General Chat

Carol. One needs conversation to keep going, otherwise one is talking to ones self. There seemed so little response to my threads that there seemed no point in continuing, particularly as quite a lot of checking of facts is necessary. As I compose 'off the top of my head' I need a certain amount of dialogue, even disagreement, to keep the ideas churning out. One or two of my threads on various themes had no response whatsoever - not a solitary comment - whereas mindless little threads, will fill up the pages in no time and appear to attract thousands of posts.So I have got the message. Regards len

The universe, as seen by a neutrino's eye would look very unfamiliar. The earth and other planets smply would not be there or might, at best, seem as thin patches of mist. the sun and other stars may be dimly visible as they emit some neutrinos. A neutrino brain might suspect our existence from certain secondary effects but would find us very difficult to prove as we would elude the neutrino instruments at its disposal. Or universe is no truer than that of the neutrinos - they exist but they exist in a different kind of space and probably, almost assuredly, other entities also exist but they are governed by different laws. In our space, no material body or energy can exceed the speed of light because at this velocity its mass and so inertia become infinite. The neutrino, though, is subject to neither gravitational nor electromagnetic fields so that it need not be bound by this speed limit and may have its own, different time. From earlier analyses of mental or conscious attributes, it appears that they have have no definite location in the so called physical (or, better, gravi-electromagnetic) space, in which they resemble a neutrino or even a fast electron. This suggests a special kind of consciousness-space governed by different laws - which is corroborated by the parapsychological experiments and findings made at Duke, Princeton, Freiberg and other Universities and respected centres of learning already referred to in my threads. It seems that consciousness/ mind/spirit/soul, call it what you will, is subject to laws of its own, defining a different type of space-time. The end len

Of all the bewildering elementary particles in the physicist’s inventory, the most ghost-like is the neutrino. Its existence was predicted in 1930 by Wolfgang Pauli, on purely theoretical grounds but it was not until 1956 that the actual neutrinos, emanating from the Atomic Energy commission’s huge nuclear piles, were trapped in the laboratory by Reines and Cowan The reason why it took so long to detect them was that the neutrino has virtually no mass, no electric charge, no magnetic field and is not affected by gravity. It is not captured or repelled by the electric or magnetic fields of other particles whilst flying past them. A neutrino originates somewhere in our galaxy, the Milky Way, or perhaps in another galaxy and, traveling at the speed of light can go through the solid body of the earth as if it were empty space. It can only be stopped by a head-on collision with another elementary particle and the chance of that is infinitesimally small. Fortunately, there are enough around that collision do occur which enabled them to be detected. In the time it takes to read this sentence billions, coming from the sun and other stars, are streaming through your skull and barin John Updike the novelist wrote a poem to celebrate the discovery, called: Cosmic Gall Neutrinos they are very small They have no charge and have no mass And do not interact at all. The Earth is just a silly ball To them, through which they simply pass, Like dust maids down a drafty hall Or photons through a sheet of glass. They snub the most exquisite gas, Ignore the most substantial wall, Cold-shoulder steel and sounding brass, Insult the stallion in his stall, And scorning barriers of class, Infiltrate you and me! Like tall And painless guillotines, they fall Down through our heads into the grass……. To the unprejudiced mind, neutrinos have a certain affinity with ghosts – which does not prevent them from existing. This is not just a whimsical metaphor. The absence of ‘gross’ physical properties in the neutrino, and its quasi-ethereal character encourages speculation about the possible existence of other particles which would provide the link between mind and matter. Remember, 96% of the cosmos is composed of ‘dark matter’ completely unknown to science. Thus the eminent astronomer V.A Firsoff suggested that “mind was a universal entity or interaction of the same order as electromagnetism and there must exist a modulus of transformation analogous to Einstein’s E=mc² whereby ‘mind stuff’ could be equated with other entities of the physical world”. He further suggested that there may exist elementary particles of mind-stuff (consciousness) with properties somewhat similar to the neutrinos. Len .

