The Nature of Skepticism

I enjoy the recent spate of shows on the paranormal – for the most part. Psychic crime investigation shows still bother me, as I did that work once upon a time, and got quite burnt out emotionally from the whole process. So, watching those shows is too much like being a cop and coming home to watch an evening of police shows – nope, not for me. But the other kinds, like Ghostly Encounters, Dead Famous, Creepy Canada, Rescue Mediums or Most Haunted are quite a thrill. To me, those shows are like in-service education, only I don’t have to put on my panty hose, nor plastered-on professional smile and sit in a dull meeting. Mercifully I can change into my pj’s, get under a blanket, and drool over both my popcorn and the new equipment available to paranormal researchers.

One of the interesting evolutions in these programs is the use of parapsychologists. These scholarly skeptics add a voice of balance to those prone to hysteria. I’ve witnessed myself the problems of mass-hysteria and competitive one-up-man-ship that creep into ghost investigations. I applaud the use of parapsychologists – when they are wrong in their analyses, it is clearly obvious where their academic biases lie. When a program doesn’t opt for an accredited parapsychologist, they get hammered in chat rooms that deride and lampoon the findings of the spirit investigators.

I am well aware of “Pathological skepticism” (or Pseudoskepticism), which is a class of pseudoscience masquerading as proper skepticism. A pseudoskeptic is an individual who claims to support "reason" and the "scientific worldview", but frequently uses logical fallacies, attempts to silence opponents, and employs various invalid strategies of persuasion. Gail Porter, the female host of Dead Famous is dangerously close to a pseudoskeptic. She claims to want valid proof, yet when irrefutable proof is handed to her, she waffles. Some skeptics will never accept any proof because they are so afraid of altering their personal paradigm – and what that means in the grand scheme – that they would rather appear foolish on camera than shift from their position.

Skeptics aside, I love these shows, and my very favourite is Most Haunted. While technically the savviest of the shows mentioned, it is very balanced, and I quite admire David Wells, their resident medium. By ‘very balanced’, I mean they switch between a parapsychologist and a paranormal investigator, they have a historian, various guest mediums and a tech-savvy crew who are on camera and directly involved in the shoots. Their humanness is evident, for they still scream like small children after over 5 years of investigating paranormal phenomena – I have screamed and run from a site a few times in my day. So I understand.

Enjoy these shows, for like any fad, I imagine they will not last long. Audiences are fickle, and like the glut of angel shows, or crime shows now past, the pendulum will swing away from our ghost shows soon enough.

Queer Cat Indiosyncrasies

All 5 of my cats are very different, one from the other. The eldest Nonny Monster, was brought home with our beloved Ethol Louise Carnivore, the Quoon (who passed on our anniversary in Dec. 2005). Nonny and Ethol were jet black. the only cats for 3 years, and when they were about 2 we acquired Pooky, who has always been smaller than any cat in this house at 8 pounds. Anyway Nonny has never been interested in the outdoors until this year - at 15 she ventured tentatively from door to door, cowering at falling leaves and hiding under the porch. Never a lap cat, Nonny doesn't like to be picked up, either - yet, she sleeps every night between Brian and I. Anytime I awaken, she is purring away, mindless of the time. Nonny has never really participated in the household cat hierarchy, coming across in a goofy banal way, like the village idiot. Nearing 16, Nonny has never displayed ill health, bad humour or other any appearance of aging. She trucks along... and eats like a trucker.

Ethol was the matriarch, and any animal up to the largest was put in their place by The Quoon. She sat at the end of the table on a sheepskin, surveying her domain - and she was my girl. Occasionally I could get her on my lap, but her preference was to come in the night and lie on top of me, purring. She had a maloccluded upper jaw, from being left with a broken jaw as a kitten... we found her sick with rhinotracheitis, lying on her side in a parrot cage, in a store that was closing that day we arrived. Needless to say, Ethol had a lifetime of immunity problems and a couple of profound healings, specifically from diabetes. That she lived to almost 15 was a miracle - it's been 13 months and she's come to me 3x in spirit... things are moving along for her - I miss her dearly.

Zuna Piggles arrived in the summer of '94, and she is past 12 years now... For awhile she was the baby, and used to sleep curled around my bun in bed. It has taken her almost her whole life to tentatively be a lap cat - never to be picked up - and always on her terms. Cranky should be her middle name and at times I see her as more cantankerous than Ethol ever was... Zuna took over as alpha female when the Quoon died... Zuna is a tortoise shell, and has had her share of kidney problems, but otherwise seems in good shape... Her gift is performance art - she assumes these poses and lies perfectly still - she looks like a roadkill raccoon. She will only eat dry food, which is interesting. A feisty, free spirit, who pees on the couch when "pissed off"...

