness”, the realm where the lost souls and the damned dwell forever parted.
Here is a little scarier thought. Perhaps the gargoyles were not only symbolic. Could the visionaries and mystics of the time have seen something more, which we can’t see? Perhaps those blessed with special insight were able to actually view evil spirits hovering outside a church. Invisible entities might have prowled the parameter of places of worship…watching the worshipers for purposes of their own. Do spirits lay siege to places where people congregate for worship? The symbolism of the barrier between the clean and unclean spirits might not have been only symbolic.
Then again, gargoyles strike me as being the humblest of creatures. Ugly, taken for granted, doing the dirty work of being waterspouts. No carved saint or stone angel would dare be caught being a lowly waterspout. Sort of like all the invisible people in real life, who toil with our mudane work for little pay or glory. Like the laborers who toiled to build the cathedral for a wealthy Church. Yet, these people are no less worthy then any other human being, bishop or royalty included. Could that be the lesson of the gargoyle? Were they an act of rebelliousness by the stone carvers? That the humble gargoyle (like most of us) enjoys the same place in the Divine as all the fancy saints and angels? Except we have to sit outside in the rain.
Recently I was discussing the topic of angels with someone. The topic of angelology is large. One question we pondered …why were all angels male? All the Biblical angels had masculine names. Where were the female angels? Which lead me to expand that question to spirits in general. Do spirits have a gender? On the surface it would seem a spirit, being a non-physical entity would not have a gender. Sex is a physical biological function for the reproduction of a species. Why would a disembodied incorporeal spirit need a gender?
First let’s look at what religious traditions have to say about the possibility of spirit gender. Traditional religions are clear that angels are sexless, neither man nor woman. And humanity will become like the angels in the afterlife. Here is a passage from the bible concerning this:
“‘In the resurrection, therefore, to which of the seven will she be wife? For they all had her.’ But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”" (Matthew 22:28-30)
This would seem to settle the topic from a religious viewpoint. Yet, Jesus retained his male aspect after his resurrection. Also intriguing are the Marian apparitions. When the Virgin Mary appeared to individuals (like at Fatima) she clearly retained her womanhood. Does this mean what we were in life, we retain in the afterlife? What about those who believe in reincarnation? People who subscribe to reincarnation have reported that in past lives they often lived as different genders. Different religious viewpoints come to different conclusions.
Outside of religious thought, we can look at people’s first hand experiences with ghosts and out-of-body near-death experiences. People who have encountered ghosts report that these spirits are clearly male or female. Look at the story of the ghostly hitchhiker, Resurrection Mary, a famous Chicago area ghost. Resurrection Mary was reported as a young woman seen walking alone down a street (Archer Avenue) near a local ballroom, and is offered a ride by a passerby. When the car passes Resurrection Cemetery down the road, she asked the driver to stop and left the car only to vanish, or even vanished while in the car. There were dozens of actual reports of Resurrection Mary over the decades; it was not just an urban legend. Resurrection Mary and other ghosts clearly retain their sexuality identify after death.
Looking at near-death experiences, those who go through this experience feel they still resemble their physical body. Here is an example from a previous post of mine: http://occultview.com/2009/01/14/near-death-out-of-body-experience/ Also interesting, when the tunnel of light is encountered (a typical part of this experience) there are reports of being greeted by their dead loved ones. Their deceased greeters appear as they did in life, but appear young and vigorous, not old or decrepit as when they passed away. And they still appear as men or women.
Spiritualist and occult philosophy has a viewpoint about this. According to these ideas, we have a physical body and a spirit/soul. We also have something that is in-between these two…an invisible, ethereal double. The ancient Egyptians called this concept the ‘Ka”, or life force. This life force was an invisible double of our body. At death, the Ka leaves the body. Then this Ka “dies” and the Ba (the Egyptian name for the soul) is released to travel outside the realm of time/space. This Ka double could be called our ghost. Our ghost-double closely mirrors our physical self, including our sexual identify. Some suggest that sexuality is not only a physical phenomena but also a spiritual one. It is said our body’s life force connects with another’s life-force during sex, sharing this life energy as well. And what about the Soul, the Ba? Does the soul retain any aspect of sexuality identify? I have no clue about that.
A step further into the unknown: can non-human incorporeal entities have sex with humans? There is a strange passage from Genesis that suggests this is so. This passage below is often interpreted as angelic entitles actually copulating with mortal women and breeding children. Hard to get my mind around that one.
