Spiritual Pebbles - A Response To Crystal Power

Spiritual pebbles.

Probably the oddest idea I know of is how an ancient piece of coloured glass can improve your health.  The experts use long and overly complicated terms to suggest they know how things work, and the believers who don't yet have this the spiritual lexicon will only say 'I don't know how it works, but it does.'  In this kind of case, I don't know what's worst, the people saying they know because they can make poorly supported arguments sound smart, or the sad cases who accept the bad arguments and cannot explain why they get a kick out of crystals. 

It doesn't have to be old and natural, just fused glass with a beautiful colour works great on people who don't know better.  Such as blue obsidian, commonly this is just light blue glass and is quite popular as a polished pebble, which means many people are buying a machine smoothed piece of glass because it's a lovely colour.  Traditional shapes for such items include pyramids and spheres, that pseudo-experts claim help energises an environment, help with channelling and cosmic energy, etc.  There is nothing to the science-like claims other than the placebo built up by a new age mystics and salespeople.  Even if they refer to ancient cultures liking fancy looking pieces of old glass, such as the long historical use of jade in the Far-East or ancient cultures having rituals which included them.  The ancient Jewish high priest breastplate which is said to of had twelve gems in it to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, so the new ager with an Israelite fetish might buy each of these stones to get closer to spirit. 

Pointing out where other cultures use gemstones doesn't confirm that since they had them, they must have thought of them as you think of them now.  Even if they did, how does that prove anything real unless it is something demonstrable?  To an Eastern mystic, a crystal may be a helpful thing to focus on, but if it is the centre alone then what does it matter if you carry a pebble or a piece of wood or bone?  If a symbol in mind is enough for people to have engaging experiences in meditation then what use is a stone that is only as useful as a mental tool, and maybe that is what it truly is, a psychological tool. 

Often the creation of a false history takes place, in which the selected stories and facts of the past are expressed as if we have lost a great secret.  For decoration and superstition a gem encrusted crown, in the 12th century Europe, may convey a sense of power, but can we find anything near the magical ideas of the modern new age movement?  If we find enough examples that we can rewrite as evidence in a pseudo-history when is that somehow real?  The fact that you need to change things to make it fly says a lot about the honesty of the new age spiritualist' search for knowledge. 

In essence, the practices of meditation and devotion with stones is a throwback belief, grounded more in thought-reform rather than practicality.  The practice offers self-induced states of delusion, not real mindstates that would be far more attractive to critics.  It's just collecting pebbles and carvings with the hope that they have magical properties.  

Maybe the best thing you can say about the properties of crystals and minerals is that the spiritual/psychic claims cannot be utterly refuted.  It's not unlike fairies and gods, they cannot be totally debunked in the minds of the faithful, but as science continues, there are fewer places for them to hide.  One day science may shine some light on such topics, even if modern psychology and neurology explain the experience basis for spirituality. 

New Age Inner-Conflict

New Age Inner-Conflict

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I consider most new age ideas to be half-delusion because most people involved seem to know it's false, or likely to be incorrect, yet get comfort from the ideas. They'd love to have blind faith, they crave an assured world view, yet are unable to accept everything. So they pick nice things and just remain uncritical, as to not cause offence. The average new ager might well be a person who hungers for the illusions they wish to believe, rather than the truly deluded wide-eyed mystic. 

They want to believe in angels, fairies, god and energy, they want to swallow the stories that should comfort them, and yet, they know it is a matter of believing in something they desperately want to be true. The beliefs are important features to them, the idea of a greater meaning and a never ending story across the endless meadow of eternity. It's catchy and desirable. Yet, they often know it is not true, or, should I say, as untrue as to be unreal, since the level of evidence is personal, questionable, or the same kind of nonsense we see from conventional religious beliefs. 

When a belief claims truth and the proof the faithful think they have a cast-iron value to their intangible irrationality, even if the best they have is a series of fallacies, hearsay and hyperbole. The new age believer picks the least demanding kind of religious belief and refuses to take it too seriously, effectively helping to spread nonsense to those who might well be more vulnerable to the methods of the con artist and/or cult leader. 

