Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Voodoo and DNA
My most deeply religious friend called me and announced that, thanks to her discussions with ME, she's been thinking about various aspects of the unknown and how they might be explained... and had come to the conclusion that there might be something to voodoo, because the common requirement for things like hair or fingernail clippings, which contain DNA, for the spells could mean that voodoo IS actually allowing the practitioners to focus energy of some sort at, or against, people. I don't know which made me prouder, that this Christian woman was contemplating things that were previously unimaginable to her, or that she came up with something new that a case can actually be made for.
Yes, I know, voodoo seems outrageous to Western eyes, but that's not a reason to discount it out of hand; after all, OUR religions have some pretty wild trappings too, when you think about it. Let's pick on Catholicism, since that's what MY family's religion is; you can't beat Catholic religious leaders in the goofy-hat department, the incense that gets waved around seems a tad pagan, and it doesn't get more extreme than their ritual cannibalism (Catholics believe themselves to actually be eating the body of Christ when they receive communion)... and don't get me started on the abuse of children by the priests. What has voodoo got to shock us with compared to all that, really... dead chickens and such? No comparison.
Voodoo, like any other belief system, is a way for people to feel like they have some sort of say with the powers that control the world, and thus some sort of control over their own lives; they also believe they can affect other people via this system, and they certainly have an impressive record of being able to do so... and NOT all of it can be attributed to coincidence or being able to psyche out their enemies, although obviously much of it CAN. Much of what they do, the prayers and rituals, are common to most cultures; they're just ways of organizing and focusing thoughts, which are energy, and therefore capable of doing "work"... if you have sufficient mental discipline. (It's like learning to juggle an egg, a running chainsaw and a bowling ball all at the same time; nearly anyone COULD learn to do it, but few are willing to do what it takes TO learn it.)
Most items used in rituals are just props to allow us to tune out the mundane world and tune in to our inner eye, so to speak, and you could easily argue that having discarded bits of a person's body to use in the casting of spells is nothing more than that... OR, the DNA they contain COULD be physically assisting or directing the flow of energy onto the intended victim. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....
Yes, I know, voodoo seems outrageous to Western eyes, but that's not a reason to discount it out of hand; after all, OUR religions have some pretty wild trappings too, when you think about it. Let's pick on Catholicism, since that's what MY family's religion is; you can't beat Catholic religious leaders in the goofy-hat department, the incense that gets waved around seems a tad pagan, and it doesn't get more extreme than their ritual cannibalism (Catholics believe themselves to actually be eating the body of Christ when they receive communion)... and don't get me started on the abuse of children by the priests. What has voodoo got to shock us with compared to all that, really... dead chickens and such? No comparison.
Voodoo, like any other belief system, is a way for people to feel like they have some sort of say with the powers that control the world, and thus some sort of control over their own lives; they also believe they can affect other people via this system, and they certainly have an impressive record of being able to do so... and NOT all of it can be attributed to coincidence or being able to psyche out their enemies, although obviously much of it CAN. Much of what they do, the prayers and rituals, are common to most cultures; they're just ways of organizing and focusing thoughts, which are energy, and therefore capable of doing "work"... if you have sufficient mental discipline. (It's like learning to juggle an egg, a running chainsaw and a bowling ball all at the same time; nearly anyone COULD learn to do it, but few are willing to do what it takes TO learn it.)
Most items used in rituals are just props to allow us to tune out the mundane world and tune in to our inner eye, so to speak, and you could easily argue that having discarded bits of a person's body to use in the casting of spells is nothing more than that... OR, the DNA they contain COULD be physically assisting or directing the flow of energy onto the intended victim. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....
Monday, September 06, 2004
Your thoughts shape the world
Did you ever think that the opposite of faith is... FEAR? This was part of the message in Joel Osteen's sermon today; that when you have faith, God comes and gives you all the wonderful things he has lined up for you, and that when you have fear, "the enemy" (Satan) comes and brings you the very things you've been worrying about. He said that by the very act of fearing, you create an opening through which "the enemy" can enter your life and do you ill... there's that karmic idea of your thoughts creating openings for "stuff" to fall into your life through again, as well as the idea that the "beings of power" can't take action for or against you unless your mind is focused a certain way (which *I* would of course see as the positive or negative nature of your mind causing corresponding things to happen directly, but the end result is the same).