” There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. ” (Genesis 6:4)
In mythology non-human beings have a strong sexual identity, and often have intimate affairs with mortals. Fauns, satyrs, nymphs, the fairy folk are all male or female. There are many stories in our folklore of non-human entities having something resembling sexual interaction with living people. This was a common theme in faerie phenomena with many tales of the faerie being intensely interested in human sexuality. Look at the stories of changelings, where the faerie steal away human children and replace them with something else, or faerie abduction of someone taken away into fairyland for sexual purposes. Why would an immaterial being want such relationships with us?
This still happens today, but it is called something else. It is called the UFO alien abduction phenomena. These reports very often include sexual experimentation on those abducted by these beings. It seems like these entities’ primary purpose for contact with humans has something do to with reproduction. These beings may not be flesh and blood alien from outer space, but the same entitles that were once called the faerie, and can appear in any form they wish. They seem to steal away someone’s “Ka” for their own purposes and then return it. Again, why? We’d have to ask them!
A final thought. The idea about a realm invisible to the physical world is not just speculation. Science has already recognized something similar to this. It is called dark matter. We have no clue what this dark matter is, but it has a detectable gravitational influence on a cosmic scale. The vast majority of the matter in the universe consists of this invisible dark matter; it holds our galaxies tighter preventing them from flying apart. The idea of an invisible reality outside our perception may not just be a fantasy.
I consider the Bible to be an occult scripture. How so? Isn’t the Bible supposed to be the exact opposite of anything occult? I could refer to the Kabbalah or the bible code concept. Christianity has been the inspiration for mysticism of all varieties. Occultism has strong foundations in Christianity.
As an example, here are two versions of the tarot card “Judgment”. Its imagery is clearly taken from the Christian idea of the resurrection of the dead on the Day of Judgment. Their meaning is not quite that. The angel at the top could be interpreted as spiritual guidance from Above, or as our own higher self, the part of us connected to the Universe, often called our higher guardian angel. Whichever, it is calling on us towards the path to enlightenment and becoming one with the Universe. Of note is that one character at the bottom who has their back turned to us. This represents our self in the scene, seeking inspiration, face turned toward the event. This card invites our direct participation.
However, with the idea of an Occult Bible, I am referring to something else. First is the definition of “occult”. Occult is defined as dealing with the supernatural, with spiritual agencies, about matters that are beyond human comprehension, and concerning secret and hidden knowledge. Occult literally means, “hidden or concealed”. That is the Bible from my perspective…dealing with deep spiritual and supernatural concepts in a cryptic, indirect way.
People assume the Bible is clear-cut in how it defines God and the nature of reality. I personally don’t see it that way. I see the Bible as mysterious with multiple layers of meaning. The first glance is often the incorrect glance. An example could be how Genesis explains the creation in seven days. This can’t be literal (first glance). If we look deeper, we see glimpses of the scientific evolution of the universe described in metaphors. “Let there be light” can be viewed as starting with the Big Bang, and then a step-by-step process of cosmic evolution all the way down to human life…first plants, then sea life, then dinosaurs/birds, then mammals and finally humans. It is not described as a simultaneous creation. There might even be metaphors of what existed before the Big Bang…if only cosmologists had an open mind to consider the possibility.
Which leads to the most occult document of all…the bible’s book of Revelations. Thoughts of Revelations lead directly to bible prophecy. Talk about cryptic! A lot of people have stumbled in trying to understand Revelations. As a young guy I’d listen to a TV preacher named Charles Taylor discuss his view of biblical prophecy. Over the years he gave updates, and I recall him putting great importance on the European Union. He considered how the emerging 10-nation European Economic Union would transform into a 10-nation world power governed by the Antichrist. Sounded good at the time. Except now the European Union has 27 states! Other proponents of Biblical prophecy like Hal Lindsay also laid big eggs. Nostradamus had a better track record then these modern sages.
Therefore, I fearlessly jump into where these others sages tread! I will give my two cents on eschatology. I think the secret of understanding Revelations is in verse 8:8, the “Second Trumpet”. It states that “something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea”. Most of Revelations’ plagues that befall mankind sound remarkably like the byproduct of an asteroid hitting the earth producing an extinction level event on par with what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. There are vivid verses that visually describe the sky darkened by the debris hurling into the sky and falling down burning much of the planet. Looked at from this perspective, the verses make chilling sense. After this disaster will follow the collapse of civilization and all that entails.
When can we expect this to happen? I sure hope not in my lifetime! A lot of Christians believe in something called the “rapture”. This means that before this asteroid slams into the earth, all proper born-again Christians who follow the correct theology will vanish into heaven, leaving behind all the rest of us to endure the end of the world. “Proper” Christians have nothing to fear and actually look forward to the end of the world.
