Often, that leads to the realization of a bit of change. Other times it makes clear how much you’ve stagnated and really do need to push forward.

When you need to push forward, you need to re-connect with your foundation.

Since I’m embarking on a bit of a push forward, let’s look at some of my foundation.

Basic Beliefs

I try to keep the basics true to their classification. There’s no mythology here, just what I know deep down to be the way things work. This knowledge has been gained through feeling out my place in the world and through personal experience. I never expect others to buy in to these beliefs, but the form the core for everything that comes after. A handful listed here, in no particular order:

• We are part of a greater whole, all interconnected in ways we can, at best, barely discern.
• We are beings of duality and dichotomy: matter and energy, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness.
• We have been here before and will be here again. Reincarnation, the Universe recycles.
• Religion begins where Science ends, the two are not mutually exclusive and can fuel one another.
• Blind faith is a dangerous thing. Belief (subjective) and Knowledge (objective) are both important components to a healthy whole.
• Free will exists, but so does Fate. Both are optional. Opting out of one is easy, the other is not.

Personal Mythology

Through a number of methods, I have explored my own past lives. Through a bit of reading and research, I’ve explored a lot of classic stories. I’ve been living this life for a number of decades now. These things intersect in patterns that I choose to recognize as important. All of my personal mythology is based on the basic principles applied to a greater story that seeks to encompass more than just my own experience.

For me, the core of that mythology lies in the story of a group tentatively called The Crossers (would very much like a better sounding name, but that’s what I’ve got). The ideas are part gnosis and part synthesis.

I firmly believe that looking at our lives as a narrative can help us keep things in perspective and better appreciate both the highs and the lows.

The Path

Unlike many, I am not really dedicated to one particular path. My practices run the gamut from shamanic to Hermetic. I am dedicated to no master short of the Universe itself and myself. I am willing to take knowledge and wisdom where I can get it.

Basically, I poke badgers with sticks.

The closest I have seen described by others is The Way of the Fool. That’s from the wonderful book The Zelator by Mark Hedsel.

The Future

Now that I’ll be back to writing regularly here, I’m sure these will be expanded upon… or changed completely as I discover new things about myself and the world around me.

As someone who stands outside of all the mainstream religious institutions, there are some things that, once upon a time, were kind of tricky to do without bending or breaking either one’s beliefs or the law.

Back in the early days of the World Wide Web, a group came along that made doing at least one of those things infinitely easier.

The Universal Life Church hit the Web kind of big in the mid to late 1990s. I was in college and involved more than a bit with a group of self-identified pagans, witches and other assorted metaphysicists. Creative and caring people, all, we were thrilled to hear that we could now become ordained as ministers with just a few clicks of the mouse.

What did that mean? Mostly, at that time, for most of us, we could wave around a fancy title and wistfully drone on about how we were now “official” in one sense or another. On a deeper level, though, it meant that in the eyes of the law, we were now able to do things that only the hierarchy of the major religions or duly appointed civil officials could do. Things like officiate weddings and create congregations.

Many who become ordained by the ULC do nothing other than smile with the knowledge that they’ve “bucked the system” just a little bit. So there is little danger of things actually going bad.

Those who do use their new credentials, do so to perform weddings for their friends, help build community, and take on the task of becoming educators and spokes people for their particular brands of faith. They are empowered to become better, they seek out the knowledge and wisdom–or use their official ordination to legally put that knowledge and wisdom to good use.

The world has changed a lot since the ULC first hit the web. Minority religions have gained much more recognition–usually by tooth and nail legal battles against those who just don’t understand where they’re coming from. Wicca and a few other pagan religions are officially recognized now and there’s not quite as much need for the “anyone can get ordained” credo of the ULC.

More than a decade since I first clicked through the original ULC website, I’ve re-registered and become (again) an ordained minister. This time, I’ve dropped the few dollars to have all the paperwork printed up and sent to me.

This time, I’ve got a much more clear purpose. Years of actual work and contemlation, study and practice, have lead me to the knowledge and wisdom that I think any practicing minister (of any faith) should have. Now I can proudly and more legitimately lay claim to a title of authority–no matter the issuing body.

But more important than all that, I’ve been asked to officiate the wedding of a dear old friend’s sister-in-law.

