I am a collector. Wikipedia says “the psychology of collecting seeks to understand the motivating factors for persons who, throughout the ages, have devoted great amounts of time, money, and energy making and maintaining collections.” Some people collect things with a monetary focus in mind. But most people collect things that have an emotional component at their core. Then there are many like me who love to collect certain things but are addicted to the hunt. Thrift stores and yard sales are the temples of my devotionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple. Also people like me who love the hunt often like to sell their finds for a little extra money and in some cases, like me, make an actually living of it. (after 40 years of this I am basically retired from the madness). And yes, at times it seems like a madness. An obsession in need of a 12 step program to get it under control.
Last night I had a dream that had a brief scene where I was with a friend (Sally E) and we were going to a church sale to look at a huge collection of dolls that had been donated by a parishioner who had recently died. As my friend and I started into the church I began to think about what a sad exercise this was. Something that in life was so precious and sacred to someone and now in death that intrinsic value had disappeared like a mist.
Comfort Objects are what some of it is. A Security Blanket. Psychology Today says, “It's okay to carry that blankie. Children who are both insecurely attached to their mothers and attached to their blankies seem to adjust better to anxiety-producing situations.” Here is a similar article by Melody Thomas, a child care professional. Adults need them too is pointed out in this Live Science article. Oh them transitional objects!
I recall a conversation I had with my best friend Maggie years ago about the oddity of this “Phenomenon Of Collecting”. Now my friend lives a pretty minimalist existence. She has what she needs. Her obsession is reading which she spends a large majority of her free time doing. But as she reads a book she basically passes it along and buys another. Her book shelves are pretty barren of books, especially compared to mine. She does the same with clothes. Now, she does have this penchant for sweaters and has quite a few, but even with that after a while she will go through the closet and give some to the Salvation Army so she can justify looking for new ones.
The conversation with my friend was about whether humans, as it seemed to her, are the only creature who engage in such activity, this need to possess. Well it appears there are plenty but in most cases it is for making nests and most of those nests are for food collecting or laying eggs, not just to hoard stuff like humans. At the bottom of this post are some examples of this behavior. So for the most part it is correct that the ways humans collect is pretty unique. Collecting stuff is one thing but at a certain point it may turn into what is called hoarding which is considered a bad thing for the most part. As far as an environmentalist this hits me hard. Falls
into what I don't especially like and which is called #SelectiveEmpathy. Ouch.
The self-storage industry is primarily a United States-based industry. The industry experts often refer to the 4Ds of life (death, divorce, downsizing and dislocation) as the “need” for storing “stuff” Or when two people get together they have duplicate things and rather than just giving it away some still feel the need to store the extra. Maybe in case of the chance the relationship might not work out. As we know that in the USA it is estimated that the lifelong probability of a marriage ending in divorce is 40%-50%. The Story Of Stuff Project (video here) shows us some negative effects of the this need to possess shit. I being a believer that this “stuff” can hold you back from spiritual growth if you are not careful.
According to Buddhist beliefs, attachment (Upādāna) is a major cause of suffering (dukkha) . It is not necessarily evil to possess things. Another spiritual example is when Jesus told his disciples to drop their nets and follow him, to have faith that they should follow after enlightenment and leave the world behind. At this point perhaps another Jesus thing, the saying that “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” would fit in as many mis-translate this as money is evil but forget that it actually specifies it is the “love of” that is evil.
I like the word Ephemera a lot. When coversations turn to the subject of "what is life" I have been known to say "Life is Ephemera." I have done study on how to persevere books and why some, like The Dead Sea Scrolls for example, pretty much lasted a long time. I found that is because rather then paper we once use other materials. We have been using paper for about 2,000 years but before that we used Clay tablets, papyrus, bone, shells, wood and silk. Romans used wax-coated wooden tablets or pugillares upon which they could write and erase by using a stylus. Parchment progressively replaced papyrus which was made using the skins of animals (sheep, cattle, donkey, antelope, etc.), with Vellum being the finest quality of parchment. Way back when it was very expensive to use it. But the church could afford it. The scriptorium was the workroom of monk copyists where books were copied, decorated, rebound, and conserved. Environmentally speaking I am a believer of and a proponent of the fact that there are One Billion Reasons to use Hemp instead of trees. To bad our government doesn't know the difference between hemp and smoking/ingesting types of Cannabis especiallt CBDs. But that is another subject all together.