26. There is some evidence that ancient societies may have understood the concept of energy paths and patterns far better than we do today. Many of the great ancient sites were set in harmony to each other, along shared lines of Earth energy known as Ley Lines. We have seen that gravity possesses many strange qualities and perhaps one function of ancient structures like standing stones and circles, possibly even the pyramids (also reflecting star positions), was to harness these properties to facilitate communication or travel with other dimensions. It is generally believed that the Roman Empire was a great civilizing power but modern thought, based on archaeological findings, is increasingly finding it to have been a barbaric totalitarian state that set back civilization perhaps a thousand years and permanently eradicated some highly sophisticated cultures. Watchers of “The Time Team” on Channel 4 TV have repeatedly been presented with evidence of this. It is emerging that even pre-Roman Britain was probably more civilized than during or after the Romans. In 1902, archaeologists recovered from the Mediterranean, near Crete, a relic consisting of numerous fragments including what appeared to be brass gear wheels. This was encrusted in thick mineral deposits which, until now have baffled scientists. This year, a team from Cardiff University in Wales has shown that it was an antikythera designed to predict eclipses from the relative positions of the Earth, moon and sun. The team used a CT scanner to map out the gear trains within the encrustation and to determine how they all fit together. They also found fragments of previously hidden text. It was built in the second century BC, 2,200 years ago and the device was much more complex than a modern wristwatch and beautifully designed. The team is constructing a virtual model of the mechanism which they hope to have working within months. (Nature, DO10; 10.1038/nature05357) Acupressure is a general term used to describe various massage techniques derived from ancient Chinese medicine, dating back at least 4,000 years. The treatments stimulate energy pathways or meridians on the body. It works by pressing on or tapping along the lines to stimulate blood-flow and improve nerve function. A nerve is a pathway composed of neurons, a special type of biological cell which is the unit of which the nervous systems of all animals are composed. A nerve cell consists of a nucleus surrounded by cytoplasm from which thread-like fibres project from the brain or spinal columns to all parts of the body. The matter from which biological cells is formed is called protoplasm. In most neurones, electromagnetic impulses are received by numerous short fibre-like structures called dendrites and carried away from the cell by a single long fibre called an axon. Transfer of impulses from neurone to neurone takes place at junctions between axons and dendrites called synapses. Of course, the ancient Chinese and Indians didn’t know this but seemed to have a fair idea and called this flow of energy quaint names such as chi or qi. Another form of treatment, based on the same knowledge, is acupuncture and this originates with the ancient Chinese, using very fine needles inserted, without discomfort, along the pathways of energy of which there are 14 main ones across the human body with some 365 acupuncture points Traditional yin/yang, medical and Western types of acupuncture use the same methods and puncture points but have different philosophies which, perhaps, indicates that they know it works but don’t know how. In Western medical views today, it should not work but does (as applies to homeopathy). So a referral by the NHS is now possible . Acupuncture needles have been found in archaeological digs from 1,000 BC and in 4th century AD medical texts. They believed that illness was often the result of emotional distress and could only be alleviated by treatment of the emotional disorder or stress. Western thought is coming round to much the same idea and realising that stress or undue emotion reduces the effectiveness of the auto-immune system. (Memo to self: look up auto-immune system and see how it works). Other variations of the treatment include using a mild electric current with special needles or equipment. We will not go into reflexology, auriculotherapy etc. Western medical research has conceded that acupuncture is effective in treating many illnesses including asthma, depression, arthritis migraines, high blood-pressure, gynaecological disorders and many more that do not respond to conventional medicines.

