Holy water
In the name
of
the farther,
the sun
&
the holy spirit
... let us pray.
No?
Ok then,
let’s ask a question or two.
How on earth could earth have been formed from water?
“For … it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water“
2 Peter 3:5
“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.“
Genesis 1:2
“In the Qur’an, water is the key element in Creation and is referred to so frequently -63 times- that some even speak of the Holy Book’s “obsession” or “bewitchment” with water.“
What! You don’t like that question?
It doesn’t light your wick?
Well how about this one:
How can a trickle of water …
… translate itself into the largest river in the world?
Interested?
Not even a little?
Ok, I’ll come clean,
what I really wanted to ask is this:
‘What on earth is water‘?
“My grandfather told me that a sangoma (healer) must be able to draw knowledge from what he called “the Hidden Lake.” There is, he said, a huge unseen lake somewhere in the spirit world where all the knowledge of the universe “past, present, and future” is to be found …
... Knowledge lives in that lake in the form of little silver fishes,” my grandfather said. “You must never, never again say that you do not know something. You must just ask the lake, the unseen lake, to provide you with the knowledge that you seek.“
Credo Mutwa
~ ~ ~
“Now you are in your inner space, the place of the Spirit Lake. This is your first conscious time here. Each of us has this inner space but during the lives of most people, it becomes smaller and smaller. As we go through life, the world around us tries to fill up and kill this inner space, your Spirit Lake …
… Many people lose it entirely. Their space is occupied by legions of foreign soldiers, and it dies.“
Entering the Circle – Olga Kharitidi
~ ~ ~
You see all I planned to do was post the first quote from Credo Mutwa because I thought it might appeal to a few,
but then I remembered …
… the tale of spirit lakes from the second quote
& that reminded me …
… of a chat with my Nigerian friend about the African watery-serpent-priestesses-spirits, Mami Wata.
Which led to checking out Mami’s wiki page …
… which led to the line on that page that precipitated this article;
“Traditions on both sides of the Atlantic tell of the spirit abducting her followers or random people whilst they are swimming or boating. She brings them to her paradisiacal realm, which may be underwater, in the spirit world, or both.“
It’s marvelous how a little mis-reading can stimulate insights – my eyes left out a comma & a whole new world opened up;
“… which may be underwater in the spirit world“
So here’s our play theme for today:
What if water IS a spirit realm?
I know we’re tolled that spirit realms are ethereal, but what if they’re less ether & more real than we have supposed – an etherealm?
Here’s a wee quote form the article I stopped working on, to write this;
“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads“
Ah yes I see … earth IS heaven too – stand on a far-away planet & look this-a-way you will perceive earth as part of the heavens.
“heavens “realm of the heavenly bodies,” 1670s.“
Is earth real or realm?
“realm-noun
2. the region, sphere, or domain within which anything occurs, prevails, or dominates: the realm of dreams.“
Could earth be more earthereal than we have real-eyes’d?
Where would water fit in?
Could that which we have labelled ‘common element’ be, in fact, another world, seamlessly woven into this one?
Now you know I’m not godly, but some biblical quotes have caught my attention on recent internet travels;
“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5
Egads, I didn’t realise the key to the Pearly Gates was a windlass.
So when Catholics do the criss-crossy thing & intone – “In the name of the father, the son & the holy spirit” …
… are they referring to water as the holy (non-alcoholic) spirit?
Here’s another insightly mis-read;
“Jesus is teaching the significance of baptism by immersion in water. By being baptized, we symbolically go through the death…“
Yours truly read this;
“… immersion in water. By being baptized, we go through death“
Yours truly wondered;
Could water be the gateway to, or through death?
Hey look I love water, I come to life in water – but I see no harm in asking questions.
Water, we are told is life, yet perhaps it is also very much more.
Earth & life were created out of water, according to the great storyists. Great storyists also claim that life was all but wiped out by the same force.
This indeed makes water …
a gateway to life & death.
ah yes, of course ….
‘a watergate’
Is it possible that we’ve been so dippy for so long that we couldn’t see the drips for the seas?