Bob and Mr. Bill arrived with the original Max, almost 6 years ago. They were tiny kittens, born of sister cats, and were birthed the same day apparently. Bob is black and white, a bit like a hairy Felix, and totally loony - the light is on, but no one is home. He is so agile one assumes he may not have an actual skeleton. He is dishevelled and devilish, but is the consummate lap cat. He and Bill spent most of their first year living in the barn together, making mischief. The pressure of winter cold brought them indoors, but they still go out when they want to... Mr. Bill is gray sporting a white ascot and spats. A very handsome, Cary Grant-like elegant feline. His body movements are smooth and he's an accomplished mouser. Bill is a moosh - he loves to lie on me several times a night, gently using his paws to tap my face while he purrs. Like Bob he is a lap cat, just not nearly as goofy. Bill especially likes boxes to perch on or in... We have one that we call Feline Theatre, and another that is a space ship... Bill goes from one to the next, apparently conquering space and attacking aliens.

The final lunatic cat is Angel Piggles. He arrived on the civic long weekend of 2004, a mere 5 months old. I left for a conference and he was in a tree crying... 3 days later I get home and he's still in the tree. No kiss of welcome from my husband, just the terse comment "No more f@!#$%^&g cats in the house!" (We had 5 already at that point - until Ethol died we had six.) Brian is a man who hand-raised a footless robin for fear it would die, so a stern look from me, and the wail of a starving cat overcame his crabbiness... Angel jumped in his arms and we never looked back. Angel is a torty like Zuna, hence his last name "Piggles", but the vet tells me he was born on Feb. 14th, therefore Angel... Zuna has taken 2 years to tolerate his mere presence in the house, and mercifully for Angel he has grown larger than Zuna, which has helped to stop the attacks - to his credit, he never strikes back. He's a drooler and a lover - he sits on my chest and drools his love purr. He sleeps with Angeni, who he treats like a peer, and is the bathtub cat. Anyone who goes to the bathroom, gets attacked through the curtain, and must submit to throwing cat toys around the tub, which he chases. He's also fascinated with water, especially dripping from a faucet, or the contents of the toilet spinning around. He'll be 3 next month...

So there you have it, the idiosyncrasies and foibles of crazy cats. And I'll always miss Ethol.

-20 Degrees this morning - eek

What a bitterly cold morning!! We took Angeni's skates and helmet to the arena and it was indeed -20 degrees. The class was about 8 minutes late getting to the arena today, as the teacher blamed them for being "disorganized" - not sure what she really meant. Anyway, after skating was over, we headed into Hanover for some quick shopping, and managed to get to my doctor's appointment this afternoon.

Unfortunately it turned into a difficult experience as half way home the thermostat blew on the van - no heat in the van for two hours... we kept having to stop the van every couple of kilometers so the engine could cool down. it took 90 minutes to get to the Varney mechanic. Just before the mechanic's place, within walking distance, we encounter police and firetrucks - 2 snowmobilers were apparently killed crossing Hwy 6. We weren't allowed to cross the scene in case we ruined evidence - Brian couldn't even walk to the mechanic's garage. So we headed back into Durham to a GM dealership - not much they could do for the Kia. The van was towed to Guelph at dinnertime. A neighbour kindly came and got me so I could be home for Angeni and her arrival from school. The same neighbour went back to get Brian at 5 PM which was very kind of him... Two snowmobilers aren't going home to their families tonight.

Anyway, I'm scheduled to be in hospital all day Monday for transfusions, and this should help me feel better while I get well. More tests will happen mid-February, but at least I'm on the road to some energy. Right now, having been in the cold from the arena at 9 AM to the roadside engine cooling extravaganzas, I'm frozen to the marrow.

In the meantime, I read with horror that a man shot his daughter (17) in the head 4 times for his belief that the girl wasn't a virgin - even though this was verified in writing by her doctor - as this brought shame to his family. He had signed a form saying he wouldn't hurt his daughter. The pathologist, after the autopsy, verified the girl was indeed a virgin. The man surrendered to police immediately. Apparently 20 women a year are killed in Jordan for this "shame" every year. Murder is somehow less shameful than possible lost virginity? 20 young women a year?
I'm mortified... the average sentence for these "shame" crimes is 6 months in prison. The president of Jordan wants this practice abolished, but the orthodox senate won't overturn the law for fear of "promiscuity". This is a call to action...

