The Dream Time

The Australian Aborigines refer to the time of their ancestors, when they were the only human inhabitants of Australia, as the “Dream Time.” It was a time when all humans and animals lived in harmony in this vast continent which has such extensive desert areas. It was a time when those living on earth and those who had passed to spirit communed on a daily basis. Speaking and asking advice from the “old ones” was a natural part of everyday life. It was truly a time of innocence, when human beings used all their faculties, spiritual as well as physical. The Aborigines never enjoyed an opulent life style, such as that enjoyed by so many today in the Western world but they were undoubtedly extremely happy and contented.

For all our opulence, technical expertise and ingenuity, happiness is not something one readily associates with modern western society. On the contrary, anxiety and stress are far more in evidence, even though we all enjoy great happiness from time to time, it can hardly be claimed that we are contented. It can be argued of course, that it is that very discontent that has been the catalyst for many of the technological advances of recent centuries. Without discontent, the argument runs, we would be satisfied with far less and not have advanced much beyond the Stone Age. I wonder! That selfsame discontent is what has been responsible for advancing greed and envy as well as leading us into disputes that have often ended in war.

Discontent has also been responsible I believe, for the unhealthy emphasis on materialism that is a large feature of modern technological society. The interesting thing about this is that both discontent and materialism are never satisfied; they feed upon themselves and people grow ever more discontented, ever more materialistic and the result? Complete dissatisfaction and an inner yearning for something that is missing but many know not what. I believe it could be a yearning from within for a return to the Dream Time when human beings led an existence that was balanced, both spiritually and materially; a time when physical life and spiritual life were almost indistinguishable; a time when life on Earth and life in the Spiritual World were seen as part and parcel of the same thing. The legend of the Garden of Eden shows that the Aborigines were not alone in having a Dream Time in their past. All human societies began the same way and only the uneven pace of evolution brought about the huge differences that now seem to exist.

This comparison persuades one to think about the purpose of earthly life. Is it really designed so that we can learn to exploit the resources of Earth to the ‘N’th’ degree, to force the physical world and all that is in it, to do our bidding so as to provide us with the greatest possible physical comfort and enjoyment? Or is it designed as a test to see how effectively we are able to bring our five physical senses under the control of our higher selves? How effectively we are able to live a physical life in the knowledge of the spiritual life? How effectively we are able to introduce the values of the Eternal Spirit into our day to day activities?
Just as many Native Americans find themselves unable to adapt to modern city life and seek comfort in the false arms of the bottle, so it is with the Aborigines. It is a sad reflection on modern society that we appear to find it impossible to incorporate the old with the new. We seem incapable of providing environments where the old can be enjoyed unhindered in the same way as the new. We even find it impossible to bring ourselves to seriously study the true cost in human terms, of our headlong dash to possess more and more, to control and compel. It is as though we are so frightened of what such a study might reveal, we are not willing even to ask the question!

Clearly we cannot turn the clock back to the Dream Time but we can recognise that, despite its apparently less comfortable and technologically advanced results, humanity seemed immeasurably happier then. Stress was unheard of, disputes were settled on a local basis and did not become huge wars and there was no reason to spend huge amounts of time and resources on developing ever more terrifying means of destroying one another’s physical bodies. Instead of dismissing such legends out of hand, we should study them and see how we can use the knowledge gained to restore a long overdue measure of balance to humanity.

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder who you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky

The stars have always been a mystery to humanity and, once they had conquered everyday life so they could live in communities and not be too bothered by wild animals, the stars were the next to receive the attention of early man. It is not surprising I suppose because living without artificial light, the heavens provided a majestic nightly display which they watched, not only with increasing wonder but also with intelligence. They noticed how the stars seemed to move as the seasons of the year passed, they noted the patterns groups of stars made and gave them names, for human beings throughout the ages have sought, by anthropomorphism, to humanise any natural phenomena that seemed to emphasise humanity’s insignificance. Because the stars moved from month to month, early man also began attributing the personal characteristics of people born when the stars and planets were in a certain position, to the stars under which they were born. Thus astrology came into being.