And that–that bit of trust and respect, that call for responsibility–would make me jump through just about any hoop to make it happen.

If at all possible, being there alone is preferable.

In that time, before the rolling froth of individuals churns through the aether, I can get what I like to consider a baseline reading of the location.

It’s nothing too fancy or complex… just a feeling for the default state of things.

Why? Because then, when things get wild and crazy later on, I have an anchor point–somewhere to link my own personal balance to, somewhere to retreat to if I need to let a storm pass.

Sure, without that baseline reading, I can still go by my own tried and true baseline, my personal Universal anchor point. But that leaves me feeling very disconnected from the world around me and truly reduces my effectiveness in restoring balance to a situation (if such action is needed).

It’s been my experience that most people–especially those who are just starting to get the feel for the deeper energies of the world around and within them–just go bobbing along with the tide or spend all their energy fighting the direction of the current. Neither of these reactions is exceptionally conducive to creating change or encouraging personal growth.

By finding an anchor point in the regional baseline–in the raw egregore of the location–you share a connection with everyone else there. The difference is, you have a solid reference point from which to judge how things are going. You can differentiate between “This isn’t what I like” and “This is actually going in a bad direction.” More importantly, because of that connection to the location and the masses that inhabit it, you can serve as a pivot-point to help redirect negative energy and assist in avoiding unnecessary conflict.

How do I do it? Mostly just be quietly opening myself up to the energies of an area. Deep breathing, an open mind, and being aware of my own personal center all help. When the connection with the local baseline is made, I feel a distinct “thunk” of things falling into place. Like the dropping of a metaphysical anchor. From that point on, I can take better control of my own motions through the environment–either letting that anchor skitter along that baseline or dropping it full down to let me hold my position.

Of course, totally pulling up (or cutting loose) that anchor is also an option. If you’re going to do that, though, you better have a quick exit strategy planned or be ready to bob around a bit violently if you’re in stormy weather.

Between knowing your personal baseline and being familiar with where you are, you’re automatically in a better position to deal with whatever comes along–be it good or bad.

“I know you,” she said.

“From where?” I was curious as I had noticed her a little while earlier and couldn’t shake the feeling that she seemed a little familiar.

“Probably from another lifetime,” she said, not the slightest bit unsure of herself.

“I’d accept that,” I said with a smile, wishing that I wasn’t already running a little late for the next place I had to be. Giving her my contact information I said, “Please be sure to find me again. I’d like that.”

And off I went to next stop for the night.

But that moment has stuck with me.

Those moments always stick with me.

And there have been a good number of them over the years.

I do most definitely believe in reincarnation of one flavor or another. I’ve had enough personal experiences to make that belief unshakable. As is the case with most metaphysical things, though, I don’t ever expect anyone else to buy into the idea. So it’s always something a little special when someone broaches the subject right off the top. Even more special when there’s a chance our paths have crossed before.

This sort of thing really came into focus for me when I hit college. Very quickly, as I met many new people, some resonated with me more than others. As we discovered more about each other, we found not only a number of common interests but some very unusual commonalities as well. Key among those strange overlaps were memories of things neither of us had done in this lifetime.

My first reaction is usually to write it off as overactive imagination–gleaned bits of insight from regular interaction percolating through the subconscious and presenting imagination dressed as memory. That got more difficult as the details got more specific. Even more so when we’d get together and compare notes we’d written before we knew each other and find the same striking similarities of vision.

The Universe does not waste anything. Everything changes, is taken apart, reformed, reused. Science tells us that matter and energy are at least somewhat interchangeable, that there is a conservation of mass, that matter (in the broadest sense) cannot be created or destroyed.

If we hold that to be true, than our physical bodies alone are made of bits that have been used before. All of our base material was once part of something–or someone–else. We are star stuff.

And if our physical bodies can lay claim to such a vast and impressive pedigree, why not the non-physical parts of us as well?

There is currently no reliable way to measure those ethereal bits that may or may not make us who we are–that whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. But for those of us who have been touched by insight into the cycles we all go through, lifetime after lifetime, the value of that quantity becomes clear.

Without a doubt, I can say we all go around and eventually come back again. Our paths cross the same people again and again, each time letting us play different parts for one another. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to realize those deep connections and work through to something greater. Sometimes its only long after the fact that we realize how far back a love or friendship can be traced.

