Monday, June 26, 2006

Tales Of Egypt




Ancient Mystery


In awesome grandeur cross all time

Pyramid grand, mystery sublime

Impossible height, a mile around

Questions asked, no answers found


Khufu-built, they called it tomb
Indeed there seems a coffin room
Throughout them all, unless they hide

They’ve never found the dead inside


If pyramids speak, a tongue they lack

No writings found, it doesn’t track

All glyphs are found in other halls

In tombs, mastabas, on the walls


Beside the greatest, Giza’s glory

Rests fabled lion, what’s the story?

It wasn’t wind that made the grain

But constant regular heavy rain


Many signs have tested out

To be too old, without a doubt

To fit with Egyptology

Four thousand years? At least times three!


Star shafts line up from deep within

No human use, they’re much too thin

Point out stars, which at night show

As is above, so is below


Orion’s Belt, with slightest crook

Is seen below, just take a look

In line up with the Nile just so

(which emulates galactic glow)


To match them all, from ground to sky

We travel back to days gone by

Four thousand years is way too rough
Six thousand more, almost enough


To set them all, to know the score

Twelve thousand years, and hundreds four

When desert land and sweet oasis

Were not mainstays of culture’s basis


When deserts bloomed in grass and grain

Supported by the heavy rain

And stars with mystic shafts align

And Giza’s match? Perfect design!


More glorious now the tale’s been told
Thrice the age we've known of old

How much greater then the deed

And left for us, bequeathed indeed

Daily life...

It is difficult being so far from friends. Silver is so far away & Hawke as well. When things go awry for any of us or between us it would just be so good to be able to call around & see them, deal with things face to face; somehow things seem better that way.

The internet is a great thing, making the world smaller & making it possible for me to know them at all, but it is a long way from a physical relationship. This was driven home to me when I read a thread on WF about what happens if a member dies; would other members ever know or would they just pass into the distance, unremarked & unremembered. Some of the posters talk about having a list of sites for their family or friends to contact so as to let the other members know what had happened. This brought the realisation that should I die, there is nobody I can leave a note for. About the best I could hope for is a cop when they came to cart me away might find a note & bother to log in.

I think about the best I could do is make out a will & give details for the lawyer to contact Silver or Hawke so they could pass on the information.

It is hard to recall the last time I was touched in a personal way (apart from things like handshakes on intro to people) or when someone came to visit. And yet I am a friendly person - I don't readily abuse people, I think of their comfort & ask after their health - yet somehow people seem to stand off from me. Maybe I smell? *grins*

I even have evidence of the effect - a couple of years ago I went around the world & often had long & involved convos with people in a lot of countries, but in 4 months of travel, not one of those conversations were started by other people. Every time I had to break the ice; once done, the convos were friendly & lively & we had a good time, but not once was I approached first.

I have noticed the effect in bars - I can walk in, stand at a crowded bar & have a drink, and within 15 minutes I will have a space on either side of me at least 2 people wide. Not every time but often enough that it is noticeable. In places where I was a regular I have drawn the attention of the bar staff to it & they can't understand it either.

If I break the ice with anyone, it doesn't happen but if I don't talk, somehow, even when they are a couple of rows deep at other parts of the bar, I will have a space. Very occasionally someone wills tep into the space to order & then move back to their table but nobody stays unless I first talk to them.

Strange stuff. I wish I could see auras - mine must be a doozy!

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Strangeness in relationships

People with the best of intentions & with strong feeling for each other seem to be able to find ways to be at cross purposes. It is strange indeed.

In one case the words from the past pre-disposed me to seeing a meaning that apparently wasn't meant & I reacted to what I thought was being said, causing shock & pain at the other end of the convo. I still don't have an explanation from her as to what was actually meant by her statement so the meaning is still obscure a bit, but the reaction tells me i probably got it wrong.

If I can be so wrong about something said by someone I love & care for, how do i fix the gap in our communication so it doesn't occur again? I am but human & although I try not to have it happen, evidence from the past shows that if I just react, unlike most people it seems to have a big & usually negative effect on others. I try to think about things before reacting, but sometimes, like last night, I get caught & everything seems crystal clear & i say something (or sometimes do something) only to be told I am wrong.

On the other hand, someone with whom I normally have almost full agreement in our convos spent most of our time together yesterday arguing with almost everything I said, even though it turned out that maybe at least one of our basic premises wasn't that different between us.

Why it happened I am not sure - maybe my dogmatic tone got her fur up or maybe we were in contrary moods or something. It wasn't so bad while we were talking about Egypt & prehistory but when we got onto the next subject it seemed I upset her somewhat. I guess it came down to a basis of she thinks all care should be taken to protect someone we care about & I see it as we should work to get her to deal with what is happening before going for panaceas like counselling &/or drugs.

