[Open Question To All]

You're all unwitting subjects in my sociological experiments!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Also for the stimulating conversation and the opportunity to explore perspectives that I never would have known existed otherwise.

[Open Question About Pets]

Yes. My wonderful husband and our bouncing baby hamster!

[Open Question About Desserts]

Apple with Blackberry!

[Open Question About Candy]

The chocolate, whilst mourning the brittle for I have had to abstain from nuts of late.

[Open Question About Clothing]

Boho

[Liberal Christianity 2]

Well it would appear that you are stuck then Pete. This confusion you have regarding these simple biblical principals is not going to be a good selling point for your brand of "liberal Christianity." People need answers; all you have is questions.

What your brand of theology appears to promote, is the disregard of the Bible, while at the same time quoting the Bible, but also refusing to handle the Bible correctly. I think it is convenient how your theology releases you from any error and inconsistency, and how it shoots the message and the messenger. Inherent in your theology seems to be this disproportionate pride and confidence in claiming the Bible is wrong, flawed, etc., while asserting that somehow you know better the Word we have been given. Even more ridicules than the insult to the Word of God that you perpetrate is the lack of answers that your theology provides.

Just some observations from a fellow student.

Because people who are convinced that they already have all the answers have done so much good for the world? People don't need answers, they need humility, compassion, and love. The answers are irrelevant, it's the questioning that transforms and takes the questioner on the journey.

[Liberal Christianity 2]

What is the ONE SOURCE?

It's only 'the most accurate source of CRITICAL company and executive information!

http://www.onesource.com/

*cheesy grin*

Seriously though, I think the idea is that what we understand of the spiritual is understood through symbols. Even the building blocks of language are symbols which represent objects and ideas. Without them there is no cognition.

As such, one can only point you towards symbols of the One Source to aid in your cognition. One such symbol, and a common thread through multiple religions, is The World Tree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_tree

The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the earth, and, through its roots, the underground. It may also be strongly connected to the motif of the tree of life.

Specific world trees include the one in Hungarian mythology, Yggdrasil (or Irminsul) in Norse mythology, the Oak in Slavic and Finnish mythology, and in Hinduism the Ashvastha (a Sacred Fig).

Although the concept is absent from the Greek mythology, medieval Greek folk traditions and more recent ones claim that the Tree that holds the Earth is being sawed by Kallikantzaroi (commonly translated as goblins).

Parts of Hungarian folklore also bear resemblance to the world tree, such as the Égig érő fa (Sky-reaching tree) and several folktales connected to it.

The world tree is widespread in Lithuanian folk painting, and is frequently found carved into household furniture such as cupboards, towel holders, and laundry beaters.[6][7]

The "Cosmic tree" also was one of the most important beliefs in Latvian mythology.

Remnants of the world tree concept are also evident within the history and folklore of Ireland's Gaelic past. There are many accounts within early Irish manuscripts of great tribal trees known as Bilé being cut down by enemy tribes during times of war. This world tree concept, being strongly Indo-European, was likely to have been a feature of early Celtic culture[8].

[Liberal Christianity 2]

No, liberal Christianity still rejects the divinity of Christ.

... *deletes what she was going to say and walks away.*

[The Sound Of Unity]

185 people representing 12 countries recorded pieces of this song, composed and conducted by Eric Whittacre, from their PC's and sent the files in to be arranged. This is the result.

[This Music Breaths Life.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S0k18DUask&feature=related

Incredible. Absolute beauty.

I must buy all that they have now.

[Turnig Witches To Christ]

I find it interesting that "savedinchrist" has everyone here responding to each other.

But where has the originator of the thread been since?

He most likely found a forum that was more like the one he was intending to find.

[Turnig Witches To Christ]

I am sorry Dan but the explanation about the football supporter does not work for me. The difference is I did not create the supporter to go to the game. God s said to have created all knowing full well what the out come was. If he has foreknowledge that what he was creating was to function in a particular way then he has no one else to blame but himself. If he then regrets what he created and also admits to knowing that what he created would let him down before he created it then he has to be full of nonsense (IMO). It is a bit like a man who digs a hole just to moan about the holes existence.