Gotta get under the blankets and warm up...

Lights, Camera, Dogs Barking...

The old lodge was turned into a television studio today, as members of the United Church came to interview me... I had reviewed their "Song of Praise" and discussed areas of common agreement (and divergent perspectives) with host, Royal Orr... He was gracious and intelligent, and I enjoyed how we meshed. I can only hope the edited version doesn't make me look like a blithering idiot... Unfortunately for Brian, the dogs felt the need to walk in and out of the scene during the interview, and to tap on the doors - they seemed a bit antsy about the change in the environment. We got through without too much distraction... It is nice to have authentic dialogue with someone who is sincerely interested in learning another spiritual tradition. Royal made me feel comfortable and at ease to speak of things which perhaps were startling for him... No nerves, no sweat... Apparently the cameraman got pictures of the donkey and horses... Now I can legitimately say my ass was on TV. Okay, bad joke...

Angeni's school has had serious plumbing problems the last couple of days. She was nervous to go back today because she had two tests, but also she didn't like having to go across the highway to use the community centre's washroom. Apparently the kids couldn't even wash their hands before lunch. Yesterday's problem was fixed for the morning, but by noon the plumbing was down again - she may end up home tomorrow because of the snow and the lack of running water. I hope they fix it soon...

A total change of subject because I just got a glimpse of Max. She sleeps on her back, legs in the air, tucked against the bedroom wall. It is a sight to behold, especially when she is dreaming and her feet are going... very funny. She did not properly develop the top balls of either femur, nor the ball sockets in her pelvis, so I am sure this posture is her way of stretching the vertebrae and releasing stress from the pelvis. Spunky occasionally sleeps that way in the daytime, as much because of her extensive girth - it allows her to take a load off, so to speak. Starr has never adopted this pose for any reason... come to think of it, neither has Pooky.

Anyway back to other issues... In prepping for the filming today, we started tidying extensively last weekend... we were still decluttering and emptying stuff an hour before the film crew arrived - at least the house is alright for clients on Friday, and our Midewiwin gathering on Sunday. In the midst of all this I started knitting cuffs for my new winter coat, as the sleeves are wide and the wind just whips up my arms, making me unduly cold. My anaemia doesn't help in the warmth department...

I am in the mood to cook and bake... I'm hoping to do a lot of that tomorrow if Angeni is home from school. If the school is open, we'll be taking her skates and helmet in the car, and meeting her at 9:25 AM for a skating lesson... As busy as I am, I think it is important to be present to her skating endeavours. I doubt she'll ever be a Canadian champion, but she tries hard. We'll go from there into Hanover for some needed errands, and come home for lunch... then I have a doctor's appointment. After we get home I can bake - or nap - whatever works.

It's cold out there tonight - keep warm.

Mutterings of Madness

The large wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow died this past week at the age of 45 - this once proud purveyor of pugilistic purity was destitute and drug addicted. He'd lost everything material to divorce, and his self-hood to a sense of being past his prime. Rest in peace, big man... So many wrestlers have died around the age of 40 and not for reasons like Bam Bam - some have just over-worked their bodies. The athletic life has its risks, to be sure...

On Jan 19th I celebrated the 14th anniversary of Pooky's arrival in my life - I waxed nostalgic at the memories of her first car ride, and the puppy nonsense she got into... My dear old friend is still with me - more feeble, still peeing on everything, but as loyal and wilful as the day she arrived.

The United Church comes calling tomorrow, to film our comments on their "Song of Faith" - this could be very interesting... Although I don't feel well, I'll find the wherewithal to get on my finest liturgical duds and face the camera. Angeni may be home during this event, as her school's plumbing failed - the kids couldn't use the loo, nor wash their hands all day. Instead they were taken in shifts to the local arena for bathroom jaunts. We'll know in the morning if she is home with us... I don't mind - she is coughing again. Next week she has two PA days on Feb. 1st and 2nd - a very long weekend for her, indeed! We will be visiting my sister and her husband in Sauble Beach. It is Judy's 48th birthday on Ground Hog day - I hope the groundhog doesn't see his shadow!! Nor Judy's!!!