I don’t know if the girl from the party will ever cross my path again in this lifetime, but I’d like it to happen. Not because she was attractive or because I think its a novel way to make new friends, but because exploring those possible connections brings all involved closer to being more complete.

Have you ever felt that kind of deja vu when meeting someone for the first time? Have you ever compared notes with a friend and discovered you share a secret history?

Unlike some previous attempts at battlefield psi ops, there is actual technology involved this time:

The project has three major goals, according to Darpa. First, try to map a person’s EEG patterns to his or her individual words. Then, see if those patterns are generalizable — if everyone has similar patterns. Last, “construct a fieldable pre-prototype that would decode the signal and transmit over a limited range.”

Neat stuff, for sure, and at least slightly more likely to be taken seriously than the well-known and much ridiculed Stargate remote viewing project that went on for years.

The success of Stargate is heavily disputed by many but its alumni spawned a private company or two shortly after the “official” project was discontinued.

The Farsite Instiute, the better known of the spin-offs, hasn’t done a whole lot to bolster confidence in remote viewing–or the people who offer training in such things. It’s been riddled with a bit of controvercy and in-fighting for years and some of it’s more public predictions (like the insitance that aliens would make themselves known “soon”–it’s been a decade or so since).

Psi Tech is a few years older than Farsite, but it’s history sounds no less like some fantasy spy novel. Their website does nothing to erase or dilute that “psi-fi” image.

Both organizations, though, do put forward an interesting set of theories and experimental control schems that should, eventually, allow some sort of independent verification of their claims.

The problem is, as is often the case with psychic phenomenon, no matter how tight your controls, repeatablility is always a problem. In a very soft science like remote viewing–which often requires heavy intrpretation of quick sketches and anecdotal descriptions of what the viewer is seeing–two outsiders looking at the same set of raw data can (and do) see very different things.

But, the new military “psychic” devices appear to be much  more centered on the indisputable biological and electrical activity in the brain, so maybe we’re finally on the right track.

Of course, as much as I applaud the fringe research, I can’t help but think our money right now would be better spent in other areas of research. Save the government funded fringe research for when our coffers are full. Leave this stuff up to the eccentric private sector folks (like those mentioned above) and then, when the economic climate is a bit better, actually make use of their research and build upon it.

Lucid dreaming is something that I do on a semi-regular basis–either planned or unplanned.

Do you lucid dream?

Have you ever found yourself in a recursive dream, lucid or otherwise? (One where you “wake up” and then realize that, no, you’re still dreaming.)

Have you ever felt trapped in a dream, lucid or otherwise? (Where you know you have to escape but can’t.)

Tell me about these dreams.

Or, perhaps more specifically, I don’t perceive them the same way and that perception difference manifests in my mind processing the visual data differently.

This becomes most apparent when going through photos. I’ll see someone, recognize them and then get a solid *whack* of dissonance in my head as the mental image doesn’t at all match the picture I’m looking at. In face-to-face situations, the dissonance can be even more unnerving as my mind flips back and forth between the actual visual data and the interpreted appearance.

Thankfully, it doesn’t happen all that often… nor does it happen consistently with certain people. It seems to mostly be situational or related to the mood of the person or myself. It’s more prone to come up with those I’ve met in metaphysical situations, which, really, isn’t that surprising. Sometimes it’s infinitely more intense than others.

Yes, there have been people I have not at all recognized in person after meeting them numerous times in various situations.

So what, exactly is going on with that?

Physiologically, I’m sure there’s some sort of explanation–we all know there are numerous things that go on in the process of memory creation and visual interpretation that can get fouled up by any number of different things. It may just all be in my head… as is the case with most things that fall under the purview of this blog.

Metaphysically speaking, it seems that these secondary images–these Second Looks that people have–are connected to a few different things.

The first and most easily acceptable for me is some sort of past life connection. The most intense (and confusing) time I had this happen was with a young woman I met at a pagan workshop. We clicked pretty quickly and ended up going on a cross country trip together. The problem was, whenever I looked at her or thought about her she didn’ t look at all like the person that showed up in the pictures I had. It wasn’t until some things played out in a dream–where I recognized the setting as the location of one of my past lives–that things fell into place. I was seeing her as she had been in that life, not in the current one the camera was able to a capture.