25. Ley lines are the earth’s equivalent of chi, the energy channels and meridians that run through the animal body. Like chi, ley lines emit weak electromagnetic energy that can be located and measured. Electromagnetic radiation consists of waves of energy associated with electric and magnetic field, resulting from the acceleration of an electric charge. The human brain operates on an electrical current that passes through the brain, at 6 cycles a second, generated by chemical means, and the patterns obtained can be correlated with human physiological and pathological states states. It is measured with and EEG (electroencephalograph) machine. Absence of brain electrical activity indicates the person is dead. They may also be detected by dowsers - but more about that later. Ley lines are known in every culture throughout the word. In Ireland they are ‘fairy lines’; in Polynesia ‘lines of light’; Australian Aborigines call them ‘dream paths’ Each Aboriginal believes they come from ‘Dream Time’ to take human form and they have holy places such as Ayers Rock. Their religious philosophy is not unlike that of Druids in that they believe humans and all life forms come from a realm and time when ‘the spirits’ created all beings, plant, animal and natural features from different elements in nature. They believe they came to take human form from the Dream Time which can be accessed during trance states and at night in dreams. It is very much like Carl Jung’s ‘collective unconscious'. Dowsing is an ancient skill, a form of divination to seek out hidden things. I thought it was a highly unlikely practice with no scientific basis whatsoever – until I saw it in action. My brother-in-law is a livestock farmer of, I believe, about 160 acres of land with farm building and yards which have been in the family for ages. Some time ago, it was essential to trace the water pipe supplying the farm. There were no records and the Water Board could not trace the undergroundpipes. Test pits were dug at points where it was thought the pipes may be or in which direction they may travel between farms in the area, without any success. It could have been a costly job to excavate in the yards. So a dowser was called in and, using a hazel twig, he circled the buildings and unerringly located the water source. No one was more impressed than me. Before returning home, I cut me a hazel twig and had a go round my own home but I guess I haven’t the knack or need more practice. It is still not known how precisely or why dowsing works but it seems to be connected with our intuitive ability to sense vibrational energies, either in the magneto-electric fields transmitted by water, minerals or other substances, or in people’s personal energy fields. When the dowser locates what he /she is looking for, maybe the intuition responds by vibrating in tune with the vibration field of the found energy field and minute muscle contractions move the rod or twig. The dowser on my brother-in-law’s fields used a Y-shaped hazel twig, each branch about 10 inches long. He held the arms of the Y in his hands with the stem pointing forward. When he was over the water pipe, the stem suddenly pointed downwards. He said that a hazel twig was best but that he could do it with a bent wire, e.g. a clothes hanger. It may be connected that research has shown that 20% of any population can detect live power cables -without any aids or dowsing rods. They usually feel unwell or get headaches. Apparently, dowsers are officially recognised and employed by local authorities,organisations and big businesses in the petrochemical industries. They have located minerals, people buried in avalanches, and lost items. Len

24. Psychic Healing is a bit of a mystery and something it is quite easy to dismiss as mumbo-jumbo but tests carried out in the USA and Canada, under laboratory conditions, using “double-blank” methods, have produced positive results and there is a growing body of evidence that physical and emotional healing does take place. The way the tests are carried out is that the “patients”, usually young volunteer students, are split into three groups. Each volunteer has a surgically inflicted injury to the skin of the forearm. The individuals sit in a cubicle with their damaged arm through a trap and, on the other side the lesion is treated by either a psychic healer, with normal medications or nothing at all. The students groups have no idea how or what or who is treating them. Those being left to heal themselves are the control group. The groups are changed after each of a series of tests. The patient groups receiving psychic healing showed the greatest improvement followed by those who had medication in the form of antibiotic vapours, healing mists and light-treatments. The control batch were the slowest to heal In the Canadian experiments, the healer was subjected to electrodes being attached to his head and an electroencephalograph brain scan made. The scan indicated a pattern of electrical activity in his head that had not previously been observed in brain scans. When one considers that psychic healing is based on rebalancing energies within a sick or damaged body, in view of the work done on “ Distant Intentionality” (essay 11 above and elsewhere) it does not seem so unlikely. These arts have an ancient history and arose in quite separate cultures in antiquity. Acupuncture was developed by the ancient Chinese and has been practised for at least 4,000 years, probably longer. Acupuncture needles have been found in archaeological digs. It is a technique of treating ill-health, emotional disturbance or maintaining well-being by the more direct method by inserting fine needles into the pathways of energy, called meridians. The universe, the galaxies, stars and our world are full of repeating patterns of energy. They continue down into our bodies, minds and individual cells. Naturally occurring bands of energy running through, along and beneath the earth possess that great astrological energy. In 1921, it was noted that, in the hills of Herefordshire, ancient mounds and burial sites, obelisks, henges and early churches seemed to be built along straight lines, Indeed, early churches and places of worship often were situated where lines crossed. It was theorised that these were places of spiritual significance. They were called 'Ley lines' after the ancient Anglo-Saxon lea or leigh meaning grassy track. Ley lines are the earth’s equivalent of chi, the energy meridians that run through the living body of animals. They emit electromagnetic energy that can be located and measured with scientific instruments. The ancients had no instruments - except their 'collective unconscious' (Carl Jung) So how did they dicover these lines of force?. Len .