Our modern concept of Hell is certainly a fabrication that has evolved as a control mechanism within the religion but was not originally present. The whining 'believe in me or burn' deity would only have himself to blame if he could see the future and then created billions upon billions of people for the soul purpose of punishing them for doubting him. But remove hell, and the intent to do harm to mortals, from the concept of God and forknowledge of our choices no longer diminishes the goodness of the Deity. Imagine if I could use a device to watch your life before you lived it. Does my seeing what you will choose to do diminish the fact that you decided to do it?

According to the physicist John Archibald Wheeler "time is what prevents everything from happening at once."

Modern physics

In the late nineteenth century, physicists encountered problems with the classical understanding of time, in connection with the behavior of electricity and magnetism. Einstein resolved these problems by invoking a method of synchronizing clocks using the constant, finite speed of light as the maximum signal velocity. This led directly to the result that observers in motion relative to one another will measure different elapsed times for the same event.

Einstein showed in his thought experiments that people travelling at different speeds, while agreeing on cause and effect, will measure different time separations between events and can even observe different chronological orderings between non-causally related events. Though these effects are typically minute in the human experience, the effect becomes much more pronounced for objects moving at speeds approaching the speed of light. Many subatomic particles exist for only a fixed fraction of a second in a lab relatively at rest, but some that travel close to the speed of light can be measured to travel further and survive much longer than expected (a muon is one example). According to the special theory of relativity, in the high-speed particle's frame of reference, it exists, on the average, for a standard amount of time known as its mean lifetime, and the distance it travels in that time is zero, because its velocity is zero. Relative to a frame of reference at rest, time seems to "slow down" for the particle. Relative to the high-speed particle, distances seem to shorten. Even in Newtonian terms time may be considered the fourth dimension of motion; but Einstein showed how both temporal and spatial dimensions can be altered (or "warped") by high-speed motion.

Einstein (The Meaning of Relativity): "Two events taking place at the points A and B of a system K are simultaneous if they appear at the same instant when observed from the middle point, M, of the interval AB. Time is then defined as the ensemble of the indications of similar clocks, at rest relatively to K, which register the same simultaneously."

Einstein wrote in his book, Relativity, that simultaneity is also relative, i.e., two events that appear simultaneous to an observer in a particular inertial reference frame need not be judged as simultaneous by a second observer in a different inertial frame of reference.

Time as "unreal"

In 5th century BC Greece, Antiphon the Sophist, in a fragment preserved from his chief work On Truth held that: "Time is not a reality (hypostasis), but a concept (noêma) or a measure (metron)." Parmenides went further, maintaining that time, motion, and change were illusions, leading to the paradoxes of his follower Zeno.[29] Time as illusion is also a common theme in Buddhist thought,[30] and some modern philosophers have carried on with this theme. J. M. E. McTaggart's 1908 The Unreality of Time, for example, argues that time is unreal (see also The flow of time).

However, these arguments often center around what it means for something to be "real". Modern physicists generally consider time to be as "real" as space, though others such as Julian Barbour in his book The End of Time, argue that quantum equations of the universe take their true form when expressed in the timeless configuration spacerealm containing every possible "Now" or momentary configuration of the universe, which he terms 'platonia'.[31] (See also: Eternalism (philosophy of time).)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time#Time_as_.22unreal.22

Cognizant of the counter-intuitive nature of his claim, Barbour eases the reader into the topic by first endeavouring to persuade the reader that our experiences are, at the very least, consistent with a timeless universe, leaving aside the question as to why one would hold such a view.

Barbour points out that some sciences have long done away with the 'I' as a persisting identity. To take atomic theory seriously is to deny that the cat that jumps is the cat that lands, to use an illustration of Barbour's. The seething nebula of molecules of which we, cats, and all matter are made is ceaselessly rearranging at incomprehensibly fast speeds. The microcosm metamorphoses constantly, therefore one must deny there is any sense to say a cat or a person persists through time.