So back to my original point. It seems sad somewhat that when we die all we have done from the cradle to the grave for most is gone in a flash. Some leave a lasting mark on society and people remember them. But most of us live lives of quiet desperation and real joy seems elusive, the carrot on the stick that compels the donkey forward. Ah, but there goes my nihilistic side. They say to be happy is the point of life. Abraham/Hicks says it's our only job. So I suppose if collecting stuff makes you feel happy then it is a spiritual exercise of it's own if your intent is right like the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path suggests is it not?
Here is the promised animal stuff.
Some animals don't bother to go hunting for stuff themselves but are Kleptos: Here are some.
My favorite find today was running into the info on the sociable weaver a species of bird who build construct permanent nests on trees and other tall objects. These nests are the largest built by any bird, and are large enough to house over a hundred pairs of birds, containing several generations at a time. These nests are perhaps the most spectacular structure built by any bird.
Some common animals that cache their food are rodents such as hamsters and squirrels, and many different bird species, such as rooks and woodpeckers. The western scrub jay is noted for its particular skill at caching. There are two types of caching behavior: larder-hoarding, where a species creates a few large caches which it often defends, and scatter-hoarding, where a species will create multiple caches, often with each individual food item stored in a unique place. Both types of caching have their advantage.
Bowerbirds
Pack Rat
Nesting
Beaver dams provide ponds as protection against predators such as coyotes, wolves, and bears, and to provide easy access to food during winter. These structures modify the natural environment in such a way that the overall ecosystem builds upon the change, making beavers a keystone species. Beavers work at night and are prolific builders, carrying mud and stones with their fore-paws and timber between their teeth. Beavers can rebuild primary dams overnight, though they may not defend secondary dams as vigorously.
Other mammals collect stuff to build nest. Gorillas build fresh nests daily out of leaves and other vegetation. Amphibians like frogs and some fish build temporary nests to lay their eggs in. Cobras use leaves and other debris to build nests in which they lay eggs that both sexes guard. Sea turtles dig a hole in the sand above the high tide line in which they lay their eggs, but then they leave it all behind. Social insects, including most species of ants, bees, termites, and wasps, are nest builders.
Be well and “May your Dukkha be as small as Nanobes.” - #Ketherism
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Saturday, June 10, 2017
Monday, June 5, 2017
Ode To The Vestal Virgins
Image:
The Vestal Virgin Tuccia with a Sieve - Charles-JosephNatoire
Ode To The Vestal Virgins
Nino Kether ©
6-5-2017
Oh sweet Vestal Virgins
Thank you for tending to the fire in my
heart.
I know it is you that keeps my spark of
life burning day by day.
Numa's eyes were keen the day he chose
you oh Sisters Of The Hearth!
They thought they had extinguished the
Sacred Fire
but we know you keep it alive by magic.
You are ordained by the Gods to do so
and mere humans have no real power over
you.
Your beauty is rivaled by none.
Oh what you have sacrificed for us and
the Gods
Sweet Virgin Sisters!
I know I could not do the same.
Do you cry at times at night
when you are alone with your thoughts?
Do you ever wish for a child and a mate
of your own?
I wish I could enter
your Temple
but I know I cannot.
So it is in my heart
that I make
my offerings and sacrifices to you.
Please quench my thirst
with
water from your Sacred
Spring.
Oh that my hands were
pure enough
to bring some to you.
Fuel the Sacred Fires
with my moral
or spiritual weaknesses
as there is enough to
last from birth to death.
All my sacred objects I
also give to you.
Use them as you will.
I will gather rush,
reed, and straw
So you may make the
Argei
for my brothers and
sister.
And if I be so blessed
please take mine
and toss it in the
river as sacrifice to the other Gods.
May the effigies purify
Gaia and Cybele
that their blessing may
flow to all.
I know you are married
to the Gods
and your dress is plain
and not presuming.
But if I could I would
dress you in silk
and adorned you with
precious gems
emeralds, sapphires and
rubys set in gold.
Although the flashing
colors of the opal is divine
they are not as colorful as the rainbows in your eyes
nor as bright and captivating.
I feel weak and see
Mors in the corners of my eyes at times
A spectral image for
now but soon I know he comes.
Sweet Virgin Sisters I
wish for you to know
before he lays his hand
on me
how much I am thankful
for your grace.
I pray to you and for
you.
May the Gods hear my
prayers and bless my sacrifices.
May I ask one last
favor of you my loves?
Will you take my hand
when time arrives
and guide me to the
Underworld
and share one last drink
from your Sacred Spring?
