HOW GRIMOIRES WORK

A grimoire can be best described as an occult book of instruction. Describing systems for invoking demons, mastering divination and detailing magical spells, they are instruction manuals for gaining magical powers.
Becoming popular in the Middle Ages, the name comes from the Greek, ‘grammatikos’, meaning ‘relating to letters’. Associated, initially, with Jewish mysticism, such books are thought to go way back into antiquity.

Some grimoires have become classics.

These include ‘The Book of Sacred Magic’, thought to be written by Abramelin the Jew around 1450, and ‘The Greater Key of Solomon’, written in the 16th century.
It is through the grimoire that we know of the often ridiculous incantations and instructions that often accompany any magical ceremony or invocation. Indeed, they seem so ridiculous that they encourage scorn concerning the whole subject.

Is this ridicule valid? I don’t think it is.

Perhaps we should look beyond the words and instructions, and see what is really going on in such instruction. And the first point to be raised is the ‘leap of faith’.
This is an absolute knowing that a belief system is true. It ignores reason, and takes the believer to a oneness with whatever system is being believed in. And often, to ignore the rationality that says it is wrong requires you to accept what to others would be gibberish.

Hence, the ridiculousness of it all has rationality.

And this attitude continues into the spells themselves. For in order to carry out such irrational instructions, your beliefs have to be strengthened with every utterance or action. Hence, the very ‘stupidity’ of it all enhances your confidence that a result can be achieved.
Spells are also related to normal life. Most people, when they get up in a morning, carry out a specific number of tasks in a specific way, and in a specific order. We’re talking here about ablutions, breakfasting, etc. Most of the subsequent day may be very different, but we do seem to have a ‘routine’ first thing in the morning.

Now, what happens if, for some reason, this routine is disturbed?

You usually find that the rest of the day seems to be a catalogue of disaster, with nothing quite fitting where it should. In effect, we’ve had ‘one of those days’.
Now, is this the world going wrong, or is it more likely that your mind has been knocked out of equilibrium with the world? If so, then we can argue that your morning ‘routine’ is required to attune yourself with the day, thus allowing the day to go smoothly.
If we compare such a ‘system’ to the grimoire, then we can argue that the ridiculous magical spells actually impose a form of routine, in order to attune the adepts mind to the task in hand.
Some people will, of course, decide I’m being too skeptical, comparing ‘magic’ to ‘routine’, but I don’t think I am. It’s simply a matter of interpretation. For instance, soldiers often carry out the most miraculous tasks. Interestingly, military training also contains ridiculous instruction concerning drill, beasting, and much more.
It seems to me that a form of psychological ‘magic’ occurs through such ‘routines’, ordering the world around the person, and literally allowing them to ‘fly’. So perhaps the instructions in the grimoire are simply the more extreme version of the magical spells we all access in order to succeed in life.

© Anthony North, August 2008

IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CIVILISATION

Most religions have the belief that there was once a more perfect world, from which man has been banished. This has often been interpreted as meaning a real previous civilization used to exist, populated by beings we now see as gods.
Outside religion, central to such ideas is Atlantis, a mythical island deep in our past with a perfect, but powerful society, finally destroyed by the gods when they were corrupted.

Could such a lost world have actually existed?

Well, perhaps not a single island of Atlantis. But the idea of a lost civilization is something quite different – and something I think can be explained rationally.
Of course, many ideas for such a civilization have been put forward, mostly of a spurious or sensational nature. Hence, academe is loath to even consider such a possibility. But I think they are mistaken.

Does evidence exist for a lost civilization?

No. Not of a definite kind – but there are plenty of indicators around the world that could fit into the concept, if, that is, they were properly researched.
These concern the myriad myths of sunken cities, and structures off-shore that could be man-made. From the Bimini Road in the Caribbean, to Yonaguni in the Far East, tantalizing glimpses of possible human endeavour exist under the sea, not far from the coast.

How do we make sense of the implications?

