A Cryp-tastrophe

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Mushroom Smaugust by Xavier Collette

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Reblogging in honor of one of the crypto books I started reading. I love mushrooms and reptiles/dragons so this is absolutely amazing.

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The Challenge Begins

This book has been a challenging read so far, and not because of its literary reading level. The author implies it is a realistic fiction based on a true story. I am now taking it as similar to biblical parables or any mythos or legend. At the base of it, it is most likely written off a true story. The exaggerations and literary devices are to engage connection with the work and help clearly illustrate the lessons.

I do believe that in transitioning to modern culture we (humans) have evolved somewhat and had dulling of some of our senses, loss of an abundance of deep social connections, loss of connection with nature..etc. However I see it as a trade-off. In exchange we have security, more stability, cures for sicknesses that would only have been dreamed about even a decade or two ago. To me it’s worth it. I also recognize that it is important to actively work to regain some of what was lost in honor of history and there are practical reasons like the countless studies that point out spending time in nature is necessary for physical health.

In terms of the spiritual impact this book has had on me, the aboriginals in the book have a sort of mind-relay system where they can communicate through pictures and intentions with one another. In real life I would compare this to people’s “intuition” and books like The Gift of Fear where there is a semi subconscious sense formed from a variety of input that forms our “instinct” and that it is much more strong in people who have honed it and used it as a survival tool for generations. I digress, in the book in order to truly communicate in this way you have to be completely open and honest. It does not mean having no boundaries, the aboriginals have a boundary between their people groups and “white man”, but it means being completely honest with everything you do share and having nothing you hide in a shameful manner. And having completely forgiven others and yourself and working to do so as soon as you recognize a grudge or shame you have.

That’s a message found a lot in the New Testament of Christianity although the reason for it is different.

It seems beneficial to me to work through this myself. Not to necessarily gain some sort of empathic intuition, but to pursue presenting a more honest version of myself to the world and engage more deeply and honestly with others. I have a few things I am ashamed of and will work to either eliminate them, or eliminate the shame associated with them and just saying “I am not comfortable talking about that” or just “no” if it does come up with someone who is not within my innermost circle of trust.

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Don't be a "maybe". It's either Hell Yes or Fucking No.

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Hey man this is biblical. Matthew 5:37, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”

“O believers, fear God, and be among those who are the truthful ones” (al-Tawbah 9:119)

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Lost and Found

You know that feeling right before you are about to experience something you know will leave a permanent mark on your life? It sounds dramatic, but that is the feeling I get starting a book called “Mutant Messenger Down Under”.

I would call the genre “embellished nonfiction”. The events within did indeed happen, however the author tells it in a narrative style and has changed names to protect the people group within. The premise so far is the narrator has been working with aboriginals in cities to decrease suicide rates through economical and social service means.

She is summoned to Africa to meet a native people group simply known as the “ancient ones”.

The women who recommended this to me said overall the book is about seeing what we may have lost as we transitioned from wild people groups to “modern civil society” today (we = humans). This makes sense from an evolutionary prospective if you look at how different organisms evolve and adapt in new environments. One example in real life can be found in Taxi Drivers. The advent of modern navigational software has created a tradeoff in intrinsic knowledge of routes from memorization and experience.

Or as the article states: “Getting into the back of a black taxi is the quintessential London experience. Name any spot in Britain's capital and the driver knows exactly where to go and how to get there as fast as possible. This is "The Knowledge." Every cabbie must master it, and it takes years to learn.For 150 years, drivers have known all the city's streets by memory and passed tests requiring years of study. Now it just takes Uber and a GPS to get around — and this has unleashed a major battle that pits a London tradition against a company challenging the taxi industry worldwide.“

It makes sense to me that there are some other skills we have lost or senses that have been dulled similarly in the ease and comforts of modern society (a tradeoff more then worth it for life extension and modern amenities alone imo).

Coincidentally I also started a book called “Clairvoyance and Occult Powers” by Swami Panchadasi which is an old book that may have been writtten under a pseudonym and is oddly...reasonable? for the topic it’s on and writes from a view of addressing a “western skeptical audience” (felt called out a few times while reading it...). It is a different approach and subject matter but similarly argues there are physical sense we have lost from lack of use.

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Contrary to what a lot of the world believes, Christianity was not the first nor last nor most central belief

Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest religions. There are still a few pockets of practitioners today.

It is an ancient Persian religion that is some 4,000 or more years old. It predates Christianity by over 2,000 years. There are a remarkable number of similarities between the two. Zoroastrianism has a monotheistic religion with a yin-yang style good and evil fighting each other, Ahura Mazda vs Angra Mainyu like God vs Satan.

