Friends in High Places

The last month of 2014 has been a real hoot in my house.  It is a good thing that Christmas was fun because I needed that to manage the assortment of not funs that have been hovering over my existence. 

The mystic path is one that teaches, if nothing else, all of the time.  A friend of mine told me that I seem to have graduated from Professor X to Jean Gray (X Men) recently.  Unintended telekinetics are running rampant around me and I find myself with a long list of “splintering” episodes to try to sort out now.  Wish me luck. In the third X Men movie Jean tore the hell out of her environment!

In the last two weeks, two light bulbs in my dining room blew, the lamp in the living room blew, the other lamp in there has been screwy for months, my nightlight in the bathroom blew, my portable fan blew, my new smartphone won’t hold a charge more than a few hours, and I broke a front tooth on Christmas Eve.  I do not have Obamacare and made a conscious choice not to kill myself financially to get it, so the tooth is going to be this way until the universe shows me some miracle of affordable health care.  I’m pretty sure that the U.S. government is not going to find Jesus and give us national healthcare like most other industrialized nations have.  People in other countries must look at us and think what a bunch of selfish morons we are for not caring whether our citizens live or die.  Diseased people are on the streets and dropping dead in emergency rooms all the time hoping that someone will give a damn. I know a man in Australia who has a great many health problems that, had he been a citizen of America when his health took a down turn, he would have been bankrupted in 30 days.  Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida said it best about what it’s like to be ill in America; “Don’t get sick.  If you do, die quickly.”  I feel extremely fortunate that I am capable of managing most all of my health issues with natural remedies and homeopathy, but broken teeth and severed limbs are not covered in my reference books.

There was a time when I would have freaked out to high heaven over breaking a front tooth.  Fortunately for me, I am not a person who smiles beamingly all the time with all teeth glowing.  Until the universe smiles on me with an answer I will most likely be keeping my mouth shut a lot and saving all rants for this blog.  I have been considering trying to get in touch with Sam Raimi and asking if he intends to make any more Evil Dead sequels.  I can afford to get myself a long, white wig and be a Deadite for the film.  I figure that I could possibly get my tooth fixed with the money I make acting.  Half a tooth looks pretty scary and I can scream and chase Bruce Campbell as well as anyone could, I’m sure.

I am not the only one who has had a fascinating time this month.  A friend of mine was stabbed twice in the back and his car was stolen a couple of weeks ago.  He was so fortunate to have survived the attack, but what really stinks about the incident is that he was just trying to be a good Samaritan to a young fellow who was panhandling outside of a convenience store.  I don’t know how well I would do at getting over something like that.  Probably not well at all.  But there are people who would be more devastated by the fact that they have broken a front tooth, or developed acne or gained weight.   It is a fact that I could break an arm or a leg and find sympathy from others for it but when one’s looks and vanity take a hit it is always fodder for jokes and no sympathy at all because how you look is always perceived to be your own fault. 

I will be using all of the mystic and psychic powers available to me going into the New Year because it isn’t only my public face and electronics that have taken a hit recently.  I am looking at a society that has fallen from grace and is fighting itself in ways that I never would have imagined a decade ago.  The problems on this planet are too many and too diverse for me to read and solve alone.  Even with the mystic powers of Merlin or Doctor Strange I am not capable of casting a blanket spell to fix us all.  The best I can do is focus on why I am splintering and gathering up new lessons and challenges right now. 

I always try to have positive thoughts and high hopes for the New Year. As a mystic, there is never a day that goes by when I don’t see something that I need to learn or address for a better and more productive life.  I knew a fellow once who told me that the mystic path is something that I should give up immediately because it just keeps you on a “fucking downer” all the time.  His point was understood but life on planet earth just is a “fucking downer” a lot of the time because people are so confused about the very idea of existence.  No mystical or magical or celebrity path will save you from that but knowing who you truly are, what you are, and what abilities you came here with are the basics for managing it as well as you can when the wolf is at the door and there is no Batman living in your town.  Following a spiritual path has its own unique challenges and learning the physics of how life is supposed to work in balance and in harmony with universal laws is PhD learning, but it is at the core of finding peace in this life, and if you can master it, you have the ingredients for not being so thrown at what people and life challenges are going to present you with.  The uninformed are a constant source of unnecessary trouble for us but if we do not learn to rise above the mentality we are a doomed species.