The average new age spiritualist might well be one who has beliefs, they might well have faith, yet they know how they started the journey. Through a need for comfort, they grasped at a collection of ideas that offer great support while not dealing with real world issues, and even avoiding reality and all of its troubles. So in some cases, rather than admitting real world issues need actual solutions, they pick denial over rationality, and they hope by their act that they troubles will melt away if they believe an archangel can help. Rather than coping with a dead in their family, they pick a fantasy, that we never die, that we go on and even reincarnate, and we have ever been alive because you cannot destroy energy. 

Fantasy has some value, it can stop people from being depressed, from suffering hardship, from being consumed by fear, and yet when you think clearly you know fact from fiction, you know the fairies aren't at the bottom of the garden. It takes many years of being misguided and misdirecting yourself to become truly deluded, and even then the plotholes in the tale remain.

Maybe it is only the truly psychotic who believe to the absolute degree as their minds break from reality?? 

Predictions

 No, Edgar Cayce did not predict much of note, unless you use the same tricks as the fans of Nostradamus. If you make things fit from a prediction or a few words that may be predictive you are not finding where it fits, you're making it fit.

 

 

 

It is the same reasoning that creates movements like the Christian-scientists, creation-science, koranic-science, etc. You take what you believe and make it fit reality, BUT it is not reality that fits your beliefs. You build the illusion, bridge gaps, endow the system with the ability to not be totally disproven.  Religion and spirituality are similar to science in one way, it adapts based on undeniable facts. The fundamental difference is science changes to learn from reality and spirituality changes just enough to allow itself to continue without being a totally refuted collection of poorly thought out opinions.

Predictions are commonly based on the idea of a number of changes, good or bad, give that a century or many more years and you'll have many hits.  Some say Cayce predicted the end of communism, he did, but he claims ALL systems will fall with a rising of a spiritual age of enlightenment, so no cigar for Edgar.  He predicted an alliance between the west and the USSR around the beginning of WW2, just like many analysts did, so no cigar again! He predicted a united world and renewed spirituality, so much for that. Oh, and he said dumb shit about energy, reality, the past, highers beings, and he was wrong. Best of all, well in my view, he claimed Atlantis would be discovered, so once again no cigar.

I don't know he was a conman but that isn't important to the issue that concerns me, the fact that he and many other heroes of modern new agers were nothing but mystics with as much or little to offer as the local priest.

Meccan Meteorite Worship

Meccan Meteorite Worship

If you think a meteorite is a gift from god, then please consider how we are showered in them, mostly dust burning up in our atmosphere, many small, less large ones, and rarely very large fragments, seemingly planned as if we are gifted with meteorites by pure chance. No gods nor destiny need apply.

Gila left a comment on YouTube, under a video that noted the probable meteorite that is held as from Allah by Muslims, the rest of us seem to note the obvious fact that these impacts are common, although for about one and a half billion Muslims this stone is believed to be most holy. Gila made some interesting points that will be quoted below, I should initially note the details of the stone itself, the Black Stone is the eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba, was worshipped by pre-Islamic civilisation of the Mecca, and pilgrims from around the region, and claims are made that it dates back to the time of Adam and Eve. It is said by Muslim traditions that Muhammad placed the stone in the wall of the Kaaba, although since that time has been broken and is now cemented into a silver frame, it appears as fragments of black rock, smoothed by the touch by billions of pilgrims for over centuries. However, these accounts are based on myths, which were based on pre-existing myths, and we are not let sure if the Black Stone is indeed a meteorite, even though it's dark colouration is unlike stones of the region, not that this makes it conclusive.

Gila: “I think that the meteorite was worshipped, not just because it fell from the sky.”

As previously stated, we do not know that it did indeed fall from the sky, it is a probable meteorite, meaning it is a strong probability that has not been confirmed.

Gila: “But that the earliest iron implements were made from meteorites, enabling a quantum leap in the technology of the time.”

This is partly true, many early humans used meteorites, however, much of this usage was due to the requirement to use whatever was available for later use, a shard of tektite can be as good as flint, an iron and nickel meteorite may be easy enough to craft, yet this doesn't equal much at all. The result of having more resource options simply means that more was used in trial and error, and even a metaphorical quantum leap is an exaggeration, although it may have been a factor in locations where resources of this kind were less of a rarity, the effect seems negligible.