Osteen made the repeated point throughout his sermon about not fearing, about not letting any fearful thoughts or ideas be in your head, about being careful about what you meditate on (aka think about alot), about disciplining your mind so that you never have any visions in it of bad things happening... because if you DON'T exercise this sort of control, you'll cause those things you fear the most to actually happen.
He described a man he knew who'd obsessed that his young and perfectly healthy wife might die and leave him alone; within a few years, she contracted a rare form of cancer and died. On the positive side, he told of a woman he knew who had spent her entire life sure that she'd have great trouble conceiving, as all the woman in her family had, and she in fact didn't conceive... UNTIL he convinced her that she had to replace the fearful thoughts with positive ones, after which she got pregnant within a few months. What was really fascinating about these stories wasn't the cause and effect he showed between repeated thoughts and strong feelings and what happens to us, which isn't new to ME, but that he outlined all of this with virtually no mention of God... I say that not to question his faith, which I have no reason to do, but to make the point once again that he seems to be talking as much about what he perceives about how the universe works (karma) as about what it says in the Bible.
He also says that, in addition to disciplining your mind to seal out all fearful thoughts, you need to visualize the positive events that you want in your life, such as a successful business or a new baby, actually SEE them in your mind over and over; anyone who's read anything about visualization techniques will find this quite familiar. Visualization, affirmations, meditation, prayer... all ways to repeatedly focus your mind on your goals, all ways that you CAN in fact influence how your life turns out.
The idea that you have to discipline your mind to keep ALL fearful thoughts out, because any "bad" thought in your mind can bring bad things into your life, may sound extreme... but I think Osteen's dead-on. More and more in recent months, when thoughts of things that could go wrong have crept into my mind, I've been reacting with "no, don't even think that," which hadn't been my pattern before, but has seemed more and more necessary the deeper I've gotten into the workings of karma and seen how what I think feeds into what happens in my life.
The universe truly doesn't work the way we were taught, with powerful forces outside of our control moving us around like chess pieces; yes, there ARE forces at work all around us, but we're far from powerLESS ourselves... our minds have so much power to affect what happens in our lives that even the most exaggerated-sounding comments I make are understatements. Try it and see.
Osteen made the repeated point throughout his sermon about not fearing, about not letting any fearful thoughts or ideas be in your head, about being careful about what you meditate on (aka think about alot), about disciplining your mind so that you never have any visions in it of bad things happening... because if you DON'T exercise this sort of control, you'll cause those things you fear the most to actually happen.
He described a man he knew who'd obsessed that his young and perfectly healthy wife might die and leave him alone; within a few years, she contracted a rare form of cancer and died. On the positive side, he told of a woman he knew who had spent her entire life sure that she'd have great trouble conceiving, as all the woman in her family had, and she in fact didn't conceive... UNTIL he convinced her that she had to replace the fearful thoughts with positive ones, after which she got pregnant within a few months. What was really fascinating about these stories wasn't the cause and effect he showed between repeated thoughts and strong feelings and what happens to us, which isn't new to ME, but that he outlined all of this with virtually no mention of God... I say that not to question his faith, which I have no reason to do, but to make the point once again that he seems to be talking as much about what he perceives about how the universe works (karma) as about what it says in the Bible.
He also says that, in addition to disciplining your mind to seal out all fearful thoughts, you need to visualize the positive events that you want in your life, such as a successful business or a new baby, actually SEE them in your mind over and over; anyone who's read anything about visualization techniques will find this quite familiar. Visualization, affirmations, meditation, prayer... all ways to repeatedly focus your mind on your goals, all ways that you CAN in fact influence how your life turns out.
The idea that you have to discipline your mind to keep ALL fearful thoughts out, because any "bad" thought in your mind can bring bad things into your life, may sound extreme... but I think Osteen's dead-on. More and more in recent months, when thoughts of things that could go wrong have crept into my mind, I've been reacting with "no, don't even think that," which hadn't been my pattern before, but has seemed more and more necessary the deeper I've gotten into the workings of karma and seen how what I think feeds into what happens in my life.