Today, we can only imagine just what a marvellous spectacle the heavens provided to those early humans. So beautiful and wonderful was it, there is small wonder that human imagination took flight on the wings of the stars. Deep within all people there has always existed a conviction that this physical life is not everything, that in some mysterious way, we are eternal beings and that when we leave this Earth through death we do not just disappear but continue in a higher realm. It was always considered higher and consequently associating the stars with the after-life was a natural step to take.

The Egyptians saw their earth as a reflection of the heavens. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, was seen as the River Nile upon which they depended for their very lives, and their Gods, who had once lived upon Earth, were now the stars and planets that nightly danced about the Milky Way. Each Pharoah was considered to be a god and when he died, his physical body was preserved, for just as Christianity today will not publicly accept that we have a separate spiritual body that takes over when the physical one dies, the Egyptians believed if their Pharoah-God was going to ascend to the stars or the heavens, he would need his physical body in order to do so. The Pharoah’s body was richly clothed in gold and precious jewels and buried in a sarcophagus in the centre of a pyramid which was then sealed so no living human being could disturb the God. With this star-based religion the Egyptians provided the longest ever succession of dynasties ever to rule over one nation.

The Egyptians were a fascinating race that appeared to move from primitive conditions into a highly organised and technically skilled people virtually overnight. Not surprisingly this sudden change has given rise to speculation that they must have had help. People advancing this theory talk about the ancient continent of Atlantis that disappeared in some almighty cataclysm; they say some of their high priests and scientists escaped and made their way to Egypt where they became looked upon as gods because of their skills. Using these skills they created the first pharaonic dynasty and passed their knowledge and skills on to a few chosen natives before they died.

Of course it is only in recent times that astronomy has shown us just how huge individual stars and planets can be, how puny our own Earth seems next to them and how almost constantly, old planets and stars are exploding and new ones are being formed from inter-stellar dust particles. Modern knowledge has done little to dispel the mystery and wonder we attach to the stars. Even with the huge technological advances that have enabled us to put men on the moon, it is clear that distances between stars, let alone galaxies, is so enormous, until some totally unknown means of propulsion can be discovered, we will never be able to venture beyond the closest planets in our own solar system. Modern knowledge has also led to much speculation (for that is all it can be) about the origin of the universe. Theories abound concerning the universe – it is said to be expanding, it is claimed as being finite, it is claimed that it all began with one “Big Bang.” The only thing that is clear to anyone who examines the evidence objectively, is like life itself, the universe seems never-ending. Each new advance in telescope technology just shows us more and more detail, further and further away from us – nowhere is there any sign of an end to either ‘space’, as the far from empty area between stars and planets is euphemistically called, or the universe comes to an end


Eventually I hope and expect, the investigations of space both inner (particle physics) and outer (astronomy and astrophysics) will do no more than confirm what poets, seers and Spiritualists have long known. Life is not a physical but a spiritual and mental phenomenon and that all matter has been and is moulded by the power of the mind and the spirit to produce what physicists of all disciplines see and investigate as their reality. When we begin seriously investigating the mind and the spirit – ah, then we shall truly begin to learn what reality is.

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”

Judy Garland’s famous song from the “Wizard of Oz” encapsulates our compulsion to dream. There is no-one I think who has not dreamed at sometime during their life, (and I don’t mean our dreams when we are asleep) it seems to be a basic human need. For many, it is only dreams that make their life bearable; dreaming that one day all the misery they are going through will be a thing of the past, that the lifestyle they have long envied amongst others, will be theirs; the young mountain climber who dreams of conquering Everest or the North face of the Eiger; the athlete who dreams of Olympic Gold; the childless couple who dream of a family; the pauper who dreams of winning the lottery; the invalid who dreams of good health; the widow who dreams of being united once more with her husband in the afterlife. The list is endless and varied.

This propensity to dream, to live in what some refer to as an ‘unreal world’ is in reality the prompting from our spirit-selves to allow the creative urges of the spirit freer reign. Our spirits are in a way trapped in our physical bodies and yearn for release; for a return to the freedom of the spiritual world where there are no restrictions upon the creative genius of our spirit. All great ideas that have moved humanity forward on the road from darkness to light and from ignorance to knowledge, have begun with a dream and a dreamer who will not be satisfied with things as they are. The spirit is ever dissatisfied for it knows there are no limits on the heights to which we can rise or distances we can travel. It knows that all things are possible and it is only the doubting, conscious mind which applies the brakes.