Early on, Barbour addresses the charge that writing with tensed verbs disproves his proposal. The next revolution in physics will undermine speaking in terms of time, he says, but there is no alternative.

If a universe is composed of timeless instants in the sense of configurations of matter that do not endure, one could nonetheless have the impression that time flows, Barbour asserts. The stream of consciousness and the sensation of the present, lasting about a second, is all in our heads, literally. In our brains is information about the recent past, but not as a result of a causal chain leading back to earlier instants. Rather, it is a property of thinking things, perhaps a necessary one to become thinking in the first place, that this information is present. In Barbour's words, brains are 'time-capsules'. He investigates configuration spaces and best-matching mathematics, fleshing out how fundamental physics might deal with different instants in a timeless scheme. He calls his universe without time and only relative positions 'Platonia' after Plato's world of eternal forms.

Plausibility

Why, then, is the instant in configuration space, not matter in space-time, the true object and frame of the universe? He marshals as evidence a non-standard analysis of relativity, many-worlds theory and the ADM formalism. Since, he believes, we should be open to physics without time, we must evaluate anew physical laws such of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation that take on radical but powerful and fruitful forms when time is left out. Barbour writes that our notion of time, and our insistence on it in physical theory, has held science back, and that a scientific revolution awaits. Barbour suspects that the wave function is somehow constrained by the 'terrain' of Platonia.

Barbour ends with a short meditation on some of the consequences of 'the end of time'. If there is no arrow of time, no becoming only being, creation is equally inherent in every instant.

There is no general agreement that the ideas expressed in the book have any predictive power and thereby constitute a scientific theory.

Immanuel Kant, in the Critique of Pure Reason, described time as an a priori intuition that allows us (together with the other a priori intuition, space) to comprehend sense experience.[27] With Kant, neither space nor time are conceived as substances, but rather both are elements of a systematic mental framework that necessarily structures the experiences of any rational agent, or observing subject. Kant thought of time as a fundamental part of an abstract conceptual framework, together with space and number, within which we sequence events, quantify their duration, and compare the motions of objects. In this view, time does not refer to any kind of entity that "flows," that objects "move through," or that is a "container" for events. Spatial measurements are used to quantify the extent of and distances between objects, and temporal measurements are used to quantify the durations of and between events.

(See also Ontology for the sake of interest)

This is a relatively simple paper - The Origin of Time Assymmetry

I've tried to find some explanations that aren't entirely built of math that uses more letters than numbers. But this should 'hopefully' be a very general overview of a concept of time which has developed through religion, philosophy, and science over time and is still developing.

[Turnig Witches To Christ]

Then, something amazing happened: I was introduced to Jesus; he was my Honduran social worker.

- Neil Patrick Harris, in Glee

[My Grandfather Was A Son Of A Biche']

Yes. They originally represented the blood that was shed on the fields of France (and Flanders?) during "the Great War", but have come to symbolize the sacrifices of all fighting men (and women) in all past wars.

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm

Poppies flourished in war torn fields. Imagine fields upon fields of bright red flowers springing up where the blood of so many soldiers had been spilt. John McCrae, a military doctor, was inspired to write the poem "In Flanders Fields".

The GreatWar 1914-1918

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

Poppies (©greatwar.co.uk)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

The poppies referred to in the poem grew in profusion in Flanders in the disturbed earth of the battlefields and cemeteries where war casualties were buried[2] and thus became a symbol of Remembrance Day. The poem is often part of Remembrance Day solemnities in Allied countries which contributed troops to World War I, particularly in countries of the British Empire that did so.

The poem "In Flanders Fields" was written after John McCrae witnessed the death, and presided over the funeral, of a friend, Lt. Alexis Helmer. By most accounts it was written in his notebook[3] and later rejected by McCrae. Ripped out of his notebook, it was rescued by a fellow officer, Francis Alexander Scrimger, and later published in Punch magazine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields

[My Grandfather Was A Son Of A Biche']

Rememberance Sunday in the UK is on the 11th day of the 11th month and there is a special time of silence at 11:00. Canada's is on the same day, as it is a Commonwealth Holiday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day

I usually forget that that the U.S has theirs on a different day.

