Have I been here before...?

Hello, non-existent readers!

A topic I've been pondering about (again) recently is that of reincarnation. Rather than my usual "here are some facts, the proof of which being these random people's websites" post, I am just going to muse about the subject.

I have had a few "past life memories". A few come from dreams - one that sticks in my mind is a dream I had when I was about 10. I was watching the scene on a television, but some oriental girl (a princess? or someone less prestigious) had to walk up some stairs - inside a narrow building with big blocks, like the inside of a castle. Scary-looking men stood and watched her walk up, they had strange white make-up on their faces and what looked like Chinese or Japanese dress. It was old, I'm sure, about 1200... there were snakes near the top of the stairs, around the sides, and at the top she put her head on a guillotine. I remember horrible blood on her porcelain white face, and I tried to turn the TV off, unplug it, even leave the room, but I couldn't. For years I thought that perhaps I was that girl, but from the perspective perhaps I was one of the guards, forced to watch and stand aside while an innocent(?) girl was executed.

Another was one I had at a past life regression workshop - just a vague imagination, but one that I wasn't controlling. I was a small girl, about 5, carrying around a very ragged doll with me. I seemed to be in a rural village, like Wales, and the year 1872 flashed for me. I went into my house, where I saw a woman (my mum) and a man who wasn't my dad, but her friend (I just knew). The house was very basic and poor, with a kitchen/dining room and a big bedroom. When asked to look around the place, I saw a big, black, looming village hall which filled me with dread, and a big forest in which we weren't allowed to go. As I walked away from the village I felt quite sad, but relieved.

And the other night - when I realised that I was dreaming, I decided to make the most of it and "visit past lives". Briefly, I was a school boy (in Greece?), quite young, but my entire class of boys and I decided to gang rape the teacher (a young girl)!!! It was horrible, but kind of not that rare apparently, but I felt lots of guilt. Then I jumped into another life... I asked to see my first life but this seemed to be my latest. I was an overweight, unhealthy businessman, in danger of having a heart attack. I had a wife and two daughters, one a baby and one about 5, and the house looked as if it was from the 60's. I fast-forwarded 10 years, saw my daughters older and the house re-done, but somehow ended up having an affair with one of my daughter's friends (uwww)... quite vivid... 5 years later I wake up in a shitty little flat, top floor over a dirty city with some skanky woman... stumble out of bed to "work" in the same building - it looks amazing, until I realise I'm the toilet cleaner, and in charge of the tropical fish tanks... my manager also hates me, and I've thrown away my life for a brief fling.

Now, I realise that all of these could have been simply dreams, fantasies, imagination, symbology or distorted actual memories. In a way, I find the idea of past lives quite fluffy, and lacking in evidence. The skeptic part of me tells me that past lives are a fantasy created from our fear of death... in the same way that any afterlife myth exists. It's a way for us to cope with how short and meaningless our lives are. The reported experiences are often fantasy - somebody with a specific pain or scar will manufacture a story to fit with it, some "explanation" for why they are the way they are. People underestimate the power of the imagination... I mean, if you write, or create characters when acting, then you are capable of creating an imaginary life... or does it mean that every character I dream up is in fact a past version of myself? I don't think so. We are capable of great fabrication and imagery, and shouldn't attribute everything to something more mystical like a past life memory or a message from spirits. Your mind is an amazing, powerful tool. Then again, what if what we are doing is tapping to the universal consciousness - not viewing a life that WE have lived but just picking up on some memory, some ghost or echo - chosen randomly or perhaps the memory of a passing spirit? Some beliefs state that we are all One and the same, God's mind etc, so surely we have been and will be EVERYONE, regardless of a time continuum - I've even considered deja vú to be when we meet someone that we have already been, rather than someone we knew in a past life!