The universe truly doesn't work the way we were taught, with powerful forces outside of our control moving us around like chess pieces; yes, there ARE forces at work all around us, but we're far from powerLESS ourselves... our minds have so much power to affect what happens in our lives that even the most exaggerated-sounding comments I make are understatements. Try it and see.
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Does your opinion count more than 10,000 opinions?
Unless your ego is the largest in the history of humankind, you thought "of course not" when you read the title, but if I asked you the question in a different way, there's a good chance you'd answer differently; if I told you that a survey was done and 10,000 people had a certain opinion/feeling/habit that was contrary to YOUR opinion/etc, you'd most likely fire right back with something along the lines of "no, that's not right/true, *I* don't think/feel/do that"... and with that statement, you'd dismiss what 10,000 people said because your own experience is different, which boils down to counting your own opinion (or that of anyone you know well enough to be sure of what THEY would say) as "more than" the opinions of 10,000, or 100,000, or a MILLION people.
If you're absolutely positive that you've never done any such thing, the overwhelming likelihood is that you're male; one of the glaring differences between the genders is that women tend to see the experiences of themselves and those they know as being somehow more significant than the experiences of literally ANY # of other people. I can't tell you how many times I've had intelligent, educated, sophisticated women not only respond to statistics I've given them this way, but, after I've pointed out to them the utter ridiculousness of putting the experiences of one person over those of thousands, reply with a perfect imitation of a 5-year-old's tone "well, I don't care, I just care about what my brother says" (or whoever).
Ladies, if hearing about this makes you feel defensive, be aware that men HATE when you do this, and that this is one of the things men point to as "proof" that women are illogical, irrational, etc; if you want the men in your life to respect you, you need to behave in a respect-worthy manner, which means, in this instance, accepting that one person's opinion only counts as ONE, even if that person is YOU.
If you're a woman and, like me, are in the minority of women who do NOT do this, you've probably been told many times that you "think like a man"; if you ever wondered what men mean when they say that, this should shed a little light.
If you're male and think this way... unless your male friends think the same way, it'll be self-correcting, so I won't comment. ;-)
If you're male and have always been disgusted when women do this, and plain don't understand it... I empathize, as it drives ME crazy, too, and don't have any insight to offer, because I've never done it. All I can suggest is that, next time you want to take your woman to task for her "illogical thinking," keep in mind that YOU probably consider baseball scores to be more worthy of being committed to memory than your anniversary, or watching a football game to be more important than playing with your kids, or keeping up with the WWF to be more important than calling your mother... and your woman, silly creature that she is, thinks that THOSE things are illogical-so you're even.
If you're absolutely positive that you've never done any such thing, the overwhelming likelihood is that you're male; one of the glaring differences between the genders is that women tend to see the experiences of themselves and those they know as being somehow more significant than the experiences of literally ANY # of other people. I can't tell you how many times I've had intelligent, educated, sophisticated women not only respond to statistics I've given them this way, but, after I've pointed out to them the utter ridiculousness of putting the experiences of one person over those of thousands, reply with a perfect imitation of a 5-year-old's tone "well, I don't care, I just care about what my brother says" (or whoever).
Ladies, if hearing about this makes you feel defensive, be aware that men HATE when you do this, and that this is one of the things men point to as "proof" that women are illogical, irrational, etc; if you want the men in your life to respect you, you need to behave in a respect-worthy manner, which means, in this instance, accepting that one person's opinion only counts as ONE, even if that person is YOU.
If you're a woman and, like me, are in the minority of women who do NOT do this, you've probably been told many times that you "think like a man"; if you ever wondered what men mean when they say that, this should shed a little light.
If you're male and think this way... unless your male friends think the same way, it'll be self-correcting, so I won't comment. ;-)
If you're male and have always been disgusted when women do this, and plain don't understand it... I empathize, as it drives ME crazy, too, and don't have any insight to offer, because I've never done it. All I can suggest is that, next time you want to take your woman to task for her "illogical thinking," keep in mind that YOU probably consider baseball scores to be more worthy of being committed to memory than your anniversary, or watching a football game to be more important than playing with your kids, or keeping up with the WWF to be more important than calling your mother... and your woman, silly creature that she is, thinks that THOSE things are illogical-so you're even.