Numerous similarities between verses and finite details can be found such as Venidad Fargard I “12 (41). The ninth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda) created, was Khnenta in Vehrkâna 8.Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created by his witchcraft a sin for which there is no atonement, the unnatural sin.” and Matthew (12: 31-32), "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come."

The creation accounts are similar as well with different “groups” of creation being created separately. Land, seasons, light, dark...

The respective champions of their religions, Zoroaster and Christ, both set out from a small humble hometown to go and spread a message of their teachings and convert followers.

Similar moral codes, importance of burial rites/process...

Zoroastricism heavily overlapped with Christianity and has had an impact on so much more.

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Sign of Things to Come

You didn’t ignore the sign, did you?

Congrats. Now we’re both rule breakers and in the same boat.

I’m starting my first post off by breaking one of the rules I laid out, covering what I currently believe and announcing which religion I come from. My background is a mix of Catholicism, Non-Denominational Christianity, and Judaism.

My current religious beliefs are best classified as agnostic. I believe in two possibilities: either there is no god and just nothing after we die (Richard Dawkins The God Delusion and The Selfish Gene [2nd much better and an excellent read on evolution], or God is Not Great and Mortality by Christopher Hitchens). Or. What I currently believe.

There is a “loving rocking chair” god. This Being is to us as we are to ants. It is a further evolved life form far beyond our own. Just like we are trying to create and unravel the mysteries of life it was as well and has successfully done so, either through innate ability by trial and error through evolution, or highly advanced technology. Aside from that basic definition, I also believe the most succinct way to describe it is as pure love, agape, complete accepting goodness that transcends all cultural, physical, religious, social, and known boundaries. I base this conclusion primarily off of verified (published by missouri medicine done with scientific rigour) studies on near death experiences. Countless accounts of people from all over the world who have (verifiably) died and come back to life have accounts that have shocking similarities between all of them. (Later post will be more on this).

Even if you take things from a more skeptical point of view the implications include “With one exception, NDEs may be interpreted as unusual forms of hallucinations associated with the injured or dying brain. The exception involves perceptions described from vantage points outside the body that are later confirmed to be correct and could not have been inferred. Over a century of laboratory studies have investigated whether it is possible in principle for the mind to transcend the physical boundaries of the brain. The cumulative experimental database strongly indicates that it can. “ - Dean Radin PhD

And “ Drs. Radin, Van Lommel, Alexander, and pioneering neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield, MD, all deny that the complexity of the brain can account for the existence of consciousness. Alexander writes, “The truth is that the more we come to understand the physical workings of the brain, the more we realize it does not create consciousness at all. We are conscious in spite of our brain! The brain serves more as a reducing valve or filter, limiting pre-existing consciousness down to the trickle of the illusory ‘here-now’ in which we find ourselves in this physical realm.” He continues, “The NDE community, as well as related spiritually-transformative experiences of all stripes, provides compelling evidence that consciousness is fundamental in the universe.” 

With this I have an amendment and third belief, it is possible that there is neither a god nor nothing after death but instead a transition to a different form similar to a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.

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In the beginning was words...lots and lots of words.

I have had this project as a brainchild floating in the back of my mind for a while. It started with a vague feeling of discontent towards my primary religion and, fueled by a foray into the sciences, an identifying of contradictions, holes, and no satisfactory answer to the question “But why is MY religion the right one?”.

Several years of sleepless nights and general chaos later here we are. Which leads me to the big question, w h e r e exactly are we? This blog is a smorgusbord of my unofficial very-much-out-of-my-field research into the occult, cryptids, cults, mythology, folklore, and older religions of the world.

It might help if I define what this is not. This is not a blog by a priest or someone with an alternative vendetta. I am just a poor confused grad student trying to make sense of the chaotic world we live in while being a mismatched jumble of misfiring neurons trapped in a calcium shell piloting a flesh bag. Aka just like you, human. There will be misquotes, grammar mistakes, odd assumptions, logical fallacies. Just know it is never on purpose and I am doing the best I can.

What else is this not? I will not be covering a lot on main world religions i.e. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Judaism. I might do a post or two on them, but I grew up with two of those religions and have explored the rest and they are not what I am looking for. I also know I have a personal bias against two of them and believe that would negatively effect my exploring them.

TLDR; this is my personal thought piece cataloguing my spiritual journey and search for answers to the question all parents grow to hate: “But why?”