By providing a theory that allows them to be, at least, man-manipulated, and tying that theory with known or reasoned elements from the past.
The predominant theory of man’s proliferation around the planet is the Out of Africa hypothesis. In this model, modern man moved out of Africa in prehistory and populated the globe. However, this would only have been achieveable by the crossing of large expanses of water.

Boats, it seems, would have been needed some 40,000 years ago.

How else would we explain this proliferation? These boats would have been rudimentary, but is it feasible to suggest that the boat builders then abandoned their boats and continued Stone Age existence?
I think this is unlikely. Rather, I suggest a split in humanity between a maritime culture, and the inland hunter-gatherer. Boats, of course, would require harbours. These would be static, and as happened in the later Agricultural Revolution, I suggest these static societies produced all the advances in organization and engineering that seemed to come later.
In effect, I’d argue that a Fisheries Revolution occurred, thousands of years in the past, in isolated coastal communities around the world. Advancing possibly up to a stage equal to the ancient Egyptians, they eventually learnt navigation and linked up into a global cosmopolitan civilization.
From 12,000 to 8,000 years ago, the last Ice Age ended, raising water levels. Hence, these communities were wiped out, leaving only enigmatic structures poking up from the sea bed, the survivors going inland and using their expertise to kickstart the Agricultural Revolution. These survivors are remembered only as gods. And the first global society rose to greatness, and was finally wiped off the face of the Earth.

(c) Anthony North, August 2008

HOW TO EXPLAIN ENTITIES

An entity is something that has separate existence, but not necessarily in a material sense. As such, it can be a concept. But in regard to the paranormal, the term is traditionally used to identify a ghost, demon, etc.
Entities, of various forms, have appeared throughout human history. I’m not interested, here, in how they appear, but why? Do they have a specific purpose, or are they simply silly distractions of the fantasy-prone?

Entities are not cast in stone.

Rather, they change over time. Indeed, I’ve used the term ‘psychic waves’ to explain this mode of change over the centuries. And several theorists are fundamental to putting together the pieces of a possible reason why.
Take mythologist Joseph Campbell. He identified universal similarities in myths. I’ve used the term ‘universal psychology’ to identify this form of identical thinking that lies behind the phenomenon. Carl Jung also offered the collective unconscious, where ‘archetypes’ appear in myth and dream, also suggesting universality.

This suggests a standard pattern in our mind-set.

So could this suggest a standard pattern to entities, which are seen through the mind, are they not? Other researchers, such as Jacques Vallee, offer a possible reason for all this.
They speak of a ‘psychic menagerie’ lying below our conscious thought, acting as if a ‘control mechanism’ upon our culture, aspirations, etc. So is it possible that such a mechanism exists? And if so, why? Maybe a short natural history of the entity would be useful.

The first possibly known entities were animal spirits.

Fundamental to the first nature religions, the shaman would communicate with them in order to form a contract between man and nature.
This was important because nature was the central arena of man’s endeavour. As man began to move out of nature, he expressed ‘ego’, and entities changed into the ‘chimera’ – half animal, half man. The agricultural revolution then led to the city, and our new entities were the gods and superheroes of Classical myth.

Monotheism brought a change in entities.

Banishing the previous paganism, entities expressed ‘evil’, and were thus seem as demons, or more subtle fairies. Man was pure, so when he did evil himself, it couldn’t be him. Hence, much evil action came to be seen in terms of the werewolf.
As the Medieval world began to collapse and man gained predominance, entities became man-based, in the vampire. As we moved away from a spiritual world due to the Enlightenment, entities began to remind us of the spiritual in the ghost and, as the Englightenment crashed into 19th and 20th century conflicts, the spirit guide and communication with the dead.
Next, we began to look at the possibility of space travel, and the entity became the UFO and alien. And today, as spirituality becomes personal in the New Age, the entity has become the guardian angel.
Of course, various entities have always been seen, but there is a distinct pattern to predominant entities throughout history. And in every case they come in line with specific changes in man’s attitudes. It is as if they are born from our changing mind-set and the cultural expressions that arise – a kind of psychic media-form.
Of course, we must then face the possibility that, as with main media, an idea arises and is then symbolically represented in media, thus defining it and changing society in kind. And if we place this function upon entities, then the paranormal becomes the actual engine of historical change. In effect, it expresses a concept – which is, of course, the intellectual meaning of the word, entity.