Have a fun and safe New Year’s Eve tonight and don’t drink and drive unless you have Obamacare and a good lawyer.  Tomorrow we will all be thinking on lyrics to songs by the Alan Parson’s Project such as “Where do we go from here?” (“Games People Play”) and “The Eye In The Sky”, and hope that our friends in high places are watching over us to keep us up, well, happy, and alive in 2015. I wish you all the best.  I will be laying in a large supply of new light bulbs.

A Busy Night for Krampus

The European legend of Krampus has mostly been lost in the marketing of Santa Claus for Christmas.  I’m sure that retailers couldn’t find any way to make money with it. For those of you who don’t know the story of Krampus, think of the film Time Bandits when Robin Hood is giving to the poor and a crazed looking fellow punches everyone in the face after they receive their gift.  Anyone who hasn’t been a good person all year receives a punch in the face from Krampus instead of a gift from Santa. All of the horrible things that we see and hear in the news now tells me that Krampus needs to come back badly this year.

I could write a 100 page blog tonight about everything that is wrong with the world and it’s people.  I’d love to be able to say something joyous and wonderful to make you feel good about life but the best that I can offer in that way is to not look at the news for two days.  If you can forget about all of the chaos and crime that the world is experiencing now and tune out the hate and the viciousness of so many people you just might get through the holiday season with a smile on your face.  Try it.  We would all like to have a warm and happy Christmas.  It is my fondest wish for us. 

As I was Christmas shopping this week I saw so many people with scowls on their faces and many more people who just looked weary.  Children were crying and screaming.  Parents were letting their kids run amuck in stores and everyone seemed intent on being obnoxious by either deliberately getting in the way of others or bulldozing through tiny store aisles with a satisfied smirk if they managed to irritate someone.  I heard one woman angrily say that it doesn’t feel like Christmas.  No, lady, it certainly doesn’t when it becomes a chore and a competition to just buy a few gifts for the people you care about.  Heaven help us, and please send Krampus around this year to hopefully, knock some sense into the human race again.  In Time Bandits, Robin Hood notices that the poor are being knocked out after they are given a gift and he asks a man standing next to him if it is really necessary for the wild looking fellow to punch everyone out.  He is told that it is.

Another rerun of The Walton’s Christmas is not likely to do the trick now.  We have strayed too far from the belief that we will ever truly be happy with the simple things and love of family and friends.  If you still have that in your life in an age of selfishness and apathy you have already received your miracle of the season.  If you haven’t, say a little prayer for an appearance by Krampus tonight to deal with the ones who cannot seem to learn that it will take all of us coming back to our senses to make this a happy holiday season and a hopeful and prosperous new year.  I wish both of those things for you and a visit from Santa because you have been true to yourself all year and are making a difference in how 2015 will be for us.  Thank you for caring about the world you live in.  I would like to see a return to the world caring back.

Human Rights – Equal Rights – The Mystic Path

The ways of the mystic do not fit nicely into a capitalist society.  They are doable but they do not fall into place easily.  If this path has chosen you to be its spokesperson you have an interesting journey ahead of you, but it is well worth the trip.

Everyone’s path in life is unique and is affected by many variables.  The strengths and abilities that you were born with are not necessarily going to jump up and guide you early on.  For the first 20 -30 years of your life you will be struggling with what others have imposed upon you as far as acceptable behavior and your ability to fit in.  If others have imposed chaos and rigid standards you might fall in line and make your life work so that others will leave you alone.  It can be a miserable mandate that you must obey until your last breath.  Some people manage to do this better than others.  Fear is a great controller, and for some, it is better to be accepted than to be unique. The majority of the world will take their place in society as it is pointed out to them by family, friends, school and media.  When this kind of life does not sit well with you there is a reason.  Whether or not you will seek to understand that reason is anybody’s guess, but I can promise you that you are not having “square peg in a round hole” issues for nothing.  Others usually cannot tell you what is wrong unless they are extremely learned or they are at a high level spiritually.  They won’t know and probably won’t care what is troubling you. If they teach you anything it will most likely be the best ways that they have learned to pretend that there is no problem. Being truly alone in your need seems cruel on the surface but it is actually best for you to have only yourself and the universe for counsel.  It is better to fall by your own stumbling than to be kicked by information from someone else’s playbook.  I know people who have lost touch with reality from being bound and gagged by the dictates of others. Sometimes you are protected from a worse fate by being in a situation like this but if your soul is truly crying out to be free there is no other way to find that freedom except to rid yourself of toxic people who mostly mean to keep you from upsetting their world.  So many people are eaten alive by fear and they seek relationships that will keep their fears at bay.  Too many people want an audience or a victim to control in lieu of addressing the things that are scaring them.  Run like hell from these types if you can.  Their agenda is not to help, love, or support what you are without exacting a heavy price from you in return.  Most people are very good at disguising their true agenda until they have gotten what they want from you.  Learn to recognize poison when it is being served to you.  It can be done.  The universe nearly always provides you with warnings of unease when you are in a bad situation.  It is only fear and ego that will keep you from hearing.