More doctor's visits this week, and more tests all for me - fun, wow... Sunday we have our Midewiwin gathering here and I look forward to seeing these people - I haven't seen most of them since the end of November, and for some, it's been several months.

I'm saddened at the plight of the "Jungle Woman" who wandered out of the woods the other day, only to be harrassed with constant visitation by villagers. She is now being tested by a Spanish psychologist who wishes people would just leave her be... the local policeman is sure it is his daughter who got lost at age 8 - some 18 years ago! He's prepared to do DNA testing to prove it is her... I hope they can have that done sooner than later because this family needs to have a reality check - if she isn't their daughter, they can perhaps find closure over their missing child, and if it IS their daughter, so much of their family information can be used to help her feel a sense of belonging in her healing phase. I can't imagine Angeni losing language, even after 18 years of aloneness, but there you go... truth is stranger than fiction!

Keeping warm in the frigid north...

The Tenacity of Chickens

I marvel at our chickens... they do have the proverbial "pecking order". There is one dominant rooster, and the subordinate males make clucking sounds like the hens, and don't dare crow. The top females are also most clear about who gets the feeder first. The hens are incredibly protective of their young, holding them up under their wings even in the heat of summer - god/dess help the dog who noses in too close! Also, they change their laying stations regularly, and seem to know which eggs are viable, and if something stills the viable egg, they know to leave it. Hens are adept at figuring out where to hide eggs - their brains are the size of peas for heaven's sake. Instinct that has apparently moved forward from their dinosaur ancestors...

They prefer to roost in our trees, up until the weather drops below zero - there is a pecking order for the branches. If one bird gets in the wrong spot, a hew and cry ensues until they all parachute to the ground, and start again. Some birds (usually adolescent roosters) must stay in separate trees. Maybe their smoking in bed or something... cracker crumbs perhaps?

The thing that truly amazes is a pair of chicks whose mother was killed when they were less than 2 weeks old - in the cold of winter, with little knowledge transferred from mom - these little gaffers are defying the odds and living. They would be about 5 weeks old now, and growing. Somehow they are protecting themselves, and seem to understand to stay under the heat lamp. Our barn cats are staying in the house now. but even when out there, they left the babies alone. I'm impressed.

An orderly society in our barn - amazing. I wish they would transfer some of these smarts to the equines!

Couple of Things

I get emails about my blog entries, mostly asking for clarification on events or such that people don't understand or want more information... then there are comments suggesting what I "could" be writing about. Well, with apologies to Lesley Gore "It's my blog and I'll write what I want to..." This isn't an appropriate venue for teaching native medicine traditions nor for counselling - even on general concepts - in my opinion. So anyone holding their breath hoping for that kind of output will expire from anoxia before they ever see those kinds of commentaries. Anyone with issues needs to honour the process and come to make an appointment for one-on-one communication, if it is really that important to them - I take the issues seriously. If I am irreverent - it is my nature, if my comedic timing is off - so be it, if my language offends - stop reading. Enough said...

Brian and I were talking about our journey from Guelph to Wolverton, and then here to the farm 7 years ago. I could remember Pooky and Spike in Wolverton, and everywhere we've lived, but I cannot for the life of me remember the cats being in Wolverton!! I don't remember where I fed them, where they slept, what nonsense they got up to... I know I got all 3 elder cats in Guelph, so by default they had to be with us in Wolverton... I remember the older cats in Guelph, but not later, however I remember loading them in cat carriers for the trip north - and that is it. Brian was surprised, since my memory is so acutely precise... funny what we choose to retain and what we leave out of the active memory banks...

Speaking of cats, Nonny has started to wander around the house in her 16th year... Always a house cat, none of the older cats ever wanted to go outside. Now, with great trepidation, she will go out one door and in the other, skulking under the stairs or otherwise acutely sensitive to her outdoor environs. A falling leaf will spook her, and yet she continues to ask for the wonderful journey - a lesson for me perhaps, as I get older.

Winter temperatures have arrived now that it is mid-January. Not much snow yet, though. Angeni had a surprise day home yesterday because of icy road conditions - and she is is kid who hates missing school. She coped.