“Water is considered a purifier in most religions. Major faiths that incorporate ritual washing (ablution) include Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Rastafari movement, Shinto, Taoism, Judaism, and Wicca …
Immersion … of a person in water is a central sacrament of Christianity … it is also a part of the practice of other religions, including Judaism and Sikhism … a ritual bath in pure water is performed for the dead in many religions … Water is mentioned numerous times in the Bible, for example: “The earth was formed out of water and by water” (NIV). In the Qur’an it is stated that “Living things are made of water” and it is often used to describe paradise.“
Ok look-see at the last bit;
“ it is often used to describe paradise.”
We may be reminded that the peacockeried marriage of water & sun symbolises entrances to godly worlds;
“In Greek mythology, the rainbow was considered to be a path made by a messenger (Iris) between Earth and Heaven.“
“In Chinese mythology, the rainbow was a slit in the sky sealed by goddess Nüwa“
“In Norse Mythology, a rainbow called the Bifröst Bridge connects the realms of Ásgard and Midgard, homes of the gods and humans, respectively“
After his water-slaughter of mankind, God used a rainbow to help remind himself not to be led into the temptation of genocide again;
“I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.“
It’s funny how the little chap that Noah sent out to check on water levels, happened to be the same species …
… as the one famed for gate crashing significant baptisms.
Funny too how this birdy’s name is the past tense of the watery verb “dive“.
The word Dive, is sounded “Die-v” – we can dive into the water realm, but we cannot stay. It can live in us but we cannot live in it.
The word drowning is telling n’est-ce pas?
It casts a backward spell.
WORD –> DROWning
The master crafter of the English language once fathered & drowned a young woman with his words;
“When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide;
And, mermaid-like…
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull’d the poor wretch …
To muddy death.”
“Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia,
And therefore I forbid my tears“Where was I going with this?
Well nowhere actually.
I simply misread something & got curious.
I hope you don’t mind.
I’ve read that water comes from a galaxy far, far away. I’ve read that it acts irrationally. I’ve seen Masuru Emoto’s wonderful frozen pictures. I’ve read we should drink more water & I’ve read that we should drink less. I’ve read that the human body does amazing things with water. I’ve read that urine & tears are magical. I’ve read that water is a symbol of the feminine & of the unconscious.
The quotes at the beginning of the article made me wonder something else.
It made me wonder if water could be an eartherealm of knowledge – an other-worldly world that resides here.
It made me wonder if water could be a realm that functions as the keeper of great knowledge?
Perhaps even, of all knowledge.
“The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike. Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Tao” and “There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong there is nothing that can take precedence of it” – 1891 translation of the Dao De Jing
‘The next time you go to a flowing river in the veld, ma’am,’ Mutwa instructed me, ‘go at night – not with rubber-soled shoes but with leather soles. The nearer you draw to the river, the more you will feel this …’ he paused, ‘this things – what you might call a “vibration“. Fresh-water rivers are living ma’am. And what is more, they contain memory – like a photograph. We sanusis are trained to see the photographic images that rivers carry. This is even more the case when a river runs beneath the surface, where it forms invisible pipes of great power.‘ Mystery of the White Lions – Linda Tucker
Re-corded messages
Good news everyone.
It’s over!
You can stop looking!!
The riddle of existence is solved!!!
We can now reveal that the Bible was written as a coded ‘instruction guide’ to the location of God.
Unfortunately what no one ever understood, was that it had been written in the Southern Hemisphere …
… thus everyone had been reading it upside down.
By taking this information into consideration, God was discovered earlier today, hiding out in a cave, right here in New Zealand. Although it took some doing, he was finally tempted out by the lure of hot coffee & home-made muffins.
And the Good News for Modern Man?
Well he’s finally agreed to set the record straight.
So … reporting live from NZ, I can now reveal the awful truth – that our existence here on earth was the result of some long ago kids play that went doubly, horribly wrong.
It all began when God was playing silly buggers.
He sneezed while uttering the Word that his Mother had told him never to use …
… & accidentally created a snotty version of himself.
“And lo there was a blinding flash
And a great Big Bang,
And there stood Jehova,
Who said “move over,
I’m taking this show for my own.“
Terrified of what his mother would say, God took to the hills.
Jehova quickly stepped into his shoes & rigged the Eden Casino Game so that the winner …
… would take all.
In a thousand word essay please describe what the boy-God might have decided about the world & his part in it, that would make him run for cover when the going got tough.