Thanks for your reply, Len. It helped me understand why I was resistant to hypnosis. Good wishes, Joy.

Robert Why are we quibbling about this? It is just muddling my thread and diverting from the main thrust. If you will read again what I said about the speed of light I queried the accuracy of the belief that nothing travels faster. Len

Hello again, Len. Long time no reply... I would argue that scientists are fully convinced that nothing can travel faster than light; there seems to be a growing core of scientists who agree that nothing may be able to travel AT the speed of light, but there may be particles that cannot travel SLOWER than the speed of light - i.e. throughout their existence, they are travelling faster than the speed of light (don't ask me how they can be seen!). I have heard that at CERN, particles have been accelerated past the speed of light without actually travelling at the speed of light; an analogous experiment has a particle being fired at a sheet, and appearing the other side WITHOUT ACTUALLY PASSING THROUGH THE MATERIAL. Also, in quantum physics, it has been found that an action upon a particle can have an IMMEDIATE effect on another particle, no matter what the distance. I believe Einstein knew about this, and could not explain it. All these reports are what makes me raise the hypothesis of the existence of another spectrum, perhaps another branch of science that has yet to be determined. Stone age man could not have known of electricity, so lightning, and similar, would have been a wonder to him; having no iron, bronze age man could not have known about magnetism - and, oddly enough, though we know of it now, and can recreate it at will, and can measure it and its effects, we still have no idea what it actually IS. Rob

Robert Light is part of the electromagnetic radiation field and it travels at about 186,000 X 60 X 60 miles per hour which, as near as dammit, is almost instantaneous - although it takes 8 minutes to get from the sun to earth. . Physicists say there is nothing faster but are they always 100% correct? Maybe, if 'Distant Intentionality' is a subtle form of electro-magnetic radiation there is no method yet of determining its speed. Its just pretty damn quick. Len

Robert. When I was a counsellor, a weekly event was to go through my case-histories with a 'supervisor' who, in my case, was a consultant psychiatrist with the S. Bucks Health Authority. I had a client who claimed to have memories from when she was six month old. That was a new one on me but, naturally, I would not query this with the client but I did take it up with the consultant who assured me that this was not unheard of. In fact, memory is developed in the foetus from about the 12th week after conception and, occasionally, even the birth (or earlier) may be recalled in later life. Len

Joy About a quarter of the population is highly susceptible to hypnotism and a quarter almost immune to it. The other 50% fall somewhere in between. When I went to classes and learned the skill, I queried this and understood that this was nothing to do with intelligence but more with the way the subjects had been conditioned in their younger days. Personally, I will 'go under' quickly if I trust the therapist as I will be cooperative. I doubt this would be the case if the hypnotist was of the stage variety. I met once a Japanese practitioner (can't remember his name, we called him Itchy) who said he could hypnotise anyone, and he certainly had no problem with some difficult cases. Hence the word 'almost' in my opening sentence. len

