When we were in the Spirit World (video)

Xochitl, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit

The spirit world can appear as weird and strange (Alex Tooth/deviantart.com)

Mother Earth, Father Sky, one a womb, the other a seed, brought together by falling rain.

(KE) The shamans of Mongolia and Siberia who preceded Native Americans illustrate that knowledge of the spirit world is not limited to any culture, group, or period. These Vajrayana Buddhists and animists as well as the rishis (seers) and yogis (hermit-ascetics) of India were well aware of these strange realms and their inhabitants. In northern Europe the spirit world was sometimes referred to as the Wyrd (like our word weird).

Rain Dancing Our Way into the Spirit World

We dance to make it rain calling on spirit helpers and spirit guides. The rain dance of the Navajo Native American was influenced by the Hopi and others (sonocarina)

 

Dryad or "tree nymph" spirit

The spirit world (spirit = breath = an invisible force like the wind), according to Spiritualism, is the adjacent world inhabited by spirits. (WQ Rain Dance)

In Buddhism "spirits" are variously called devas, petas, nagas, suparnas, gandharvas, kumbhandas, yakkhas, narakas, and asuras, or "light beings, ghosts of the dead, dragons, avians, fairies, gnomes, hellions, demons, and titans").

 

Whereas religion concerns the inner life, the spirit world is regarded as an external environment for spirits (Spiritualism - Its History, Phenomena, and Doctrine, Arthur J. Hill 1918, p. 211). Independent from the natural world, both the spirit world and the natural world are in constant interaction.

Through mediumship -- through local shamans, curanderos or healers, medicine women and men -- these worlds can consciously communicate with one other. The spirit world can be described by mediums in trance (Ibid., W.J. Colville, Universal Spiritualism: Spirit Communion in All Ages Among All Nations, 1906, p. 42.

Anyone who does not believe the spirit world is real and right there before on blind third eye, there are three dangerous routes to personally prove that it is: drums, drugs, or trying to get through Finnegans Wake in one sitting.

Journeying to Three Realms in under 30 mins.

(NW) Use headphones. This is a shamanic journey led by Glenn Sullivan (NaturalWisdom.ie) explaining the landscapes and calling in the directions with a 16-min. drumming journey. Come together into a sacred circle and learn to journey into non-ordinary states of consciousness. See the spirits, gain a deeper understanding of the "human" plane and its many inhabitants, cycles, and patterns to problem solve in everyday life and the spiritual path.
 

HISTORY

Mayan shaman, Day of the Dead (IR-M)

By the mid 19th century most Spiritualist writers concurred that the spirit world was of "tangible substance" (ectoplasm) and a place consisting of "spheres" or "zones" (John W. Edmonds, Dr. George T. Dexter, MD, Spiritualism, 1853, p. 262). Although specific details differed, the construct suggested organization and centralization (Bret E. Carrol, Spiritualism in Antebellum America (Religion in North America), Indiana Univ. Press, Oct. 1, 1997, p. 62).

 

The 18th century writer Emanuel Swedenborg influenced Spiritualist views about the spirit world. He described a series of concentric spheres each including a hierarchical organization of spirits in a setting more earth-like than theocentric (Ibid., p.17). The spheres become gradually more illuminated and celestial.

 

Spirit travel through astral space

Spiritualists added a concept of limitlessness (Buddhism's "boundlessness") or infinity to these spheres (Edmonds, p. 123).  Furthermore, it was defined that "Laws" initiated by a god apply to Earth as well as the spirit world (Edmonds, p. 136).

Another common Spiritualist conception was that the spirit world is inherently good and is related to truth-seeking as opposed to things that are harmful residing in a "spiritual darkness" (Hill, p. 168; Edmonds, p.143). 

This conception inferred, as in the biblical parable of Lazarus and Dives, that there is considered a greater distance between helpful and harmful spirits than between the dead and the living (Hill, p.208).