Gregg Braden

This information was forwarded by a former student who follows Braden's writings... I find it interesting when viewed with Native American perspectives on these "Times of Winds and Changes":
The Shift Is Happening Now, with Gregg Braden
by Wynn Free

There are many quantifiable scientific indicators proving that the Earth and the Solar System are going through changes which have never previously occurred in recorded human history. Many psychics and channelers say that we have entered the beginning of a dimensional shift which is already deeply affecting all of our lives. And some predict that within the next decade we will enter into an Ascension process fulfilling the prophecies of Jesus.
Gregg Braden is probably the most recognized person who is evaluating and revealing the scientific phenomena pointing to this shift. He became intrigued with all this when he was working for Phillips Petroleum in the late 1970s and noticed that the magnetics of the earth were at their lowest point in 2000 years and decreasing at a rapid rate. Eventually, Braden wrote a book ­ Awakening to Zero Point ­ that documented this and other indicators of our rapidly changing planet.

Wynn: Is it true that the magnetic poles of the earth are in the process of shifting right now?

Gregg: In May-June-July of 2002, it was very well acknowledged and esteemed scientific journals actually were saying for the first time that we are in the process of a polar reversal. Back in the 1960s, geologists were certain that the earth periodically went through a reversal. They could tell from core samples, ice samples, and fossils, as well as magnetized particles that were locked into certain positions in the rock of the earth. Geologists were so certain about this phenomenon that they actually mapped out the last four-and-a-half-million years, and the resulting records suggested that the earth has gone through fourteen of these polar reversals. At that time, back in 1961 and 1962, scientists felt that the last pole reversal occurred at about the time of the last Ice Age, ten to twelve thousand years ago. And they were certain it would happen again, but not for thousands of years, so it was nothing to worry about.But through the 1990s, geologists continued to refine this kind of information. They had been saying it took thousands of years for this to happen. Then they began to say, "Well, it can happen
in hundreds of years." But now, recent evidence from some of the ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica say that it could happen in as little as a decade.But now, we know that the poles are actually moving. We're living
it right now. We don't know exactly what that means, because even though it's happened fourteen times in the last four and a half million years, it's never happened with six billion people on the earth.

Wynn: Are you saying that it's common knowledge?

Gregg: It's common knowledge to people that need to know these things. For example, FAA regulations say that when the poles move beyond five or eight degrees, the runways at the airports have to be renumbered to correlate with the magnetic headings that the pilots are seeing. The first airport in the United States to comply with this mandate was Minneapolis/St. Paul, where they spent something on the order of eighty-five thousand dollars to go through and renumber the runway headings. But what happened in the May-June-July time frame of 2002 is that journals such as Nature, Science, Scientific American, and New Scientist released reports saying that we are definitely in the process of a magnetic reversal, and the AP wires picked it up.Scientists have no idea what the impact is going to be to electronic and electromagnetic power grids. But even more, they don't know what it means to human immune systems. Alternative healing modalities have shown a connection between magnetics and the immune system, which also would imply that our immune systems could very well be keyed into the magnetic fields of the earth. We know that birds and animals migrate along the lines of these magnetic fields. So there is speculation that the changes taking place in the magnetic field are responsible for the changing
migratory patterns in birds that have been recorded in Asia and North America.The change in the fields also may explain why whales are beaching themselves. The lines of navigation that the whales have always followed have shifted and now lead them onto a beach. When we take them back out into the water and set them free, they
continue to align themselves with the same magnetic lines, and in following them, they end up on the beach again.
So, yes, it's common knowledge now. The most respected scientific journals say that we're in this shift. And even though we don't know precisely what that means, it's significant that it is being acknowledged in peer-review kinds of literature, and not just in speculative or pseudo-scientific magazines.

Wynn: When was this magnetic shift first acknowledged?

Gregg: It would have been in the June/July time frame of 2002. People were sending me emails that they had seen it, and giving me references. I also found references in the magazines myself.

Wynn: Would we survive a complete pole shift?

Gregg: Any answer to that question must of necessity lie within the realm of speculation, because in traditional recorded human history it's never happened. On the other hand, there are Native traditions and ancient Hebrew biblical traditions suggesting that a magnetic shift may have happened even more recently than the last Ice Age. That was 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, but these traditions suggest that the last shift may have happened as
recently as 3,600 years ago. Native legends speak of a day 3,600 years ago when the sun rose from the west as it had always done, hovered in the sky for more than a full day, and set in the east ­ but the next day, it rose in the east and set in the west, as it does today. Hebrew traditions speak of this event, also, saying that it happened during a battle. The ancient Hebrews took it as a sign that one ide was receiving celestial assistance, because it stayed light long enough for the battle to complete in their favor. We can't verify this in the rock or fossil records, because 3,600 years is too short a period of time for such an event to be reflected there. All we have to go by are traditions, legends, and myths preserved in oral and written documents. What the trandition tells us, however, is that if something like this were to happen, the people of the earth would live through it. It would have to be a really strange day to live through, but if the ancient legends are true, it happened and the people apparently survived. However, we don't know how it affected their lives.

