How the Universe looks from here

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Religion & Spirituality

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Cosmic Models (continued)

It begins with the image of concentric circles, like a target. The center is the place of Self, of Identity, of all the things we have; the first ring is mind and emotions, thinking and feeling; the second is Higher Self, or Soul or Spirit, the source of who we are. The center is the Physical aspect of our existence where reality is defined in all things physical; the first ring is that of thought, where reality is thought-forms and patterns; the second is that of Will and Intent, of Conception.... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

crumpets and baba

Yesterday we found crumpets at Trader Joe's. If you've never had them, they're worth giving a try. They are moister than English muffins but still have the little holes to collect butter and the sweetness of your preference. I had a dab of apricot preserves on mine this morning. Speaking of apricot, that's a flavor I associate with Moroccan cuisine, and later today I'm planning to make a tagine of chicken thighs, onion, mushrooms, and a bit of that apricot jam. I am trying out a pearled couscous... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, August 28, 2023

Introduction to Cosmic Modeling

We all work with models of reality, not with reality itself. We work with perceptions of the world: what we see through the various filters our senses apply to support the model of reality we believe in so much we might even say we know this is how things are. In fact, we know very little because our sensory apparatus is so limited and our beliefs and assumptions are so limiting; because our ignorance is so great we can't even know what we don't know, that is essential to know for our models to... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, May 19, 2023

When We Abandoned Eden...

I have written about the 'abandoment of Eden' as the time in which our human intellect outpaced and replaced instinct as our primary means of interacting with the world around us, particularly the physical world. I have suggested that choosing intellect and self-reliance was something to be celebrated, not to be ashamed of. But then, perhaps striding willingly, willfully out of Eden also cost us something. In that time, while we remained animals in form, our minds took us into a place beyond... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, March 4, 2023

It has never been about skin or hair.

It's all about fear: fear of people whose cultures and ways of seeing reality, whose values and imperatives are unknown and mysterious, fear of offending from the place of ignorance, fear of being called to account and condemned for unawareness of boundaries and sensitivities... And looking like the people who violently kidnapped and enslaved and treated as not-quite-human their ancestral families. Humans of different cultures take such shortcuts, superficial 'evidences' like color to decide who... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, December 31, 2022

Making Choices

Decision-making has never been my best thing. Difficulties with making decisions has led to many impulsive ones which have turned out badly. Wait... Let's reframe 'badly' to 'having painful consequences.' But infelicitous results are not always a bad thing: They are what shapes the next opportunity in decision making. They limit or skew options, shutting some out, opening the way to others. It isn't about good or bad, it's about options and directions. If we, as evolving souls, are indeed here... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Nostalgia

So many pathways drear and close, or bright and magical through woods and hills and neighborhoods, I now will never walk... Trails to wonders, mysteries, unmet friends and scenes, destinations and discoveries that once may have been... Pictures still and moving are now my way to wander, to remember the feel of forest airs across my face. Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, October 17, 2022

Questioning 'Personhood'

This is a conversation from Facebook a couple of years ago in response to my question: How do you define ' personhood'? What are the qualities that make someone a person? Don Logan: There is a Radio Lab episode where a man suffered a brain trauma and lost all his emotions. As a side effect he was un able to make even the smallest of decisions. He was effectively a sound bodied invalid at that point. There are countless Sci-fi stories where the machines 'decide' to revolt. From the above I... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, October 15, 2022

In Praise of Patience

I was cold in the morning, shivering, but I knew the day would warm with the rising sun. Hearts broken by humankind unkind, humanity inhumane, we bear the meaness of our worlds plodding on, plodding on... between the shadows cast by obstacles half-seen, mistaken, misinformed, misunderstood-- we go on seeking truth with our broken hearts. Beset by grief, taught guilt and shame and fear by all its names, even so we plod yet sometimes also dance. We weep and mute ourselves yet sometimes also sing... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

How history looks from other eyes

It is said that the winners write the histories. I disagree. In fact, everyone writes the history, but only the winners' version gets into the official books, the school books. This is evidence of that. It is a long read, but I found it fascinating! Black Elk's full account of the Battle at the Little Bighorn, June 25-26, 1876: Crazy Horse whipped Three Stars on the Rosebud that day, and I think he could have rubbed the soldiers out there. He could have called many more warriors from the... Sign in to see full entry.

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