© Anthony North, July 2008

CAN ENTITIES HURT?

Psychic entities can come in many forms, varying from incubi, to ghosts, to aliens, and even the ‘hallucinations’ conjured up by a magical adept. Yet the most virulent tend to appear during poltergeist infestations.
Occasionally such entities go further than simply being seen. There are attested cases of such entities actually hurting people, even leaving marks on the body. Does this suggest the entities are real, or can other elements explain the phenomenon?

To me, such entities are basically hallucinations.

The mind constantly interprets the data received from the senses, but should that data be interrupted, such as through tiredness, altered states, natural illusion, etc, a strange phenomenon occurs.
The mind begins to fill in the gaps of the missing data. This additional material can come from culture, or the person’s own fears. But what is then experienced is more than what is actually out there. Such a process is not ‘madness’, or anything like that, but what I class as a moment of sensory re-calibration.

What properties does such a hallucination have?

Most people think of a hallucination as something seen. In most cases, this is, indeed, all that is experienced. But a particularly intense hallucination can be much more than this.
It can have an effect on all the senses. In other words, it can be seen, heard, smelled, and even felt. And it is in this last sensory element that the question – can entities hurt – takes on a new meaning.

If something can be felt, does it work the other way round?

In other words, can you feel it if it touches you? Certainly, pleasure can be experienced through entity hallucination. This is often recounted in cases of incubi and succubi – entities that come at night and have sex with you.
Hence, if it can happen in terms of pleasure, it can surely happen in terms of hurt. So if all the senses are involved, and you hallucinate an entity which scratches you, for instance, then it is likely you would feel it.

Bearing this in mind, would it leave a scar?

Well, according to the testimony of many who have experienced the poltergeist, yes it can – the marks I have already alluded to. But how is this possible? Surely this is going further than simple sensory stimuli.
Hypnosis may be able to help here. It is known that, in certain circumstances, a hypnotized person has experienced suggested pain, and had a bodily reaction to go along with it. The suggestion of burning, for instance, has produced marks on the body.
Indeed, there is one phenomenon where such bodily reactions are infamous, even to the point of bleeding. This is Stigmata – the manifestation of the wounds of Christ.
No one knows exactly how Stigmata work, but that it does is well attested. And the most likely answer to the phenomenon is hysterically based religious fervour – in other words, a deep cultural belief.
Applying this process to entities, then yes, a hallucinated entity could well hurt, and leave marks as if it was real. But rather than automatically accepting it as a definite supernatural being, it can just as easily be psychological in nature. It’s just that psychology is rather more virulent than we presently accept.

© Anthony North, July 2008

TONY ON CHURCH, FAREWELL & MORE

Including Writers’ Island, which sadly finishes today. Hence, the poem.

Welcome to my Friday magazine post.
There has been a split amongst Anglicans. Some conservatives have launched a new global Church to save it from secularism and pluralism. Although not a practicing Anglican, I find this disheartening.

There are 70 million Anglicans worldwide.

It could so easily be a global force for good. Sadly, though, the problem is my beautiful but irritating fellow Brits. We don’t ever seem to do anything – until we have to; then the world tends to shake. We are a people of compromise in everything.
Thus, leadership of the Anglican Church is the same as leadership of the Church of England – the Archbishop of Canterbury. And too much of our compromise is annoying proper religious people in the world.

There is an answer.

Canterbury should be removed as leader of the national Church, with the Archbishop of York taking that role. This leaves us English to be wishy washy, discussing flower arranging over tea, whilst Canterbury builds the global Church Anglicanism should become.
This sense of compromise also explains why Globalisation is destroying Britain and its institutions. Britain, you see, can never be extreme. This is why communism and fascism failed here, as do all fanaticisms – in the end.
Globalisation realizes this. Hence, it panders to our sense of compromise and complacency – which is also why it is the greatest threat my country has ever faced. Told that British traditions are wrong, the silent majority compromises, even though they know they are right.
Until we say no. And then, this vile globalization will end.
Happy Fourth of July to all my friends across the pond. Next magazine post, Monday.