However, I too want to believe in past lives. Why? Am I afraid of becoming nothing once my physical body dies? You bet. I'll admit this. But... can matter be created or destroyed? If our soul does exist and has a physical presence, then something must happen to those atoms once we die... unless they simply disband and become one with the universe, in which case little parts of us will end up in some way reincarnating. Alternatively, they stay together and try to find a new home. Perhaps all the lost souls are just waiting until they can reincarnate again - maybe they have a time limit or wait to find a suitable host? ... reincarnation is a very popular theory across cultures, so you do have to wonder about why. As for "memories" later being proved to match up with facts, I think media sensationalism and confirmation bias are guilty parties in a lot of cases. Ie everything remembered which doesn't turn out to be true is ignored. I did go to a workshop on regression once, though, and we were told some amazing stories of "memories" which turned out to be based on subconsciously learned things. However, the therapist admitted that some cases do seem to be genuine, although when people start rattling on about how they were a princess or famous figure he rolls his eyes and thinks "you too, huh?"... "Scientifically there is no proof for past lives" - well. No. There is nothing in pre-existing scientific theory (as far as I know) which can be used to come up with a valid explanation, nor is there a fool proof way to test it. But if you take the scientific METHOD - proposing a hypothesis, testing it, analysing the data... well, case studies and qualitative data are valid forms of scientific data (in the social sciences, anyway, psychology IS a science!!!) - so the cases in which people have accurately described times, places and people that they never could have known are case studies into the theory of reincarnation. Sure, there is no way we can build a soul-detecting time machine to prove whether they were just very lucky or possibly read some historical records once and forgot about it, but the "facts" that they somehow knew are there... surely this is in some way scientific? People really need to stop seeing science as their new religion. The scientific method is so far the best way to prove or disprove things, but scientific THEORY is not gospel; as you know from history, things that are held as truth can later be proved wrong.

Whew. So, also, let's have a look at some of the things out there on past lives. I'm currently reading Same Soul, Many Bodies by Brian Weiss. This here blog discusses some of the evidence - http://eteponge.blogspot.com/2007/09/reincarnation-examination.html. Dr Ian Stevenson's life work was to scientifically prove reincarnation using the memories of young children - who supposedly remember their past lives before they're convinced by society that this isn't right... From a Hare Krishna site (odd source, I know) - here's a reincarnation FAQ. I'm sure there are other, better ones somewhere, but many of the ones I found were very biased and discussed reincarnation as hard fact rather than theory. If you're interested in being regressed by a past life regression therapist (a lot of Hypnotists do this anyway) then have a look here - you can even train to become one, if you wish!! And, just for fun, find out what animal you were in a past life here ...

Feel free to comment with your own experiences!!!


References:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Same-Soul-Bodies-Brian-Weiss/dp/0749925418
http://www.brianweiss.com/
http://eteponge.blogspot.com/2007/09/reincarnation-examination.html.
http://reluctant-messenger.com/reincarnation-proof.htm.
http://science.krishna.org/Articles/2003/12/001.html
http://www.reincarnationstation.com/
http://www.pastliferegression.co.uk/database.htm

"The Secret" - can you guess what it is yet?

So I watched that documentary...

The Secret begins by promising to uncover the secrets of success. Supposedly, all the really great people in history knew the secret... Newton, Einstein, Shakespear... it was hidden from the public, but now it has been released... and if you learn it, then you too can sculpt your own reality! So, are you on the edge of your seat already? Are you wondering what this amazing secret could be... the key to success, to making all your dreams come true?

Well... it's thinking. That's right, thinking... positively. Did you know, that whenever you think something, you're sending out a message to the universe? So, if you're always thinking "my life is shit" then it will be... however, if you employ the mechanism of denial, and say "my life is amazing!" then it will come back to you. It's called the law of attraction.

The idea itself isn't new, not at all. Praying, casting spells, affirmations - they're all the same principle. From a psychological point of view, you see, you're doing nothing but suggesting something to yourself so much that it sinks into your unconscious (ok, this is a theory, bear with me) - thus distorting your perception of reality so that you feel better, and increasing your confidence so that you actually go out there and change your life in the way that you want to.

I don't know if I'm generalising but... surely people know that if they want something good to happen in their lives, and I'm talking things like getting a new house, a new job or losing weight, they have to get up off their posteriors and actually do something about it. It's all very well and good sitting in your living room thinking "I wish I was thin", or, if you have watched The Secret, imagining really hard that you are thin - which reminds me of all the "Think Yourself Thin" ideas which are flying around. No offence, but I don't think that eating what I do, not exercising - but *imagining* that I am thin is going to do much more than possibly give me body dysmorphic disorder.

Methinks it works like this... focus on your goals, that way you are more likely to actually follow them, and notice things that you may not have done previously which will help you on your way. Yes, it MAY be due to some force in the universe, but good old self-motivation can't be ruled out either. Of course, being massively American, it concentrated mostly on material things... cars, bikes, houses... what if my dream is to be healthy, or for world peace? It is similar to that idea of cosmic ordering... ask the universe for something, and it shall find its way to you. However, The Secret goes against my usual example of "it's not as if you can just ask for a new bike and it will appear outside your door, though". But, I'm pretty sure that my lover came to me through cosmic ordering, especially considering that we only really noticed each other in "that" way due to him having a "random" urge to kiss me ;)...