To my way of seeing things there is quite possibly a valid reason for what is going on that should be looked at before we simply try to stop the symptoms, but it seems clear that my way involves cruelty to the person at the centre of it & now I am ashamed for not considering that side of things. My only excuse is I think it is better to go through something to find a resolution than to simply cover it over & hope it goes away. I think Hawke sees it as me just trying to satisfy my curiousity at someone else's expense.

So, as I say, if comm between people who care about each other as we do can go so wrong, what hope is there for the world out there to get along.

On another note I am getting back into critiquing other people's works in the hope of kick-starting my muse so I can start writing again.

Monday, June 19, 2006

So... catching up a bit...

I went & saw the da Vinci Code on Saturday. Though I hadn't read the book I had no problems following the plot & found it well paced & an interesting movie. After reading lots of comments about both book & movie I was expecting something much worse, but I guess others don't have my background knowledge.

I am a long-term agnostic, having rejected the religion of my parents starting aged 10 when the pastor failed to give me a reasonable answer to 'what is belief?' & then 'what is faith?' (he'd answered the first one by saying 'belief is when you have faith something is true' then followed up with 'faith is when you believe something is true without evidence' even at 10 I knew a circular argument when I saw one)

I have learned over the years of the synods where they decided the contents of the bible & the earlier council of Nicea where they made the decisions as to what books would be excluded from it. Also I've had a long term interest in things like the sphinx, the pyramids & other monuments that seem to defy orthodox history - that interest has led in some interesting pathways, including into the ideas that the Hebrews were actually Akhenaten's bunch, fresh from losing out to the pan-theistic bunch & leaving Egypt with their mono-theistic beliefs. It certainly made more sense than a mass migration of slaves never mentioned in Egypt's history.

And following on, there's the interesting bit about the Ages. We are currently entering the Age of Aquarius. We are leaving the Age of Pisces (fish) & before that was the Age of Aries (sheep)
Christ was born in the Age of Aries & the Age of Pisces came along while he was alive - making sense of him being the shepherd who became a fisher of men - unfortunately in the Hebrew it doesn't work out - we get our zodiac & dating of the changes from the egyptians.

There are also the Essenes; no mention is made of them in the bible yet they were the group who had members such as Elijah & Elisha, Mary & Joseph & they are the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Strange they didn't get a mention when they were so involved. Their presence in reality and non-inclusion in the bible bring an easy thought of conspiracy or hidden purposes, so the da Vinci Code isn't such a big leap.

But I can understand how those with preconceived fixed ideas or without knowledge of the facts behind christianity could be a little lost by the movie. But I enjoyed it.

Friday, June 16, 2006

A busy week...

Travelled heaps (about 1100km) and had a busy time, lots of jobs & got most of them done. Haven't had much time when i wasn't tired to get into the Wild Divine but have plans for the weekend. With any luck I should get a good few hours in.

Victoria is a lovely place, particularly when it isn't in drought & all brown. We have everything here - a good site for checking out Oz - the list down the left is clickable so you can view snaps by holiday-makers from all around Australia.


I remember once, coming back across the Nullabor the first time, we had a English guy as a hitchhiker - he kept wanting to stop at each corner & take a photo back down the road & another one forward. I pictured this guy getting home & having a slide night & showing like 36 photos showing a dead straight road going to the horizon, over & over... LOL

This Wide Brown Land

Across the world’s vast acres, there’s grandeur, sights sublime
Vast steamy torrid jungles, tall pines across ridge lines
Deserts wide, so sandy dry, while one consists of ice
Wide plains with golden grasses, and paddy fields of rice

The folk, they vary widely, though underneath the same
They build and work, they live or die, most try to ‘play the game’
Impressive are the monuments, pyramids – cities - walls
In atmospheric churches, fine art adorns the walls

One place for me that stands above, the ancient and the bold
Lies far away from central pulse, a land of different mould
Here dryness is the normal, with skies of azure blue
And eucalypt’s sweet fragrance, cloaks mounts with smoky blue

Mostly wide slow rivers, meander through the plains
But even they get awesome, come winter’s flooding rains
Clear and gurgling crystal creek, through rocky gorge descends
Our golden beaches, famed afar, for days of fun with friends

Our mountains show no boldness, slope-shouldered in the heat
And snow in one or two locales, where skiers can compete
But Errinundra Plateau, Australian Great Divide
The Barrier reef and Ayers Rock too, are known far and wide

Tanned laconic sun-browned man, his life the world admires
He’s capable and honest too, works hard and then fights fires
In town more continental, our attitudes not yours
We’ve started new and built our own, forgetting our befores

All you see when overseas, you can find right here
It’s possibly not quite as big, or maybe not so near
But pick your chosen climate, your sport, or just your views
We’ll pull out maps, and spread them wide, it’s up to you to choose

While wand’ring round exploring wide, you need to take good care
A taipan’s bite will kill you quick, there’s a redback on the stair!
Black widows and the funnelweb, black death on humans frail
Cute furry Mr Platypus, has poison near his tail.