The rainbow is such a beautiful natural phenomenon it is ready-made to be the catalyst for our dreams. Anything that is beyond the rainbow must of necessity be something incredible, something marvellous; something to take us out of the petty restrictions imposed by everyday life. In such dreamlike states the imagination is free to roam where it will and the imagination is very much the creative centre of us all. By releasing the imagination to dream, whilst not forgetting the necessities of daily life, we add an extra dimension to our lives that can bring us peace and release the innate understanding of eternal life which each of us possesses. In doing this we come to realise that what we formerly considered to be so important in our lives is in fact only marginal; we are learning to see the materialistic ego in its true perspective, allowing it to act as guide rather than dictator.

Allow your spirit to soar above and beyond the rainbow; give your inner self permission to move to the forefront of your life; look back upon your ordinary life from these imaginative heights and see what is truly important; give yourself permission to stop worrying because you and everybody else are part of a carefully-drawn-up plan; be free! Be free but with a sense of responsibility that can always distinguish between true freedom and mere licence. Being free to dream means allowing others to do the same, indeed encouraging others to do the same. In the rarefied atmosphere beyond the rainbow, you begin to feel, perhaps for the first time, that freedom of the spirit is the ultimate aim of life on Earth. Only after experiencing the ‘captivity’ of the physical body and living in a material world, can we truly appreciate what freedom of the spirit means. Next time you gaze wonderingly at the rainbow let go; allow your spirit to surge upwards and move into the stratosphere of human spiritual experience.

What’s in a Name - Part 2

Since publishing my earlier blog about Names, I have been approached on the question of Spirit Names, a topic I realise now I should have included. I believe and in this I share the Spiritualist belief, that when we are born on Earth we should not only be given the name(s) chosen by our parents but also a spirit name. In the Spiritualist service of Naming, the medium performing the service is required to give a Spirit Name to the child and this is either heard directly from the spiritual world, if the medium is clairaudient, or the name is placed in the medium’s mind in another way, inspiration if you wish. Also, because Spiritualists are horrified by the concept of ‘original sin’, flowers, as symbols of purity are used in such services rather than water.

Let me set out for you exactly what takes place at a British Spiritualist Naming.

Address by Officiating Medium: It will be something along the following lines:
“We meet today in celebration of a new life who has joined us on Earth; a life with all the potential for spiritual growth which is part of our divine heritage. As Andrew Jackson Davis, the great American Seer and medium said, “A child is the repository of infinite possibilities.”
Being children of the Great Spirit, we are sharing in a ceremony which is both ancient and sacred. The ceremony recognises the sweet life which has come amongst us, acknowledges identity and also acknowledges one-ness with God. Men and women have always felt the need to be distinguished from one another and known by an individual name. This is as much the case today as it has ever been.
Our service of naming is therefore an act of thanksgiving for this new life and an opportunity for each of us, especially the parents and sponsors, to dedicate ourselves to -----‘s (name of child) well being. We seek God’s blessing on him/her for he/she may shed radiant light in a world where darkness so often seems to surround us, or it may be that he/she will lead mankind into greater knowledge and understanding.
It is the duty of Parents and Sponsors to train children in the ways of spiritual growth, therefore I ask you ----- (names). Will you undertake to do your best to ensure ----- (name) is given every opportunity to grow up in the knowledge that he/she is a spirit being, part of the Great Spirit of Light we call God, as are all human beings? (The sponsors respond in the affirmative)
No number of sponsors alone will be sufficient to support ---- (names of parents) in this task. We all have a duty to share in this responsibility. Do not therefore neglect your duty, since today’s children are the promise of a better world tomorrow.
Surely we desire for all children that they be surrounded by conditions which will ensure the complete and perfect blossoming of their lives, which are, as yet, so young and tender. God does not call upon us to cleanse this, or any other child, from inherent sin. Spiritualism acknowledges that children are blossoms of divine love, a blessing from God, born in accordance with natural law. They inherit no handicap, save that of inexperience.
Just pause for a moment and admire the beauty and purity of the human flowers with which God graces the Earth, of which ---- (name of baby) is a delightful example. Who are we to presume that we can cleanse a flower so unsullied? No, it is not a process of cleansing from sin which we are about to perform, instead we shall use these flowers as symbols of purity and grace and concentrate all our thoughts of love upon ---- (name) as we name him/her.”