Wynn: Do you have any idea how this magnetic shift might change consciousness?

Gregg: The speculation is that there is a correlation between consciousness and magnetics. In order to understand how this connection might work, it is useful to compare it to a computer's memory. The magnetic fields in the memory are held in place through an electrical charge ­ a trickle charge ­ within the computer itself. When the batteries in the computer die, the charge is gone, and the memory is lost. We have to reload the
operating system.

Similarly, by researchers and descendants of indigenous peoples believe that when the earth goes through what science sees as a magnetic reversal, it also will be a great shift and cleansing of the earth's consciousness. There will be nothing holding all the magnetic patterns that have been put in place. So when we awaken from this shift, what becomes consciousness will be our truest nature, our truest essence. And the memory of all of the evil or
all the bad things or all of the grudges or the ego and we've held against one another as individuals and nations will not be part of that new consciousness, that new grid. From that perspective, many traditions predict, sense, or speculate that we are nearing a time of what they call the Great Cleansing, and that this cleansing is happening at a level of core memory of consciousness.

Wynn: So is it possible to assume that in some way, our memory is connected to this magnetic field?

Gregg: I think so. I think that because of the strange accounts of the astronauts who left earth and went into space during the Apollo Program. In leaving the earth's atmosphere and circling the planet many miles above the surface, the affects of earth's magnetics were negligible. And the astronauts began to have experiences that they were not prepared or trained for, that were totally unanticipated. When they were in space and looked back to earth, they began having insights and feelings, awakenings and awarenesses that they had never had when they were on the earth. It meant something different to each one of them. In much the same way, friends of mine who went to Viet Nam were all changed when they came home. It changed everyone. For some, the change was so painful that they could never speak about it, and for others, the change was a catalyst in their lives and they
spoke of it incessantly. And I believe there was actually a PBS special that documented this same phenomenon with the astronauts, that they were never the same afterward. When they came back, there were some who
didn't know what to do with their outer space experience. Some turned to drugs and alcohol. Others channeled the change that occurred within them in very positive, life-affirming projects. One of this latter group was Dr. Edgar Mitchell, who founded the Noetic Sciences Organization in an effort to validate the phenomenon of human consciousness. Another astronaut undertook the search for Noah's Ark, and actually found it embedded in the
ice on Mt. Ararat, right where the Bible said it would be.[1] <http://spiritofmaat.com/archive/jan3/#fn>

Wynn: So the implication here is that these astronauts, because they left the magnetic field of the earth, had some kind of spiritual awakening?

Gregg: They certainly went through a catharsis when they were no longer in the influence of the earth's magnetic field. We also see something similar happening when we look at the magnetic fields of the earth. They are not constant over the surface of the earth, and contour maps, available through United States Geologic Survey, show the varying intensities of magnetic fields over the surface of the earth ­ where magnetic fields have a very high intensity and where the intensity if very low. Those fields have shifted over time, and may actually account for why populations of humans have migrated to the places they've migrated to. They might have been following these magnetic contours. What happens is that in the places where the magnetics are very low, where their effects are negligible, tremendous change and innovation appear to occur. Where the magnetics are traditionally
high, those are the places of stagnation where changes, although they do happen, take a long time and change is very slow in coming. If I were coming here from another world and didn't know anything about the people of the earth, and if I were looking for a place where the opportunity of change was the greatest, I would look for the zero contour lines. And if you look at a map of the magnetics on earth today, what you find is that there is a zero contour line that runs along the West Coast of North America ­ along the California coast and on up off the coast of Alaska. In other words, the magnetics along the West Coast are almost nil!

When we think of the West Coast, we think about wacky California. Well, the truth is California is a seed, one of several, and it's traditionally been very innovative in technology, science, fashion, finance, and the arts, because there is an opportunity for tremendous change there. Within North American, the flip side of that would be an area of highest magnetics, where the magnetic fields are the most dense. And you find this down through some of the Southeastern states ­ the very states that are traditionally viewed as being conservative. This doesn't mean that change can't happen there. What is says, however, is that change takes a long time there, and people have to see a really good reason before they are going to budge from what they've always done.

Wynn: So where the magnetic field is less dense, people are more open to the moment?