(c) Anthony North, July 2008

GOOD ISLAND

I sail the sea of my conceptual mind,
searching for ideas, concepts to find,
poems to write, stories to tell,
human enigmas upon which to dwell;
I anchor, often, by Good Island, true,
peopled by like minds who always view,
the written word as a noble cause,
with ideas to make us occasionally pause;
Good Island is a marvellous place,
of writers and thinkers full of grace,
writing and sharing, it is their way,
forever finding new thoughts that stray,
until, sadly, it goes away;
So Rob, many thanks, best wishes, and good day

(c) Anthony North, July 2008

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GONE – Fiction

It feels good. I can’t tell you how good it feels. For so long it’s been with us – all of us. Clinging to us, restricting what we do.
Of course, it was Pete who came up with the solution. ‘We catch it,’ he said. ‘We collect it all up.’ He produced a box. ‘And we place it all in here.’
At first, we looked at him, astounded – we thought he was mad. But he insisted. Which immediately presented the problem of how to collect it all up.
‘Well, it always begins with a wish – a hope that we can do it.’
So that’s what we did. We wished it to be so, and in no time at all, it was banished to the box, and Pete firmly taped it up.
We looked from one to the other. Said: ‘What now?’
Pete collected lots and lots of stones. ‘We stone it,’ he said. So, there were we, repeatedly pummeling the box with stones.
Soon we were exhausted, and in a way refreshed, changed, as if we had said farewell. And when Pete took out the battered box and set it alight, we knew there would be a celebration, for it had finally gone. And we would forever be grateful to Pete for allowing us to conquer our fear.

© Anthony North, July 2008

COSMIC SYNCHRONICITY

Many people believe in the existence of higher consciousness in the universe, yet we’re often told that such concepts are unexplainable. I’m not sure this is true. Could we rationalize such a thing?
In my essay, The Mystical Seven, I showed how the ‘law of large numbers’ could be applied, at least philosophically, to such a concept. Stated simply, the law indicates that greater order manifests the greater the number of things involved.

I applied this to the universe.

I argued that it could allow greater order in the clusterings of existence, working up from the individual, the species, the planet, the solar system, galaxy, the island universe and the universe itself.
However, it is maybe time to take this concept a little further. Now, I am not talking about an ‘intelligence’ or ‘rationality’ as we understand it. Rather, could higher consciousness be simply a ‘process’ underlying reality?

What can we say about the concept?

Well, such a consciousness would suggest an interlinking of everything in the universe. Further, as it would be on an information level, we could argue that all information in the universe would be within it.
We would have, in effect, a universal database of all thought and action. Bringing back the ‘law of large numbers’, could the process ‘access’ such information in such a way as to be analogous to an internet search engine?

What would be involved in creating greater order?

We could say that it would involve a process we presently understand as coincidence. Consider a ‘lower’ order of consciousness – the person, for instance – wanting to access the system.
A key word would be applied, and the search engine would throw up possibilities. This is coincidental arrangement of information, yet behind it has been a spark of intelligent input to the system.

We’re often told we live in an information universe.

If this is so, and such a system could be applied, then the coincidental arrangement of information could actually be coincidental arrangement of events, thought or action in the universe itself.
The possibilities here are many. For instance, much of the paranormal could be applied to such a system. But most importantly, the system could actually sculpt the universe as it goes along. Consider input at the planetary level actually formulating the hard reality we experience as the planet.
Further implications can be seen in the ‘basic design function’ used in computing. This function is a simple instruction to a program. The program then evolves new programs to carry out a specific function requested in the initial design function. Intelligence has thus been inputted into a conceptual process.
Hence, such a higher consciousness would be essentially mathematical, without intelligence or reason behind it. It merely exists to be used and adapted by intelligences at a lower level of order.
A further implication of the system would be that knowledge would no longer be of an explanatory nature, but creative – which does, of course, agree with ideas in particle physics concerning reality being created from an observation.
Of course, this is exceptionally speculative. But the reality is, it is untrue to say that a ‘system’ of thought cannot be used to attempt explanation of higher consciousness.