Next the medium offers a prayer:

Naming Ceremony: Holding the baby, the medium says to the parents, “---- (names), what names do you give your daughter/son?”
Speaking to the baby: “Using these flowers – earth’s purest gems, as emblems of the beauty which God delights to see in the hearts of his children – I Name you -------. May God bless and shield you, may His spirit messengers guide you, help you in trouble, comfort you in sorrow, inspire you to search for truth and may His presence and blessing be with you throughout your life.”
Spirit Name: “As some of you will know, it is usual at our naming ceremonies to give a spirit name to the child; a name inspired by those in the world of the spirit, which has meaning for the child, something which may inspire him/her in times when he/she feels the need for inner strength and guidance. I am inspired to give the Spirit Name of ---- to this little one today.”
The medium returns the child to the parents and then reads a piece he/she has specially chosen for the occasion and dedicates to the baby on his/her Naming day.
Speaking to the congregation: “As you will have gathered, flowers have a very special significance in this ceremony and I should now like each of you to come forward and give your flower to -----(name). These gifts are an acknowledgement, by each of us, of the purity of all new life, of the spiritual link that exists between us and every form of life and of our individual responsibility to ensure ---- (baby’s name) is surrounded by love and understanding and given every opportunity for spiritual growth throughout his/her childhood.”

Blessing: “May the blessing of God, the Eternal Spirit, be upon ---- (baby’s name) and his/her parents, sponsors and upon each of us. May this blessing remain with us today and forever more; Amen”

PERSPECTIVES

It is an unfortunate fact of human nature that we tend to view whatever is happening to us right at this moment as the most important thing in the world. If we are happy and joyful, it seems no-one could possibly be more happy and joyful at this moment. If we fall in love, the experience is unique and nobody could have felt as wonderful as we do. On the other hand if we are ill, particularly with a serious illness, we are frequently plunged into the depths of misery thinking it is the end of the world and others cannot be worse than are we. If we are struck by disaster; maybe all our worldly possessions are seized to pay our debts, or the love of our life has decided a divorce is necessary. A black cloud descends and we become so miserable, it is impossible to remember that others are often much worse off than us. Like the man who appears to be holding the sun between his hands, this is an illusion.

Keeping things in perspective is a challenge in physical life that few, if any of us, are able to achieve all the time. Our ego has such a narrow focus that when we are in extremis, either good or bad, the senses so overpower our objectivity that it becomes almost impossible to see clearly beyond the narrow confines of those five little controllers. Please do not misunderstand me, the five senses are essential to maintaining physical life; without them we should never have survived as a species and even in these ‘enlightened’ days, they keep us out of harm’s way. However, one of the lessons I believe we are supposed to learn whilst here is to distinguish between those occasions when we need to rely solely upon our physical senses and those when we must subject them to the control of our higher, spiritual senses.

The poet Rudyard Kipling highlights this in his wonderful poem “IF”:

“If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
. . . Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!”

Psychologists have long recognised this tendency of human nature and they set about dealing with it by encouraging people to become involved in various Support Groups, especially where serious and rare illnesses are concerned. By meeting and speaking with others suffering as we are, the isolation that our dominant ego has forced upon us is relieved. We can become objective again. Not right away of course; it takes time to adjust.