Are Poppies significant for you folks?

[Turnig Witches To Christ]

The argument against the biblical concept of God goes:- If god is all powerful and does not stop suffering then God cannot be said to be loving. If God is all knowing and ignores suffering then God is not loving. If God created all and imperfection grows from it then God cannot of made a perfect world. If God did not want Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil then why make it accessible (Even humans know of health and safety and most parents know to keep dangerous objects away from their children and especially those we love).

If God knows the outcome of what he/she is testing then why test, especially when such testing creates many to suffer greatly (if God does not know the out come then he/she is not all knowing and if God chooses to ignore this knowledge then he/she cannot be said to be all knowing).

If the bible is the word of God and it for all to believe on it then how is it written so badly. Few people reject the bible because the are sinful but because it does not stand up to their reasoning and if this is so then why judge people, surely the option would be to make it all the more clearer.

If God is all powerful then why does God need mankind to write the bible and why does God need mankind to spread its news (surely God would have better ways at his/her disposal and if not then is God then either inefficient or incompetent).

I am sorry Dan but in my experience the dividing line is not a sinful nature of a person but the inability to accept reasoning of the bible. If that is so then the blame must rest squarely with God's explanation as expressed in the bible, which For many is neither simple or clear.

I ask myself can choice exist or is the relevance of choice diminished within the framework of non-linear time as understood by physics. My answer is no. If a Being could observe all of time non-linearly would that Being by act of observing diminish the relevance or remove entirely that choices had or were being made? My answer remains no.

[Turnig Witches To Christ]

From a Christian prospective, the bible can be held-up to close scrutiny. The bible can also be misconstrued and misinterpreted, and there's no doubt that some translations have taken some liberties in manipulating the manuscripts. Satan himself has twisted the Word from the beginning. But God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). Jesus was the Word, and he brought clarification to what the traditions of men (Pharisees) had distorted.

God will respond to religions and denominations that change, add, or subtract from His Word to suit themselves. We are accountable to God, he is not accountable to us. To blame God for our confusion is nonsense, it isn't His Word that causes problems, but rather our reluctance to adhere to his simple Truth. Perhaps people should avoid 'belief systems' (religion), most of it is confusion run amuck.

I completely agree with this.

Actually, the margin of the King James also denotes 'worlds' as 'ages'. So the Young's and KJV concur that Hebrews 11:3 is likely better translated as 'ages'. I personally think its referring to one world, but different dispensations of time, thus multiple world ages (Genesis 1:2).

Nifty! I agree regarding the reference to one world but different dispensations of time. It's also feasible that it connotates multiple dimentions within our single world which would defacto include time/ages.

I think belief systems can contain useful tools so long as one does not become totally dependent upon one or become dogmatic.

[Turnig Witches To Christ]

Hebrews 11 does give a good definition, and it's the one I'm using. Faith in Hebrews chapter 11 is belief in what is seen with ones spiritual eyes and ears, the Truth that is written in the heart, and is born not out of blind faith to what is written in a book or what someone else tells you is true but out of direct spiritual interaction and this is evidenced in every single example used in the chapter to illustrate that little description of faith at the top of the chapter.

1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.

3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

It's easy to misconstrue this as saying that the modern definition of Faith as merely suspended disbelief until one reads the entire chapter. I went further and did a study by reading in conjuction to each section the original story of each example faithful individual.

4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

11By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he[a]considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."[c] 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

23By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea[d] as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[e]

32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[f]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Given the apparent incongruence between the examples given and the statement made I thought this deserved further study. So I did! (about a decade ago give or take)

Hbr 11:1 Now [G1161] faith [G4102] is [G2076] (5748) the substance [G5287] of things hoped for [G1679] (5746), the evidence [G1650] of things [G4229] not [G3756] seen [G991] (5746).