Scandinavia: land of the Sami shamans (VN)

For some the spirit world was "The Home of the Soul," as described by Theosophist C.W. Leadbeater, suggesting that for a living human being to experience the spirit world will be a blissful, meaningful, and life altering experience (Colville, pp. 268-270).

Most shamans were women (DA)

Yet, John W. Edmonds states in his 1853 work, Spiritualism, "Man's relation spiritually with the spirit-world is no more wonderful than his connection with the natural world. The two parts of his nature respond to the same affinities in the natural and spiritual worlds" (Edmonds, p. 104). 

Edmonds asserts, quoting Swedenborg through mediumship, that the relationship between humans and the spirit world is reciprocal and thus could contain sorrow. Though ultimately, "wandering through the spheres" on a path of goodness "is received at last by that Spirit whose thought is universal love forever" (Edmonds, p. 345). More

(PD/EOC) What begins as a Christian program branches out with science in an attempt at credibility. Is the spirit world real? Who dwells in it? How did the spirits come into being? What do science and religion say about the spirit realm? Does the spirit realm affect us?

The Buddha: Knower of Worlds

Knower of the Worlds (Amrit Vismay)

The Buddha frequently said, there is this world and the other (or next) world. And a teacher who is enlightened directly knows and directly perceives these worlds. He frequently is shown to be aware of other planes or dimensions as well as worlds in space and underground (the 31 Planes of Existence). A buddha knows all of these worlds and the paths (karma) leading to rebirth there as well as liberation from them. 

Buddha life panels, Jing'an Temple, Shanghai

Four worlds he frequently saw and interacted with are enmeshed in this human plane -- the worlds of devas, yakkhas and maras, animals, and hungry ghosts. But he could see and visit all the manifold realms in this world system and even worlds between world systems (the interstitial hells of desolation and isolation). It is not clear if he visited other "world systems" (galaxies or universes), but it is certain that he knew about them. Buddhist cosmology describes them as having similar qualities and stations occupied by different beings such as each having a Maha Brahma and a Sakka and some having a Buddha from time to time.

• VIDEO: Sandra Ingerman on becoming a shaman (training) First set the intention. Shamanic teacher gets up close and personal with deep training insights on the benefits of a mini healing retreat (thecenterforhealingarts.com).
• VIDEO: Amazon Shamans and Ayahausca (DMT)
• VIDEO: How to see Spirit Realm (biblical "gift of discernment" with Jonathan Welton and fanatic Sid Roth)

"Desert Breath" spiral

Seen from high above, this spiral in the Egyptian desert captured by Google Earth appears to be a mystery. It's actually an enormous environmental art installation called "Desert Breath" created in 1997. The artists Danae Stratou, Alexandra Stratou, and Stella Constantinides originally designed the 1 million square foot piece with a small lake in the center, which has since dried out. LiveScience.com

Mysterious RAIN storm sweeps through L.A.

Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Shirley Jahad (KPCC FM, SCPR.org, Pasadena)

What would a wise person do, the Buddha asked, seeing danger here and safety on the further shore? In the Parable of the Raft he advises, build a raft (whatbettertime.org)

 

Weather (twitter.com/NWSLosAngeles)

A mysterious rainstorm swept through Los Angeles yesterday, concentrating in the foothill suburb of Pasadena, headwaters for the mostly concrete Los Angeles River. While there were no fatalities, it did lead to many collisions because the inhabitants of this desert megalopolis do not know how to drive in rain, sleet, or snow, which rarely is a problem. 

(Oh no, it's raining!) The cause of the storm is unknown, probably a coincidence. These sorts of things just happen sometimes. A dancing flash mob was observed in Hahamongna in the vicinity of Devil's Gate Dam, but they did not expect flash flooding.

Snow in L.A. mountains (Oscars)

Their Native American ceremonial activities are not thought to be connected to either last night's showers or a second storm forecast for Southern California, which is expected to pass with more disruptions than the first rains. The region is now bracing for the larger of the two storms, which is expected to arrive on Thursday night and last through Saturday or Sunday.