Saturday, September 04, 2004
Human sexuality is more complicated than we think
Normally, I delete all the pornographic emails that show up in my inbox (well, except for the ones from friends, lol), but I was feeling a little wild on a Friday night, and I actually went and looked at one of the websites... and I think the sex researchers need to start from square 1 again, because there's stuff out there that I've never even HEARD of.
I'm not talking about the sexual positions that have never actually been achieved by a couple having unassisted, genuine sex, although I did have to wonder who exactly finds that sort of contortionism erotic... I mean the staggering number of fetishes that have apparently always existed in the minds of FAR more people than the supposed experts realize.
The statistics I've read place fetishism in the single digits; 6% is the most common # I've seen.... and that just CAN'T be right, given the sheer volume of fetish sites dedicated to every "perversion" you've never heard of (I use the quotes because I don't think we know enough about sexuality and the workings of the brain to be sure about where to draw the line between "normal" and "abnormal"). When you think about it, it's not too surprising that the #'s would be so far off for something considered socially unacceptable, since the only way they have of gathering data on it is by ASKING people, who might be too ashamed to admit to it in person, and in too deep of denial to admit to it even in an anonymous survey; it's unfortunate, though, because if every fetishist of every kind "came out" about it, it might well turn out that fetishism is so common that there'd be no stigma attached to it, and people would have one less thing to feel guilty about.
Do you think that I'm exaggerating, that a handful of guys who love feet and stockings and such can't add up to much? The # of people who love those 2 things alone is astounding, but they're honestly just the tip of the iceberg: There are fetishes for raingear, swimming caps, smoking, tickling, robots, statues, noses, eyeballs, diapers, fur, being vomited on, being hit with PIES... stuff that the most strenuous mental effort can't figure out how they could have EVER become the focus of sexual feelings. These odd and often elaborate sexual paths must reveal something really important about how our minds work; sadly, while scientists remain afraid to ask for grants for sexual studies that can't be justified as being of immediate medical concern, that something will remain a mystery.
In most households, it wouldn't be the woman looking at this sort of thing-it would be the man surfing around the fringes of "extreme porn" in trembling secrecy. In MY marriage, though, I'm by far the less squeamish one (except where bugs and spiders are concerned), and when I find graphic sexual images, I get a bonus; I can see how many times I can call my husband in to look at what's on the screen and get grossed out before he wises up and refuses to come look any more.
He's a VERY slow learner. :-)
I'm not talking about the sexual positions that have never actually been achieved by a couple having unassisted, genuine sex, although I did have to wonder who exactly finds that sort of contortionism erotic... I mean the staggering number of fetishes that have apparently always existed in the minds of FAR more people than the supposed experts realize.
The statistics I've read place fetishism in the single digits; 6% is the most common # I've seen.... and that just CAN'T be right, given the sheer volume of fetish sites dedicated to every "perversion" you've never heard of (I use the quotes because I don't think we know enough about sexuality and the workings of the brain to be sure about where to draw the line between "normal" and "abnormal"). When you think about it, it's not too surprising that the #'s would be so far off for something considered socially unacceptable, since the only way they have of gathering data on it is by ASKING people, who might be too ashamed to admit to it in person, and in too deep of denial to admit to it even in an anonymous survey; it's unfortunate, though, because if every fetishist of every kind "came out" about it, it might well turn out that fetishism is so common that there'd be no stigma attached to it, and people would have one less thing to feel guilty about.
Do you think that I'm exaggerating, that a handful of guys who love feet and stockings and such can't add up to much? The # of people who love those 2 things alone is astounding, but they're honestly just the tip of the iceberg: There are fetishes for raingear, swimming caps, smoking, tickling, robots, statues, noses, eyeballs, diapers, fur, being vomited on, being hit with PIES... stuff that the most strenuous mental effort can't figure out how they could have EVER become the focus of sexual feelings. These odd and often elaborate sexual paths must reveal something really important about how our minds work; sadly, while scientists remain afraid to ask for grants for sexual studies that can't be justified as being of immediate medical concern, that something will remain a mystery.
In most households, it wouldn't be the woman looking at this sort of thing-it would be the man surfing around the fringes of "extreme porn" in trembling secrecy. In MY marriage, though, I'm by far the less squeamish one (except where bugs and spiders are concerned), and when I find graphic sexual images, I get a bonus; I can see how many times I can call my husband in to look at what's on the screen and get grossed out before he wises up and refuses to come look any more.
