Spiritual Explorations of a Different Kind part 2

Avatar-the Last Airbender


A few years back some college boys from the USA "created" a character called The Avatar, who was a little boy, a least in this life. He was a reincarnated spirit of a long line of AVATARS whose spirit returned to Earth every one thousand years to assist the Human Race through a difficult trial period. Pointing out the similarity between that and Hindu philosophy which has a "god" descend to Earth every thousand years is another blog all together.

Any who, my point was just to observe this cartoon series in its brilliant exploration of this little boy of simple origin, with the knowledge and power to become great, but needed to experience the human condition as the "key" to unlock these special abilities. His Spirit has been here several times before, but his body, and his talents shift depending on the task he needs to perform in this incarnation.

Avatar the Movie


Then there was this Movie, Avatar. In this movie, (besides the other themes which are screaming at me to discuss but will be at a later blog) the conciousness of the individual is transfered to another body which is more suitable to do the job which is required. Thats all I would say about this movie which is relevant to this blog's theme. (So tempting.....)


Surrogates


This third one, Surrogates explores the type of world where we are able to choose our bodies. The physical appearance of the individual is dictated by their desires.n How ever, in losing themselves in these surrogates, the individual loses touch with what it means to be Human.

These are just three movies which address this theme of the Avatar.....the idea that the physical body in temporary, interchangeable,and that the individual actually resides in its own conciousness and not in the physical body.

The message is simple. We are not our bodies. Our bodies are simply the vessel in which we travel this life. Our true selves lie in our conciousness which remains regardless of which body and which lifetime we are currently engaging in. What is new in the Movie Avatar and Surrogates is that we can actually choose to change the body in our current incarnation, and experience different realities in one lifetime.


This idea is found throughout many writings in theosophy, magick and occult studies. That our physical body is actually created by our conciousness is one theme which can be founf in tibetian writings, christian theology, Magickal philosophy etc.
That we are spiritual beings which incarnated several times to grow spiritually is another. That we evolve at every incarnation, and what we are given in each incarnation are the tools we need to learn the lessons we need at that incarnation.

That we are spiritual beings, learning lessons in each life; collecting these lessons in our inner conciousness, and that we know more at each incarnation than we are aware of.

This is how the majority of the Human race is able to explore spiritual themes these days, through books, film and media. Those individuals who can, tap into the evolutionary stages of spirit, and present the ideas to the mainstream for their exploration. Those who see past the entertainment factor are elevated in spirit.
Now imagine if we could go through eternity retaining some of the memories or skills from previous lives? Or, perhaps we can, before we die, decide who we want to be in our next life? Suppose we do have this power, and never used it simply because it never dawned on us?

And this is my brain going off on a tangent again...........

Imbolc

Yesterday, the Pagan / Witch community observed Imbolc, a festival of candles, Brigit and the coming of the Sun. Newness and springtime, new life emerging all resonate with this festival.

I could not observe it. Why. Because there is no such cycle where I live. There is no "coming of spring." In a tropical island, birth happens all through the year. Warmth happens all through the year. Our time when the Earth awakens is closer to the Spring Equinox when all the trees and flowers begins to bloom.

Wicca teaches about following the Wheel of the Year. The Solstices and Equinoxes are marked by the relationship to the sun and moon. These are termed the minor Sabbatts. The major ones are the ones that happen midway between these. For me though. The Equinoxes and Solstices should be the major ones, because they are marked by heavenly events larger than our experience. They influence the entire universe by their positioning. Evidence of these can be seen in Nature, the tides, the plants, the very air seems to be teeming with energies respective of the cycle.

The minor ones, which are not marked by any celestial happening cannot possibly resonate for the person who cannot experience them. I do not feel an Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas...and I only feel Samhain because it is marked a bit here.........

For us on the island, we are in the midst of a creative outpouring as our festival time heats up, and soon we will all be tramping up and down the streets, following music truck in our lovely Pagan Festival called Carnival. Its the only time that this country comes alive, really alive, really showing what the life-blood of the island is about. Is that our Imbolc? Is that our awakening?

There is a concept called the Souvreignity of a land, where the energy and needs of the people dictate or direct what is needed for the land. For me feeding off the already existing energies, and learning the cycles that already exist is just as important to Magickal practice. Now imagine using those energies around you, and spellworking in the middle of a large party. Imagine using the energy to create excitement in your life. Imagine, magickally, what could happen if the thoughts emminating from all the masqueraders on the road (about 60,000 plus revelers)could be directed to a focal point for the energy (say banishing Crime)? The Magickal results would be amazing.