© Anthony North, July 2008

SIMPLICITY & COMPLICATION

I write a great deal about esoteric subjects, but not much nowadays about my methodology. My theorizing is based upon a discipline I call Patternology, or P-ology. The world is full of specializations, which is, I think, a problem.
Specialisations themselves are marvelous things, and we need them. But I’m convinced that too short-sighted a study of the ‘parts’ allows knowledge to escape at the borders between one specialization and another.

Further, what applies to one could apply to another.

Yet, invariably this is missed. Hence, P-ology attempts to construct a holistic picture of reality, attempting to show where a specialization misses something, or where a greater idea could lie.
This is done by examining patterns, hence the name. P-ology can never offer truth, but simply place ideas for the specialist to consider. Hence, I view it as a bedfellow to specialization, and certainly not a replacement.

P-ology deals with generalizations.

It is in this methodology that links of interest can occur. Hence, it can also be seen as a form of ‘simplicity’, lying alongside the increasing complication of specialization.
How does this work? Well, let’s take religion as an example. All religions appear to be different. Yet, most religions have a branch of mysticism that share a great many similarities with other religions.

I ask, if this is so, what IS the difference?

A religion begins in a particular environment and is adapted from a particular culture. So could an understanding come by stripping away culture from all religions?
If we do so, we end up with universal fundamentals. These include a belief in a higher intelligence, an understanding of a previous perfect state, a realization that the world is imperfect, a route by which we can commune with a higher intelligence, and a moral code of behaviour due to us being sinners.

These fundamentals suggest a universality.

Hence, I argue there is an ‘under-religion’ below all religious expression shared by all. This is then overlaid by culture, as if there is, above the ‘under-religion’, an ‘over mind’.
The ‘over mind’ reflects complication. This is the ‘specialised’ bit. Whereas the ‘under-religion’ reflects ‘simplicity’. This is holistic theory in practice. Hence, P-ology is about the ‘simplicity’ beneath the complication.
This ‘simplicity’ of patterning can then be applied outside the subject. For instance, it tells us of the power of culture, making it more than simply a form of expression. The existence of similar patterns under all religion speaks of a fundamental unity. Could this eventually result in a lessening of tensions, leading to greater world peace?
The universality of impulses suggests what I call ‘universal psychology’. Could this have an effect on our understanding of individuality? Can we be truly individual if we all share specific impulses?
This is a brief glimpse of the theoretical world I occupy. It is a world of thought that stretches far and wide, not providing answers, but questions. Is it time for the specialist to consider that such a method has value?

© Anthony North, June 2008

TONY ON BIG BAD, RELIGION & MORE

Including Three Word Wednesday and Totally Optional Prompts.
Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my Wednesday Magazine post.
Britain is about to begin another phase of tampering with the health service. A new breed of ‘polyclinics’, or super-size health centres, are to be created. Not hospitals, and not local surgeries, they will take the ‘strain’ between the two.

Fears are now growing about the local doctor’s surgeries.

They will be under threat, closing down en masse, forcing patients to travel long distances just to see a doctor. Of course, we’re told this won’t happen – which is the best indication that it will.
Personally, I think it’s inevitable. Modern western government hates ‘small’. Small gives people an immediate service, and allows them to complain if they don’t get it. Big means complaints can be swallowed up and ignored, eventually turning us all into programmed non-entities.
We should demand we keep the ‘small’. Big is Bad!

The Church of England has become vocal of late.