Personally, I don’t think God plays favorites. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Catholics, pagans, or agnostics don’t deserve to be “left behind” while right wing Christians get to watch us from heaven while we handle the asteroid collision. What is up with that theology? I call it Chicken Theology. Maybe “end times” preaching is too scary without a rapture?
I will make my one true prediction concerning bible prophecy and the end of the world. When that time comes, “proper” Christians will be stuck here on earth with the rest of us. After the asteroid strikes, some Christians will be watching the event on TV and thinking, ”where the heck was the rapture?” If the end of the world ever does transpire and we all remain in it together, it will mean that God really does not play favorites, favoring one theology over another. And I will be proven right! But I’d really, REALLY prefer not to have that last chance to say, “I told you so”.
The shaman would enter the pitch-black cave with only his torch for illumination. As he descended into the cave, animals would appear as if out of nowhere as his torchlight fell on the painted imagery. One “spirit” image of an animal would appear, fades away and then another image would appear in the light. If combined with hallucinogens it would really feel as if he had entered the spirit world. These painted caves were not meant for the masses, but represented the shaman’s experience and journey
Outside of religious and occult doctrines, we have the personal experiences of people who had near-death out-of-body experiences. Very often they encounter a tunnel of light, and after passing through it they encounter the spirit world. They report encounters with their departed loved ones, a feeling a transcendent joy, of understanding the meaning for everything, and have a life-review where in an instant they relive all the good or bad they ever did in their lives.
Another example, only a few short decades ago in the U.S., it was illegal for people of different races to marry. People actually got arrested for it! Why? Because it was considered immoral and ungodly for the races to mix. How could supposedly godly people believe in such things? Maybe they were not in harmony with the spirit of love? If people view other races as human beings like themselves, with love, they would not have had such views.
Then again, gargoyles strike me as being the humblest of creatures. Ugly, taken for granted, doing the dirty work of being waterspouts. No carved saint or stone angel would dare be caught being a lowly waterspout. Sort of like all the invisible people in real life, who toil with our mudane work for little pay or glory. Like the laborers who toiled to build the cathedral for a wealthy Church. Yet, these people are no less worthy then any other human being, bishop or royalty included. Could that be the lesson of the gargoyle? Were they an act of rebelliousness by the stone carvers? That the humble gargoyle (like most of us) enjoys the same place in the Divine as all the fancy saints and angels? Except we have to sit outside in the rain.
First let’s look at what religious traditions have to say about the possibility of spirit gender. Traditional religions are clear that angels are sexless, neither man nor woman. And humanity will become like the angels in the afterlife. Here is a passage from the bible concerning this:
Looking at near-death experiences, those who go through this experience feel they still resemble their physical body. Here is an example from a previous post of mine: 
A step further into the unknown: can non-human incorporeal entities have sex with humans? There is a strange passage from Genesis that suggests this is so. This passage below is often interpreted as angelic entitles actually copulating with mortal women and breeding children. Hard to get my mind around that one.
This still happens today, but it is called something else. It is called the UFO alien abduction phenomena. These reports very often include sexual experimentation on those abducted by these beings. It seems like these entities’ primary purpose for contact with humans has something do to with reproduction. These beings may not be flesh and blood alien from outer space, but the same entitles that were once called the faerie, and can appear in any form they wish. They seem to steal away someone’s “Ka” for their own purposes and then return it. Again, why? We’d have to ask them!
I consider the Bible to be an occult scripture. How so? Isn’t the Bible supposed to be the exact opposite of anything occult? I could refer to the Kabbalah or the bible code concept. Christianity has been the inspiration for mysticism of all varieties. Occultism has strong foundations in Christianity. 
However, with the idea of an Occult Bible, I am referring to something else. First is the definition of “occult”. Occult is defined as dealing with the supernatural, with spiritual agencies, about matters that are beyond human comprehension, and concerning secret and hidden knowledge. Occult literally means, “hidden or concealed”. That is the Bible from my perspective…dealing with deep spiritual and supernatural concepts in a cryptic, indirect way.
Which leads to the most occult document of all…the bible’s book of Revelations. Thoughts of Revelations lead directly to bible prophecy. Talk about cryptic! A lot of people have stumbled in trying to understand Revelations. As a young guy I’d listen to a TV preacher named Charles Taylor discuss his view of biblical prophecy. Over the years he gave updates, and I recall him putting great importance on the European Union. He considered how the emerging 10-nation European Economic Union would transform into a 10-nation world power governed by the Antichrist. Sounded good at the time. Except now the European Union has 27 states! Other proponents of Biblical prophecy like Hal Lindsay also laid big eggs. Nostradamus had a better track record then these modern sages. 
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