Cuddly climbing button nose, koalas get their highs
By chewing eucalyptus leaves, (with claws! So watch your eyes!)
Furry snarling savage devil, will tackle any foe
Last marsupial predator, be a shame to see him go!

Kookaburras, crows and galahs, quolls spotted, tigers too
Black swan, blue tongue goanna, grey ‘n big red kangaroo
And snakes we have, twelve of the best, tiger, black and brown
Spiders too, tarantula, and redbacks (Don’t Sit Down!)

You can die of thirst or sudden flood, or drown in heavy surf
Sharks, they like us swimming too, with crocs it takes more nerve
They’re deadly silent swimmers, who ripple-lurk to snatch
But we’ve got Mick and Steve as well, their savagery to match

We’ve flies and ants, big mothers they, and march flies bite like hell
While mozzies with incessant whine, disturb our sleep too well
Blowflies buzz in dopey flight, sea jelly scalds the skin
And prickly little bindi-eyes, spike up through soles too thin

Aside from all the dust and sun, there’s something special here
A cast of light, a depth of view, a sense the past is near
It draws one with remoteness, contrasting friendly grins
An age-old air of weariness, hiding ancient sins

When fires blaze in the bush at night, camaraderie sets in
It matters not to anyone, the colour of your skin
Through drought’s long dearth, or fires blaze, or every flood’s grey surge
Without a thought, we race to help, those left out on the verge

It’s nice to be Australian born, and travel overseas
And hear the welcome, 'G’day Mate! A beer, if you please'
Some think us just plain common folk, a criminal mistake
We laugh and raise a glass to them, knowing ‘she’ll be jake!’

You think you can’t know much of us, we’re such a tiny crowd
But think of our inventing skills, our products stand up proud
Hills hoist and Victa motor mower, good wine and fine red beef
Barbecues and suntan cream, extensive list made brief

When Man moon-walked you only saw it through our Eye-on-Sky
The first foot set, the famous quote, (We know it was no lie!)
Americas Cup, that famous mug, (It’s theirs by right, they feel)
Was finally passed when Bondy came, with his famous keel

If outdoors, surf and barbecue, would sate your heart’s desire,
A land of much more freedom, but also drought and fire
With parks and beaches, fauna too, where Hilton’s never been
A better life you can achieve, fly in to Tullamarine!

Monday, June 12, 2006

Ctrl-Alt-Del - restart

Well, here I go again - my prior blog I deleted after it was used to hurt people I care about. Maybe I was too truthful & maybe I put the wrong things on it. Who knows, but it was used twice to cause pain to others so I got rid of it.

This one I am starting because there are a couple of new starts happening in my life & I figure I will perhaps keep track of what is happening here. Maybe ideas will come - certainly I have noticed in the past that organising your thoughts to be able to tell someone else about your ideas can, all by itself, lead to new insight or ideas or occasionally a pardigm shift.

Recent upheavals in how things were have reduced what was a team of 4 down to 3; one persona turned out to be playing all sides against the others & actively working to play her nasty little games to our detriment. She has been outed & even kicked of the site where we all met & has lost the respect & contact she had with hundreds of people because of it. On the other hand, the remaining 3 have learned a lesson about trusting each other (we now trust each other & probably ONLY each other & exercise caution with others) and about communicating with each other - if anybody tries again to come between us I think they will find a rather savage reaction.

So we are making a new start, leaving behind the dross & finding our feet anew, helping each other through the pain & loss, the anger & disgust that we were so taken in, that we allowed someone to prey on our good natures & wishes to help. I have been working to try to make sure that the other two, hawke & silver, recover from this with as little damage as possible - if we are damaged by this, the con artist wins.

So... what is new?

Well for some time I have had a Mindfield Mind Machine that is very effective in altering the states of my mind. Most people have heard of Alpha brainwaves and maybe the other 3, Beta, Delta & Theta. This 'machine' will reliably allow you to bring your brain into any of these levels & you can design your own program to run. There are programs provided for things like Deep Meditation & Lucid Dreaming, getting into a good learning mode or getting ready for a good night of sleep or, as I say, design your own combination.

I am about to start using the MindMachine on a regular basis, along with my new purchase.

Journey to the Wild Divine
is a sort of computer game, except it is far more. The first one, The Passage, comes with a biofeedback device called the Light Stone & sensors to allow the software to monitor your body & react according to your current state/mood. The game leads you into & through training your mind. I am just beginning & already find it enthralling. More later on this.

So I will post here & keep things up to date. See you soon...