Bashing 'The SECRET'

Maintaining my blog has been a difficult task. I write about my cards on Aeclectic Tarot and Meet-up but when it comes to my blog I run out of commentary. So I decided I would think about what I admire about other people's blogs. The ones I find interesting like Corrine Kenner's blog. What I like about Corrine's blog though it has a theme of tarot current events it also has unexpected commentary that I find useful. I noticed she will write how she feels about things that come up with humor and candor.

In light of topics for blog commentary I have heard much discussion on the new best selling book The Secret. Having just returned from the Reader's Studio in New York where I noticed The Secret coming up in conversation through out the weekend. When you go to events like tarot conferences you will hear discussion on issues of metaphysics and spirituality. Tarot is part of the trapping of the New Age movement, which I feel represents the movement toward embracing our spiritual selves, acknowledgment of our Oneness with the Universe and each other. Though I find there is a "dark side" to all the LOVE and LIGHT to the point where it gets impractical and unrealistic.

To me The Secret has that over the edge hollow vibe. I saw What the Bleep when it first came out and now there is a sequel The Secret. I enjoyed the connections What the Bleep made in regard to physics and metaphysics even though it had such shallow examples of the idea. I guess I have always had trouble with anyone channeling "named entities from other planets" who can make my life instantly better just because of some awareness or wisdom they can impart. And then there is the white middle class "creating their reality" folks I have trouble with that reality as well. I get into heated debates with these people all the time on this subject. Due to the fact that most people who adhere to this mentality are people who can afford to create their reality. I don't like it when I hear them equate worldly success with their own spiritual evolution. As if by virtue of their own spiritual success they have created their wealth and good fortune. In other words if you life sucks and you are suffering it is simply your own fault. Born poor? it's was you choice. Sorry but I don't think it is that simple. In my opinion some folks are just standing in the path of other people folks "creating their reality "and then they end up having a life that sucks.

Though I feel we all have free will and can make our own choices sometimes the randomness of the cards life hands us can be pretty big and overwhelming at times. I find The Secret to be the over simplification of the old idea that Words are Magic. As if words and thoughts can make things manifest the old "God said let there be light and there was Light mindset". If thoughts and words were as The Secret would have us believe then Iraq would be at peace and Global Warming would be well on its way to being resolved. Words and thoughts can get the ball rolling but actions carried out in toil and sweat are what make the real changes. It is the opposable thumb that made us not our index finger or spontanious generation.

The thing that triggered this blog entry was a review I read in the May issue of The Progressive by Barbara Ehrenriech. In her review she writes: "...check out the credentials of the "teachers" enlisted in The Secret. Most are well-known motivational speakers who claim to instruct such business heavy weights as financial advisers, developers, and a "master marketeer." One of The Secrets' teachers Denis Waitley, includes on his website testimonials from Merrill Lynch, WorldCom, 3M, Dell, and IBM, among others.... When the leaders of a major economy lapse into mysticism and come to believe they can accomplish things through their mental vibrations, without lifting a finger, then it is time to start thinking about going into subsistence farming on a remote compound in Idaho."

Perhaps this kind of thinking is why Louisiana is still in the state it is in?

This also makes me think about what Michael Moore said about big corporations wanting us to believe if we all work really hard we can all get rich. This mind set created the American Dream work ethic of the 20th century. The truth is the system is set up in a way that All of us can never get rich no matter how hard we work. Today in our modern two income house holds where everyone is spread too thin most of us work many more hours than our parents did. Yet our parents and grandparent who worked 40 hours a week and lived on one income factory jobs were able to pay off homes while their children were still children. Is The Secret just the same old guilt in a new guise backed by the same old karma chameleons who need to control the masses to keep their power?

I don't know I'm just asking...

Justice

Justice
Full moon Cycle of Libra (March 21-April 19)

The full moon cycle of Libra is the first full moon cycle after the Vernal Equinox. The full moon signals the week of Passover for Jews and the first Sunday after this full moon is Easter for the Christians.

For Wiccans and pagans, Ostara/Eostar- the Vernal Equinox signals the rebirth of the earth just as the Winter Solstice signals the rebirth of the sun. During this the time of earth rebirth when the increasing sunlight has awakened the earth, trees begin to show buds, flowers begin to emerge from the dormant ground of winter. The name for the Christian holy day known as Easter has its roots in the pagan holiday Eostar. Eostar the spring equinox was named after the Germanic goddess Ostara, Eostre or Eostar. Eostar's sacred animal is the hare. The hare is associated with fertility and magic. The goddess Eostar whose name means the dawn is also similar to the goddess Ishtar, Babylonian goddess of morning and evening star.

Even today the modern Easter bunny that hides eggs shows the lingering remnants of the goddess Eostar. The egg and the rabbit or hare symbolize the mystery of life that returns from a seemingly dead earth.

The tomb, which becomes the womb, is symbolized by archeological evidence of tombs found throughout ancient Europe in the shape of goddesses. See Habitations of the Great Goddess by Cristina Briaggi published by Knowledge Ideas and Trends Inc. Manchester CT.1994. The idea of shaping a tomb like a woman gives rise to the ancient idea of Earth as mother and the dead being reborn like plant life that reemerges from the dead winter ground in the spring. Life rising from death. Like the egg with emerging chick that symbolizes life rising from a small rock like object.