Faith - Pistis - Persuasion

G-4102. pistis, pis'-tis;

from G-3982; persuasion, i.e. credence; mor. conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), espec. reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstr. constancy in such profession; by extens. the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself:--assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.

Things Hoped For - Elpizo

G-1679. elpizo, el-pid'-zo;

from G-1680; to expect or confide:--(have, thing) hope (-d) (for), trust.

Evidence - Elegchos

G-1650. elegchos, el'-eng-khos;

from G-1651; proof, conviction:--evidence, reproof.

Understand - Noieo

G-3539. noieo, noy-eh'-o;

from G-3563; to exercise the mind (observe), i.e. (fig.) to comprehend, heed:--consider, perceive, think, understand.

Substance - Hupostasis

G-5287. hupostasis, hoop-os'-tas-is;

from a comp. of {A.}G-5259 and {B.}G-2476; a setting under (support), i.e. (fig.) concr. essence, or abstr. assurance (obj. or subj.):--confidence, confident, person, substance.

So here's my translation.

Now Pistis [persuasion] is the foundation [hupostasis] of confidence [elpizo], the proof [Elegchos] of things not seen.

Persuasion is an interactive process, as is shown in the examples provided in the chapter. Furthermore it engages the mind.

What do other translations suggest? How easy is it for offical translators to inject a given Churches theology into the text. (and yes I am aware that it will and should be pointed out that I may well be doing the same thing).

World Wide English New Testament

1If people believe God, then they know they have the things they hope to get. It is the proof of things we do not see.

2There were people long ago believed God. He said they were good because they believed him.

3We believe in God, so that is how we know that God made the world by his word. The things we see were made out of things that cannot be seen.

Wow. Just... wow....

Darby

1Now faith is [the] substantiating of things hoped for, [the] conviction of things not seen.

2For in [the power of] this the elders have obtained testimony.

3By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by [the] word of God, so that that which is seen should not take its origin from things which appear.

Young's Literal

1And faith is of things hoped for a confidence, of matters not seen a conviction,

2for in this were the elders testified of;

3by faith we understand the ages to have been prepared by a saying of God, in regard to the things seen not having come out of things appearing;

That word, Ages, just moved us from a translation with implication on the physics of the universe to a translation with implications centered fully on historical events. What the H E double Hockey Sticks?!

American Standard

1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.

2 For therein the elders had witness borne to them.

3 By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.

Passages taken from Bible Gateway

Lexicon

Concordence

[Our Living Environment And How It Effects Our Spirituality]

Wouldn't peoples personal preferences for specific colors affect the effect each color has on an individual or is the scheme built upon the slight variances in the electro-magnetic range regardless of the persons likes and dislikes?

Or how much are our personal preferences influenced by electro-chemical processes which are influenced by our environments? The short answer is I don't know. =o)

I can ponder though! I do ponder that our bodies have a chemical response to light spectrums, so much so that we produce vitamins form sun-light. Given that colours are produced by the reflection of various spectrums of light that leads me to ponder what yet unproven physiological responses might be involved.

Also Feng-Shui moves beyond colour schemes to incorporations of features which can symbolize the elements. Candles for fire, or a volanic stone. Floating candles in a bowl of water to incorporate the element of water. A water fountain. A picture of the ocean or a lake. Wind chimes or windmills to represent air. These things can work to center the mind in an awareness of nature and of the constant interaction of elements in our environments.

[Turnig Witches To Christ]

After witnessing the miracles God performed while delivering his people from the Pharaoh, many of the Hebrews began worshipping a golden calf in the wilderness. Do you suppose their faith was questionable, or was it their devotion to God that led them to find the intellectual wisdom necessary to leave the God who delivered them from slavery? From what I've read, faith in idols was not a religious path that led to a good end.

My point was not that a person can't lose faith in something they once believed in, but that faith so easily shaken was probably never very strong to begin with.

What you describe is not faith, it's suspended disbelief. Faith seeks and questions without fear or shame. There is no such thing as blind faith. Faith is Sight. Faith for faith's sake, with no understanding or 'curiosity' is just another Golden Calf.