And about time, too! I am CofE through culture and upbringing, but not practicing, whilst my wife is. But regardless of this, I’m disgusted by their silence over so many issues in recent years.
So what are they protesting about? Firstly that NuLabour has cultivated a spiritual crisis in Britain, and that they have purposely tried to marginalize the national Church in favour of other religions.
To both, I can only agree. Now, on the one hand, this doesn’t seem so bad. After all, Christianity BAD. But I don’t swallow this argument. Yes Christianity has been, and still is, repressive in some places. But not in the UK – not for decades. So why marginalize it?
Because it also represents everything good that England used to be, and Labour hates such tradition. Tradition, you see, gives people meaning, and our present governmental lackeys of Big Biz don’t want ‘meaning’ in anything other than consumerism.
Is similar happening in your country?
Next Magazine post on Friday. Hope to see you then.

© Anthony North, June 2008

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

Should I do this, or should I do that?
Decisions, decisions, kick the cat;
Things have to change, I know they must,
smash something up, I’m not fussed;
Frustrating decisions, make you dizzy as hell,
if only I could say, oh well!
But that’s not an option, I have to decide,
what to do – let uncertainty subside;
Think about it – come on! – that’s the key,
and when you’ve done, it’s simplicity,
to know what to do at times like these,
knowing the future, if you please;
But life – decisions it always thwarts;
Oh, forget it!
I’m through!
Well, it’s a decision of sorts

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

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THE GREATEST CHANGE – Fiction

They say you’re always alone – you know, for those times of change – those times when nothing can ever be same again.
I don’t have to be alone – not physically. I could have support around me; help in what has to be done. But it is all irrelevant, for I know it is me, and me alone, who must raise the …
Raise the what? Courage? Understanding? Raise the what!
The thought of it makes me dizzy. The knowledge that from now on I must be the super hero. The knowledge that it is down to me.
Down to me to conquer my fears. To go forward with such responsibility. With such …
It’s momentous. I’m frightened. No! I’m terrified!
If only I could have got the training to do what I’ve got to do. But is there such a thing? Can it be learnt?
I take deep breaths. Realise that it has been done before, and will be done again.
Yes, that is the key – the knowledge that whilst I am alone in this, others have been alone, and succeeded.
As I will succeed.
I stand. Open the door. And take my new born child in my arms.

© Anthony North, June 2008

THE WACKY RACE

So Hillary’s out, there is no doubt,
no platform left to scream and shout,
She could blame Bill, his flim and flam,
saying ‘I didn’t have sex with that man!’

So Obama’s going into the big race,
hoping those prejudices, he will displace,
rushing here and there, as if on a bike,
but never trust a politician you like!

Who will win, Obama or McCain?
The Republicans have been canny, as they proclaim,
a cuddly candidate to hide the fact,
of Neo-Con imperialism they seem to enact!

Who will win, it’s all wide open,
but one thing will certainly be proven,
George Dubya will be gone, permanently,
after finally being taught democracy

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

Have you tried my Pictures of Life, a novel?

HOW TO EXPLAIN THE GRAIL

The Holy Grail is an enduring mystery. However, it is often difficult to define just what it is. Traditionally, it is thought to be the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, but its meaning has gone far beyond this physical artifact.
Rather, it is often seen as symbolic of enlightenment in the mind. It is the quest for the mystical experience, and a connection with the God-head. By connecting, you reach a state of purity.

Many myths have gathered around the Grail.

Typical are those concerning King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In this respect, the Grail Quest becomes one of aspiration, purity and bonding.
Of course, such myths and ideals are said not to play a large part in our lives. After all, it is just make-believe. But could it be that the purpose of Grail myths was to form a distinct mentality within society?

The Grail became synonymous with chivalric purity.

This was the ultimate way to be in Medieval times. The whole lifestyle of the Knight was geared around it. In this sense, it was a specific politicism.
Arguably, this was the purpose behind the writing of the Grail romances, such as those by Chretien de Troyes, slowly changing the original legends to represent the Medieval Knightly purpose.

In a way, this is quite worrying.

One of the most beautiful mythologies of Christianity actually turned into a form of social control. But then again, it could well have been remebered for this reason in itself.
The important point about the Grail quest is the idea of ‘purity’ or ‘perfection’. It is something to aim for in life. But there is a simple fact about perfection. It cannot ever be attained. We are human, and always have faults.