The symbol of the scales in the zodiac sign of Libra is found in the ancient Egyptian stories of the judgment of souls. In these stories it is Maat the Goddess of Truth and Justice who weighs men's souls against a feather before they can pass on into the next world.

The great hall where the Judgment takes place is called The Hall of the Two Truths. At one end of the hall sits green skinned Osiris, behind him are his wife Isis to his right and Nepthyus to his left with their arms around his shoulders. Before him perched on a lotus stand the four sons of Horus; Mesta (guardian of the liver), Hapy (guardian of the lungs), Tuamutef (guardian of the stomach), and Qebehsenuf (guardian of the intestines).(the 4 elements sit respectively Along the sides of the wall each on separate thrones, are; sun-god Ra/Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut lady of the sky, Horus, Hathor lady of the West, Hu and Saa.

A great Balance stands in the center of the hall, surmounted by Thoth, lord of wisdom, karma and magic, inventor of hieroglyphic writing and Anubis guardian of the tomb and guide of souls. The deceased was given a barrage of questions to judge his innocence. With each question his heart would be weighed against Maat's Feather of Truth and Justice. If the heart weighed equal with TRUTH then, all was well, but if his heart were to weigh heavy it would betray him and he would meet his doom. This fate was to be devoured by Ammut, a monster, her body part hippopotamus, and part lion with the face of a crocodile.

This threat would certainly keep one true to one's heart. In spite of this impressive display of divine Justice, the deceased was found innocent in every case and admitted to the Afterlife without issue.

The Libra moon represents a time for balance between winter and summer. It is the time when Light overtakes Darkness and the winter surrenders to springs warm days. The Libra moon has the attributes of life awakening from death and the weak and oppressed finding liberty and justice from the forces that oppress them. This theme is reflected in the story of Passover, when Hebrew slaves were released from bondage and set free by the pharaoh god-king of Egypt.

As a small child going to Catholic school and attending Catholic mass every morning the words of the Apostles creed and consecration of bread and wine into body and blood were etched into my mind. As an adult woman who has studied ancient Egyptian religious practices I see the world though different eyes. The words "descended into hell and ascended into heaven" * of the apostle's creed pop out at me because of their similarity to the secret initiation rites of ancient Egyptian priests. The Egyptian priests descended into hell and ascended into heaven as well. During their descent into hell the initiate priests faced the horrors known to the goddess Isis who reassembled her dismembered husband Osiris. If the initiate could handle the initiation he was anointed as a priest of Isis with all of its rank and privilege. There is very little known about these initiations as they were veiled in secrecy.

*I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
Although Christian legend has it that the Apostles wrote this creed on the tenth day after Christ's ascension into heaven, this is not the case. The Symbolum Apostolorum was developed between the second and ninth centuries. This particular verse is the most popular creed used in worship by Western Christians. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator.

My personal view of the passion of the Christ is that the Jews had become so oppressed by the Romans that they waged a rebellion. The public death and resurrection was necessary to gain political support of the masses during this age of 'god-kings'.

In the Old Testament God was hidden after a veil, and the man was behind the veil... but that "veil" was torn the day of the crucifixion, in Mat.27: 51, and now we can enter into the presence of God at any time, because Christ has laid the way to us. It is Final Judgment (Rom.2:5-11, Mat.25:31-46, Rev.20:11-15).


It seems apparent to me that the timing of a rebellion was critical to the Jews for reasons of sympathetic magic established for them by their history. Although a favorable outcome could not be guaranteed this was the optimum time based on past success commemorated by the Passover holiday to stage such an act. Any rebellion that may have occurred against Rome did not make it into the historical record, however. This rebellion may have been squelched by the Romans as there is not much evidence handed down to the 21st century to prove there even was a rebellion. Only trace evidence like the crucifixion itself, a political act, sending the public a form of warning against political rebellion. There is evidence of a rebellion waged approximately 30 years later that speaks of the continued unrest. The new religion 'of women and slaves' born of this cause was not so easily squelched. This religion became so powerful that the only way for Rome to control it was to adopt it as the state religion some three centuries later. This is when Rome was able to gain back full control over the hearts and minds of the Christian people. As the state religion of Rome, Christianity was given the attributes of the previous state religion Mithraism. 'Jesus the Savior', rebel against Rome, has been put to death every year and will be for as long as the religion exists. One of the most telling and peculiar attributes of the Christian religion is its need for conversion and constant and vigilant quest for members. I feel this behavior is a remnant of the recruitment for the cause and the need for large numbers of rebels to wage a rebellion against Rome.

As a pagan woman I can not help but see the similarity between the ancient scene of Osiris judging souls before the scales of Justice and the Judeo/Christian father god who also judges the dead and to whose right hand Jesus ascended to after he spoke to Mary Magdalene in the garden. Jesus did not let Mary touch him. Is there a connection between the celibacy rules for initiates of ancient rites and the current practice of the priesthood? At this point we can only guess.

Other names: Maat; Mayet; Truth


Attributes: time for initiations; Puberty rites; Tests of Soul and self; Rites of passage; Death and resurrection ceremonies; Divine comedy; harmony; balance; the Law is Love; honesty; light heartedness

Symbols: scales; ostrich feather; hearts; wombs and tombs; life and death; eggs; rabbits; hares

Full Moon in Libra key phrase: "I balance"