Gregg: They're open to change, period. It doesn't mean that the change is good, bad, right, or wrong. It's important to be clear about this. The consciousness of the people will determine how that change comes about.
I'll give an ironic example. There is a zero contour line that runs right through the Middle East. It actually runs almost directly underneath the area we call the Suez Canal, right up into Israel, right along the coast of the Red Sea. Yes, right in that area is a zero contour line. This means that area is ripe for change. But again, how that change comes about ­ whether it's peaceful and constructive or angry and destructive ­ is determined by the consciousness of the people who live there.

Wynn: So it's not good or bad either way?

Gregg: Precisely. It simply is an opportunity for change. At the same time, the highest magnetic contour lines noted anywhere on the planet earth have traditionally been in portions of the former Soviet Union, Russia, and Siberia. We know that in that part of the world, there was a system that was in place, and while change came about, it was slow and painful, a long time coming, with a lot of suffering. But when that change happened, there was a cascade effect, and it happened almost overnight. So the correlations are very interesting between human
consciousness, the opportunities for innovation, change, doing things in a new way, and the magnetics of our world. The Earth has many areas of high and low change.

Wynn: Our readers are going to want to know how they can best face the changes that are coming in our world as a whole.

Gregg: I'll be as concise as I can. I think that the answer to that is perhaps encapsulated best in the words of those who have come before us, the ancient Essenes, in a text that's more than 2,500 years old. It reminds us of our relationship to the world around us, and says simply that the world around us is nothing more and nothing less than a mirror of what we have become from within. So when we see a world that appears angry, cruel, and
thoughtless, that produces suffering for our brothers and sisters all over the world ­ from this perspective, that world is a mirror of what we have become as individuals, families, societies, and nations. It's not right, wrong, good or bad. It's simply a reflection of who we are. The condition of the planet is a feedback mechanism. So if we want to see change in our world, we must become that change in our every day lives. If we want to see peace, tolerant understanding, compassion, and forgiveness at the global level, we must become that. At the dinner table. With our families. We must become that with our schools. We must demand that we be entertained through peace, compassion, and understanding. It doesn't have to be dull and boring. It can still be very exciting, but it does not have to be ruthless, thoughtless, cruel, or heartless. So in our daily lives, every moment of every day, we make a choice that either affirms or denies life in our bodies. Because we are linked through this grid. Our individual choices all pool into the collective answer to our future. If we'd like to see a collective change, we must individually become that change.

Wynn: We have this date of 2012 that many people are saying is this time of global shift or Ascension. What do you think is going to happen?

Gregg The date 2012 is interesting because it comes up in Mayan traditions, Egyptian traditions, some of the Christian traditions, and even in the Bible Code ­ which is very controversial unto itself. My sense is this date could be any date. If we focus on a date and live our lives preparing for a change on that date, we miss life. From my perspective, if we simply live each day of our lives to its fullest, we reconcile the experiences that cross our paths each day, we reconcile the opportunity to honor life, to honor our relationships with one another. If we are honest, truthful, considerate, caring and compassionate, if we live this each day, we have already prepared for whatever could possibly come on 2012 or any other day, any other year, any time in our future.
I know people who are living their lives hoarding boxcars full of food and ammunition, preparing for the day when our world changes. I understand, and I think it's good to be self sufficient. I understand what they are saying. But also what I've seen is that so much of their lives is dedicated to preparing for that day, they've missed the beauty and the mystery of life that unfolds in every day. And it's in perceiving this beauty and mystery that we prepare for the greatest challenges!

Wynn: So basically, if one wants to approach this change with the maximum positive outcome for themselves, the key is to live each day with the maximum output of love, compassion, and caring?

Gregg: Yes, and to do this, we have to live each day consciously. Be aware of the opportunities. Recognize the opportunities that cross our paths. Every day, we're given the opportunity to be tolerant of another belief system, to forgive someone who has hurt or angered us, to reconcile our own judgments about what should or should not be in our world. If we can reconcile these things as they cross our paths and consciously deal with them in the moment, then we know we're changing the chemistry of our bodies by changing the way we feel, and are thus preparing ourselves for whatever transitions the earth is going to go through. If that makes sense.

Wynn: Yes, it does to me. Is there anything really important to close with for our readers that I might have missed?

Gregg: For the first time in our history, the fate of our species, our entire species, rests upon the choices of a single generation. And what we've just done is talked about what some of those choices are all about.