• Officials in the San Gabriel Mountains have called for mandatory evacuations in the Colby Fire area, according to the Glendora PD; water barriers have been erected to protect homes from potential mudslides.
• Azusa officials ordered mandatory evacuations for residents on Ridge View Drive, below the Colby Fire burn area.
• L.A. County Public Works announces road closures.
• Glendora officials offered residents advice on how to prepare for potential mudslides and flooding on the city's website.
• Nat'l Weather Service updated its list of alerts and advisories.

LA Rain: Full list of advisories

Nearly an inch of rain fell in downtown Los Angeles (five miles south of Pasadena), with the San Gabriel Mountains getting up to two inches of rain. The California Highway Patrol reports there were about 111 collisions in L.A. County between 5:00 and 9:00 am Thursday morning. That is more than double the total of a non-rain day.

 

The water can only be as clean as the land

LAX Airport did not suffer any major flight disruptions, but the showers caused the cancellation of more than 100 flights at SFO (San Francisco).

• L.A. RAIN: Billions of gallons of polluted runoff likely to flow into the sacred ocean at Santa Monica Bay (Sadly L.A. gets plenty of rain, usually all at once, but it makes almost not effort to catch it, preferring instead to steal it from the north and neighboring states to the east).
• Glendora's RED ALERT press release with mandatory evacuations: 
• Forecast: debris and mud flows 
• Storms fuel mudslide anxiety
  

Woman survives car crash off canyon

The National Weather Service says the second storm is expected in Southern California by tonight or early Friday morning. The forecast calls for rainfall of 3 to 6 inches in the foothills, and up to 8 inches in some areas. A high wind watch will also be in effect in the Antelope Valley until Friday evening. More

"The Kingdom of Plants" (video)

Dev, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; David Attenborough; Jackal Safaris (video)

Plants can feel, communicate, heal, and maybe even think (Lila Daley)

Supernatural Iceland (video)

Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; AnimusAeternus

Viking Up Helly Aa (Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images/theatlantic.com)

"Elves, Ghosts, Sea Monsters, and ETs in Iceland -- Investigation into the Invisible World"

Nagas, devas, dragons, and fairies (M9)

"Enquête Sur le Monde Invisible" is a documentary by French director Jean-Michel Roux. In Icelandic towns like Hafnarfjörður and Reykjavik, a large percentage of the population believe in devas (subtle unseen beings), elves, ghosts of the dearly departed, and other paranormal entities. In fact, many claim to have seen and interacted with them. And some even claim to engage in frequent contact with them. This rare documentary is the first outside look at the strange but seemingly common events that take place on this small and remote island country. Note the similarity with mysterious island nation Ireland and its wee people and extraterrestrials. Irish slaves, in fact, were brought to Iceland.

World's oldest art made by women (video)

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Live.HuffingtonPost.com; Werner Herzog (film)

"Cave of Forgotten Dreams" in France contains art by female cavemen of the remote past.
 

New research suggests that many of the first artistic masters (as well as the majority of shamans, intuitives, and "medicine men") were women, not men.

  

Woman shaman (Elende)

(IFC Films) Documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France, capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind -- now known to have been created mainly by females -- in their astonishing natural setting. This film follows an exclusive expedition into the nearly inaccessible Chauvet cave system, home to the most ancient visual art known to have been created by humans. It is an unforgettable cinematic experience that provides a unique glimpse of the pristine and "primitive" artwork dating back to human hands over 30,000 years ago -- almost twice as old as any previous discovery.
 

VIDEO: An Evening with Werner Herzog

Visionary Herzog

(UC TV) One of the most distinctive filmmakers of our time, Herzog has been called the "romantic visionary" of the New German Cinema movement. His edgy, larger-than-life films fuse the epic with the intimate, redefining the scale and scope of filmmaking to include more than 60 works shot on every continent. He appears in conversation with acclaimed author and essayist Pico Iyer at UCSB.

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