He's a VERY slow learner. :-)
Friday, September 03, 2004
What makes a man a "real man"?
There are probably as many answers to this one as there are people, but here's my take on it:
A real man has feelings, and isn't afraid to express them... and yes, that includes crying if he's sad.
A real man has the sort of masculinity that can't be threatened, and therefore can wear pink, be friends with gay people, and eat fat-free cookies ... even when his friends are watching.
A real man works for what he gets; he doesn't steal or cheat for gain, nor is he willing to live off of the labors of others.
A real man can be beaten at a game, out-performed at work, or disagreed with without getting nasty about it.
A real man's word is his bond.
A real man doesn't see feminism as an excuse to not be a gentleman.
A real man isn't a bully; he's kind to women, children, the elderly, pets, waitresses, his employees.... anyone he has power over or might be able to dominate if he wanted to.
A real man sees his romantic partner as his equal, not as his maid, mommy, child, slave or punching bag.
A real man takes care of his children, and focuses his time, $, and emotional energy on them and their welfare, no matter what his relationship is with their mother.
A real man is tall, muscular and powerful. You'd BETTER be shocked at that one, because it's a big load of bull; real men come in EVERY shape and size... and the surest sign of a real WOMAN is that she can see that.
A real man has feelings, and isn't afraid to express them... and yes, that includes crying if he's sad.
A real man has the sort of masculinity that can't be threatened, and therefore can wear pink, be friends with gay people, and eat fat-free cookies ... even when his friends are watching.
A real man works for what he gets; he doesn't steal or cheat for gain, nor is he willing to live off of the labors of others.
A real man can be beaten at a game, out-performed at work, or disagreed with without getting nasty about it.
A real man's word is his bond.
A real man doesn't see feminism as an excuse to not be a gentleman.
A real man isn't a bully; he's kind to women, children, the elderly, pets, waitresses, his employees.... anyone he has power over or might be able to dominate if he wanted to.
A real man sees his romantic partner as his equal, not as his maid, mommy, child, slave or punching bag.
A real man takes care of his children, and focuses his time, $, and emotional energy on them and their welfare, no matter what his relationship is with their mother.
A real man is tall, muscular and powerful. You'd BETTER be shocked at that one, because it's a big load of bull; real men come in EVERY shape and size... and the surest sign of a real WOMAN is that she can see that.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
The "nuclear" debate
Do you pronounce it "noo-kyoo-lar" or "noo-klee-ar"? Don't be too quick to answer; you know which way is the RIGHT way to pronounce it, but do you, or anyone you know, actually pronounce it that way?
I was puzzled when a big deal started being made about Bush saying "noo-kyoo-lar"; *I* say it that way, and so does everyone I know... it's the way MOST people say it, aside from newscasters. I said as much to my husband at the time the hooraw started, and he claimed that HE didn't say it that way; he was wrong about that, of course, and every time he's said the word since, I've taken great glee in pointing out that he DID, in fact, say it that way. He also tried to deny that most people say it that way, but every time it's been used in a non-news program we were watching... you guessed it, lol.
Have you ever wondered WHY this mis-pronunciation is so common? I started thinking about it, and was coming up blank, so I did some looking around, and ended up here:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=nuclear
and found this (with the phonetics altered because the special characters they used wouldn't copy):
"Usage Note: The pronunciation (noo-kyoo-lar), which is generally considered incorrect, is an example of how a familiar phonological pattern can influence an unfamiliar one. The usual pronunciation of the final two syllables of this word is (klee-ar), but this sequence of sounds is rare in English. Much more common is the similar sequence (kyoo-lar), which occurs in words like particular, circular, spectacular, and in many scientific words like molecular, ocular, and vascular."
And that's why the mispronunciation is so common; it made perfect sense AFTER I read it. Now, if I could only figure out why most people pronounce "restaurant" as "rest-rahnt" instead of the proper way, "res-tah-rahnt"... ;-)
I was puzzled when a big deal started being made about Bush saying "noo-kyoo-lar"; *I* say it that way, and so does everyone I know... it's the way MOST people say it, aside from newscasters. I said as much to my husband at the time the hooraw started, and he claimed that HE didn't say it that way; he was wrong about that, of course, and every time he's said the word since, I've taken great glee in pointing out that he DID, in fact, say it that way. He also tried to deny that most people say it that way, but every time it's been used in a non-news program we were watching... you guessed it, lol.