With all of the issues listed above going on around you it can be difficult to give a damn about the suffering of others.  Life is extremely hard for some and your own struggles can sometimes leave you with little sympathy for those who appear to be experiencing troubles seemingly of their own making.  I’m not going to tell you to become Mother Theresa by any means.  That kind of altruism was in her birthchart, I have no doubt.  But you absolutely need to develop and recognize empathic ability or you will fail miserably at being human, and that is what you are and what you are here to make the absolute best of.

I know people who genuinely love animals and work tirelessly for their welfare.  I love animals too, and it was largely for that reason that I became a vegetarian.  We absolutely should care about all life on the planet, but I tend to see many of these lovers of animals give little thought to their fellow humans as well.  They couldn’t care less that there are homeless and hungry people.  In their view, these people are stupid and lazy and deserve their situation.  Laugh at those who are not as well off as you and assume that they are of little consequence at your own peril.  Life is becoming more and more impossible for all of us due to the ripple effects of poverty, greed, and selfishness.  You will pay more for everything that you buy and need weapons and security systems in your home to deal with the imbalance. Neither you nor your children and loved ones will ever be safe in a world that cares nothing for its fellow humans. If you don’t care, do not assume that the person in want and need is going to care for your life when they cannot learn how.

An issue that I see becoming more and more problematic for the human race is sexism.  Why this is getting worse is difficult to pin down, but the need to know and understand each other is critical to living in a balanced way.  All patriarchal societies make war.  Without the balance of male and female you cannot possibly have peace.  I see on the internet every day the hate and abuse that has manifested from a world that refuses to acknowledge that the differences between the sexes are there for a specific reason, and it has made for a society where trust is no longer possible.  Separation and taking up sides is going to be the death of us as a thinking and reasoning society that is capable of ridding itself of the crime and misery that we are now experiencing.  Know that you cannot continue to point the finger at others and say that these issues are all the fault of someone else because it is your own thoughts and behaviors that you must examine to determine the root cause of these problems.  The mystic path requires you to govern you and set an example of what balanced behavior looks like.  Without you taking a hard look at whether or not you have been contributing to the devastating effects of thinking that one sex, or one race, or one political conviction should be the prime directive, you are more than likely supporting a world that is proving every day that it is truly not sustainable anymore. As Yoda, in the film The Phantom Menace said. ”Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”  Please take a look at your own views toward the sex opposite from you and realize that we truly are meant to support and complement each other.  There is no other way for life on earth to continue and evolve.

In the Marvel Comics series X Men there is an ongoing battle between mutants and humans which mutant telepath, Charles Xavier, has strived to balance all of his adult life.  He founded a school specifically to help young mutants understand and use their mutant abilities and to educate them that they have a responsibility to use their unique gifts for the greater good of all.  He has a constant uphill battle in doing this.  Not all mutants agree with his philosophy and most humans certainly don’t.  It is too bad that a school like this does not exist for mystics, psychics, and all people who seek balance in the world, and relate to it with a different point of view.  Since it doesn’t, we have to make the individual effort every day. The X Men is a work of fiction but the struggle between those who do not follow the path of fear and conformity is a truly great lesson for us all in how it may be possible to rid the world of prejudice.  The philosophy of Charles Xavier is worth taking from fiction and applying in reality. The Marvel reference book,  X Men Survival Guide To The Mansion is a good example for us all in what we could be if we would only try. There has to be a belief and a starting point for us as a society to take back our humanity and promote a better way to live.  It cannot be done by waiting for others to make it so. People are waiting for us to take that step because too many of them are incapable of doing so.

Punk Music. We Heard It, But Did We Listen?

The 1970’s brought out a style of music that had a message previously unknown to us.  It was the message of a young, disenfranchised and angry portion of the populace who gave us an up close view of what it is like to feel utterly hopeless in society.  It may have been the first and the last time in history that the poor were really taken notice of.