[Our Living Environment And How It Effects Our Spirituality]

~ How about making it a bit more simple... That's just making me blind

I agree that it seems quite overwhelmingly involved at first glance. But once one understands the historical development of the ideology one can extract and separate ideas which developed out of aesthetic theory, folk beliefs, and cosmology and then compare these various elements to other belief systems to find similarities, compare development in the various cultures, and make an informed decision about which elements might be relevent to oneself.

It's also interesting to consider that over time these intricate and organized systems were developed from individuals intuiting and recording what was beneficial to themselves, comparing the data and finding similarities, and then tracing those similarities to other commonalities such as date and time of birth, season, etc. Just as modern aboriginal tribes have been found to wrap pharmaceutical science in mythologies and ancient human civilizations such as Sumeria has been found to have recorded intricate medical procedures and pharmaceutical remedies on the same stones and tablets as good luck charms, talismans, and astrologies. Feng Shui has developed in much the same way and may well be found to have elements which are supported or proven by physics or psychology at some points. Science and religion were not always enemies. Think of how early books were written with intensely beautiful and colourful designs. In some cultures the first letter of a page would be a work of art. In other cultures every letter was concidered a work of art. Think of the caligraphies developed. An idea would be carefully formed, every word of a sentence and then a paragraph carefully constructed in the minds eye to perfectly express the idea because any idea worth expressing in such a permanent way was worthy of full contemplation and then to put to paper with beauty and art in such a way that the art itself would add meaning to the text. Going a bit further, in the Chinese language every stroke of the brush held a meaning and the order of the strokes would alter that meaning so that even a single word contained a sentence of connotations. Religion is the creativity and beauty surrounding Eureka. It is the intuited realities of the universe translated into the language of the psyche.

IMHO

[Turnig Witches To Christ]

I would argue that a Christian turned atheist was never a 'strong' believer in Christianity in the first place.

It's remarkable how many people like to argue that if someone has left their religion they were never 'really' part of it to begin with. But it's a sweeping generalization and it's impossible to know. I am certain that there are a great many former true followers of Christianity who have been led away from Christianity BECAUSE their devotion led them to be open to the spiritual and intellectual transformation necessary to leave.

I have sung songs of praise in which every word and tone that left my lips was a prayer and meditation until my very skin and teeth vibrated in attunement to deity. I have studied the Bible with humility, prayerfully and meditatively and without personal prejudice entirely willing and expecting to be led to new understanding by the Holy Spirit.

I have walked in prayer, enveloped by the presence of Deity.

I have supplicated myself at the alter and meant every word and emotion as I dedicated my life, my heart, and my mind.

If I now question how many of those experiences might have somatic explanations, be a product of mental conditioning, whether religions tap into a portion of our psyche through symbology that give us access to greater physiological control and deeper thought or am CERTAIN that at the very least all religions seek and find equally and are paths to the same end -

you cannot tell me that my faith was not genuine.

By your reasoning I might assume that all those who are still Christians are faithless cowards. But I know better.

[Our Living Environment And How It Effects Our Spirituality]

The Lo Shu

Draw a square of boxes, three by three.

Number the boxes thusly;

492

357

816

Now, starting with the number 1 connect all the numbers in sequence. Imagine the numbers in fluid motion following the pattern you create. The symbol which you end up with is the ancient square of Saturn or Earth in Western Occult Tradition, based on Hebrew magical tradition. The Lo Shu in Chinese tradition coincides with the eight trigrams of the Pa Kua Later Heaven Sequence, the number 9 placement being aligned with the south and the number 1 with the north. In Feng Shui the Lo Shu is used to add measurements of Time to the Compass readings.

"Time is divided into Eras of 60 years, consisting of three cycles of 20 years. During each ccyes the order of numbers differs from the original Lo Shu..... The numbers change in the Lo Shu in a logical manner from Era to Era. If you connect up the nine chambers in numeric order, you get a diagram which shows the order in which the numbers move from Era to Era".