Gila: “The worship of that particular stone was an expression of thanks and acknowledgement to the universe for this possibility of advance in everything from farm implements to weapons.”

There seems to be no evidence for this claim, and since in the region of Mecca such rocks are so rare, indeed this is one of the reasons many Muslim insist that the Kaaba is divine in its origin, even though with a few tests we could see just how rare such a probable meteorite may be. The pre-Islamic Meccans were not actually animists nor pantheists, there seems to be no evidence of meteorite tools, I should state that the claims made about meteorites and quantum leaps in technology are a kind of new age meme, and are exaggerated claims at best.

Gila: “Later the legend of Abraham visiting the area (supposedly to visit his later mistress Ketura and her children) was wishful thinking. A desire to tie the Koran to the earlier supposed revelations and make a continuity of myths”.

Here I cannot fault Gila's opinion, the Muslim claims are as unsupported as many such wishful and historical claims that are not backed by evidence, ironically Gila cannot seem to understand that her poorly supported claims are no better. Gila and a great many new agers seek to make ancient myths fit with modern new age gibberish, the trouble is they spin history, just like most religions, making their nonsense fit, refuting Islamic claims with reason, only to assert new age without any evidence at all.

Such comments are easily debunked with very little brain power, we need only question what we think we know, noting our bad reasoning, and cutting down our biases. New Age is wrong, demonstrably false, you can make things fit, but your last refuge once your errors are exposed are the gaps in our knowledge, and every other religion is claiming that same god of the gaps because they have nowhere left to go.

Skeptic vs. Spirituality group on facebook

New Age Sceptic

enough said, the group has been up for months, over a hundred people on it, a dozen or so regulars, and about half a dozen admins, and I have one rule, well two by technicality; don't spam, keep the posts relevant.  

down to earth sceptic

Unilluminated Stars - Hollywood Illuminati ;)

Sometimes stoned, orgy loving, depressed, so-called celebrities use dumb symbolism in the mistaken belief that faith in a greater union will liberate them from their lack of talent.  

And the fact you can point to eye covering in a number of pictures doesn't not equal an illuminati in Hollywood, it shows how well, or badly, you select your images.  There are secretive societies, mystical schools, and even those you may call satanic for no good reason, yet these are just new inflections upon the definition of spirituality, and most celebrities seem just as poisoned by religion as any person.  For many years people try to find peace in their lives, they seek religions, self-help, beliefs set in pudding, but content them.  The idea of eye covering is a joke, mostly from an odd picture from here or there, and often it's a zooming in on a pose, or more often the painfully unoriginal photographic artists who produce more cliché than most.   The star may come out, yet illuination, or enlightenment, is not forth coming in the typical, some court Scientology, born again Christianity, or try Kabbalah, maybe the Sufi faith, contact their inner child, their outer adult, or look into west African red magic and voodoo related mythology, all in the search of truth, and more than a few find themselves reaching the surface of the pool, finding agnosticism, atheism, and secular humanism.  Most find themselves diving deep the depths of mysticism, and don't see that up is the answer to release, down is only the devotion to the dive.  The mistakes of holding spiritual ideas convince you, yet you do not test, the folly of the delusion, to sink beneath the dark depths, to seek the light in the dark, and not look up.   Many celebrities can understand that God is not a factor, that spirituality is a dream in dark waters, and that you are the key to your life, and there is not magic to be born of following the magical and wishful cults that oppose reason.  

The best you can say in response to the critic of conspiracy theories is the conspiracy is elsewhere, and/or lie about sources, as you will ever do, you need to lie or pass on the lie that the chaos of celebrity hold any order, when the flames of fame burn out most, often these children seek direction, and the delusions of mankind will ever provide the snake oil of the soul.  