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Saturday, June 3, 2017
Spiritual Porn
Art Credit Cameron Gray
Besides my primary website Kether Muse I have this Blog, a personal Facebook page and one
for Kether Muse. I also have a
Pinterest Page. I have a friend
who is a retired art professor and she posts what she titles “Art of
the Day” on her personal page at Facebook. Recently I created a new
page called Kether Muse Spiritual Porn which is a
product of my spiritual pursuits and inspiration from my friend and
her “Art of the Day”. It has been some of the most “fun” I
have had in along time.
Another thing I enjoy doing is creating
memes. These days more than half of them are political. I am sure
that many are familiar with the Facebook page called Word Porn. It is a
great page and has been around a long time but as with many people's
posts on Facebook they post images and articles but seldom make
personal commentary with them. That sort of bothers me. Things I like I write a little commentary on because Facebook "ain't just for cat pictures anymore". So when I post
on my new Spiritual Porn I like to write a story about the art I am
posting and seek very hard to credit the artist. I like to share art,
entertain and teach with my postings, as a basic operating principle of Kether Muse is to enlighten and inform..
I am also writing a novel and have a
few short stories in the works. While seeking a good name for the
protagonist in one of my new short stories I thought a name of an occultist from antiquity would be fun and looked up Wikipedia's List Of Occultists.
Reading down the list I saw the name Atomus and thought, "Who the heck
was that?" Well, doing the standard “link surfing” I employ often
led me to the story of “Elymas the Sorcerer”. It was very
interesting and looking that name up on Google images I came upon an
image I liked and decide to make it one of my Kether Muse Spiritual
Porn posts. I started to write my basic little story for the post and
actually got swept away and inspired to do more thought and
investigation and this blog post was born. The Biblical tale of
“Elymas the Sorcerer” for me was smothered in magic and what
followed was fun and could go even further but for now this is good
enough.
In Acts 13 of the Holy Bible is an
account of “Elymas the Sorcerer” also called Bar-Jesus a
"certain magician, a Jewish false prophet" who tried to
stop Paul from preaching to a fellow Elymas lived with. Elymas was also referred to as Bar-Jesus which is "Son of Yeshua" in
Aramaic. The account states that Paul said to Elymas:
“O full of all deceit and all fraud,
you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not
cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the
hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the
sun for a time.” It goes on to say, “And immediately a dark mist
fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the
hand.” - King James Official Version
Paul encountered other “sorcerers”
in his travels. In Acts 16 there is this account:
“And it came to pass, as we went to
prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met
us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same
followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants
of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And
this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to
the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of
her. And he came out the same hour.”
So as an occultist and not a Christian
these accounts seem like acts of magick to me. And if the Bible is to
be believed as a historical account of events I am sure the people of
that time also viewed this as acts of sorcery. For pagans, shamans,
alchemists or a traditional witch the power of magic comes from the
earth around us and radiates from people, animals, plants and stones.
Jesus has been quoted as saying in Matthew 17:19:
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of
your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain
of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to
yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible
unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” - King James Official
This was said shortly after Jesus did
another ritual of “magick” for a man who came to him about his son. “And when
they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man,
kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he
is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire,
and oft into the water.”
So the Abrahamic religions say this
power is from “God” the “Holy Spirit” or “Allah”. The
New Age spiritual movement is a compilation of metaphysical,
Eastern-influenced thought systems with a good amount of quantum
physics thrown in. Many of them would say that this power to "create reality"
comes from your own mind and as you become ONE with the “universal
unifying force” rejecting duality you can do anything you would conceive with an
evolving expanding consciousnesses. I term my spiritual evolution as “Chaos Magic” and I take from all religions and
philosophies what I like and leave the rest behind. I have no dogma and at times I hear, read or see something that makes me totally drop
some notion I may have been carrying around for a long time.
There is one thing that
seems clear to me. There is no ultimate reality or ultimate truth.
The Rock Man in the story of
Oblio said, “Ya see what ya
want to see and hear what ya want to hear. You Dig?” If Rudolf Stiener were in such a
conversation of magic/sorcery (black/white) and "God" he may bring up what is sometimes called the quantum
observer effect, “a phenomenon where the presence of the observer
changes the nature of the observed” because of his desire to
copacetically join esoteric thought and science. I love science and I love the occult. But all seems in flux. I saw a bumper sticker once that made me laugh. It said. "GRAVITY!! It's The Law". But, is that true?
Just the other day I heard on NPR
that Physicists Say The Speed of Light May Not Be Constant.
And what about time? And space itself? And what came first, Darkness
or Light? I personalty think you need to explore darkness before light can be born.
"I Love Sarcasm.
Especially if it is existential nihilistic sarcasm” - #Ketherism
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