Icons have always appeared displaying perfection.

Typical is the ‘saint’. Such an icon was lauded in Medieval times to show what the person should aim for. Knowing it was impossible, this confirmed in the person the idea that he was a sinner.
In this way, the person at least tried to better himself. But this was only achievable in a system that confirmed the idea of perfection to be attained. Thus, the authorities behind the ideal had, in the idea of perfection, the ultimate form of control over the person.
We can, of course, say we’ve left such things behind. Yet, today we have a ‘celebrity’ culture, populated by people who we class as having the ‘perfection’ of lifestyle or beauty. And it is the purpose of the typical western citizen to aspire to this ideal.
This is done through consumerism, where the celebrity urges us to buy, buy, buy. And of course, deep down we know we cannot really be like them, thus we are imperfect, the modern equivalent of the sinner.
Thus, we have an impulse towards social control still active today after some 2,000 years, and just as potent as it ever was – albeit, represented in very different cultural clothes.
In personal terms, the Grail can be of great benefit to the person in finding themselves. But in wider society the process turns into something much more malign. We are often told that such subjects are of no value today.
The above suggests different. We maybe need to understand such concepts even more, for they can be the root to subservience.

© Anthony North, June 2008

See my essay, Holy Grail, for a more rounded discussion of this subject.

TONY ON BLAIR, YOB & HOW TO BE OVER

Including Manic Monday. Have you had a go yet?

Welcome to my daily Diary post.
Ex-Brit Prime Minister Tony Blair says he wants to devote his life to promoting understanding between religions. I can think of no more noble a cause. But as soon as someone like Blair goes this way, I cringe.

I recall him in the mid-1990s.

He spoke of a new Third Way in politics, moving away from traditional party values. I was thinking the same way myself. It should have been a marvelous idea. But he then used it to capture the centre ground for purposes of holding onto power alone.
A good idea was totally perverted to increase power amongst a new elite. That is how people like Blair work. They offer something ‘reasonable’ and then turn it into a new method towards totalitarianism. Religions should now be in fear of this man.

Reoffending among British youth is still a problem.

An internal government report has shown that it has not changed since 1997, despite measures to fight it. Well, of course it won’t. And that’s because the problem is not understood by government.
Measures have been taken in terms of ‘crime’ alone. Whereas the centre of the problem is not found in what a delinquent does, but what he feels within his mind. And I’m not talking about the idea that it is ‘all society’s fault’.
Over the last 30 years, respect for family, tradition and morality have been in decline. Whether right or wrong, one vital aspect of such traditions was that behaviour had to be moderated in order to gain acceptance. Take this away, and the result can be nothing but anarchy.
Don’t forget to call tomorrow.

© Anthony North, June 2008

I’M OVER IT

I’m over it, I love her no more,
she is nothing but a whore;
I’m over it, I’ve no longer an itch,
for her companionship – what a bitch!
I’m over it, no longer a nag,
to be constantly with her – the slag!
I’m over it, I no longer bite,
whenever she’s close
Yeah, right!

(c) Anthony North, June 2008

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HOW TO BE OVER

Things happen in life. Some are for the good, others for the bad. But regardless of this, once it is over, we say stupid things like ‘I’m over it’ or ‘it’s over.’ But can we ever be over anything?
I don’t think we can. Life, you see, is a process of one thing after another. Experience is ongoing, with one thing leading to another in a never ending process of living. The next thing is directly related to the last, as it was our response to the last that led to the next.
Hence, how can you really be over anything if the experience you had played a part in what happened next?
We seem to have created an idea of the world as a compartmentalized reality, where everything is separate. But this is not the case. Things are actually intermingled, and what ever experience you have had will percolate through the rest of your life.
Maybe if we understood this more, we’d actually be able to move on quicker. For instead of trying to shake a bad experience off, we’d be more attuned to accepting it, and taking it with us into the next experience we have.

© Anthony North, June 2008