The Secret also discusses the negative side, though. I find it kind of patronising to be told that everything bad in my life is due to me thinking/complaining about it, though. It's true (ish) that you can make yourself ill with worry, as hypochondriacs show, but some things are just out of our control. People claimed to have cured their cancer and stopped their bullying. Well... it's possible. There are some studies that show that people who are positive about their illness, and who use visualisations, have better prognosis than those who don't. But the message that The Secret basically gives here is "ignore your problems... dwelling on them will make them worse". Not the best thing to do when you're being hounded for money, or falling ill, really.

The Secret concludes with the platitude "you can be anything you want to be"... very nice, but surely this is going to encourage viewers to sit around daydreaming about things? I have visualised many a scenario, and they never actually happened... and I doubt that all these powerful, successful people got to where they are by thinking positively. Especially as many "geniuses" were known to suffer from things like manic depression.

It was a nice decoy, guys, but I'm not buying it.

References:

http://www.thesecret.tv
http://www.thinkyourselfthin.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Ordering
http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=256#evidence
http://www.oflikeminds.com/GeniusMentalIllness.htm

On an azure ocean wave... there's a f***ing massive vortex of plastic waste

All I really need to say is: read these articles.

http://www.viceland.com/int/v15n2/htdocs/oh_this_is_great.php
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2007/10/26/notes102607.DTL
And watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9oSikW3eUM

Electricity, WiFi and the human design

Hi!!
Firstly to anyone who actually reads this, I'd like to apologise for the HUGE amount of time that has passed since I last wrote. I'd like to blame life for getting in the way, but as I spent three lazy months of summer doing little more than visiting friends and procrastinating, I don't feel that this is a valid excuse.
So, rather than explaining where I've been, let's get on to a topic, and I promise I will try harder to write things from now on...

Well!! We begin this tale a few weeks back, when I decided to type in my "symptoms" into a search engine to see what interesting illness I might have. These symptoms, you may be wondering, where fatigue, headaches and a lack of concentration - not the best things when you're trying to write essays and carry on with life. The find article that I actually found was this one, entitled "Experts Raise Health Concerns over WiFi"....

"WiFi networks could cause headaches, fatigue, irritability and lack of concentration in some people, experts believe. There is an increasing body of evidence to suggest certain people are hypersensitive to the emissions from wireless access points and other electromagnetic devices."

Well, I was already paranoid about mobile phones, and seeing as we'd just had WiFi internet connection installed in our home, this didn't bode well.

Further research informed me that there is in fact a group for people who consider themselves Electrosensetive, and that in Sweden it is a recognised condition. Do you ever sense when electrical things are on? Do you feel a sense of relief when they switch off? Can you hear them, faintly, buzzing away when nobody else can? Do you feel tired, does your face start to tingle and burn, do you get headaches from being in front of screens?

Here's a page for ElectroSensitivity-UK, have a read! This won't be a long entry, but the main thing I want you to think about is this. Is the human body designed to put up with the vast amount of radio and micro waves we subject it to? Is our technology evolving at a pace much faster than our organic designs can keep up with? Are we putting our health on the line so that our lives can be that little bit easier? People are enthusing over the benefits of WiFi (wireless internet, by the way) now, as people can access the net off their mobiles... of course, the advantages are obvious in means of communication and information access, but then as well as being yet another way for you to be tracked, and your internet history logged, we are putting our bodies in more and more danger. Wherever we go, our bodies are being bombarded with electromagnetic waves, from electrical equipment, radio waves on phones and the possibly even more powerful WiFi. Most people are completely unaware of the health risks, which makes it even more worrying. We are throwing ourselves into the rapidly expanding avalanche of technology, at the risk of subjecting our bodies to dangerous levels of radiation.

Look, even the BBC has articles...

Sources:

http://www.vnunet.com/computing/news/2154970/experts-raise-health-concerns
http://www.electrosensitivity.org.uk/What%20is%20ES.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/6674675.stm

Orders from above...

Talking Security Cameras To Go Nationwide

More of a drawing your attention to a matter today rather than a full-blown post.

