The Power of the Spoken Word

It’s widely accepted that words have power. But if they do, where does that power come from? The power of words, and the language we use, in structuring the reality we live in has a long tradition shrouded in mystery. Few give this principle any credibility because we so seldom seem able to create a reality we want, but it’s an idea that has persisted through the ages. For those of you brought up in a culture that exposes you to some form of Christian teaching, there’s a biblical significance attached to the concept that words have power. Even if you reject the religious aspect, the principle somehow sticks. Various other creation stories also rest on the concept of a sacred word, or sound, calling the world into existence. So what’s the relevance of this for the modern world? Naming and Identification The principle… Read moreThe Power of the Spoken Word

The Seduction of Safety

This phrase ‘the seduction of safety’ occurs in Mary Oliver’s poem The Journey and it suddenly struck me as identifying a significant problem for many of us. That problem is the belief that the world is a dangerous place, and it’s not safe to be here actually alive in a physical body. This belief informs the matrix of existence here on earth, almost universally. It gives rise to a culture of fear that supports notions of ‘security’ on an industrial scale. It might even be dangerous to read this article.

Smoke and Mirrors

I was sitting in a café with a friend the other day and we got around to talking about the collective unconscious. We didn’t dwell on it for long. Our general sense was that the collective is a prevailing miasma that’s not easy to cope with. It’s a bit like an energetic smog that chokes the human spirit. The more densely populated the area the more intense it feels – the thicker the smog. If you’re at all sensitive to energy you’ll know what I’m talking about. And if you don’t think you’re sensitive to energy, you might consider whether you feel better on a lonely seashore, in woodlands or on a windy hilltop, than you do in the city. It might not simply be the lack of air pollution that lightens your spirit. The effect of the collective field in our daily lives… Read moreSmoke and Mirrors

This Heartbreaking World

I like to do crossword puzzles, I always have. There’s something about manipulating words and extracting obscured meanings that fascinates me. And just as I was wondering what this article needed to be about I came across a crossword clue that gave me the answer. The clue was the title above: This heartbreaking world (5). And the solution, if you’re not there ahead of me, is EARTH, because if you take the word HEART, break it up and rearrange the letters they make the word EARTH. Few of us haven’t experienced heartbreak of one form or another. But heartbreak isn’t the real issue, it’s what you do with it that matters. It’s the interpretations you make and the significance you attach to these that inform [in-form] you, and condition the life you lead. There’s no denying the agony of heartbreak. It devastates your inner… Read moreThis Heartbreaking World

Walking in the Mind Field

The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else. – e. e. cummings Being yourself may well be the biggest challenge you will face in life. Not least because it involves discovering who you are first, and that’s no mean feat in itself. Do you actually dare to consider who is actually walking around in your skin, or will you settle for who your world tells you it is? There’s a huge, complex, invisible structure that exists to tell you who you are and what you should do, think and feel. This structure is the cultural consensus. It’s a shifting interconnecting network of collective thought-forms – a mind field. The mind field comprises a combination of beliefs, stories, fears and the generalised interpretations of personal experience of every member of the social order…. Read moreWalking in the Mind Field