The Flags and Blood Rituals responsible for Crime in Trinidad and Tobago?

“And I have a theory about why our young people are into so much crime and killing. It is the blood sacrifice performed by the Orisa and Khali pujas, and all the flags being put up all over the country. All that blood shed bringing more blood shed.”

So says Mr. Pastor as we sat in a meeting discussing a completely different topic. I held my tongue. I wanted to ask him if he ever sat with any members of either faith to find out what the symbology behind the blood sacrifices were. I am very wary, of any Pastor or religious leader who is bent on discrediting other faiths, and ignorantly blaming them for crime and discord in this country.

Firstly, I think it is important for people to understand the effect and purpose that religion has on the individual. Understand first and foremost that the individual brought up in the Orisa home, or in the Rastafarian home, is just as convinced that Christianity is responsible for crime and divisiveness in this country, as you, Pastor believe that they are.

We will not get into who should take the blame for the crime in the country, but I will get into the ridiculous idea being perpetuated by the “Pastors and dem” about other religions, which they have not explored in any way at all. (My social circle has predominantly Christian and Catholic believers, so I am more exposed to these points of view and I am writing from that perspective)

Religion is meant to be a tool to accessing your spiritual side. It is meant to be a way of bringing you closer to the orchestrator(s) of the Universe, putting the individual in touch with the higher mind/being/conciousness which makes things as they are. Religion comes in many colours and flavours, each being taken up by the mind which finds the one that appeals to its sensibilities. They are all valid.

When we point fingers to other religions and label them as something evil, without understanding them, we are adopting the same narrow-minded atitude as the colonialists who took over islands and countries and wiped out the indigeneous population branding them as savages. And I will point out a very poignant comment made by Pocahontas in the Walt Disney movie : It is you who are the Savage, you do not try to understand.

Again.....for those who have seen AVATAR.....look at how they were quick to label the people as savages without trying first to understand the perspective of their world.

So....my curious mind went digging to find out the symbol of blood in Orisa, and had a chat with an online friend who recently became a priest of that faith. This is what he told me:

There are instances whereby blood sacrifice is done. Two examples are in the ceremony that gives birth to a priest. Blood is shed to remove any and all negativity that the person has accumulated by word thought or deed in his life before. As well as to clear the way for him to receive blessings for the future.


Hmmmm... sounds quite like a certain individual who shed his blood to cleanse some people's sins.

The second example is whereby blood may be required to prevent untimely death of someone.
Blood as any person that studies or practices any of the higher sciences knows is full of life force. Blood has a lot of power. Everything that exists has power or life force. Depending on what needs to be done a fruit may suffice. This fruit has power as well. However, there are times when the fruit may not be enough so blood is used.
The universe exists on the basis of fair exchange nothing is free. We do not exist in a vacuum. To live, plants and animals die to provide us with nutrition and shelter. To make transformation the same principle comes into play. We use divination to find out what is the exchange for this transformation.


So there it is in his own words.

Understand the ceremony as a tool to achieve a particular end. Understand that all ceremonies are mind transformative, and have effects on the psyche being able to create new belief in a person. ALL CEREMONIES AND RITUALS, including the ones done by any CHURCH OR RELIGIOUS BODY, are designed to cretae change in the mind of the individual.
ALL religions at some point use blood, even symbolically, the reference is the same.

To state then, Mr. Pastor, that the use of blood in ritual, and the presence of flags, is the reason we have so much crime, shows where your divisive, misunderstanding mind starts from. This is not the issue, this is not why we have so much crime, and I really hope that this is not being preached from your pulpit, as it will only serve to add to the negative energies which prevail in this country. It is no more beneficial, than the politicians who use race as their drawing card. Any leader, who seeks to gain followers by causing fear and suspicion does not have the country's interest at heart.

I think when we are faced with a leader, or institution that blames something else on a problem, with a reason that incites fear or suspicion, we need to understand that those fears are their fears. We need to find out for ourselves about the issue before we adopt their fear into our hearts. I have learnt, that fear itself, is the only thing to fear, because it keeps the mind from truly understanding truth.