This is from Yahoo news:

"More CCTV cameras are to be fitted with loudspeakers to allow security staff to berate people spotted dropping litter, vandalising property or fighting, the government said on Wednesday. Home Secretary John Reid hopes the shouting cameras will help cut crime, but critics say the idea is another lurch towards Britain becoming a "surveillance society". The government has given nearly 500,000 pounds to pay for the new cameras in 20 areas after trials around the country. Council staff monitoring pictures from cameras will be able to talk directly to anyone suspected of anti-social behaviour. "Talking CCTV is another tool in creating safer communities," Reid said in a statement. "It uses modern technology to allow camera operators to speak directly to people on the streets to stop or prevent them acting anti-socially...." Full story here

There is also a clip from BBC news about the scheme here.

Sooo... not only will cameras be able to monitor whenever you leave the house, but they will be able to "tell you off", too. The people on the receiving end of these faceless orders seem very willing to obey - but how do you feel? Would you feel comfortable with anonymous people behind cameras watching your every move and telling you off for things as small as dropping litter? Is the whole thing not a bit... creepy? It puts me in mind of your parents, when you're a child, shadowing you and telling you off every time you step out of line. I know some people take their orders from "above" but this is ridiculous...
They are treating us more and more like helpless idiots... from mollycoddling children (examples being skipping ropes are now banned in case children strangle themselves, and nursery rhymes being changed so as not to offend people) to constantly watching responsible adults in case they "step out of line"... do people still harbour under the illusion that we are free?? Please leave comments with your own views. As the poster of the youtube video says - Big Brother isn't coming... he's already here.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070404/tpl-uk-britain-crime-cameras-39349ed.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUVBkj9cLOk

ID Nation

The Database State: Comfort and Security or an Orwellian Nightmare?


The date 9/11 is forever etched into our minds - despite the fact that, in British terms, the date was 11/09 - we all know what happened on the 11th of September, 2001. At least we think we do, but that's topic for a different discussion. America was attacked, by an apparent "threat from without". What this meant for the citizens of the US was that they were under the threat of repeat attacks. Still reeling from the shock of what had happened (after all, why would ANYONE have a vendetta against the USA?), the government took the opportunity to introduce new security measures, which would "prevent terrorism". Anyone I have spoken to who has been through American airport security since 2001 will tell you that things are so much more strict now that it is frightening. The same happened in the UK soon afterwards, with 7/7 reminding us that we, too, were in danger - only this time the enemy was "within", meaning that the supposed terrorists were amongst us, plotting away to destroy us from inside like a cancer, rather than an external threat that we could block out. Of course, most of you know what happened, you don't need my patronising reminder. A lot of you will also have read a few conspiracy theories on what actually happened - if not, a couple of starting points for you (9/11 truth; 7/7 truth). Whether or not you believe that the government was behind - or at least had prior knowledge (which they didn't act on) about - these attacks, they certainly used them to their advantage.
Look back to a few years ago - the 90s, or before that (depending on your age). How often did you need to prove your identity? Perhaps when you were 17 and wanted to buy alcohol - when the bumfluff you grew on your chin wasn't enough to convince the bartender that you were 18. Perhaps when you needed to go abroad, you would need a passport. What information about you was available? Medical records were kept securely by your personal doctor. Forms you filled in were rare, and the option was often available for you to prevent your data from being passed on.

What is known about you now, in the year 2007? Well, if you use the internet regularly, here's a starter. See what Google knows about you - basically, everything you have ever searched for, every page you have visited through Google, every email you send and receive... from this alone, Google is able to build up a fairly accurate profile of who you are. Consider how much you might let slip, for example, on a chat over MSN. It is all logged. Yep, they even know what porn you like. Internet aside, most of you will have a credit/debit card, meaning that everywhere you have shopped, what you bought and how much you spent is all recorded, and that includes a pretty good idea of where you were at any given time. Oh, and of course, if you carry your mobile phone around, any call or text you send or receive. That's only the start of it - the UK apparently has 20% of the world's security cameras, and for such a small island, that is a big concentration of CCTV. If you can be recognised from a security still, then imagine how well your movements can be tracked every time you leave the house. Personally, I get quite disturbed by the thought that every time I go out and get very drunk, it is on a video recording somewhere.