 ;)


https://www.youtube.com/user/robertwlester

top 10 - Doomsdays, Conspiracies, Cults, Etc. - RobertWLester

How to become popular new age con artist? - example: Wild Colleen

sadly many gurus gets press via cheap tricks to get attention, one such person, Colleen had a series of softcore porn videos and images online, and some on youtube, to sell he reptilian conspiracy theories. 

she tried to put on a front, yet to gather FUNDS, she had pay for view nude videos on youtube, until they were reported, using nudity and conspiracies to get a following, and thousands in donations. 

 so some of her work was on conspiracies, illuminati, reptilians, angels, aliens, and much more, but she kept the sex side out there as a tool to gather attention. 

her angle was I have truth now, but if you want in you gotta pay!

so by early 2011 she was begging for cash, and saying you need this info to survive the alien invasion, and other such nonsense

 in the end she got over the nude pics, but went into a meltdown of conspiracy lies, even saying she was going to sue the illuminati members, but, guess what, donate now to fund this fake project. 

even claiming that the queen of england, UK prime minister, and US president, were going to be taken to court along with many others, she provides no paper trail to confirm this cash was send anywhere beyond her bank account. 

But in the end to stop being threatened by Christian Fundies she converted with a bang, but still NO REFUNDS. LOL. 

so she came out as a christian conspiracy nut, and after that she was forced to get a real job, return to administrating nurse role in a care home, this was due her fan base, her donation base drying up. 


this was not thanks to christians or new age groups online, it was thanks to those rational people who criticised her and her abuse of her following to pay all of her bills. 

action online can shut these frauds down, colleen is proof, as are many other can artists who have been exposed by concerned people. 

a New Age deception rewrites human history

Mostly Bullsh!t - Spoof paranormal series.

New Age ATLANTIS NEVER EXISTED - a few thoughts

All the evidence as we know is that not place called by that name or fits the legends/myths ever existed, so as an Atheist has a lack of belief in a god, I would be "Aatlantist"?!?!

The roots of myths, a starting point that fits somewhat a tale is not proof for any of the claims other than similarity, sadly New Agers can't seem to understand that point, to them if Minoa was the root of Atlantian legends then it proves Atlantis and what their spirit guides were right.  facepalm.

The best evidence for a lost cultures, some on islands, is not evidence for the esoteric myths made up by mystics who thought they were channelling ancient beings who knew about this lost civilisation.
The facts pan out the logic that the Atlantian myth of a vast land mass that sank is simply nonsense, the fact the experts seem to disagree says a lot, the fact that some say south on India, some say east of America, others say Antarctica, and NONE of them have provided scientific evidence for such reasons to assume ancient Egyptians heard of them to pass on to the Greeks as legends that were possibility translated very poorly, and seem to speak of one or more smaller disasters in the eastern Mediterranean.

So in my humble way, I only wish to add, in this short blog, which made be extended, that if a New Age Atlantis had existed it is not evident, and it's legend is based on the Culture of New Age and Not the facts of Archaeology or any discipline regarding the possible history of an Atlantis-like civilisation or land-mass.

Eckhart Tolle is a cult leader? or a poet with issues?

Well, not all that much of a cult leader...

Where else may you find the traits we see in cult devotion, where could we find such treats of nonsensical reasoning, one such place is a mental landscape in which an aloof guru may ply a trade in platitudes for a more than generous profit.  One such Guru is Eckhart Tolle.

The Guru find him or her self as a poetic speaker of little intellectual note, a person who can carry hearts on wings of philosophy, inspirations that offer flight to the imagination, yet as to their truth, the factors by which we judge, an absence of foundation.  By my words, I need only express a gentle breeze to may the branches sway, and so be as a guru, and to offer a reality beyond a sense of wonder is another realm altogether, since hopes and feeling are not guide posts to a reality that seems to have not been made for our comfort or pleasure. 

How else may a man stand as a voice of reason other than a man of truth?
A: by talk to those who may not know better, or can be converted by the sales pitch rather than the broader principles and knowledge.

Can an answer come from a person who has learned to say the right things?
Can truth come from the desire to be enlightened?
Can we find reason in unreason, and unreason in reason, and nothing is total, no absolutes?
Are we looking at a few ideas of truth that are quite general and those draw you in, and at the same time other things that are mostly meaningless are accepted as true, as part of the package?