A second explanation is connected to the masks we wear in our interactions and the different energies we project when playing those parts. This is a very context-oriented thing for most people. “When I’m out at the club, this is who I am. When I’m at the office, this is who I am.” We all do this to one extent or another and we’ve all seen what it’s like to run into that person from a specific venue when they’re “out of costume”–no makeup, no fancy clothes, in a hurry to get somewhere else. We all have trouble recognizing them. What I’m talking about is one step beyond that–the projection takes on a metaphysical aspect that can leave it looking like a double-exposure at times. Not as vague as an aura, almost as real as good special effects makeup.

Of those two explanations, I’ve run into the past life one the most. The second is (thankfully) rare in most normal social situations (and can be downright creepy if you don’t know what it is). Both speak volumes to me about the inner workings of the person and my interaction with them.

Both explanations leave me wondering if I have some Second Look that others see.

Do you see people differently from as they are? Are you aware when you are working with an altered visual reference? What cause to you normally attribute these Second Looks to?

In fact, I kind of count on it to keep my life interesting.

So far, I haven’t been disappointed.

I’ve stumbled into most of the great things in my life–my relationships, my jobs, my most interesting ideas and experiences–almost always while looking for something that, at best, was only vaguely related.

Being able to accept the kinds of happy accidents that serendipity provides is a key part of being a Searcher. If you are too focused on the goal you have set out after, you miss out on the added benefits of the journey. Very often it is those side discoveries that provide what is really needed… even if you don’t know you need it before it is found.

Serendipity sometimes has odd sense of humor about it, leading you to find something quite the opposite of what you were expecting. That kind of whiplash can lead to a whole cascade of realizations all its own. Sometimes it can even change you (often for the better) to the core of your being.

You can open yourself up to serendipitous experiences by being observant in your daily life. It’s the signs and portents around us that let the subconscious play and connect random dots into strange pictures. You also have to be secure enough in your ability to adapt to deep changes in your situation–otherwise your natural psychological defense mechanisms kick in and suppress the realization of the new information added, potentially prolonging your arriving at both your intended destination and the (potentially more important) one serendipity has placed along your path.

A second way to open yourself up to serendipity is to be slightly vague in your stated goals from time to time. Doing so allows both your mind and the Universe to be flexible with how ultimate solutions are reached. It may take a little longer–but, again, the journey is a learning experience all its own and may be more important than the destination.

For those needing a third way to encourage serendipitous happenings, I offer this simple idea: Chase the White Rabbit. It worked for Alice. Something odd caught her eye and, diverging from the path she had been on, she followed it. Her adventures are something we’re all familiar with and, if nothing else, a study in stumbling along into interesting things. If we put the energy into exploring the tangents that appear around us, we become accustom to shifting our focus and accepting new ideas and directions.

Our mundane day to day lives can be tedious and boring. They can sap us of our creativity and active energy. Even worse, they can strip from us the vitality we need to thrive and live the life we deserve. Being open to the serendipitous, being flexible and aware enough to notice is and being brave enough to follow bits of it, can revive our joy in life.

Or, at least, keep us distracted and entertained until enlightenment kicks in.

What kinds of serendipitous experiences have you had? How open are you to randomness in your life?

Needless to say, that piqued my interest. Partially because she was pulling in $10,000 a month per client, but mostly because it was reported straight, fair and prominently by Newsweek.

That kind of coverage doesn’t happen all that often in the metaphysical arena. Articles from mainstream media sources are usually tongue-in-cheek, snide, “fluffy” or downright discrediting. But here was an article that laid it all out pretty plainly: respectable businesses and psychic can and do work together.

Just the other day in USA Today, another article talks about how there’s a boom in patronage of psychics and intuitives. As is to be expected, it’s not the deepest or most informative bit of writing, but the cenral fact echoes sentiments that have been showing up in numerous places for months now. Wired had an article about psychic business back in November about it that put it like this:

The boom in superstition is a predicable response to troubling times, says Columbia Business School professor Gita Johar, who’s studied the phenomenon. “If the future is uncertain, people turn to psychics,” Johar says. Consumers tend to embrace the supernatural when confronted by stress, combined with uncertainty. “You have an illusion then that you can then control the outcome. People want the illusion of control.”

