Bettye Johnson ©
Moving across time from present day to the age of the Apostles, Writer Bettye Johnson weaves a story of suspense, romance, and adventure while answering the questions: was Mary Magdalene the wife of Jesus; did she bear him children; and did she have her own ministry?
Bettye Johnson©
History indicates that the world has always been in turmoil and this plane is known as the Plane of Opposites. We have up/down, tall/short, good/bad, war/peace, and female/male to name a few. Presently we have Mother Earth in rebellion from the misuse of the Earth such as over-using oil and depleting her resoures, which are her lifeblood. The world consciousness has long promoted war, violence, pestilence and plagues. Yes, there have been golden threads that have lived to remind we humans that we are much more, however those in power always attempt to eradicate them in the name of power and greed. We still have that mentality in control of this planet and Mother Earth is suffering. Fortunately many of the organizations established by these golden threads became invisible and thus the word occult, meaning hidden was born and knowledge has been carried forward.
A statement attributed to Sai Baba: If it were not for the mind change of the devotees of God, the world would be in chaos. This statement is one I take issue with because chaos is necessary for evolution and it indicates his lack of knowledge of quantum physics. I also wonder which or whose god he is talking about. Is it the Hindu god, the Christian god, the Muslim god, or Buddha? We each have a direct connection to the Creator in whatever form we want to place it in. Each human has her or his beginnings in the One Creator.
If one were to study quantum physics, one would know that chaos is necessary to bring forth creation. As an example, a woman giving birth has labor pains because she is bringing forth creation. As a rule, all artists and gifted people create from the chaos in their life. I am reminded of a friend of mine who has said that when things get chaotic it is as if God were stirring up everything with an eggbeater. An example is when the car breaks down, the appliances go out and things seem to be falling apart all at the same time. By having a simple understanding of the quantum world, it is nothing more than the atoms and particles re-arranging to bring forth a greater potential.
If each of us looks back on our own life and our own awakening, we can see that we came through many experiences of adversity. Those adversities were similar to labor pains. We had to experience them in order to awaken to the wisdom waiting for our acceptance. We also have choices. We can either look for the wisdom, or we can choose to stay in misery.
A great book I am reading is Seven Life Lessons of CHAOS: Spiritual Wisdom From the Science of Change, by John Briggs and F. David Peat. I found the following from the book most profound. In each moment we have the opportunity to die psychologically by letting go of prejudices, mechanical habits, isolation, precious ego, images of self and world, and conceptions of the past and the future. In this way we set in motion the possibility of a creative, self-organizing perception that puts us in touch with the magic that gave us birth.
We, as awakening women and men, have the opportunity to assist Mother Earth and others in their awakening. It is only the women and men who have gone through adversities and are ready to step over the threshold of awakening that we can truly help, each in our own way because the door to awakening has to be opened from within each individual.
All over the world there is chaos in the forms of war, pestilence, plagues, the continued suppression of women, and Earth changes bringing upheaval in the lives of many. At times it may seem that we are riding a wild horse. We can either fall prey to this or we can become the eye in the center of the storm.
The world is going through birthing pains of bringing forth an evolved consciousness and so is Mother Earth. . We can choose to revert to fear and experience a ‘miscarriage,’ or we can choose to continue onward regardless of what is happening in the world. Those of us living on this Earth are living on the Plane of Opposites. When the relationship of female/male became unbalanced, the world became one of turmoil. By claiming our personal power, we contribute to the balancing of female/male. The use of the word negative as applied to the female is total ignorance and the fruit of this is suppression and prejudice. On this plane it takes both the negative and the male to bring forth creation. One is not superior to the other.
We have a magnificent opportunity to assist this planet by each of us becoming good stewards and becoming champions of Mother Earth. It is up to each of us who are awakening to teach our children and those with an open mind. It is time to put away those things that no longer serve us such as anger, guilt, greed, jealousy, prejudice, hatred and many other non-serving attitudes.