What do you mean you left your pencil at home!
Oh sorry your grandma just died, you say.
Again!
All right then, I’ll let you off … this time.
As strange as it may seem, this article is a kind of personal continuation of the last – just a little further down the track.
Earlier this week, in an effort to retain my sanity after unspeakably hideous internet connection problems, I found myself trying out an exercise in the childhood memory book that was mentioned in my last article. Up till then I’d thought & remembered, but nothing had been woven into words.
The effect of simply putting pen to paper has been astonishing.
How could I not have seen the exquisite patterns in my own personal snapshots?
At present I have only a handful of early memories & while none of them would be called happy, neither are they hard to look at. The beauty of recalling these snapshot-childhood-memories is that they are not about reliving trauma – that’s an idea the damned media have promoted – as always doing everything they can to scare you out of looking into the place that has the most healing to offer.
Your snapshot memories are the most elegant, exquisite & tailored gifts to you, showing you why you walk many of the paths you do & why you walk the same tracks again & again.
At certain points in your childhood events happened that were so filled with YOUR personal understanding of what life was like, that they were seared into your memory.
I remember being stunned one Christmas Morning, when I was about three or four, to find nothing under the Christmas Tree.
I recall going to the theatre when I was about six. I remember nothing of the play, though I must have been transfixed, for my attention wandered away from my ice cream, when it returned, I was horrified to see that although the cone was there, the ice cream had vanished …
… to this day I do not know if I ate it without realising or if it rolled onto the floor & disappeared. I can still taste the disappointment of losing that treat.
In two out of my handful of young memories, I find snapshots symbolising a denial/abrupt ending of pleasure & a sense emptiness/hollowness. We’ve been so programmed with stories & movies of ‘horribly real’ or imaginary trauma that ‘little’ incidents such as these become almost laughable.
Yet for me they are treasure.
I begin to see the outlines of familiar patterns & fears. My little self left me a map of how she had translated life – she marked important events with a memory & left them for me to find & dig up when I was ready.
I think much of this work now is about making ourselves ready.
I remember when I was about five being really worried about death & dying & finally working up the courage to ask my mother if everyone died. Her reply was as brief as it was brutal.
Putting my feelings into words about that memory led to a kind of waking dream of its soul-deep impact - this time instead of a crushing verbal reply, I re-experience the event as a physical assault – my mother comes up behind me & slams the side of my head with a frozen leg of ham – hey don’t ask me, that’s the image that came – that is the understanding that some part of myself wished to make known. The recollection of being slammed in the side of the head with a golf club by a girl named Rosemary, a few years later, may perhaps be read in a more telling light.
“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember” Hamlet: Act 4. Scene V
Is it possible to explain to you how grateful I am, for the dream-like frozen ham experience?
I now have a symbolic physical event that my self can work with – while it floated in my mind it was untouchable, but by feeling it, it becomes embodied & earthed.
That which we feel, can be healed.
I decided to write this because I thought you might benefit by re-visiting your own memories.
One of the GREATEST lies of the Western World is that only the biggest, loudest, boldest or saddest of people, events, experiences matter.
What a load of nonsense.
If there is any part of you that is crippled by emotional pain then that is a very big deal & it is not ok – the amount by which you are crippled is the amount by which the world & those you love are denied your unique gifts.
For anyone interested this is exercise – please be your own guru/ferryman ( & be brief)
- Your memory?
- Your feelings?
- The most vivid thing about it?
- How old? (needs to be less than 8 years)
- What do you think it tells you about who you are?
Note: To be a real memory, it must have feelings or emotions attached.
If you can remember about five memories you should start to see pictures about how you painted the world you lived in. It’s quite likely that you painted some very strange scenes.
And it’s quite likely that you are still living in them …
But you don’t have to.
‘Unlocking the Secrets of your Childhood Memories’ by Kevin Leman is the book mentioned in this & my last article.
Scrumping for clues
A question
for you …
Would it be
such a bad thing,
if on your
search for truth,
… you walked deliberately into a liars den?
Cos’ you know
all the best treasure hunters do it …
without a second thought.
“Then Ali Baba … went to the door concealed among the bushes, and said, “Open, Sesame!” and it flew open … He saw … gold and silver in heaps, and money in leather purses. He … brought out as many bags of gold as he thought his asses, which were browsing outside, could carry.”