Referring even further back in this thread... Ann in Glos, why is it that so many people (often women) say that they do not understand maths, physics, or chemistry. Putting yourself down like that does not help others to appreciate you. You cook, don't you? If the answer is 'Yes,' then you DO understand maths (with the relationships between numbers), chemistry (with how the different ingredients - i.e. chemicals - in varying proportions can react), and physics (the application of energy forms to accelerate chemical reactions). The fact that you may not be able to understand what Steven Hawkings is talking about (few people really do) should not detract from your abilities; you have been brainwashed by bullying teachers, who could not be bothered to help you by applying a different approach for your understanding. Maths, chemistry, physics, and biology is in all our lives; most of us do understand much of what is going on around us, even if we do not appreciate the full implications. Sit down and analyse your life; I am sure you will be amazed by how much you DO know. Rob

And there's more... Just had a look at P. van Lommel's site; very interesting reading, too. Have a look at this quote from one of his subjects: “All of my life up till the present seemed to be placed before me in a kind of panoramic, three-dimensional review, and each event seemed to be accompanied by a consciousness of good or evil or with an insight into cause or effect. Not only did I perceive everything from my own viewpoint, but I also knew the thoughts of everyone involved in the event, as if I had their thoughts within me. This meant that I perceived not only what I had done or thought, but even in what way it had influenced others, as if I saw things with all-seeing eyes. And so even your thoughts are apparently not wiped out. And all the time during the review the importance of love was emphasised. Looking back, I cannot say how long this life review and life insight lasted, it may have been long, for every subject came up, but at the same time it seemed just a fraction of a second, because I perceived it all at the same moment. Time and distance seemed not to exist. I was in all places at the same time, and sometimes my attention was drawn to something, and then I would be present there.” So the story of a complete reviewing your life at your demise may be true! Rob

One more thing... The presumption that conciousness occurs some time after conception, when cell differentiation creates the brain could be called to question if my own memory can be believed - I am sure that I have a memory from just a few hours after conception, at a time when I was just a cluster of cells. If this could be proved, it would also have to call into question how memory is stored, and the extent of our perceptions beyond the five normally-accepted senses. Rob

Hi Len. I've only just discovered this thread (so you can ingore my comment on your inactivity in later thread of yours)! As usual, it is fascinating, and obvious that you have done a lot of research. Only one thing I would argue with: you keep referring to 'distant intentionality' and 'life force' as being part of the electro-magnetic spectrum, yet it appears to operate instantaneously over great distances. Surely the electro-magnetic spectrum is confined to the speed of light; could it be that there is another as-yet-to-be discovered spectrum? Remember, though the existence of the e-m spectrum has always been known about (even the ancients could see), it is only relatively recently that it has been encapsulated by science. It is intriguing to note that many who would debunk the 'paranormal' hide behind scientists, yet it was the scientists of the day who refused to look through Galileo's telescope to see the moons of Jupiter. 'There is none so blind as they who will not see.' Rob p.s. sorry to hear that you were an accountant - are you better now?

Len, I haven't read all of your fascinating thread, but pages back you mentioned that many people believe themselves not to be able to be hypnotised. I know that some people are resistant to hypnosis. Do you have a view on why this should be? Thanks, Joy.