Since this book was written we have moved into a new era. So the sequence has shifted forward from the diagram shown above.

The Lo Shu gained special significance during the Sung Dynasty when Feng Shui developed gained a great deal of comprehensiveness in methodology in which various schools of thought on cosmological associations and influences were drawn together into a single system. It is in this school of thought that the Pa Kua, the eight Trigrams, the Heavenly Stems, the Earthly Branches, and the Constellations gain significant influence.

More later. My brain is melting.

[Our Living Environment And How It Effects Our Spirituality]

Okay. NOW it gets a bit more involved.

There are block shaped symbols formed of three lines. Some lines are broken in two. Some lines are straight and unbroken. The unbroken lines are Yang. The broken lines are Yin.

There are 8 Trigrams placed at 8 compass points.

Ch'ien - (NW) Immobility and strength, correspondences include metal, jade, roundness, a horse, the head, the heavenly sphere, the father, a prince, red. Influences Helpful People.

Chen - (E) Motion, correspondences include a dragon, the feet, the eldest son, thunder, development, high roads, decision, vehemence, bamboo, rushes, dark yellow. Influence Family.

K'un - (SW) Docility, correspondences include cows, the belly, the mother, Mother Earth, cloth, cauldrons, parsimony, large carges, figures, a multitude, a handle, Black. Influences Marraige.

Sun - (SE) Penetration, correspondences include fowl, the thighs, the eldest daughter, wood, wind, length, height, a backwards and forwards motion, bald-headedness, a broad forehead, white. Influences Wealth.

Ken - (NE) Stoppage, correspondences include a dog, the hands, the youngest son, paths and roads, small rocks, gates, fruits and cucumbers, porters or eunuchs, finger rings, rats, and birds with large bills. Influences Knowledge

Tui - (W) Pleasure, correspondences include sheep, the mouth, the youngest daughter, spiritual mediums, the tongue, and a concubine. Influences Children

K'an - (N) Peril, correspondences include pig, the ears, the middle son, channels and streams, hidden things, a bow, a wheel, anxiety, pain in th ears, high spirits, a drooping head, thieves, strong trees, and blood-red. Influences Career

Li - (S) Beauty, correspondences include brightness, a pheasant (the bird of the South in the Later Heaven sequence), eyes, the middle daughter, the sun, lightning, helmets, spears and swords, dryness, crabs, mussels. Influences Fame

This is the 'Later Heaven Sequence' which is utilized in Feng Shui for the living. It was created specifically for houses and gardens.

The 'Earlier Heaven Sequence' is used for tombs and grave sites and represents the ideal heavenly order. In it the Ch'ien, Heaven/Father Trigram is located in the South and is directly opposite the Earth/Mother Trigram in the North. And the Fire (East) and Water (West) Trigrams are directly opposite eachother.

Cycling Elements for Production and Destruction.

(production)

Wood

Water-----Fire

Metal-----Earth

(destruction)

Wood

Metal-----Earth

Fire------Water

(again - these fit nicely on a pentagram)

If one element is over-represented in an area of the household the destruction pattern can be utilized. Naturally to increase an element the production cycle is used.

Stay tuned later for the Ten Heavenly Stems, Twelve Earthly Branches, 24 Compass Directions...

You end up with something that looks like this:

Which becomes a guide to interacting with a complex cosmology and symbology.

I actually got into this when I was researching comparative cosmologies and symbols in relation to colours and elemental associations in world cultures.

[Our Living Environment And How It Effects Our Spirituality]

The practice of Feng Shui (pronounced foong-shway) dates back thousands of years to ancient China. It works to tune or harmonize the individual to seasonal changes, and their environment to encourage good fortune and wealth (no doubt by creating an environment in which the individual is more likely to feel inspired and productive). In the past on the Emperor and his households were permitted to practice Feng-Shui. If anyone else was caught doing it they'd get the death penalty.

Feng means Wind.

Shui means Water.

The principle is that the tides which move the water also move the air and move us. (all of which we know to be influenced by the moon). These two elements are viewed in Feng-Shui as the carriers and movers of Ch'i (life force energy).