As do all the …
pedalled
silver-screened ones.
Am I suggesting …
that you
turn
to the d’Ark side?
Oh no, no, no no no
… it’s just you see, I’ve been reading a book.
A book with some great potential for healing. Yet at the same time I’m finding myself subjected to suggestions I find quite noxious.
Making my way through this bookbound-mindfield got me thinking about the Truth Movement.
I’ve noticed how distraught truthing seekers can get when the believability of a guru is called into question – but is the upset necessary?
As a beginner, my guru was David Icke – I absorbed every book I could lay my hands on. I think that’s the way it is for most of us – something/someone breaks a spell & we’re shown a world we’ve felt but weren’t allowed to understand. At first we just cannot get enough.
Now I’m seeing these first teachers as ferrymen who provided us with the means to travel off the mainland of accepted belief – they took us to new lands – that was their job.
And we give them much thanks.
But at some point we have to get off the ferry & begin to make our own way – in other words we have to start to think & question for ourselves, otherwise …
… we just might find that …
… the ferryman may take us for a ride.
There have been times in my life when people have appeared to give me a hand just when I needed it – even once to the point of helping to save my life. But there was also a time when that person returned me close to death.
I did not understand then that what cures, can also poison, if used when not needed.
I return to my book. Very tame by today’s standards – it would be called self-help-slash-psychology.
A few years ago, I’d have swallowed the lot.
Back then if I found the main proposition valuable, I would swallow unquestioningly all the commandments tucked into the friendly sentences that surrounded it. Now thanks to my own efforts to restart gut/senses/brain combined with outstanding work & ideas of others who stepped away from their personal ferrymen, I can often sense, feel & question much of this flotsam (often via uncomfortable feeling in my gut) e.g.
Why, when reading a book on the power of childhood memories, do I twice come across hints that men over a certain age need to have their colons checked? (read the Celtic Rebel’s blog for common sense on this)
Why am I sold told which particular Apple brand product was bought as a gift?
Why are details of a young girl who plays with her genitals in public given as an example of how honest children’s communication is?
Now this is just one book out of hundreds & I’m not out to attack it – in fact I’m very grateful to the author for some ideas I’ve been introduced to – but like so much information available today, it is located within a min(e)d-field. If I wish to harvest what might be useful to me, then I need to go in fully armed with common & gut sense.
Unfortunately most people who are given a platform in this world, get it because they have fully bought into, & swallowed, its creed – they are guaranteed to work religiously to pass/sell it on.
How different are the truth movement ferrymen from the self-help ferrymen?
Does it really matter?
Is it really the job of the ferryman to deliver the truth?
Or is it the job of the individual to get off the damned ferry & go chart their own course – understanding that there are mind-mined fields out there & they need to keep their eyes & ears peeled with questions.
One of the best gifts I ever got was a lie because it took away my naive trust & started me questioning.
If a ferryman comes to you & offers you your answer, is it really wise to take it?
End of rant.
Anyway … here’s what I wanted to pass on – my understanding of the book I’ve been reading:
Your earliest childhood memories are no mere fancies - instead you could call them a memo to self.
Your child-self took precise & specific snapshots of events, happening & feelings because they perfectly resonated with, & defined, how that self was translating its connection to life.
More to the point for who you are now, it is highly likely that these snap-shots/memories are still being translated in our grown up life. The author asserts that given two or three of your earliest memories, he could flesh out your life story.
Our earliest memories become the greatest movies ever made in our lives – produced & directed just for us.
Our re-viewing may be highly important, especially now, when healing is so vital.
I haven’t finished the book, I may not, I’ll see how I feel - for that is the work/walk of the traveller (one who has stepped off the ferry) – to choose our own road, choose what we will accept (for today at least) & what we will not, to ask questions & then more questions, to swallow very carefully, spit out that which does not taste right & vomit out that which is toxic to us.
Once we have stepped off the ferry I think we have a bloody good chance of safely navigating any liars den – collecting what is valuable to us, leaving what is not, & emerging victorious.
The alternative appears to be waiting eternally for the ferryman to relay us to yet another answer, all the while his boat is filling up with new recruits …