I believe that one good way to try to avoid such reactions happening is to use habit. Develop the habit of contacting your inner and higher self regularly. If you do this under normal circumstances, it will become easier to do the same when circumstances are abnormal. How can you develop this habit? It is simple really. Teach yourself to be still! Forget, just for a few minutes each day, the hustle, bustle and din of everyday life. Find a place where you will not be disturbed and sit quietly and relax. You may wish to listen to some relaxing music or to a “guided meditation” spoken by someone else. You and I are spiritual beings and although the spirit enjoys a good time just as much as the physical body, it can only truly make you aware of its presence in stillness. Only then can the promptings of the physical senses be dulled sufficiently to allow your higher nature to reveal itself. Like everything, the more you practice, the more proficient you will become and I cannot emphasise too much the importance of regular, relatively short (say 20 minutes) periods spent in relaxed contemplation. One way to help you achieve this state is to place a flower before you (physically at first but later just imagine it) and contemplate every aspect of it. You will soon come to learn the truth of John Milton’s words, “In contemplation of created things, by steps we may ascend to God.”

Try it if you do not already do so and see how gradually, you whole attitude to life and other people changes. Indeed the reverse also occurs; other people begin to react differently towards you. It will also help you retain a truer sense of perspective so that when triumph or disaster put in an appearance you will be able to treat ‘both impostors just the same.”

LANGUAGE

What a wonderful thing is language. Where would we be if we were unable to communicate with one another using words? When you move to a foreign country, like I did, you discover quickly that life can become very frustrating and lonely until you acquire a working knowledge of the language of the country where you now live. Then comes the process of learning the new language and trying to practice, practice, practice, until you become reasonably proficient. Even then, I find myself all too often translating mentally, what I hear into my native tongue, which slows the process of communication considerably.

Think of the advances in human understanding language has enabled. Were it not for language, and particularly writing, each group would have to discover new aspects of our world independently. Thanks to the written word, new discoveries and inventions quickly become the property of all humanity. So it is with ideas. Because of language and printing (and these days the computer) ideas can be circulated to immense numbers of people almost instantaneously. Then each can decide for himself whether the new idea is for him or her or not. Unfortunately, this immensely speedy and widespread distribution of information is frequently misused by those wishing to control the minds of others and generate pre-determined emotional reactions to events and ideas. Because so many of us are mentally lazy, this process is made all the easier.

However, I believe there is a much more insidious disadvantage to language and its use in communication than that. Language of necessity is limited; even the English language which has more words in it than any other, I understand, imposes quite severe limitations upon our ability to communicate EXACTLY what we mean in any given situation. Take a simple example; trees. Our many earthly languages each have a word for tree and then sub-divide that into various types of tree as defined by botanists. However, just as no two human beings are exactly the same, so it is with trees. How can we describe these subtle differences? The answer is we cannot and as a result language persuades us to lump many things together under a single heading. Thus we obtain a very partial and unrealistic picture of the world as it actually is.

To understand further what I mean take the example of a person who owns and dotes upon a pet dog; say a Bassett Hound. There are thousands of Bassett’s in the world and to a casual observer, they each look identical, except perhaps that some are a slightly different colour than others. Yet the owner of the pet on which she dotes, is able to tell her wonderful Basset apart from any other. How can she do this? There are a hundred and one subtle things that go towards recognition of a particular animal (or human being if it comes to that) and none of them can really be explained satisfactorily in words! We just “know” don’t we? It is not just us either of course; the dog knows its owner among a thousand other humans and it cannot speak any language!

By classifying everything in such restrictive and narrow ways, language blinds us to the subtle and vital differences between creatures, plants and objects that outwardly seem so similar. We become conditioned in other words. It has been instrumental I believe in the spread of intolerance and its use by megalomaniacs to target particular groups for genocide. Language is also an unwitting champion of materialism. Its arbitrary divisions and classifications focus our minds almost exclusively upon material life and make little allowance for our extensive, though hidden, inner life. How often do people who have undergone intense and mystical experiences that have filled them with joy and wonder, say, “There are no words to describe my experience”? How do you put into words the feelings you have when you experience some outstanding natural event; one that takes your breath away? The sudden and inexplicable surge of joy as you gaze around you from a mountain top, or the beauty of a small island appearing suddenly ahead of your ship in the early light of dawn?

Before any of us can use words to describe a thing, we have to engage in the process of thinking and we are told for instance, that in the spiritual worlds, communication is by thought transference, telepathy, not spoken words. Thus language becomes superfluous. This also explains how mediums can receive information from people in spirit who did not speak the medium’s own language whilst on earth. Is it too much to suppose that before language was invented, humanity also communicated by telepathy; that it is an inherent ability we have allowed to atrophy because language has made us stop using it? I believe that to be so and as a result our full and joyous appreciation of the beautiful world around us has been stunted. Only occasionally and then not everyone, are we able to break down the sight limitations language has imposed and see the true beauty of life expressed in colour and light.