The Naked Archeologist

What a great show... the documentarian Simcha Jacobovici, is pushing (in a hilarious, irreverent way) the scholars to match or refute old and new testament stories with modern archaeological techniques... tonight it was whether leprosy (Hanson's disease) even existed in the time of Jesus. Clearly if it didn't exist, Jesus couldn't be healing lepers with his hands. Well, modern forensics proved the existence of Hanson's, so Jesus may well have healed with laying of hands. As a healer, this is wonderful news. Then he tackles Joshua, the ancient general. Good stuff.

I'm on the mend but agitated by a lack of energy... we had to postpone our clients until next week as I didn't want to expose anyone to my infections. We're upping Angeni's immune boosters and she isn't balking too much - she's a good kid. Very attached to penguins at the moment. I guess it's a good thing we're having a bit of winter or the penguins might bugger off.

Pooky has good and bad days... the prednisone is hard on her kidneys, but also makes her hungry too - she likes her food where she never used to do. I compare her geriatric constant care to the intensity of dealing with my mother in her later days of life.

Blessings to all in this new year...

Bacteria Boogey

I'm not posting much because I'm actually quite ill... we've postponed clients until next week as this is infectious... I'd sequester myself in the trailer if it wasn't so cold... The treatment for this is as bad as the sickness, so I'm feeling pretty awful... I'll resume posting soon... Off to bed.

Dances with Crystals

I'm loving some new crystals that made their way into our lodge over the last couple of months. We've been using them for healing and the effects are magnificent. Size doesn't matter with crystals - they resonate to their specific cps whether big or small. However, these are larger specimens and the whole array of mixed chemistry with the matrix these crystals grow in, allows for some mighty intense energy. I wouldn't use them on small children or the infirm, but wow do they have some wild flow! Mostly these are green apophylite and some celestite in various matrices. Also we have had some small specimens of red sapphire (not ruby) and green sapphire. Great stuff. I would like to hear from other crystal workers on their latest helpers.

Canadian Metis Council

Brian and I have been National Elders with the CMC for a number of years... we received the following information from Dr. John Roberts:

"The CMC seems to be going in the right direction, and I've been spending some time reorganizing. We now have 8678 members, and I'm meeting with the Metis Interlocytor this month to get funding in order. We have members in every Canadian province and 17 American states, as well as in England. I can send you a copy of the revised bylaws if you wish.... (The) Assembly this year July 13, 14, 15 at Backus Conservation area, Port Rowan."

It is exciting to see that the CMC is flourishing this way, and that 3 of the original 6 National Elders including Gord Johnson and us, are willing to continue in our walk (2 of the other elders have passed and one has retired). These are good times...

Flowering in January

Can't believe my violas are still alive in the old cauldron by the porch - I could almost comprehend that the calendula plants are still alive in the raised bed garden - but the violas are in shallow dirt in an old metal cauldron that conducts cold. They aren't insulated. Yet, their little heads are still in upright bloom. Amazingly miraculous for January!! Actually, the fact that it is 7 degrees with no snow in January, and the ground isn't yet frozen is quite astonishing. We got our first real heavy snow on Feb. 5th 2006, so perhaps we are heading for another short, sharply cold couple of winter months like last year...

Because I'm sick, New Year's Day yesterday had a surreal quality - we went to bed well before midnight on New Year's Eve, but I couldn't sleep being all congested and coughing. Didn't sleep much last night either, as the congestion moved more into my sinuses. Trying to sleep propped up is a trick, and hard on the back... Also trying to organize a television show being shot here by the United Church, concerning their statement of faith, but the last thing I want to do is hork, cough and wheeze my way through an interview - not a pretty site. Hopefully I can move that to early next week when I sound less like a honking Muppet and look better than the wreck of the Hesperus.

We watched a few minutes of the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards last night - it was the inaugural show, broadcast from Manitoba. It was wonderful to see Elijah Harper presenting an award. It showcased a wonderfully diverse representation of traditional powwow to contemporary rock musicians - sometimes blending old with new! Delightful to see. Perhaps it will be rerun this week sometime, so we can catch the whole show...

Enjoy the sun...

Holiday Tunes

Being delirious with another virus, I thought I'd add some joy to the world... took Brian a few days to tweak this "just so"... Go to MySpace.com, and look up me on that site under my native name Moonraven... go to my videos. Really... it warrants an Oscar, or Gemini, or a hockey puck in the head, or something... enjoy...

Happy New Year