The Cult, is a culture, a belief in a poetic former depressive, who got over a back patch in his life, created his own religion that gave him purpose, this faith in a neutral idea "Now", is a construct that can be used like the term "god", "infinity", or anything, to offer scope to one's hope as lenses to a telescope.  Magical words gather magical thinkers, those who wish on a star, but the stars are not able to give them liberation.  To create an idea and pass it on as truth, the great wisdom, that which offers liberation, freedom from a self-manifested sense of not being whole or happy, or directed, to be free by belief of responsibility, and the only liberation is in your mind, and if you just get real you can reach it regardless of New Age daydreams.

The followers in chains they make, and labour is not really required, just a neo-theology of simple ways that don't make my sense of pressure rise, to avoid stress by simplifying the way you perceive reality, but it is not reality that is moved, it is you alone.  The revelation to you seems great, and you seem to take on great ideas, yet the feeling does not last, the placebo passes by, and you must try again, re-read, buy a new book, practice the system to gain personal power Now, maybe go to a lecture, try to re-spark interesting and the sense of reality.  In most cases this fails, some move on to new and great gurus, from 'The Power Of Now' to a different cult of faith, 'The Secret' and power of attraction maybe?  It is easier to find peace, and many of us are busy finding those who offer promises instead, but hey, it works somewhat, and if you lose you high and quit the belief it's your fault?!

If only people knew they need not be servants to beliefs, if they just pause and consider for a few moments, slow their thoughts, and the fog clears, that is all they need do.  Maybe easier said than done?  It is worth considering philosophy, how your world can be meaningful even if seemingly less than perfection, and why not read a book like The Power Of Now, and remind yourself the worlds just offer and excuse to do what you know you need, or want, to do, it is just more than you doing more than dwelling in a rut.

In all fairness Eckhart is not a cult leader, just a man who makes easy money on simple ideas, ideas so limited a child could do it, a system that simply says think calmly and do what you really should sort out for your self-betterment.

I have found, as have many of you, that reading any good book, a novel, maybe, will help you step away from stress and person problems, and so you may as well read the hobbit or harry potter to step away from your issues, you need not find a wondrous solution, just a way to step from stress and allow yourself to get a grip on your life.  It's not as easy as a new religion of "Now", but it's worth more to you to find real self-value beyond a construct that is based on devotion to a blindly positive belief.

Excuse my ramble if you found it a bit incoherent, I just had an inspiration while working on a video project, and though I could share it, see what people reckon, and I do see Eckhart's Teachings are a new extra-soft religious teaching, like if you got a holy book and cut out all the bad stuff, it would sound good, but good does not mean it's true.



my recent videos on Eckhart Tolle, followed by my rebuke to the false copyright claim. 

Galactic Federation Of Light - New Age Bullshit

The Galactic Federation Of Light

A belief in an Alien Federation, New Age spirituality, Alien Abduction, Ascended Masters (great spiritual teachers in the afterlife), spiritual entities as guides, telepathic/psychic/spiritual powers, 2012 ascension/consciousness shift beliefs, angelic forces and archangels, and reptilian anunnaki new world order conspiracy theories.

There are a number of youtube channels and websites, and the naturally arrogance that follows forth from the die hard believers, many followers think it's real because they are new age or think UFOs must be Alien craft, sadly I can't seem to get through to the true believers, only fringe believers are open to discussion and debate.

After asking a number of the followers of the Galactic Federation Of Light I found they are very openly conspiracy theorists, they seem to have much in common with David Icke styled theories on a Reptilian New World Order, they seem to focus on the alien elements of such beliefs, and yet still often agree on 9/11 conspiracies being true to a lesser degree.

The Angelic elements to the Galactic Federation Of Light, and the New Age movement, as obvious rip-offs from ancient Jewish and Christian mythology, such ideas are largely taken from old myths and added to by modern day myth makers, new age gurus who channel more information to create a broader belief in angelic forces and related practices.

They believe in 2012 ascension concepts, that the 21st December 2012 will be a great awakening at worst, and it will be where the spiritually aware/developed ascend to a higher dimension at the best, it's a belief that has gained some following in the cultic belief of 2012, and is just as unsupported by facts as any 2012 theory/belief in a major change or doomsday.

some points on the galactic federation

I may do more about this belief in the future, as I see it this new age belief is just out there as a business in the cases of various websites that encorage donations, as well as other stuff relating to this belief, such as training, reading materials, and much more.