Have you ever wondered WHY this mis-pronunciation is so common? I started thinking about it, and was coming up blank, so I did some looking around, and ended up here:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=nuclear
and found this (with the phonetics altered because the special characters they used wouldn't copy):
"Usage Note: The pronunciation (noo-kyoo-lar), which is generally considered incorrect, is an example of how a familiar phonological pattern can influence an unfamiliar one. The usual pronunciation of the final two syllables of this word is (klee-ar), but this sequence of sounds is rare in English. Much more common is the similar sequence (kyoo-lar), which occurs in words like particular, circular, spectacular, and in many scientific words like molecular, ocular, and vascular."
And that's why the mispronunciation is so common; it made perfect sense AFTER I read it. Now, if I could only figure out why most people pronounce "restaurant" as "rest-rahnt" instead of the proper way, "res-tah-rahnt"... ;-)
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Karma works FAST
In my post of this past Saturday, I bemoaned the fact that my husband had switched to referring to one of our recently-arrested, drug-dealer neighbors as a "nice guy" because the lowlife had said a few polite sentences to him; no matter what aspects of the neighbor's illegal behaviors I reminded him about, he kept on "yeah, but"-ing me and clearly NOT accepting the thoroughly criminal, evil nature of the man. Sunday, the very next day, this "nice guy" neighbor broke into my husband's car and stole over $1000 worth of equipment... and that's NOT a typo.
Karma, as I said in the title, works FAST.
My husband learned the lessons he obviously needed to, about the neighbor, about the nature of evil and how to judge it, and about the validity of my endless lectures to him about the importance of NOT leaving valuables laying out in plain view in a car that's being parked in the driveway or on the street, and not leaving the window cracked (yes, the window was down several inches to facilitate the theft) which he had previously pooh-poohed as "worrying about nothing"... that's alot of heavy-duty lessons all at once; karma is quite efficient.
He was so embarrassed to have been proven so overwhelmingly wrong about so many things, and at such a high cost, that he didn't even tell me it had happened until the cops came to the neighbors' house AGAIN, this evening, and other neighbors were gathering to talk about it, all of whom, it turns out, HAD been told about the theft as part of trying to find out if anyone had witnessed the event (when they say the wife is always the last to know, this isn't what I thought they meant). He actually thought he had a shot at permanently concealing the theft, and thus the stupidity of his choices and judgment, from me; there's another valuable lesson for him.
He's still denying the most valuable lesson here, though; the one about the workings of karma. He's been leaving equipment in plain view in his car for the entire time I've known him, and for all the months those crooks have lived next to us, but it wasn't until he started denying their evil that they helped themselves to his stuff... if that's not synchronicity in action, I don't know what is.
Karma, as I said in the title, works FAST.
My husband learned the lessons he obviously needed to, about the neighbor, about the nature of evil and how to judge it, and about the validity of my endless lectures to him about the importance of NOT leaving valuables laying out in plain view in a car that's being parked in the driveway or on the street, and not leaving the window cracked (yes, the window was down several inches to facilitate the theft) which he had previously pooh-poohed as "worrying about nothing"... that's alot of heavy-duty lessons all at once; karma is quite efficient.
He was so embarrassed to have been proven so overwhelmingly wrong about so many things, and at such a high cost, that he didn't even tell me it had happened until the cops came to the neighbors' house AGAIN, this evening, and other neighbors were gathering to talk about it, all of whom, it turns out, HAD been told about the theft as part of trying to find out if anyone had witnessed the event (when they say the wife is always the last to know, this isn't what I thought they meant). He actually thought he had a shot at permanently concealing the theft, and thus the stupidity of his choices and judgment, from me; there's another valuable lesson for him.
He's still denying the most valuable lesson here, though; the one about the workings of karma. He's been leaving equipment in plain view in his car for the entire time I've known him, and for all the months those crooks have lived next to us, but it wasn't until he started denying their evil that they helped themselves to his stuff... if that's not synchronicity in action, I don't know what is.