"We live immersed in air, whose changing tides are the winds. Gentle breezes bring contentment while strong winds disperse life enhancing ch'i.

The changing nature of flowing water not only symbolizes the theory behind feng-shui, but is actually one of the agents that carry life-giving ch'i." Stephen Skinner in Feng Shui, The Traditional Oriental Way to Enchance Your Life.

Ch'i loosely means 'Cosmic breath' or 'Life Force' or sometimes 'Dragon's Breath'. It can be thought of as "The breath of life."

More Terms

Sheng Ch'i - Benign Cosmic Breath,

Sha Ch'i - Depleted or stagnant Cosmic Breath

It gets complicated as he starts to get into Earth Ch'i, Weather Ch'i and Heaven Ch'i so maybe we'll get into that later.

For Symbolism purposes it's also important to understand that Chinese dragons are creatures of water, not fire, and live in rivers and clouds as part of the Ch'i and governing the movements more like gods than monsters.

Five is an important number in Feng Shui. There are 5 elements, 5 types of weather governed by the 5 elements, 5 types of mountain indicating the stength of influence of the 5 elements in the particular range.

There are four directions governed by four celestial beasts. And of course we know there are four seasons.

(South, Phoenix East, Green Dragon West, White Tiger North, Dark Warrior (Tortoise)) It is particularly significant in considering this that the compass and map are the other way around in Chinese Tradition. South is up.

North - dark - cold - Water - Winter, Maximum Yin.

South - Light, warm, Fire, Summer - Maximum Yang.

East - Spring - sunrise, green dragon, Wood.

West - Autumn - white tiger, Metal.

Compass centre - Earth, balancing point for the four.

DUALITY (Yin and Yang)

Many natural dualities — e.g. dark and light, female and male, low and high, cold and hot — are viewed in Chinese thought as manifestations of yin and yang (respectively).

Yin yang are complementary opposites within a greater whole. Everything has both yin and yang aspects, although yin or yang elements may manifest more strongly in different objects or at different times. Yin yang constantly interacts, never existing in absolute stasis. The concept of yin and yang is often symbolized by various forms of the Taijitu symbol, for which it is probably best known in western cultures.

There is a perception (especially in the West) that yin and yang correspond to good and evil. However, Taoist philosophy generally discounts good/bad distinctions as superficial labels, preferring to focus on the idea of balance.

In Taoist philosophy, yin and yang arise together from an initial quiescence or emptiness (wuji, sometimes symbolized by an empty circle), and continue moving in tandem until quiescence is reached again. For instance, dropping a stone in a calm pool of water will simultaneously raise waves and lower troughs between them, and this alternation of high and low points in the water will radiate outward until the movement dissipates and the pool is calm once more. Yin–yang, thus, are always opposite and equal qualities. Further, whenever one quality reaches its peak it will naturally begin to transform into the opposite quality: grain that reaches its full height in summer (fully yang) will produce seeds and die back in winter (fully yin) in an endless cycle.

It is impossible to talk about yin or yang without some reference to the opposite, since yin–yang are bound together as parts of a mutual whole. A race with only men or only women would disappear in a single generation; but men and women together create new generations that allow the race they mutually create (and mutually come from) to survive. The interaction of the two gives birth to things.[3] Yin and yang transform each other: like an undertow in the ocean, every advance is complemented by a retreat, and every rise transforms into a fall. Thus, a seed will sprout from the earth and grow upwards towards the sky – an intrinsically yang movement. Then when it reaches its full potential height it will fall.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang

In a way I can see this as matching nicely with the Wiccan/Pagan philosophy of honouring the masculine and feminine duality in deity.

Take the Yin Yang symbol, in which there is a balance of Yin/Yang in all things, a little light in the dark and a little dark in the light. Surround it by the five elements as though marking the five points of a pentagram. As you look at it concider the yin/yang categorizations and the symbolisms associated with each the elements at the five points and you have begun to construct a mental Feng-Shui compass.

More later!