It sprang from the east coast of America with The Ramones, where someone offhandedly called them “a bunch of punks in a punk band.”  That person meant it as an insult but the term stuck and gave us some of the best protest music that the world would ever see.  Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and a host of other protesters of the previous decades would never get our attention the way that punk did.  Our eyes were well and truly opened by their sound and appearance, but did we take their message literally? Did anything really change in a society that devalues the lower to middle classes?  Did any of the listeners or the performers themselves take up the ball and put the message in a form of creating real change?  A few did, but not enough.

It wasn’t long after The Ramones and Patti Smith took their grievances set to hard rock and roll and unleashed it upon a hungry English audience that a multitude of young Brits took the torch and ran for their lives with it.  England was set ablaze with a generation of people who recognized the angst and found a forum for their own grievances.  The music can be listened to now and it hasn’t lost any of its flavor.  It is not dated and passé like many styles of music have become.  Truly it is more relevant than ever in 2014.  The problems of the poor and disillusioned are still with us.  Why didn’t we take the message and work for the change that was so desperately needed then? 

An Australian group called Midnight Oil that wasn’t necessarily considered punk but sprang from the same decade and the same angst with society is still to this day working with music but also law and politics to right some wrongs and keep our eyes open to the fact that we still don’t have it right.  Front man for the Oils, Peter Garrett in particular is still keeping up the fight. The Oils did get noticed here in America back in the 80’s but never to the degree that they were known on their home turf and possibly Europe.  Honestly, there was a real bias against punk and hard rock in the heartland of America by radio stations that refused to acknowledge its existence.  Many young Americans had never heard of The Ramones unless they lived in a coastal area.  When the Sex Pistols went on tour here the blinders were pulled off when the news stories of their concerts began to come out, but Middle America did not want their young to be corrupted if they could help it.  You had to raise some real hell to get noticed in many areas and the Sex Pistols provided that hell whether it was intentional or not.  Bless them, and rest in peace, Sid.  Their name alone made sure that they got some attention.

I have no idea if Peter Garrett of the Oils knows anything about his astrological chart and I don’t know if he went back to his past and discovered his true self early on enough to put his inborn gifts to work and try to make a difference.  Is he a psychic or a mystic? I haven’t a clue, but he is doing the work tirelessly to this day whether he is performing on stage or speaking in government.  For those who haven’t yet figured out what they are here for, I write this blog.  It isn’t easy to see your rightful place early on when struggle and survive is foremost on your mind.  I do not fault the creators of punk music for not going on, after music styles started to change on them, into politics or civil service.  To this day many of them are still struggling in life.  Groups like The Damned are still trying to keep the torch burning in a world that doesn’t necessarily know where they came from.  Those of us who do know are still playing their music, though not necessarily on vinyl or a cassette tape. More like on our iPods and Pandora or Spotify. I understand that they still tour sometimes.(Consider coming to Memphis, guys.)  What I wouldn’t give to attend a concert of theirs!  But touring is expensive and people are mean and apathetic sometimes.  Think of the recent difficulties that Morrissey has had on his current European tour. 

Music and politics may not be your niche in life but you have one.  You are not put here to sit back and let the world provide you with luxury.  That is the idle rich.  I’m guessing that their purpose is to show us what the hell not to do and give us the incentive to figure out what we are here for.  The Disney-Pixar film Wall-E is a cute but frightening scenario on what is likely to become of us in the age of electronics that do so much for us.  Truly, it is only the poor and disenfranchised that are really capable of seeing what is wrong in the world.  You cannot see it from a vantage point above it.  The problem is that you must know who the hell you are and what you can logically do in the world to keep it from destroying the best of us. You can’t do it from the top and you can’t do it from the bottom.  Either position can mask the truth too easily.  There are millions of us in that place in the middle where we are the most likely heroes because we know intimately what is wrong.  We live it, everyday, just like the Punks did.  They may not have had the answers to the problems that they were calling attention to but what is in their charts would probably speak very loudly.  They may have only been the spokespersons.  In a balanced world there are the communicators, the organizers, the builders, and the leaders.  Which one are you? When they issue the call do you know where your place is in the need?  Please find it.  Dave Vanian cannot keep singing Smash It Up forever waiting for you to figure out why things need to be smashed up! Look again at what people have said in the past.  They warned us. The problems are still here.