Even The New Scientist agrees that when times get tough, people take to things they would otherwise avoid… like psychics.

“Uncertain times” may be a bit of an understatement at this point. With the Wall Street numbers bouncing around like jumping beans on speed and numerous other social and political things going on around the nation (and world), there’s no telling what’s going to be important tomorrow morning. Our interconnected system is being laid bare by a shared global uncertainty the likes of which we haven’t seen.

And so, it’s no surprise that there’s an uptick in the schedules of pshycics and intuitives all around. This, of course, raises the question: Is now the time for those of us with an intutive, psychic and/or metaphysical bend to make a puch for more recognized legitimacy?

The time would seem to be ripe, with the current media coverage and businesses apparently finally willing to talk about their use of non-standard consultants. The market is there if already established practioners are being swamped, there’s space for new growth.

Perhaps more importantly, there may be a moral impertive for thow with talent and solid eithics to actively pursue exposure over the charlatans and cheats that will undoubtedly rush to fill the growing demand from a public who knows most of their psychic lore from popular TV shows and couldn’t spot a fake if their life depended on it.

I know I’ve held off for years on “going pro” with my ideas for becoming a professional Tarot reader and intuitive consultant. (Though I have floated them around a little before–like on this rough draft of a site.) Why? Because I remain concerned about credibility and acceptance. I worry that stepping fully into the role of “professional psychic” would get in the way of my other professional interests.

Now… I’m becoming less sure one would be a detriment to the other.

I’m interested in hearing what you out there think about that credibility line. Is “Intuitive Business” coming into its own now? Should the psychic community push for better recognition and more obvious standards for those who go into business? And, even if you don’t think there’s such a thing as a “real” psychic, does applying the intuitive process to an unpredictable situation really hurt anyone in the long run (especially since we seem to be wired for irrationality in some situations)?

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a man of science as well as a man of faith. One foot in each world, as firmly planted as I can manage. That’s how it’s always been and that’s how I’m hoping to keep it until either I’m forced to pick just one side or until the world catches up and can hold both ideas in the popular consciousness without serious dissonnance. (I’m hoping for the latter.)

Over the years, I’ve read more than a little on the physiological, chemical and psychological intricacies of brain/body/world interaction. The main conclusion I’ve come to is: it’s some pretty darn complex stuff that we’re not even close to fully understanding just yet.

The secondary conclusion is that, once we do understand all the science behind it, we’ll be able to do the most amazing things. Or, at least, the people who understand the science will.

That’ll leave a whole lot of people out of the loop.

This is where the Metaphysical Framework comes in.

Over the course of human history, non-scientists have come up with a whole lot of little things that echo, in one way or another, a lot of the science we’re just getting to now (mostly thanks to wonderful new imaging technologies that let us spy on the inner workings of our brain). Through the metaphores and imaginings that have come about from observation and trial and error, our ancestors managed amazing things.

Perhaps one of the most amazing was working out their own mental well-being. What we do now with therapists and big name drugs, they did with their religious leaders and natures bountiful psychotropic crops. Long before modern psychotherapy developed, the faithful worked through their problems from within the framework of their religious beliefes.

It seems that the trend toward beliving in the metaphysical is an intrinsic part of what we are as humans. And, this is the important part, it’s helped us make due in an unkind world for millennia.

None of this is to say that we should eschew science and focus on metaphysics. Quite the contrary–I think we should work harder at understanding the classic metaphysical remedies through our modern science.

But when it comes down to it, it is infinitely easier to get your average person on the street to help themselves via some well worded metaphors, internal visualizations and repeated mantras than it is to get them to understand that the root of their problem is some mis-firing neurons that, with the proper bio-feebdack equipment, they could re-train to work correctly.

Why a metaphysical framework for development? Because the entry bar is lower and the return on effort is quicker (if applied correctly).

Yes, there have been many, many people who’ve taken advantage of that, causing all sorts of grief for those who sought their help. But even the medical profession and the world of hard science are riddled with charlatans.

No way is exempt from abuse… but no way is also the only way to solve problems.

The metaphysical framework is a tool. When wielded with skill and morality, it can do much to make life better for others. When brought to bear along with more modern techniques (like modern medicine), the benefit to body and soul (or, if you must, percieved mental well-being) is more amazing than anything else out there.