What do they want to know about you? In the UK, the government plan on introducing ID cards next year. Anyone applying for a passport will be issued with one, and in 2010 they will become compulsory. Some countries already have ID cards in operation, and have no problem with it. However, this alone shows that ID cards will not "prevent terrorism". Spain use them, and yet Madrid was still attacked. In fact, there is no link between the use of identity cards and the prevention of terrorism. Add to that the fact that we are expected to pay for these compulsory cards, and the fact that the technology they plan to use (they want your fingerprints and your retina scan) has not really been tested. And, of course, the UK's wonderful record of handling beauracracy and not messing it up. The problem is not with the ID cards, anyway. The problem is the massive amount of data that the government will accumulate about each one of us. The plan is to add all the information to the National Identity Register.

Here is BBC news's Q+A session about the cards. One interesting one is this:

Q: Will it be compulsory to have an ID card?
A:From 2010, all passport applicants will be issued with ID cards but if Labour wins the next election it will bring forward legislation to make them compulsory for all UK citizens over the age of 16 whether they have a passport or not. It is not currently planned to make carrying ID cards compulsory.

*Cough*VoteLibDems*Cough*. Another quote from the Q+A is "the government says it wants to give people a sure-fire way of proving they are who they say they are". There we have it. They do not trust us. They don't trust me to say I am who I am; they are calling us all liars. Yes, there are people who commit identity fraud, it's true, but for every one of them there are thousands of people who work hard, obey (most of) they law and pay the ridiculous amount of taxes that they ask of us - and what do we get in return? Suspicion and doubt that we are being honest about our identities. So we have to have ID cards, so that they can keep tabs on everything we do... in case we step out of line or say something that we shouldn't. Just when you thought you'd escaped from your controlling parents! When a person is born into this world, they have to be registered. Everything they do has to be approved by people "higher" than them. If we are all born equal (hah), then what gives some people the right to the power over our lives? What divine force lets them hold our rights in their hands, to charge us for existing, to tax us for breathing? Who are they to ask us to prove that we are worthy to go about our lives without being hassled? Why should we have to gain a license to live? (...breathe...)

The thing is, it won't stop at the ID cards. As the government already admit now that they will do nothing to reduce terrorism, combined with the fact that people are ALREADY starting to create fakes, it will soon be reported that a more "foolproof" method if identification is needed. Heck, it's already used in animals, and is being marketed to families in America, too - especially to parents who are paranoid about their children's whereabouts. Yes, it's the bio-chip implant. No larger than a grain of rice, it would be inserted into your hand and scanned - no need to carry those cumbersome cards around with you any more! Of course, your every move would be traceable, and that's only the beginning. The Christians, of course, are going to love that idea - what with the book of Revalations claiming that the mark of the beast would be a chip in the head or hand (that no man may buy or sell without it)... eerie...

Fancy having your life ruled by one of these?

A few things you can do. If you live in the US, the Federal Privacy Act means that you can request to find out what information the government knows about you - click here. If you want to search through the same websites as Google, BUT without your data being logged, use Scroogle - it deletes the cookie every 48 hours, and your searches will not be linked to each other. Get involved with NO2ID, because the more people get involved, the better. Try using cash instead of your card where possible, and be careful of "firewalls" that are meant to block your PC from viruses but are in fact spyware programmes. Of course, you might not mind having information about yourself so readily available, thinking "I have nothing to hide". But of course, you do - unless you genuinely don't mind the world knowing everything from embarrassing incidents from your schooldays to your favourite sexual fantasy? Everything you have ever said, about anyone, to anyone else? Every time you got really drunk and did things you are not proud of? Yes. Everyone has something that they would like to hide; it doesn't have to be illegal, or dangerous, but it is nice to have privacy and things that you do not show the world. Unless you really don't mind? Fair enough. My advice is for anyone who doesn't want their lives to be an open book. Especially if you read up on anything like conspiracy theories... it is sometimes better to stay under the radar. Or, at least, create a "persona" so that nobody will suspect you of such "unsuitable" thoughts ;) - the world, after all, is a stage...



Staying under the radar... the real fight is to keep your mind

Resources:

http://www.no2id.net/
http://www.911truth.org/
http://www.julyseventh.co.uk/pdf/j7.htbg-faq.v2.0.pdf
http://hublog.hubmed.org/archives/000942.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3127696.stm
http://www.spy.org.uk/wtwu.htm
http://www.spy.org.uk/icb/archives/2004/12/1_the_national.html
http://www.av1611.org/666/biochip.html
http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35766
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa121299a.htm
http://www.scroogle.org/

What is the soul?

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