23. The shamans and seers of old invariable went into trance (Latin ‘transere’, to go across) in order to communicate with the spirit world. This altered state of consciousness may be achieved by a number of methods including hallucinogenic drugs, self-hypnosis, whirling (as in Dervishes) and sensory deprivation. Prophets of the bible tended to use the latter, sometime retreating to the wilderness (desert) starving themselves and sometimes resorting to flagellation. They closed their conscious minds and became unaware of their immediate external environment, retreating to the sub-conscious. Many modern mediums, with practice, are able to enter trance at will. The huge technical successes of modern science have obscured a deeper understanding of its place in human knowledge but there is much to be understood about spirituality or consciousness – so far not even defined by science. Evolutionary biologists have so far identified four ways in which religion might be of benefit in terms of evolutionary fitness. The first is to give sufficient explanation of the universe to allow us to control it, perhaps through intercession with a deity or spirit world. Secondly, to make us feel better about life. Thirdly, religions provide and enforce some sort of moral code thus keeping social order. Finally, religious belief might bring a sense of community; of being a member of a group. It would not take even a mediocre intellect to demolish those arguments but still, it’s all the biologists and geneticists have to offer. Changing the way we think of the cosmos is nor easy and there still exists a hard-core of scientists who steadfastly refuse to acknowledge the existence of any philosophy outside their own narrow discipline. Possibly they were conditioned by blinkered lecturers at their universities. Casting an eye over the ranks of “experts” it certainly appears that the narrower their field e.g. biology, chemistry, genetics etc., the more blinkered they tend to be. Possibly the most well-known and vociferous God-basher is Prof. Richard Dawkins, geneticist, and some wonder if he is considering a new religion called Science with himself as Deity-in-chief. He can’t call it Scientology as Ron Hubbard, supported by Tom Cruise, got in there first. Dawkin’s latest book “The God Delusion” has back-fired on him as his website, at the school from which he works, has blocked access to www*richarddawkins*net on the grounds that “it is an occult site”. Such is life - or the hand of God!! Investigations into the paranormal more often than not are led by medics and engineers rather than theologians or psychologists although these are often included in the teams. Research is conducted as clinical dissections of popular beliefs, using the strict protocols of modern science in order to lay them at rest rather than prove. To the surprise of most, the most rigorous testing, at centres of learning all over the world, is producing unexpected confirmation of age-old beliefs in phenomena that cannot be explained by the known laws nature. Paranormal senses do exist in living things, not only humans although that is all we can presently cope with. There is accumulating evidence of the psyche, or mind or soul, as defined by Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, of that hidden element which Jung described as forming part of the “collective unconscious”. Len

22. Druids, the high priests and leaders of Celtic Britain and Ireland and elsewhere, who followed pagan traditions of nature and goddess worship, possessed great knowledge of astronomy and preserved in their writing and teachings their respect for trees and natural cycles. These form an important part of folk lore today. In fact the name came from the Greek word for oak which was the Druids sacred tree. The Celtic name for oak was “duir” and “wid” is “to know or see”. Together the two words meant one who knows the wisdom of the oak. Their second sacred tree was the yew which is associated with the seasons of autumn and winter. Easter, the Christian festival borrowed from pre-historic Eoastra, the pagan festival that surrounds the spring equinox is named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility in the Celtic wheel of the year. Eoastra was the day when the god of light overcame the god of darkness, marking the coming of longer days. It was also the time that the goddess Briged conceived – neatly tying in the pagan myth with the story of the Virgin Mary. It is also an important Sabbath in the witch’s year. It was also the time of year when chickens started laying again; when the first eggs were painted and offered at the shrine to Eoastra. So there’s nothing new on the planet only pattern unfolding into pattern like a fractal. Becoming a Druid meant a lifetime of study, ascending through three levels of elemental understanding to attain spiritual enlightenment. At the final grade of enlightenment, the doors to perception are opened and they may alter consciousness, using shamanistic methods of mind-altering properties, allowing of healing and out-of body experiences. They understand the sacred power and creative force of sound therefore learn all the poems and songs of the tribe and compose their own. The Druid is able to act as philosopher, judge, healer, teacher and has powers of pre-cognition, seeing the future. He is considered to be the master of his craft able to directly access the powers of nature and the earth. As with most pagan shamans, Druids follow the Celtic wheel of the year, celebrating sabbats and esbats of the season. There are modern Druids in the UK today. Carl Jung’s book, “Memories Dreams & Reflections” includes accounts of his meetings with primeval cultures in Africa, India and Ceylon. He recounts of one sad old shaman or medicine man who summed up his present standing in his tribe and of the tribe itself: “In the old days the laibon (medicine man) had dreams and knew (things) but, since the whites were in Africa, no one has dreams any more. Dreams were no longer needed as the whites knew everything”. The divine voice which counselled the tribe was no longer needed as “the whites knew better”. Len

21(continued - I hadn't noticed GR had pruned my last entry) .........Possibly it was adopted by Cro-Magnon from the Neanderthal. Certainly it was well-established and practiced in Babylon, Egypt and Chaldea. It did not really acquire negativity until the rise of the Christian Church which taught “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live” and witch-hunting became an international sport. Len