If we once acknowledge as a species, the true limitations language has imposed upon us, we will become free and the world will be a much happier place because it will be easier for everyone to see the true reality and much more difficult for unscrupulous people to “pull the wool over our eyes.”

What’s in a Name?

With grateful thanks to Deborah for suggesting this topic. Lionel


Many people use this expression lightly, to indicate that names are not that important. Nothing, in my opinion could be further from the truth. Our names are very personal and very important. They form part of us; I would even go so far as to say they form part of our character. There are some societies where personal names are closely guarded and would never be disclosed to a stranger because once you give a person your name, you give them power over you. This may well be the reason why even today, we use the less personal surname when introducing ourselves to strangers.

It is as though the sound of our name, when spoken aloud, resonates in a special way with our individual electro-magnetic field. As we now know, artificial electro-magnetic fields can interfere with our health; for instance people living under power lines or very close to electricity generating stations often develop physical and mental health problems that have baffled the medical profession. Many Spiritualists claim that one of the reasons there is less physical mediumship compared to seventy years ago and earlier, is because artificially generated electro magnetism interferes with the delicate and subtle energies used to produce the phenomena. There are countless illnesses these days that were not evident in our grandparent’s day and I often wonder if electricity is the cause. We are surrounded these days by electronic equipment wherever we are. Even on mountain tops and other inaccessible places, we still carry our cell phones! Television, radio, music gadgets that people carry seemingly permanently plugged into their ears, telephones, computers, motor cars and other forms of transportation; all of them emit electro-magnetic waves at varying frequencies.

The great Spiritual healer Harry Edwards claimed each cell in the human body “has a mind of its own.” What he meant by this is that each cell emits a signal on a particular frequency and when it becomes diseased, the frequency of the signal changes. It only recovers when, by one means or another, the correct frequency is restored. Almost all forms of treatment come down at a basic level, to a means of affecting the electro-magnetic fields of various cells. Bach Flower remedies for instance transfer the frequency of the cells of the flower from which they are distilled, into the cells of the patient. Dr Bach urged his students to “feel” the energy of the flower when they were picking it. The reason different drugs are needed for different health conditions is because each drug transfers a different electro-magnetic vibration to the patient, so depending upon the wavelength of the signal of diseased cells, a different drug is needed to restore it to the original. A French scientist investigating the claims of Homeopathy found that water has a very special property; it absorbs the electromagnetic wavelength of any substance dissolved in it. So, homeopathic remedies act directly on the electro-magnetic signal of individual cells, using this magnetically charged water. Spiritual Healing acts in exactly the same way. The healers in spirit know the wavelengths needed to correct errant cells and apply them, often through the use of colour. Sound may also be used.

All in all then, the human body works through the use of electro-magnetic vibrations, although they are often of so subtle a nature that science has no instrument yet, sufficiently sensitive to detect them. Kirlian photography has shown how every living thing has an energy field surrounding it and some people have adapted Kirlian equipment for the treatment as well as just the detection of certain diseases. This being the case, it is small wonder that the sound of our name affects our energy field and that primitive tribes were so cautious about disclosing their individual names.

Numerologists make much use of names and claim that our name affects our lives in many different ways, including how financially successful we are. One numerologist suggested to me that if I added the initial ‘Z’ between my first and surnames on my book covers, my books would sell better! Others have told me that their experience has shown that some names seem to be possessed by those who are destined to live relatively short lives. The name of John was given as an example and I must say, co-incidence or not, my grandfather and one brother who possessed that name did pass to spirit relatively young.

The answer to the question therefore is that there is much more in a name than you might suppose at first. I believe we do not receive our names by chance, although parents may think their choice is random. I think the choice of name is very much influenced from the higher worlds because it is so important in helping us follow the path in life we consciously chose when we agreed to come to Earth in the first place. To follow that path successfully we need a certain type of energy field and our name is a vital part of that field.