As long as we live on the Plane of Opposites, there will be chaos. It is to our benefit to embrace it and see the wisdom that is in it. A great example is the hurricane. Within its center is the eye of the storm – a calm or stillness. We are here to create – not make war - not to perpetuate discrimination and prejudice. From the Seven Lessons of Chaos there is another beautiful quote: Every single morning we also have the choice to be open to the creativity of chaos, open to the world around us, open to the possibility that we can make our lives afresh, like the baker’s bread.
Bettye Johnson ©
The Skeptics Society is a scientific and educational organization of scholars, scientists, historians, magicians, professors and teachers, and anyone curious about controversial ideas, extraordinary claims, revolutionary ideas, and the promotion of science. Our mission is to serve as an educational tool for those seeking clarification and viewpoints on those controversial ideas and claims.
In other words, to examine in order to make choices and gain knowledge. Returning to my reference in the first paragraph regarding the extreme habitual skeptic, I say there is no use in attempting to change the viewpoint of one who has a closed mind. In fact, I feel pity for such an individual because this type of skeptic is shutting the door to great knowledge and the ability to live and explore life to its fullest. I am paraphrasing Jesus, who said to bless those who curse you. Therefore, let’s bless these people because they need all the blessings they can get.
I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them. - Baruch Spinoza
Bettye Johnson ©
There is a story of a man watches a butterfly struggling to get out of its cocoon and thought he was doing it a favor by assisting in breaking the cocoon. The butterfly emerged and attempted to fly but the strength it would have gained by breaking its cocoon by itself had been taken away and the butterfly died.
Do you know the meaning of the words you speak or think? If you do then you are among the exceptional. Most people have no idea what the words they say mean. The original meaning of a common word often becomes changed through translation or by design. Today the words boss and cool have different meanings from the originals and come under the heading of slang. This is a method of changing the meaning of words. History is filled with many changed words.
When Christianity began spreading throughout Europe many pagan words and celebrations were altered to bring the pagans into the fold of the Church. One such celebration is Easter. Originally Easter or Eastre was the name of a pagan goddess of spring and the church officials turned the celebration into a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. However this is another topic to be explored.
Some years ago I attended a talk given by Ramtha, the hierophant of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment. His teaching was titled Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion. I remember that when I left, the connection between ignorance and devotion had not been clear to me. As with many of Ramtha’s teachings not all the i’s or t’s are dotted or crossed. I came to the realization that he wants us to find the dots and discovered the connections for ourselves.
This pulled at my mind for a few years and I finally began to research the meaning of devotion. It didn’t take much research. All I had to do was go to my trusty New World Dictionary, Second College Edition and look up the word. The archaic or original meanings for devote was entirely different from the common usage today. The meaning I found said: to curse or doom.
That was ominous. This led me to seek further. I knew de is the prefix meaning separation or away from but what was vote? Vote came from the Latin word vatum meaning a wish, a vow or a prayer. I began to see that the original meaning was changed and used to bring the conquered pagans into the fold – so to speak.
I began to note how the change affected our evolution. We (I am using this collectively) now became devoted to our church, our children, our family, or our whatever. The frequency of the original meaning was still contained within the word. We had been programmed to give our attention to something or somebody outside of ourselves. We became ignorant of our true purpose and the knowingness that god is within each person regardless of religion, culture, race or creed. In essence, we were hi-jacked into giving our power away to something outside of us. We became ignorant and therefore ignorance is the mother of devotion.
Too many people give away their attention and their power to what they are devoted to whether it be television, movies, family, religion, hatreds, prejudices, anger, sports or anything where one's attention is always projected outside of self. I have learned that self-contemplation is the seed for creativity and I can love others without being devoted to them.
Our journey in life is one of self or Self seeking self recognition. A journey is filled with many twists and turns with a gift in each one. It is up to the individual to discover the gift. The gift is never recognized when we are devoted to something outside of ourselves.